GDT: WJC: Switzerland Vs USA | December 28th @ 2:30PM MT

[Czechboy]

The IIHF had two choices, either a) return to reality because everyone is vaccinated & healthy and stop testing vaccinated people for a what’s less noticeable than a cold, or b) go full crazy & test everyone constantly but at least put everyone in a bubble so it would be feasible. They chose neither/both going crazy with testing but without a bubble. That will doom them.
The only other realistic option would have been to host this in a country that hasn’t lost its collective mind. Avoid Canada for a few more years.

Like Switzerland who just cancelled Spengler? Or Finland who had full teams shut down and couldn't send raty to Juniors.

This isn't a Canada issue.

Edmonton did a great job with NHL playoffs, last year's U20 and the women's world's.

Here is where I agree with you.. they used a bubble for all of those and should've here. I actually thought they were.

 

[brentashton]

JC always has too many men on the ice with his 12-man shinny squad.

And that one locker room cancer that was a back stabber!

 

[Chainshot]

And that one locker room cancer that was a back stabber!

Marchand?

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Like Switzerland who just cancelled Spengler? Or Finland who had full teams shut down and couldn't send raty to Juniors.

This isn't a Canada issue.

Edmonton did a great job with NHL playoffs, last year's U20 and the women's world's.

Here is where I agree with you.. they used a bubble for all of those and should've here. I actually thought they were.

This is still a business.

They aren't in it to keep losing money.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

The IIHF had two choices, either a) return to reality because everyone is vaccinated & healthy and stop testing vaccinated people for a what’s less noticeable than a cold, or b) go full crazy & test everyone constantly but at least put everyone in a bubble so it would be feasible. They chose neither/both going crazy with testing but without a bubble. That will doom them.
The only other realistic option would have been to host this in a country that hasn’t lost its collective mind. Avoid Canada for a few more years.

Tournament's in Canada, what route would you expect them to take? Apparently there's a worldwide epidemic of 19-year-old casualties.

And if I here this freaking realtor.com ad again...

 

[Marioesque]

So the world juniors is not happening in Canada? I think you are wrong buddy. If Canada took Covid serious they would’ve said no to hosting this but money is more important than good health

This. The women's tournament was canceled because of covid but WJC was too lucrative to skip.

 

[Czechboy]

This. The women's tournament was canceled because of covid but WJC was too lucrative to skip.

The U18 women's may get resurrected..

 

[Hinterland]

But the Swiss (or whoever if this happens again in this tournament) would still get
a) automatic points, and
b) MORE than the Covid + team

IMO, that seems more fair than the full 3 points.

Great idea. I'm sure Canada would have been more than happy and over the moon with a 1-0 OT win and two points vs Austria today if an Austrian player tested positive.

 

[Qwijibo]

What I don't understand is why the forfeit had to be a 1-0 regulation "loss".

Why couldn't it have been a 1-0 Overtime "loss"? Therefore, USA still gets 1 point, while the other team still earns more points, but not the full 3 points?

Why would a team forfeiting a game get any points? That makes zero sense

 

[Gregsky99]

The U18 women's may get resurrected..

It should if this tournament actually gets to finish without being cancelled, but if this tournament gets cancelled without finishing, then there's no chance

 

[Conrad McBenis]

My analogy is this: wearing seat belts (or helmet) doesn't mean you will never, ever get into a car accident. Wearing seat belts (or helmet) just means it's more likely you will survive a car accident.

I didn't know car accidents were highly contagious. Great analogy.

 

[Hanji]

The IIHF had two choices, either a) return to reality because everyone is vaccinated & healthy and stop testing vaccinated people for a what’s less noticeable than a cold, or b) go full crazy & test everyone constantly but at least put everyone in a bubble so it would be feasible. They chose neither/both going crazy with testing but without a bubble. That will doom them.
The only other realistic option would have been to host this in a country that hasn’t lost its collective mind. Avoid Canada for a few more years.

Yea. But Hockey Canada first needs to be able to provide adequate resources for (b). They're the host. The IIHF can't do this by themselves.
This appears to be Hockey Canada's decision/failure, later approved by the IIHF. What a mess.

The total opposite of last year. This was last years proceedure:

The IIHF Council has approved a proposal from Hockey Canada to hold the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship to a single-venue format at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada.
During a briefing with the participating teams last week, the Local Organizing Committee for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship shared a set of initial proposals concerning travel to Edmonton, COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, and a plan for a competition bubble that would isolate both teams and tournament officials within the Edmonton Ice District, currently playing host to the NHL’s playoff bubble.

IIHF - 2021 World Juniors taking shape

 

[Hinterland]

Stop testing young, healthy asymptomatic people and this thing would go away. That's not what some people want though....they want numbers, want this thing to go on forever.

These last two years have been the greatest gaslighting the world has ever known. It's amazing to watch and extremally sad at the same time.

I'd agree if there was a bubble but like this you have to watch out not to be a driver of the pandemic. Not everybody in Canada is 18/19 yo and a healthy athlete. Since there's no bubble of course you have to respect the guidelines of Canadian Health authorities.

 

[Stubu]

The spread among asymptomatic vaccinated people is quite rare.

The NFL has shown this to be true:

NFL: Symptomatic players driving COVID spread

The NFL was also among the first organizations to prove Covid was airborne.

Their contact tracing has been phenomenal and invaluable.

A lot of people don't want to accept that (the same way a lot of people didn't want to accept Covid was airborne) so I doubt we ever see get to the point where we accept that (especially for events in Canada).

The narrative that the vaccinated can spread Covid is a faulty one. It's true in the same sense that a birth control pill isn't 100% effevtive, but nobody goes around saying "you still get pregnant on the pill".

As for the unvaccinated, they've basically elected to get Covid at this point and honestly shouldn't even be allowed in the tournament to begin with.

In Finland we're seeing a new peak in infections and in hospitalizations, again straining the capacity of healthcare. (There's reserve to add if it gets worse but that means the postponement of other scheduled treatments.) We now have 83% of over 11 yr with two vaccinations, 20% with three. 65% of the hospitalizations are unvaccinated people but 30% are with two vaccines. However, these are mostly Delta cases, not Omicron. Still, that 30% is a non-trivial amount of people.

Can't just make the blanket statement that the vaccinated can't spread Covid. When what we're seeing is not just that but also some amount of hospitalizations of double-vaxxed people.

Now, if you're referring to Omicron, or pro athletes only, it may be a different picture altogether, I concede that. I'll just want to wait and see a little more before I try to have any opinion one way or the other. (Findings from the NFL is not that useful for me, well past my sports prime, haha. And they probably have a clear picture who has been symptomatic or asymptomatic in the spread cases, whereas we no longer can reliably establish that through contact tracing for the general population. Just saying blanket statements are always risky.)

 

[Saitama]

I'm sorry for all US fans except the ones that are stating that this is robbing them of a guaranteed gold.

 

[adsfan]

Still don't understand why this couldn't be postponed instead? I almost thought it was a joke when I saw it on Wikipedia. You occasionally hear of forfeits from soccer teams playing in war torn nations but I've never heard of it in major NA sports.

It has happened in MLB a few times since the 1960s. The Chicago White Sox forfeited the second game of a doubleheader in 1979 on "Death to Disco Night". They blew up a bunch of disco records near second base between the games and the field was judged as "unplayable" for game 2. I think that was against the Detroit Tigers.

The Dodgers gave out baseballs to fans coming in and they kept throwing them on the field. I think that was 1995. That was the last forfeit in MLB. The rules were changed that all giveaways have to be to exiting fans.

 

[adsfan]

I'm sorry for all US fans except the ones that are stating that this is robbing them of a guaranteed gold.

This is one US fan who saw the game against Slovakia. The US looked impressive during period 2 and not at all in period 3. The rest might help their chances!

 

[Saitama]

This is one US fan who saw the game against Slovakia. The US looked impressive during period 2 and not at all in period 3. The rest might help their chances!

Yeah, I have no doubts they'll be ok as long as this doesn't happen again. Still got to sting though. Here's hoping your guys will be ok going forth!

 

[lilidk]

Who is that lucky one who scored

 

[GreatSaveEssensa]

Anyone who is attending or planned to attend the tournament had to be aware of the possibility that their plans would not happen, especially given the reduced capacity prior to the tournament. I'm in a similar situation, Ottawa comes to Edmonton once a year, I have tickets for the game on Jan 10th. Right now, I'm waiting to find out what will happen with my tickets and If I will have to cancel my plans to travel to Edmonton. It's disappointing, but It doesn't make me mad. I'm not going to blame the NHL, Alberta government, Edmonton Oilers etc. When I made those plans in October I was fully aware that given the circumstances there was a chance that the situation would change and it has. Though the outrage in this thread, much of which has been removed isn't about people's plans being changed.


I think many are missing the broader picture here in regards to salvaging this tournament, especially for the American team. They could have played without those two players but when two becomes five and then ten, it becomes much more difficult for that team to participate. It's a short tournament, action had to be immediate.

Yes for sure. That still doesn't mean its not disappointing though, which was what I wax getting st to the poster I had responded to.

 

[NorCalhockey]

Great idea. I'm sure Canada would have been more than happy and over the moon with a 1-0 OT win and two points vs Austria today if an Austrian player tested positive.

Canada is the second team I root for in this tournament. Hopefully, Canada won’t experience their own Covid woes, but if so, I guess Canada won’t mind giving up 3 points.

Why would a team forfeiting a game get any points? That makes zero sense

Because of extenuating circumstances called a worldwide pandemic. The NHL & NHLPA can modify the CBA they negotiated a mere 1 1/2 or so years ago due to :::::: checks notes :::::: a continuing pandemic, but I guess changing the rules temporarily is something beyond the capability of the IIHF.

I didn't know car accidents were highly contagious. Great analogy.

It’s not about contagion. It’s about *doing what you can to help your survival*. Further, in some places, Covid vaccines are mandated, like seat belts are mandated. This goes back to my original post that seat belts - similar to vaccines help with survival.

 

[Qwijibo]

Canada is the second team I root for in this tournament. Hopefully, Canada won’t experience their own Covid woes, but if so, I guess Canada won’t mind giving up 3 points.


Because of extenuating circumstances called a worldwide pandemic. The NHL & NHLPA can modify the CBA they negotiated a mere 1 1/2 or so years ago due to :::::: checks notes :::::: a continuing pandemic, but I guess changing the rules temporarily is something beyond the capability of the IIHF.


It’s not about contagion. It’s about *doing what you can to help your survival*. Further, in some places, Covid vaccines are mandated, like seat belts are mandated. This goes back to my original post that seat belts - similar to vaccines help with survival.

Regardless of if they have the ability to change the rule or not, Giving the team that has to forfeit any points makes absolutely no sense. They forfeited. They don’t deserve a point.

 

[Chrisinroch]

I've never seen a team have to forfeit a game because a couple players got injured.

You do realize that sprained ligaments and broken bones aren’t contagious, right?

 

[Zach716]

Hard fought victory for Switz

 

[2014nyr]

hopefully common sense gets its md soon