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I love the fact that he refused to visit the Whitehouse after they won the Stanley Cup. Speaks to his character, man of his beliefs. Same could be said I suppose for Tim Thomas in as much as I disliked his reasoning.

I wonder if that will impact signings as no point resigning someone who is only ever going to be an AHL player if there is no team this season? Or would they still sign and have them sit with no pay? Is there any cost like benefits that would occur whether hockey happened or not? Or would the big club only look after the 10 or so players that have a legitimate NHL shot?

My wish for everyone! Back to the Trades thread, more interesting posts there. I need to practice more self discipline and stay out of this thread as nothing good comes from any foray into it.

Opinions, right?

Why are you trying to blame Dr Henry for what is going on in Ontario? She has been in BC since 2005.

What I can't get over is the sheer volume of condoms....how widespread would the scavenger hunt be for those used condoms? So disgusting....

I'm still not sure we're into a second wave or whether this is just an ongoing rate of infection. We're testing at a significantly higher level than we were in the spring, yet the test positive rate is holding on well below 2%. That doesn't sound like a second wave. The increased numbers of positive are relative to the increased tests. Rate of hospitalizations isn't increasing. While there are certainly people still flaunting the recommended protocols, I think the majority of people are doing their best to disinfect, mask, wash their hands, maintain physical distancing, all of which helps to keep people safe. Thankfully we aren't at a point where Que and Ont are at with facing increasing lockdowns again. I really hope we don't get there.

ON, you did well considering back about 10 hours ago you were going to back through the hedge until something tangible happened. LOL!

https://www.tsn.ca/seravalli-at-least-17-nhl-teams-have-reduced-pay-amid-covid-19-crunch-1.1522380 Sources say the Sabres are considering an internal salary cap in the low $70 million range; the Arizona Coyotes, who recently failed to make on-time signing bonus payments to a number of players, may be operating just south of $70 million under their next GM; the Pittsburgh Penguins are reportedly planning to budget in the low-to-mid $70 million range on an $81.5 million limit. I think the original article was probably posted somewhere else in the threads as it came out on Sept 10, but thought the bit about Arizona was interesting relative to any discussion regarding OEL and what they may be willing to take back in trade. Boston may also be a less willing dance partner based on the contract costs unless there is significant contract going back.

I think because we have a relatively free society, there is always an element of the population that is convinced that there is too much government interference, regulation, involvement or however one wants to term it. They don't believe in vaccines, they believe that info being communicated is untrue, there isn't really a pandemic, if there is one, it's not as bad as we are told, people aren't really dying. There were similar beliefs during the Spanish flu from what I understand, just a lack of Social Media to spread their beliefs. I don't get it personally, without Public Health agencies and regulations, we'd all be dying from lead poisoning in our water and paint, disease in our salads, asbestos in our building materials, cancers from various toxins, and yeh, probably higher death rates from COVID just to name a few things that I'm grateful for government regulation to help control.

Will be interesting to see what the Sharks do with Karlsson over the long term as from what I've seen his play has declined dramatically and he's locked in to a long term contract. Always thought the Sharks were a bunch of whiny divers, Couture being one of the worst. Kind of fun to watch their demise as the Canucks are rising!

So LE agrees to 'retire'. What prevents him after that from signing with the team his agent has found that would take him for half the value of his contract?

I wonder if JB is trying to play hardball with LE? We aren't buying you out, we're not losing any assets to trade you, we're not paying anything to trade you, so expect that if your agent can't find a deal for you, you'll be playing on the farm next season, or in Europe if there is no AHL. So, your move. Want to retire?

My guess is that Toffoli had a better chance of providing goal scoring - heaven knows the Canucks had given Baertschi and Goldobin plenty of opportunity and I doubt they could have expected Bailey to step in and provide goals. We needed to try and maintain a playoff position. Madden from what I've heard and read was a tweener that we already had enough off in our system, 2nd round pick is a maybe as well and likely wouldn't impact our roster for 4-5 years if ever.

Do we? I don't have the stats but my understanding was that we don't. Yet anyway. He eats a lot of minutes, many of them against tougher opponents and PK. If he's not available, that pushes everyone up the lineup and forces others to play more/tougher minutes. Not sure our record is all that good when he's not in the lineup. I suppose it depends on how/what he's replaced by.

Not sure I would equate Leivo and Toffoli, I thought Toff was brought in as insurance because of the Boeser injury. I suspect with the Leivo injury Eriksson and Virtanan got more ice time than they might have otherwise.

I'm ambivalent, not much to like about either team. Only thing I like about Dallas is Bowness, can't stand the players. Few players on Tampa I like. Haven't really watched anything much since the Canucks exited. Saw some viewership numbers this morning, it's pretty awful. Lots of competition in the US where hockey isn't a mainstay sport.

I wonder if the death rate will trend downward keeping in mind that at the beginning many of those that passed away were in care homes and if nothing else the governments and managing organizations have learned a great deal about how to protect the most vulnerable. Right now the age group with the highest infection rates are trending younger, so the death rate in that segment will likely be significantly lower. Not saying anything about potential long term effects as I'm not sure we know enough yet, but likely not as many deaths per capita.

Not that I'm questioning the work ethic of our star, but anyone else wondering why there is ice at RA at this time? And...why would he be working out there? Isn't there any contractual issues that prevent players from interacting with coaches/using team practice facilities during the off season?

He shouldn't have to be "shipped off", he should be hiring the best trainers and skills people to work with in the off season to improve his game....isn't that what a pro does if they are struggling? If my job was to work in a physical environment and my boss came out publicly and stated they expected more from me, I'd be frantically looking at every avenue to see how/where I could improve. I keep going back to the time during the playoffs when Jake was paired with someone else in the post game media interview, I think he had scored a goal. He was not the most articulate in answering the questions, and then he just sat there with a grin on his face nodding his head when the other player was answering questions (most of the questions were directed to the other player). He struck me as someone who wasn't that bright. I get that he was probably on a post game high from the excitement of the game, but I also am pretty sure the players get media training. I don't remember any other times when Jake has been front and center in media interviews - I might be wrong, but maybe there is a reason? Not that everyone needs to be a Pettersson or Horvat, but doesn't help that one sounds as thick as a brick.

Not something that should be joked about, it's freaking sad that someone who is working as hard as Dr. B has to worry about some F'ing nutbar threatening her safety. JC what are people coming to????/

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29939605/nhl-bubble-confidential-go-toronto-edmonton-playoff-hubs 9 NHL players on condition of anonymity answered several questions on what life in the bubble was like, both east and west conference teams. "Life for the players inside these bubbles has been a mystery. We know they're tested for COVID-19 each day, and through eight weeks and 32,374 tests, there has yet to be a confirmed positive case. We know there are some amenities for them to use away from the rink. But with no independent media in the bubble -- and with candid comments about the emotional strain of this experiment far too infrequent -- many of us don't have a sense of how players have handled this unprecedented experience -- until now, that is. "We love playing this sport, and I don't think there is one guy who wasn't appreciative for the chance to win the Cup this summer," one Western Conference player said. "But also, I don't think a lot of fans realize what an emotional toll the bubble took on some guys -- the isolation, the grind, being away from our families and loved ones during a really stressful time to begin with. To be honest, after the first few days, I noticed a lot of guys were more down than they usually are. Some guys were legitimately sad. It's not easy living like that for two months." ESPN debriefed with nine players -- five from the Western Conference and four from the Eastern Conference -- who, on the condition of anonymity, answered dozens of questions about what life was really like inside the bubble, from playing in empty buildings to being trapped in hotels to food, drinking and drugs." Article con't. Didn't quote entirety.

Like that the Lightening are pushing to even the series. Seemed to me that Khudobin was getting pretty cocky, may just be his style, guess I don't like brashness. Prefer the "let your play do the talking" approach.