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Everything posted by mll
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Those players were tested but still caught the virus. It's the team's practice facilities with private dressing room for the Blues. This document explains how team and players have to act at the facilities during phase 2 including wearing masks and all the sanitisation protocols: https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2020/05/13993/NHL Phased Return to Sport Protocol-COMBINED-FINAL.pdf The concerns GMs are having is players not keeping safe outside of the rink where they can't force anyone to self-isolate or wear a mask. They notably ask players to continue following phase 1 protocol (which looks like only few players ended up doing - it's self-isolation). They can't enforce it though and players are still out and about and not necessarily wearing masks or social distancing as local rules have relaxed. ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF CLUB FACILITIES Outside of the individual training to take place at Club Facilities, it is important that all Club personnel, including Players, continue to adhere to the personal precautions recommended by the CDC, as well as any additional direction that may be issued by your local health authority and Club Medical staff. As such, Players are strongly recommended to continue to exercise “distancing” behavior, practicing the same social/physicaldistancing measures as observed during Phase 1 of the League’s “pause” in the 2019/20 Season. Specifically: Players and Club personnel shall continue to stay at home as much as possible and practicable and must avoid unnecessary interactions with non-family members. Players shall not physically spend social time together in close contact. As noted above, Players participating in Phase 2 are not permitted to work out or skate at any public facility or other location, except as may be permitted by the Club, and may not organize any Player skates or group skates outside of the small group sessions organized by the Club.
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Luongo's deal was front-loaded where they tagged a few years at a negligible salary to reduce the overall cap hit. Here it's flat or backloaded. There will be no benefit by tagging on years. Flat it doesn't change the cap hit. Backloaded it increases the cap hit. If a team hands out a multi year deal they are doing it on the expectation the player will play the full deal. Under the recapture rule teams were for the most part expecting players to not play the full length of their contracts. Pronger admitted that he was looking for a 3 or 4 year deal and the Flyers convinced him to take a longer deal with the understanding that he will retire earlier. Zetterberg told something similar to Swedish media that it was always understood that he will not play his full contract and that they tagged on the final years to reduce the cap hit. Even Gillis admitted that he was always expecting Luongo to finish on LTIR. LA has a recapture penalty on their books for Richards.
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The quote was more about now where there is no bubble environment where all relies on players understanding that they are at risk of catching covid at any moment and spreading it to others. Players can respect the law but still catch the virus by going out and about and not taking all necessary precautions. They talk of an airtight bubble environment for phase 4. No one should be able to go in or out of the bubble that is not authorised to.
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They go from phase 3 to phase 4 without a break. Players are going to be tested regularly as soon they enter phase 2 but they can still catch it between tests in phase 2 and 3. There's no control over what a player does away from the rink. He might be negative and catch it the night after training with the team. For example on the last day of phase 3 a player can go out and party and catch the virus a few hours before entering the bubble of phase 4.
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To enter phase 2 it's one test 48 hours before. For players coming from outside the country it's normally 8 day quarantine with 4 tests 48 hours apart. Except it's possible to bend that rule by landing by private aircraft. It looks like Vancouver made sure that players come in by private flight to avoid that 8 day quarantine. Pettersson came in the past weekend and was on the ice 2 days later. That's would not be allowed if he flew in commercial. Fwiw the Wild have their players from Sweden in quarantine for 14 days - they flew in commercial and the Minnesota state rules are stricter than the NHLs. At the early stage testing is not always sensible enough to detect the virus. It's well possible that players are allowed in while being infected. They will be regularly tested but there's nothing that is going to prevent them to catch the virus while in phase 2 and 3 between tests. There will be more control in phase 4 as it's a bubble environment. In phase 2 / 3 players can go out and about. That's the concern that teams are having. It relies on players understanding the issue and already adjusting their behaviours now.
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They are free citizens but they are still at risk of catching covid and bringing it inside the bubble. That's the challenge that teams are having with their players. There's not the understanding that they have to act beyond the law already now to ensure that in no way they are going to bring the virus inside the bubble or transmit it to a teammate. On the last day of phase 3 a player is free to go out clubbing and catch the virus. There's nothing that can prevent it than a player acting responsibly. This whole thing might collapse before even the bubble of phase 4.
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Phase 4 is likely going to be just as strict as phase 2. The protocols should be made available. The most challenging part of this return to play is actually now - ensuring that everyone enters the bubble virus free. Burnside says multiple executives are worried that some of their players are not going to be responsible throughout this return to play. There's frustration because the league is implementing all those strict protocols (like masks at all times when not on the ice) and then players go out and put themselves at risk away from the rink. They are also worried about the players' social circle where the people close to them could catch it and pass it on. There's no control over what a player does until the bubble of phase 4. The league is relying on players being responsible and doing all they can to limit their exposure to stay virus free. The thread on the main board on Virtanen shows just how challenging it is. Several are arguing that he did not break any law (he didn't) and therefore it's a non issue. Someone is even arguing that the clubs wouldn't be open if it wasn't safe. It's not covid safe though. The virus doesn't care about the law. The new reality is that there is always a risk to catch it and social distancing and wearing a mask limits the risk. Testing is not fail proof and it can take several days for testing to detect the virus.
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That's not going to happen. Players are going to live in a bubble and are not going to be allowed outside that bubble until their team is eliminated. They are apparently even going to build a 2 block wall around the rink, the JW Marriott and the Sutton. Players will have access to a golf course that will be shutdown some days for them. They have arrangements with several restaurants in town that will deliver food on order. They will apparently also lock down some restaurants that will become exclusive for the NHL - they will reach there by shuttles operated by the NHL.
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Don't think he was looking to use LTIR. He simply had no choice to ice a complete roster with injuries mounting. Now with the cap likely staying flat, having used LTIR has created a bonus overage of at least 1.7M. Not ideal with limited cap space next season. Using LTIR is a real nuisance and some teams have even paid good assets to get those contract off their books, but sometimes there's just no choice.
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Testing is not fail proof though. False negatives can happen.
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The virus cannot be contained without a vaccine. The economy cannot stay shutdown - jobs are a risk and it creates all sorts of other issues. It's a balancing act between public safety and the economy. Opening up is not risk free though. Going to restaurants, out clubbing, even spending time with friends is not covid risk free. It's not the same environment as pre-pandemic. Anyone a player gets in contact with, might be infected including friends, and the only thing a player can really control is his behaviour to limit exposure. Dr Henry this week says she expects everyone in BC to wear a mask. It's not mandatory yet but not wearing a mask is a health risk. * At the early phase of contamination, testing is not always sensitive enough to indicate that a person is a carrier of the virus. Players can start skating with their teammates after getting tested negative but there is the situation where contamination is not yet visible on the testing results - a false negative is possible. The most delicate phase of this return to play is now. To preserve the bubble of the hub cities players need to enter phase 4 virus free. There's no guarantee of that. It relies on players being responsible and not putting themselves at risk outside of the rink. The virus can be caught at any time and testing might not reveal it immediately. Burnside last week said that multiple executives expressed concerns about players being responsible throughout the return to play. He says that teams have had trouble enforcing safe behaviour outside of the rink. A GM even admitted that teams are frustrated. They are spending a lot of time and money to set up these protocols and players put themselves at risk away from the rink. There's also concern about the players' social circle where friends and people close to them might not be following strict social distancing and could end up putting the player at risk. He was not breaking the law but the Canucks saw the need to address it with him. The return to plan hinges on players not just respecting the law but going beyond to stay virus free. The virus doesn't care about the law - it will spread regardless of what the law says. * https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dr-henry-expects-british-columbians-to-be-wearing-masks-1.5633657 There may not be a law forcing British Columbians to wear masks indoors, but Dr. Bonnie Henry doesn't want that to be an excuse for not wearing one, especially when physical distancing isn't possible. "I do wear a mask myself and I encourage, and I recommend, strongly, that others do as well," the province's medical officer said during Tuesday's COVID-19 briefing. Henry says the province has stopped short of mandating the use of masks out of concern for those who would have difficulty wearing one. "There are some people for whom mask wearing is not a viable option," she said. "(Such as) anyone for whom it is difficult to take it on on themselves, young children, people with disabilities, it can very much a challenge."
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He was in Sweden during the break - was skating with other NHLers over there.
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Dubnyk as player representative raised a series of concerns but never suggested that he would opt out. He wanted to make sure that everyone is comfortable with the situation and not that once they get there that players start complaining. He was also concerned about how restrictive the bubble was going to be. They initially wanted players to just go from the rink to their hotel rooms. There's been a lot of work done from the initial stage of the project to where they are now. Dubnyk is already in phase 2 and preparing to go. He wants his starter job back. Jordie Benn gave an interview where he said he won't accept to be separated from his family - baby is due in July. He might have no choice but to opt out as families will initially not be allowed inside the bubble and players normally won't be allowed out.
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Calgary never volunteered to be a hub. Don't think Montreal did either. Winnipeg does not have the infrastructure to bring in 12 teams. It left Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto. The NHL said from the get go that they needed the backbone of an NHL arena. They don't have the time and money to bring non NHL rinks up to NHL standard - boards, locker rooms, cameras, ice etc. It's a sanitisation issue too with 3 games per day. Also the league probably wants things to run smoothly. Current arena staff have the experience and understand how to run things at NHL standard. Those remote locations also don't have the hotel standards the league is looking for and they aren't looking to have players spend hours in buses. Edmonton was initially eliminated because players did not feel the hotels were up to the standards they are used to. They've re-arranged things were now all players will be at the JW Marriott.
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Why would a team want to block that much cap space though? And for 2 years when they have their own RFAs to extend. It limits their flexibility. Reaching the floor shouldn't be an issue for any team.
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It's 10% and not 20% and it's only for next season. Sounds like an automatic deferral and not an option. Friedman tweets it's going to be really tight for teams at the cap. Sounds like it's the latter option as he wrote a few days ago. The payment gets deferred but not the counting. If the accounting was also deferred it would create roughly 10% cap space. It would be somewhat illogical because that space would then be gone the following season as the salary deferral is only for next season. By also deferring the accounting it would allow teams to give out contracts of up to some 90M but have them count for only 81M to the cap (10% of 90M) but the following season those contracts would be worth 90M and the cap is still 81.5M.