Lancaster

The guy was unlicensed, so they didn't even need any extra power. It is already illegal for anyone without a license to possess firearms. More rules wouldn't have made any difference since it's up to the police to actually enforce the laws they do have. The RCMP dropped the ball and instead of admitting any error, they and the government decide to twist the narrative to espouse the dangers of firearms or something. Even though the 99.9999% of legal firearms owner hasn't committed any crime. Banning guns that has never been used for criminal activities, banning one gun just based on esthetics or name. Regardless of opinions on gun, rules got to be based on actual fact and logic, not just "I don't know anything about guns, I don't like guns, therefore you shouldn't have guns".

Unfortunately, the rules aren't always based on science or facts, just government wanting to "do something" for the sake of doing something. That's not a good way to govern. If I want to drive to pick up Krispy Kreme, the police can hypothetically pull me over to check my ID to find out which health authority region I reside at? I mean... how did it actually help? I'm not talking about whether one should listen to the rules, but whether the rules are even worth enforcing to begin with. In regards to new variants.... seems to me that there will always be new variants and that current vaccines (and future version) may only be partially effective for new strains, thus this will be on-going in perpetuity. With a perpetual crisis, the power the authorities will get won't be temporary but permanent. There are ads by BC government saying how hanging out outside is acceptable. I believe most of the cases were transferred within a close vicinity. As for specific examples... a different one, but relates to firearms. Whatever your opinions on guns, the RCMP is nowadays more or less the one crafting regulations and enforcing regulations... with minimal oversight or venue to counter. Suffice to say that it's very self-serving. Bad laws are bad laws, regardless of its ultimate intention.

By that reasoning, I guess there should be no more outdoor protests too then, eh? Whether it's Earth Day, or BLM, or whatever.... those protests should be made illegal until the whole Covid situation is over? You're allowed to gather into groups outdoors as long as you're doing it safely. For large parties and stuff indoors, I believe they are already fining those people. I don't think anyone has issues with that. If the government really wants protect people, they should be encouraging people to be healthier overall. Obviously those who are elderly or with medical issues are more limited, but there are strong correlation in regards to obesity and the infection/death rate of Covid. Just a hypothetical scenario.... in the US, blacks are proportionally affected more by Covid than whites. Imagine if the police "prioritize" to stem the spread by maintaining vigilance for ID checks in those black neighbourhoods. Just remember, ID for voting is considered racist by some.... so now you're going to patrol an area where a sizeable population doesn't have ID. Those without ID will be fined and/or forced to stay home, regardless if they have a valid reason to be out. Is the above acceptable since it's for the "greater good"? Giving more power to the authority may sound good, but they rarely return such power. All it does to create some precedent to enact similar laws in the future. The run-of-the-mill flu is easily transmittable and many people do die from it.... so have ID checks, travel restrictions, quarantine measures be placed again? I mean, don't you care about that sweet old grandmother who you may kill if you travel during flu season?

Considering it was a supposedly a big issue in places like Toronto where some minority groups were complaining they were targeted more. While the police previously claimed it was working to reduce crime, some claim it's a racist policy. Now... police can have a carte blanche to do it again. Got any complaints? Well... it's to fight Covid. If the police just decide to give extra focus on say... blacks... that they're going to check every single black person they come across... that is now acceptable?

Imagine if the police only focus on ID'ing ethnic minorities. Racism or just cops acting within their powers to "fight covid"?

As much as I want to hate TML for doing this.... the Canucks did the same back in 2011. IIRC, Edler was out for most of the 2nd half of the season and returned just in time for Game 1 against Chicago.

It would be pretty cool to have him paired with Tryamkin to make a Nikita-Nikita pairing. Th 6'7 255lbs Tryamkin having to watch out for his smaller partner Zadorov who is only 6'5 220lbs.

"But but but... it's to curb the pandemic!"

Lets just remember.... playing for Torts isn't for all players. Sometimes even players who plays on an edge doesn't always thrive under him. It's true that maybe Max Domi isn't the strongest defensive player, but lets not forget that Torts also wanted to use the Sedins for the PK, taking defensive zone draws, etc. Not being reliable defensive by Tortorella's definition might not be the same for other coaches.

Got $212 back. Being the degenerate gambler that I am, I'll be using that for stocks, lol.

His style is sometimes a bit unorthodox, which can be a positive at times as players are constantly drilled non-stop on specific plays. One situation that really stood out for me was when he was defending a 2 on 1... and instead of skating backwards and maybe going down to block the pass, he just immediately charged the puck carrier.... and that attacking player just immediately froze for a split second as he went against conventional tactics. Good or bad, it did work.

It is important to take a step back and view how Covid has been infecting other countries and what initiatives (if any) were done in those places. The country I use as a measuring stick is Japan. Triple the population of Canada, but half the number of cases and deaths. They're more or less operating as usual..... wasn't that long ago the government even had a travel program where you get vouchers to spend at hotels, malls, restaurants, etc.... to a point where my sisters-in-law were almost eating out 2-3 meals per day, stay at the hotels 4-6 days per week... and have gotten so much free stuff that they are selling them for extra cash (kind enough to send my wife a $500 showerhead). Their cities are way more packed and they have an older demographic. Not saying there are full compliance with social distancing either.... clubs are still open, adult entertainment places are still operating, schools, etc. Lots of people just wearing masks on the chin too. The way they do thing is messed up to (eg. some hospitals telling potential infected people to not come and to "wait it out"). Contrast that with Quebec where you're more or less confined to house arrest... but their cases are skyrocketing. Some more food for thought.... at least according to Bill Mahar.... a high percentage of Covid deaths were people who were overweight and/or unhealthy. If it's true, you're punishing a whole bunch of healthy people due to some people being unhealthy.

Considering that it's becoming more and more likely that Covid will be around on-going and ever evolving.... it'll be the year 2025 and the mantra will still be "2 weeks more to flatten the curve".

Pfft... I did mine over a year ago....

If BTC fails to catch on, he can say that he was experimenting with something for the future. Should BTC revolutionizes things... he will appear as a genius for being a relatively early adopter.

I'm all for them being in the Lower Mainland. Going to Canucks games (at least prior to Petersson), wasn't really good value. Throw in food and drinks from the concessions for couples' night out.... suddenly a weekend trip out to Maui is starting to look like a better deal. I can't imagine being my kids when they are older either... I ain't made out of money. But to watch the Junior Canucks at a fraction of the cost? Sign me up. With the exception of playoff hockey, the effort and passion for the games for the WHL seems higher. I'm assuming the same effort and passion will also be there for AHL players that are hoping to make it to the big leagues. While the Pacific Coliseum would be a good venue with the history and all... it's way to outdated. Abbotsford's arena will be better. Unless they will also play out of Roger's Arena. A question... are there any issues with AHL players also training with NHL players too? Like have the goalies for the AHL team training with the staff and shooters from the NHL side.

I'm on both sides here. My story.... My wife and I were initially expecting (fraternal) twins, but one day during middle of the second trimester her water broke. We obviously panicked, went to BC Women's, but for whatever reason, they didn't have anyone on staff to really look. No one to man the ultrasound machine. This wasn't like in the middle of the night, but just around 7-8pm.... or we went to a smaller hospital like Burnaby... this is BC Womens... where they specialized in helping pregnant women. A doctor eventually came and just said that maybe one of the water for the baby broke... that we should just go home and rest, that if anything else happens, come back again. The doctor said they'll schedule for a follow-up and scans next morning. We were really rattled, but we just listened and went back home. Next day, came in extra early, was told that no booking was made and that it will be first come, first serve. We waited for about 4-5 hours and when I went up to the desk to ask again, the woman working there was like, "I know you've been waiting a long time, but you're not really a priority right now...." Eventually someone saw us and confirmed that water broke, potential for infection, early birth, potentially losing both babies, etc. Then told to rest at home, and start deciding on whether we should just get an abortion (for both). Had to wait a few days to see our regular OBGYN as she was on vacation.... saw another OBGYN in the meantime.... he asked if we were opting for an abortion and we said we were still deciding.... the doctor replied, "what's there to think about?" in a dismissing manner. Eventually we did see our regular OBGYN, she literally just went from the airport to her office to see us. She was asking if we needed more antibiotics... which we replied that she was the first person that even mentioned it. She was a bit shocked that no one prescribed it to us as infection was a serious concern, not just for the baby with the broken water, but the other baby and the mother too. After that, we just told that mother need to rest and hope for the best. A couple of weeks past, followed-up with the doctor that handled abortions... we declined as it wouldn't be fair for both babies, especially the one that's still fine. While remote, there's still a chance that the baby girl can still make it. We just had to wait for 3 more weeks and she would have met the 23 week threshold required for the hospital to save a preemie. Unfortunately she only made it to 20 weeks before she decided that it just wasn't meant to be... My wife was then finally admitted to stay in the hospital.... even though we didn't know at the time, if she was back in Japan or even some places in the US, she would have been admitted to stay in the hospital immediately after her water broke. That she should have been basically confined to bed rest 24/7. Sometimes we still believe that if stayed at the hospital immediately, we wouldn't have lost our daughter. To continue... my wife stayed at BC women's for about 5 weeks. The quality of the nurses during that time varied... mostly good, but a couple that were less enjoyable to be around with. From what happened above... my answer will be YES, the medical system does need to be revamped. We got ****ed a few times already. Which ultimately resulted in losing our daughter. Maybe hypothetically, nothing would have changed that... but there were lots of gaps and negligence in care. Now for part 2.... The other twin decided to come out at week 25. Now for NICU care... I can say BC Children's perhaps one of the best in the world. Almost every single nurse were professional and friendly (a few that weren't but they were infrequent). Supporting staff were also great, the doctors were good too. There are even volunteers that comes back to hold/cuddle your baby when you are not present (skin to skin is essential at such an early stage). The brand new facility was also state of the art... each pod with TV, fridge, sofa bed, etc... to allow parents to be as comfortable as possible when being with the baby. If we weren't covered by MSP or if we were in the US... it would be between $10000 to $15000 per day. My son stayed in the NICU for over half year. To put things into perspective, my son's stay, if pro-rated after a year.... would have almost the same salary cap at Loui Eriksson. From this, the medical system we have in Canada is great. Part 3: My son still needed assistance after returning home. Oxygen support, CPAP, g-tube feeding, etc... so expensive machines, and pricey food, medical supplies, and round-the-clock care required.... fortunately everything was covered by the government. Our machines would have costed about $10000-12000 if we had to pay ourselves, each feeding bag was about $10 bucks and they are supposed to be changed daily... he had a g-tube for almost 3 years. Other random medical supplies costed a few thousands more. The special food he was on goes for about $10 per pack... and he gets about 3-4 per day for a few years. Then there was private nursing care he received so my wife and I can actually get some sleep at night... they aren't cheap, so plus a few tens of thousands of dollars more. The follow-up support we have on-going are a hit and miss. Lots of information gaps between different groups, sometimes decisions are made and no one bothered to tell us about it, etc... but overall, not bad. From all this... the medical system in Canada is great. Overall.... the system here isn't good enough at times, but superb in other times. I hear of stories where some parents don't have enough insurance coverage to give the best care to their preemies.... but yet on the other side, I hear of situations that matches what my family went through, but they got way better service and treatment. Hard to complain about a medical system that provided more than $3 million to save your son... but why didn't they seem to care as much for the other baby?

To be fair, Gadjovich is play extremely well in the AHL currently. 11 goals in 13 games. Not saying he's a lock for the big league, but he's on the right track in terms of development.

My wife and I were initially planning to go to PyeongChang for 2018... but my then twins had other plans. We thought it will still be fine, since we can still go to 2020 Tokyo.... but coronavirus. Definite no to Beijing. Probably no to Paris. I guess I won't be attending the Olympics in person until hopefully it comes back to town.

Didn't Baertschi get some heat during the playoffs for opting-out? Not saying he would have necessarily played in any games, but probably rubbed some the wrong way.

Just remember, being a good player doesn't mean you're automatically going to be a good coach. Sometimes players who are naturally gifted are unable to translate what/how that made them that successful. Hence it's more common for fringe/grinder players to switch into coaching as they are more likely forced to focus on the x's and o's to remain in the NHL (or professional hockey).

The RCMP and many police forces in the US has very low entrance requirements. High school education and then boot camp. For example, while the VPD ain't perfect, they are generally considered more professional than their RCMP counterparts. They have a higher minimum entrance requirements, thus it helps to weed out any "bad apples". In the US, I believe the FBI pretty much require all candidates to have been to or completed college. Run-of-the-mill county police, "If you can read this, you're hired!"

As per tradition: Raymond, Ballard, and a 1st.

Easy... Eriksson "retires" but becomes an European "scout/advisor".