Friedman: Players don’t want to sign in Canada?

[Naslundforever]

Is that why people were packed in like sardines just outside the stadium?

I had the freedom to go to a playoff game, sounds like you didn't.

People with little money have the freedom of going for elective surgery again because hospitals are freed up again. To each his own value system, I guess (health care is provided to broke people up here). But hey, hockey.

 

[Metroid]

That's exactly one of the main reason why locking people in their homes doesn't work.

I wasn't locked up in my home..... Were you???

 

[Benstheman]

You can look at Europe, you can look at the USA... Some countries/states did better then other countries while having less severe lockdown measures with similar population density.

It's really not that hard.

People that think they know, are the people that know the least. Like i said, there are hundreds, if not thousands of variables that come in play. But yet, you keep thinking you get the whole picture by using 2-3 of those variables.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

Basically it comes down to Disco fries > Poutine.

 

[Prendan Brust]

Yeah, kind of sucks. I more of the opinon that both United States and Canada have merits and players can choose whenever they want to live. I'm from Montreal but I would be interested by a couple of US cities and other Canadian cities even if I would prefer to play from my hometown.

This thread has predictably turned into a shouting match and a dick measuring contest. Personnally, I hate exposure so I understand why many NHL players, all other things being equal, prefer to play in a US city.

 

[Fatass]

That's exactly one of the main reason why locking people in their homes doesn't work.

And just by curiosity, would you apply the same logic of population density when describing the main difference between the US & Canada when it comes to cases?

Where exactly were people locked in their homes? I think the scrutiny of NHL players in Canada is way higher and that’s why they prefer the State’s. It’s not for political reasons.

 

[DiglettDangles]

Let's face it, there's only 3 cities in Canada where you can actually LIVE like a millionaire (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver).
What's the point in earning $5M+ per year if you can only spend them on Tim Hortons and a state-of-the-art snowblower?
I know that if I were young, rich and midway through a career that'll have me retire between 30-35 anyways, I'd want to make the most of it during my working days.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Completely anecdotal, and you don't have to believe me.

I met a couple of NHLers at a pho restaurant in Vancouver.

They overheard my buddy and I talking about hockey and then he chuckled.. when we realised it was a 4th liner from the Sabres back in 2003.


We were talking to him for a bit, when I asked him why did Mike Comrie ask for a trade out of Edmonton? The guy was a literal king, his dad a billionaire, he grew up there... his friends n fam were all there.

He said he couldn't walk to a 7-11 without getting mobbed. People waited for him outside of bathroom stalls for his autograph.
Every time he went to a bar, some drunk asshole wanted to pick a fight with him.

He said Mike Comrie was a good guy, but only getting 1 goal in the playoffs had an entire city completely mad at him. The Stars had a payroll 3x the Oilers and Hatcher was literally allowed to bearhug him for all 6-games. The pressure for him to be Doug Weights heir-apparent didn't sit well with him at all. Then the rumors of him sleeping with Salo's wife, and all that other nonsense started coming up.


He told us Edmonton is a pressure cooker, and it's great for some players who thrive under those adverse conditions, but most players don't. It takes a certain type of personality to love it.

Anyways what I took from that short conversation, was that Edmonton being a blue-collar city LOVES their blue-collar players. We love our tough-as-nails, give 110% every shift players. Ryan Smyth, Doug Weight, Jason Smith types. Even if they're not talented enough to win, Oilers will seemingly forgive a bad team that gives 110%.

(Believe it or not, Gretzky didn't take many shifts off. Messier would throw someone through a wall if they took a shift off).

Till this day, Oiler will dogpile on Draisaitl for skating back slowly on the end of a shift, or any player that doesn't have their legs under them. We gave away Eberle for nothing because of a low-energy playoff performance.

 

[Prendan Brust]

People that think they know, are the people that know the least. Like i said, there are hundreds, if not thousands of variables that come in play. But yet, you keep thinking you get the whole picture by using 2-3 of those variables.

That's what I suspect but maybe he'll be able to provide a well crafted study proving his point...

 

[LOFIN]

Why has this thread evolved into bickering about the pandemic and how countries managed it? It's not the biggest issue regarding this thread, Canadian teams have been unattractive to UFAs for ages.

Weather, taxes, being recognized everywhere...

 

[Rockomax]

Basically it comes down to Disco fries > Poutine.

How dare you blaspheme like this?

 

[Benstheman]

Here's a great statistic... 85%+ of death in QC came from nursing homes, so we decided to lockdown & impose a curfew on 8.5M people because the Govt has been doing a poor job at managing nursing homes for a long time.

But hey, if the Govt tells us to be mindful of our elders, while he literally let them rot... we should listen.

Again, minimalist conclusion.

 

[Cams]

I disagree. There are quotes from MANY Canadian born players stating that they don't want to play in Canada. It has nothing to do with nationality. Not many Russians or Swedes on Canadian teams either. Who would want to play somewhere that is restricting their freedoms? Canada is a very beautiful country, but you guys have some really awful lawmakers taking away your freedoms right now and I don't blame the players for leaving. Not saying we don't have just as many problems here, but language restrictions are pretty extreme.

Have to disagree with this. What freedoms are being taken away? If you're talking covid restrictions - this was the case in the US too. Those will be gone soon - we've caught up, and in fact surpassed the US in vaccinations.

 

[BahlDeep]

I'm curious to see where you got that from? I'm curious to see the methodology used to measure that relation. Especially how they quantified the severity of the measures.

Just looking at different states with similar population density. It's really not that hard.

Someone mentioned that BC was not as densely populated as QC or ON, that's obviously a big framing bias. Vancouver is more densely populated then MTL & Toronto and they did a way better job in terms of cases & deaths then both of them while remaining open with some restrictions.

We can look at individual states in the USA, in Europe & pretty much around the world. There is no correlation between the 2. If you can find one, let me know. You don't impose lockdowns while impeding people's lives both from a social & economic standpoing because you 'believe its logical', you do it based on empirical data & statistic. The Govt hasn't showed us one statistical evidence when imposing those lockdowns other then saying its 'logic'.

We both live in Quebec. We both were imposed a curfew for 5 months.

The government never showed any statistical evidence on why a curfew was necessary. Do you think curfews work?

If you think so, look at France vs. other countries in Europe where they had no curfews. France did not fare better then many countries.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

People with little money have the freedom of going for elective surgery again because hospitals are freed up again. To each his own value system, I guess (health care is provided to broke people up here). But hey, hockey.

I prefer the freedom to choose what to do with my disposable income.

 

[uncleben]

Lock on this thread while people collect themselves.

It's difficult to have this discussion without getting into the nuances of the differences of the countries, including politics, but a reminder that politics in general is NOT allowed. Please avoid debating legislation, or veering too far off topic in regards to political beliefs or your stance on COVID/vaccination.

As always, attacking, targeting, or baiting other posters is also not allowed.