League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2020 Offseason Edition - Vol. 10

[Melkor]

It’s the Pens LUV he shows so openly. At least to Caps fans eyes. And probably Flyers, Rangers, Islanders, Devils......

So these boards don’t like him.

He loves Crosby. I don't think he particularly loves the Pens. It just so happens that his favourite player plays for them so it seems like he's their homer. The real pens and hawks homer and a Caps hater on that crew is and has always been Eddie. I don't get how it gets overlooked by this fanbase and board. The guy shows his bias and takes sides with Caps opponents on every presented opportunity and nobody seemingly gives a flying f*** while once Pierre opens his mouth about whatever he gets bashed like crazy.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He loves Crosby. I don't think he particularly loves the Pens. It just so happens that his favourite player plays for them so it seems like he's their homer. The real pens and hawks homer and a Caps hater on that crew is and has always been Eddie. I don't get how it gets overlooked by this fanbase and board. The guy shows his bias and takes sides with Caps opponents on every presented opportunity and nobody seemingly gives a flying f*** while once Pierre opens his mouth about whatever he gets bashed like crazy.

oh that is so obvious it’s in no way ignored here, but what can you do but smile and eat the poop sandwich that he can be at times?

Pierre IMO is just so much more weasely looking thus he takes the heat more, especially when he was right there sniffing jocks between the benches for so long...he’s a glorified 2nd color commentator who rarely brought useful stuff IMO.

 

[Bieronymus Trotz]

I don't think there's any indication anyone on NBC is or has been biased against the Capitals.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't think there's any indication anyone on NBC is or has been biased against the Capitals.

how can you possibly miss the ball sucking?

And it’s not really bias against anyone IMO it’s bias for the Pens and Crosby.

 

[Melkor]

oh that is so obvious it’s in no way ignored here, but what can you do but smile and eat the poop sandwich that he can be at times?

Pierre IMO is just so much more weasely looking thus he takes the heat more, especially when he was right there sniffing jocks between the benches for so long...he’s a glorified 2nd color commentator who rarely brought useful stuff IMO.

I respect Pierre just for being an entertainment. Always says some weird shit, always overexcited about unexciting or not that exciting stuff, always loves him some Tommy Wilson whoever that guy kills on the ice. He's like a mascot for the NHL hockey. To me it's gonna be a sad day when he retires.

 

[John Price]

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

So no suspension for Ovechkin when he skips the All-Star game this season

 

[Calicaps]

precursor to giving up on the whole season and seeing Ovie lose out on another year toward 99's record.

 

[Raikkonen]

precursor to giving up on the whole season and seeing Ovie lose out on another year toward 99's record.

Well. Ppl's health should come first.
Even if Ovi loses another season and ends up at 800+ goals - thats not bad at all.

 

[Calicaps]

Well. Ppl's health should come first.
Even if Ovi loses another season and ends up at 800+ goals - thats not bad at all.

I mean, of course. But they're not doing this for the players' health. They say right in the announcement that it's about the lack of fans. If they cancel the season (and I think they will) it'll be because the costs of operating w/out fans exceed the revenue from TV, etc. It's almost inevitable in a gate-funded league. And this year is just a shit show so whatever. But in the context of the year and half plus a month that Ovie's already lost to lockouts and crap, it just makes me angry and sad.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I think they will have a truncated season. Maybe I’m wrong.

55-60 games and the hope that by summer the vaccine will be in play and fans can attend.

but regardless, he’s definitely losing games to catch up. Doesn’t mean he cannot, but it grows more challenging with every game lost.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

If the handling of COVID hadn't been such an absolute disaster we could be looking forward to a normal regular season with fans at the games. In Australia they had a rugby league semifinal last weekend with 30,000 fans in attendance.
In New Zealand they had a rugby match last Sunday and the stadium was packed to the rafters (40,000 fans).

 

[Hivemind]

I mean, of course. But they're not doing this for the players' health. They say right in the announcement that it's about the lack of fans. If they cancel the season (and I think they will) it'll be because the costs of operating w/out fans exceed the revenue from TV, etc. It's almost inevitable in a gate-funded league. And this year is just a shit show so whatever. But in the context of the year and half plus a month that Ovie's already lost to lockouts and crap, it just makes me angry and sad.

@Raikkonen said "people's health," not just the player's health.

The world in large sucks right now thanks to COVID. But the safety of the populace comes before sports and certainly comes before Ovie chasing a record. If there's not a financially viable way to compete in 2021 thanks to no gate revenue, it's not worth exposing the health of the populace just to have gate revenue. I'd rather they cancel than risk creating super spreader events.

 

[Calicaps]

@Raikkonen said "people's health," not just the player's health.

The world in large sucks right now thanks to COVID. But the safety of the populace comes before sports and certainly comes before Ovie chasing a record. If there's not a financially viable way to compete in 2021 thanks to no gate revenue, it's not worth exposing the health of the populace just to have gate revenue. I'd rather they cancel than risk creating super spreader events.

DUH. I have season f***ing tickets and wouldn't get near a game right now. We have been extremely socially distant and have no plans to change that. But none of this is relevant to my point.

 

[Ridley Simon]

If the handling of COVID hadn't been such an absolute disaster we could be looking forward to a normal regular season with fans at the games. In Australia they had a rugby league semifinal last weekend with 30,000 fans in attendance.
In New Zealand they had a rugby match last Sunday and the stadium was packed to the rafters (40,000 fans).

New Zealand and Australia certainly have handled it well, and our government has fared so poorly. That said, closing an Island is far easier than a continent. Even a big Island.

I don’t think a county like the USA — with how we’ve always allowed travel and have SO many ways to get into the country — would ever have been able to look like a New Zealand or an Australia. Even our best continental states (like a Rhode Island as an example....ironic as it has “Island” in the name) can’t contain it like a true Island can. Hawaii has done very well, as an example.

 

[Ridley Simon]

DUH. I have season f***ing tickets and wouldn't get near a game right now. We have been extremely socially distant and have no plans to change that. But none of this is relevant to my point.

Just in case you cared more about stats than lives, this should clarify it for you? You’ve always seemed rather cold hearted to me, so that commentary probably helps

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Makes sense to cancel the frilly events like the ASG. For a spectacle that probably draws more casual tv fans than any other RS game (the Winter Classic) AND costs a shitload more to put on than a normal game, you scrap it if you can't get corporate sponsorship and fans paying big bucks to go in person.

As far as playing games w/o gate receipts, one factor that hasn't been discussed is that their least replaceable assets - the players - will deteriorate over time. This involves more than Ovie's push to overtake Gretzky. It's about guys staying motivated, interested, in game shape (or close to it). You always hear rookies talk about how the speed of the NHL game is so tough to adjust to. Going without competition against other top-level pros for 12 months or more, I'd expect players to lose many of the attributes that make them NHL players. Even if the games are in the sterile environment of a bubble, players have something close to their "normal" game experience. I think the owners see some level of loss an acceptable cost in exchange for maintaining their assets at something close to working order.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

New Zealand and Australia certainly have handled it well, and our government has fared so poorly. That said, closing an Island is far easier than a continent. Even a big Island.

I don’t think a county like the USA — with how we’ve always allowed travel and have SO many ways to get into the country — would ever have been able to look like a New Zealand or an Australia. Even our best continental states (like a Rhode Island as an example....ironic as it has “Island” in the name) can’t contain it like a true Island can. Hawaii has done very well, as an example.

Yeah - how do you contain something that is transmitted like a common cold or flu? It's pretty much impossible. If you have nation wide cooperation, forced quarantine (14 days) of anybody entering the U.S by plane or boat or road, and you can get every single state on the same page and agree to wearing masks and going into a lockdown, you can get the numbers WAY down. That is what happened in Australia and even then one of our states (pop: 5 million) couldn't manage it and caused a second wave that was 7 times worse than the first wave.
Until there is a vaccine this isn't going to just disappear. And it is certainly easier to manage on an island (a really really big one, admittedly, but still an island) like Australia with a population of 25 million. But America has done an appalling job of managing the spread of COVID and continues to do so, and on that basis alone I don't see how it's going to be possible for a return to anything like a normal season of hockey, or any other sport. Not without a vaccine.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Worst case is they will do multiple bubbles they will play a season. Unless we want another lock out which I wouldn’t put it past the NHL

 

[tenken00]

It is worrisome what the near future will be like with today being the highest number of new Covid cases ever recorded in the US. And we aren't even in the middle of the winter freeze yet.

82,600 new cases today as of 7:35 PM US Eastern time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/23/covid-us-spike-cases/

Gotta hunker down and get through this somehow.

 

[caps4cup]

It is worrisome what the near future will be like with today being the highest number of new Covid cases ever recorded in the US. And we aren't even in the middle of the winter freeze yet.

82,600 new cases today as of 7:35 PM US Eastern time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/23/covid-us-spike-cases/

Gotta hunker down and get through this somehow.

Daily Testing Trends in the US - Johns Hopkins

According to this chart, the positivity rate is actually near the all-time lows right now. And cases don’t necessarily correlate to sick people, hospitalized people or number of deaths. Obviously, the less cases the better, but that’s not really the best statistic to be looking at when you realize how much the US tests and how large the population is.

Deaths/hospitalizations (the people that are getting extremely sick) are a better statistic to look at and the daily deaths for the country are generally at their lowest points since mid June - mid July, while the hospitalization rate is the lowest since March, according to this chart from the CDC.

COVIDView, Key Updates for Week 42


Not saying this thing is in the rear view mirror by any means, just that cases are going to keep rising as testing increases. And while the positivity rate has increased slightly in October, it has been nowhere near as concerning as the raw number of cases would lead you to believe. Just some context (and positivity!).

 

[AussieCapsFan]

Worst case is they will do multiple bubbles they will play a season. Unless we want another lock out which I wouldn’t put it past the NHL

I don't want a season of bubble hockey

 

[tenken00]

Daily Testing Trends in the US - Johns Hopkins

According to this chart, the positivity rate is actually near the all-time lows right now. And cases don’t necessarily correlate to sick people, hospitalized people or number of deaths. Obviously, the less cases the better, but that’s not really the best statistic to be looking at when you realize how much the US tests and how large the population is.

Deaths/hospitalizations (the people that are getting extremely sick) are a better statistic to look at and the daily deaths for the country are generally at their lowest points since mid June - mid July, while the hospitalization rate is the lowest since March, according to this chart from the CDC.

COVIDView, Key Updates for Week 42


Not saying this thing is in the rear view mirror by any means, just that cases are going to keep rising as testing increases. And while the positivity rate has increased slightly in October, it has been nowhere near as concerning as the raw number of cases would lead you to believe. Just some context (and positivity!).

This is true and although the positivity rate, hospitalization rate, and death rate are not at their highest levels, all three have been going up recently. Again. And just before the winter season.

 

[caps4cup]

This is true and although the positivity rate, hospitalization rate, and death rate are not at their highest levels, all three have been going up recently. Again. And just before the winter season.

Yep. There has been a slight uptick recently which you don’t want to see, I was just pointing out that it’s not nearly as bad right now as the raw case numbers would indicate.

The hospitalization and death rate actually did slightly decrease last week according to the CDC chart so we’ll see in the next few weeks if that reverses and becomes a third wave or if it keeps plateauing/decreasing. Hopefully if there is a third wave, it follows suit from the second wave and is less lethal than the previous one.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Yeah - how do you contain something that is transmitted like a common cold or flu? It's pretty much impossible. If you have nation wide cooperation, forced quarantine (14 days) of anybody entering the U.S by plane or boat or road, and you can get every single state on the same page and agree to wearing masks and going into a lockdown, you can get the numbers WAY down. That is what happened in Australia and even then one of our states (pop: 5 million) couldn't manage it and caused a second wave that was 7 times worse than the first wave.
Until there is a vaccine this isn't going to just disappear. And it is certainly easier to manage on an island (a really really big one, admittedly, but still an island) like Australia with a population of 25 million. But America has done an appalling job of managing the spread of COVID and continues to do so, and on that basis alone I don't see how it's going to be possible for a return to anything like a normal season of hockey, or any other sport. Not without a vaccine.

Agreed on all fronts. This country is to fractious to have done it better, since our leader punted the problem to the individual states. So we have 50 different mini countries. Brilliant! (Meaning mega stupid)