OT: Official COVID-19 Thread

[Dickie Dunn]

Try being 51 and holed up for weeks. Fat, sore, long hair and drinking more......like a surviving member of a shitty 80’s band.

 

[57special]

You kids!

 

[TaLoN]

Apparently the NHLPA executive board is voting on this tomorrow... a 2 conference play-in and playoff. Not division based as was rumored previously.

31 Thoughts: Player vote underway on NHL playoff system - Sportsnet.ca

We don’t know if the NHL is going to be able to resume its season, but we know that — come hell or high water — it is going to try. As Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported Thursday night, the NHLPA’s Executive Board (that’s the 31 player representatives) is voting on the conference-based “play-in” proposal. It is hoped results will be known Friday night.

The proposal is close to what the NHL initially suggested. Top four in each conference (based on points percentage) get byes. Then it is a “bracketed” setup: 5 vs. 12 (winner plays 4), 6 vs. 11 (winner plays 3), 7 vs. 10 (winner plays 2), 8 vs. 9 (winner plays 1). That’s how the NCAA basketball tournament does it, with the exception that the higher seeds have no byes.
Series best-of-five in the “play-in,” and best-of-seven after.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

No team wants a bye

this whole thing seems ill-conceived... no gate, terrible tv ratings, injuries, infection... what's not to like?

Also, too bad they arrested those Green Berets who smuggled Carlos Ghosn out of Japan, they might be needed to get these players from Europe back to North America

 

[P10p]

No team wants a bye

this whole thing seems ill-conceived... no gate, terrible tv ratings, injuries, infection... what's not to like?

Also, too bad they arrested those Green Berets who smuggled Carlos Ghosn out of Japan, they might be needed to get these players from Europe back to North America

Terrible tv ratings...?

Why? More people staying home and wanting something to watch. Sports fans in particular are dying for something to watch.

Injuries....?

What? How is this different in terms of injuries? The only way injuries factor in is if guys who were injured for what would have been the season are back in time for this new format. In which case, so what? We're in unprecedented times.

Infection.....?

The risk for these athletes is as close to 0% as you can get in terms of covid complication. The virus has been shown to pose almost no significant danger to the average healthy human body, let alone an athlete in his prime.

And as for the no gate, well of course that is the big sacrifice that the owners will have to suffer. Some i'm sure are more capable to take the loss than others. Fortunately it has absolutely nothing to do with you, that is unless you're looking for something to be negative and complain about.

Such is human nature...

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Terrible tv ratings...?

Why? More people staying home and wanting something to watch. Sports fans in particular are dying for something to watch.

Injuries....?

What? How is this different in terms of injuries? The only way injuries factor in is if guys who were injured for what would have been the season are back in time for this new format. In which case, so what? We're in unprecedented times.

Infection.....?

The risk for these athletes is as close to 0% as you can get in terms of covid complication. The virus has been shown to pose almost no significant danger to the average healthy human body, let alone an athlete in his prime.

And as for the no gate, well of course that is the big sacrifice that the owners will have to suffer. Some i'm sure are more capable to take the loss than others. Fortunately it has absolutely nothing to do with you, that is unless you're looking for something to be negative and complain about.

Such is human nature...

TV ratings are always bad for the NHL in the summer. People want to golf and swim and play bocce and drink on the patio, not sit on a couch. Injuries because most guys are way off their usual training schedules and will now be expected to step in and play playoff hockey on bad ice. Just because some young people haven't had complications doesn't mean "close to 0" that's ridiculous. Some formerly healthy young people have died. The idea that guys in a scrum or whatever aren't hugely exposing themselves even in a way soccer players don't is also ludicrous. Hockey is filthy that way... remember MUMPS?? And yeah, I'd say no gate is a big concern for a sport that relies on it to turn a profit.

I'd love to be positive, and watch hockey instead of crap like Summer House and Southern Charm, but realism comes first.

 

[Webster]

A player at this level, who should be in excellent shape, will most likely not die of covid. But he can still get very sick, and set him back for a long time.

But you miss the most important thing, players don't want to infect family members, and they don't want to leave wife and kids for a month or two in a time like this.

Listen to Staal's interview with Russo, he definitely does not want to do this. He wants to cancel it all and start next season as originally planned.

 

[57special]

This is a half a loaf solution. No one is thinking that it will be as good as a normal Cup playoff, and that there aren't all kinds of problems with the concept. I will watch the Wild when they play if I have nothing else to do, but I don't think they deserve to be in the playoffs. I do understand teams like TBL, STL, BOS, PIT wanting to finish the season. I am ambivalent about hockey being played, but if they don't finish this summer then I don't see how they can justify starting the 2020-21 season.

As far as the players not "wanting' to play? . Do they think that nurses, janitors, firemen, cops, meat packers, bus drivers, etc., all of whom make a fraction of what hockey players do, "want" to go to work and risk infection? What makes them think that things are going to be better in the fall and winter, when it is more likely that there will be a resurgence of C-19? Players will be given all sorts of facilities and care that the rest of us can only dream of.

It will be a sad end to Koivu's career, and maybe Staal's, but there is a lot of sadness going around.

 

[2Pair]

I can't really blame Staal and Dubnyk for their opinions on the matter, but if that's how they really feel, then they need to be removed from the organization asap.

 

[Ban Hammered]

I can't really blame Staal and Dubnyk for their opinions on the matter, but if that's how they really feel, then they need to be removed from the organization asap.

No they really don't.

 

[Webster]

Sounds like they'll get the necessary votes to go ahead with this plan, even though many players are against it.
Also a fresh Russo podcast on the matter, and other Wild developments.

 

[Nsjohnson]

So uhhh we're playing the Canucks then eh

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

So uhhh we're playing the Canucks then eh

Canucks fan here. Surely one of our players will not antagonize your team and fans this time right?

 

[Nsjohnson]

Canucks fan here. Surely one of our players will not antagonize your team and fans this time right?

I'm not even sure either of us care that much at this point like sure hockey is back, that's good news. I don't feel any antagonism, just a mild pleasure knowing we can watch hockey at some point.

 

[57special]

Those damn Sedins are going to make us look like fools again!

 

[thestonedkoala]

No they really don't.

He's the same guy thinking Parise is washed up and needs to be traded ASAP, because he is such a cancer in the locker room and is the woes of all the Wild's trouble, past, present and future. He also thinks JEE is a bust and that getting an NHL player in the later half of the 1st round is easy.

 

[NHL1674]

Those damn Sedins are going to make us look like fools again!

At least we won't have to bother showing up for Game 6.

 

[TaLoN]

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

TV ratings are always bad for the NHL in the summer. People want to golf and swim and play bocce and drink on the patio, not sit on a couch. Injuries because most guys are way off their usual training schedules and will now be expected to step in and play playoff hockey on bad ice. Just because some young people haven't had complications doesn't mean "close to 0" that's ridiculous. Some formerly healthy young people have died. The idea that guys in a scrum or whatever aren't hugely exposing themselves even in a way soccer players don't is also ludicrous. Hockey is filthy that way... remember MUMPS?? And yeah, I'd say no gate is a big concern for a sport that relies on it to turn a profit.

I'd love to be positive, and watch hockey instead of crap like Summer House and Southern Charm, but realism comes first.

I don't think historical summer ratings are all that applicable right now.

 

[P10p]

TV ratings are always bad for the NHL in the summer. People want to golf and swim and play bocce and drink on the patio, not sit on a couch. Injuries because most guys are way off their usual training schedules and will now be expected to step in and play playoff hockey on bad ice. Just because some young people haven't had complications doesn't mean "close to 0" that's ridiculous. Some formerly healthy young people have died. The idea that guys in a scrum or whatever aren't hugely exposing themselves even in a way soccer players don't is also ludicrous. Hockey is filthy that way... remember MUMPS?? And yeah, I'd say no gate is a big concern for a sport that relies on it to turn a profit.

I'd love to be positive, and watch hockey instead of crap like Summer House and Southern Charm, but realism comes first.

Why don't you do some quick reasearch on the covid fatality of people aged say 40 or under?

Pretty dang close to 0 isn't it?

Like... under 1% close...

Like... as close to 0% as it is to 1% close....

But sure, make stuff up.....

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

TV ratings are always bad for the NHL in the summer. People want to golf and swim and play bocce and drink on the patio, not sit on a couch. Injuries because most guys are way off their usual training schedules and will now be expected to step in and play playoff hockey on bad ice. Just because some young people haven't had complications doesn't mean "close to 0" that's ridiculous. Some formerly healthy young people have died. The idea that guys in a scrum or whatever aren't hugely exposing themselves even in a way soccer players don't is also ludicrous. Hockey is filthy that way... remember MUMPS?? And yeah, I'd say no gate is a big concern for a sport that relies on it to turn a profit.

I'd love to be positive, and watch hockey instead of crap like Summer House and Southern Charm, but realism comes first.

You reduce this as best you can through quarantine and testing, but there isn't going to be a perfect answer. You have to come back at some point, and waiting until the threat is completely eliminated isn't realistic either.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

A player at this level, who should be in excellent shape, will most likely not die of covid. But he can still get very sick, and set him back for a long time.

But you miss the most important thing, players don't want to infect family members, and they don't want to leave wife and kids for a month or two in a time like this.

Listen to Staal's interview with Russo, he definitely does not want to do this. He wants to cancel it all and start next season as originally planned.

If you are away from your family members, then you will not be infecting them.

 

[Minnewildsota]

Why don't you do some quick reasearch on the covid fatality of people aged say 40 or under?

Pretty dang close to 0 isn't it?

Like... under 1% close...

Like... as close to 0% as it is to 1% close....

But sure, make stuff up.....

It's not about the large majority of people though. Yes, MOST people won't be effected by COVID. However, there is a large portion of people that are susceptible to the virus and it is irresponsible to force them to be exposed to the virus.

Agree with Janitor, we need to be mindful of both sides (opening things up vs being cautious) as both have legitimate reasons. Just because the perceived amount of infected/infectious people seems small doesn't mean we should open things up all willy nilly. We also can't be in quarantine forever. We need to find a balance.

Food for thought: As of today, the US has the highest amount of infected people and by a large margin ~1.7 million to the next highest country, Brazil at 400k.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Why don't you do some quick reasearch on the covid fatality of people aged say 40 or under?

Pretty dang close to 0 isn't it?

Like... under 1% close...

Like... as close to 0% as it is to 1% close....

But sure, make stuff up.....

how many more than ZERO people would have to die for you to think it was a bad idea to play?

Take your talk of ZERO to the family of the under-40 guy that used to serve beers and burgers down the block and died in March... tell them how close to ZERO his life was.

 

[57special]

I don't think we have a clue how many people are infected, or have been infected, due to the testing limititations. Of more interest to me is the number of hospitalizations, and deaths, due to Covid. Even there, I think the numbers are understated. Many countries under report for political or other reasons.