NHL's 24-team Return to Play proposal

[ZBBM]

No fans?  No credibility.
A * S * T * E * R * I * S * K

 

[CarltonTheBear]

CBC report today says that the GTA has accounted for 78% of Ontario's cases since May 10. Toronto isn't getting picked.

 

[herman]

As a hockey fan, I like hockey. As a human who has a basic grasp of what a global pandemic entails, this is a foolish venture.

The plan is to test people frequently; okay but there's a lag between test application and test result wherein any affected person is still interacting with others. The plan also asks that players/staff self-report when feeling ill. HAHAHAHAhockey. The plan is forcing players to abandon their families for a couple of months (unpaid because playoffs, baby) during a global pandemic to congregate 1000s of people from all over the world at this point in a city that did not have too much of a problem before but will now be stressed to accommodate.

How will it actually help the economy if players and staff are not to leave their set routes and premises? At best, the hotel and transportation and whoever is catering the foodstuffs gets a bump back to almost normal while incurring significantly greater risk than before.

The reason other countries have bounced back (South Korea, Taiwan) is because they invested in infrastructure after SARS and take testing, tracing, and quarantine enforcement seriously. We cannot possibly say the same about Canada or the US.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

If they start paying in early August, they will have been off for about 4 months.  That is going to be some quality hockey.  I don't think anyone has been on skates in almost 3 months right now.

After the shambles of the 2019-2020 season, they are going to immediately start the 2020-2021 season?  If everything goes swimmingly the 2021 playoffs will be a great treat too since the "season" will have been an extra 2 months.

So you will have an asterisk on the 2020 Stanley Cup champs, and another asterisk beside the 2021 Cup champs.

 

[Peter D.]

The Cup is going to be awarded 6 months after the season ended.  That, to me, is ridiculous.  Yeah yeah, I get trying to salvage the TV dollars.  But these are two completely different seasons now, which will also compromise next season.

Scrap this year, and gear up to get things going in October.  Imagine being a member of the 7 non-playoff teams and having to wait 8 to 10 months to play again.  As well as those 8 play-in teams who will have gone through all the hassle to isolate and train after months off, to be done for another 3 to 4 months again after a measly 3 to 5 games. 

This is a foolish venture.

 

[Kin]

CBC report today says that the GTA has accounted for 78% of Ontario's cases since May 10. Toronto isn't getting picked.

It's important to keep that in perspective though. Right now Toronto Public Health is reporting about 2000 active cases which accounts for .074% of the population. So you're talking about the equivalent of 74 active cases in a city of 100k.

I could be wrong but it's hard to imagine any of the potential host cities having significantly lower numbers than that.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It's important to keep that in perspective though. Right now Toronto Public Health is reporting about 2000 active cases which accounts for .074% of the population. So you're talking about the equivalent of 74 active cases in a city of 100k.

I could be wrong but it's hard to imagine any of the potential host cities having significantly lower numbers than that.

Edmonton has 49 active cases in a population of just under 1 million. I can't find numbers for the city of Vancouver specifically but it looks like "Vancouver coastal", which makes up about 1 million people, has 83 active cases right now.

 

[Kin]

It's important to keep that in perspective though. Right now Toronto Public Health is reporting about 2000 active cases which accounts for .074% of the population. So you're talking about the equivalent of 74 active cases in a city of 100k.

I could be wrong but it's hard to imagine any of the potential host cities having significantly lower numbers than that.

Edmonton has 49 active cases in a population of just under 1 million. I can't find numbers for the city of Vancouver specifically but it looks like "Vancouver coastal", which makes up about 1 million people, has 83 active cases right now.

Obviously the BC numbers are something else but with the way the country shut down after the initial outbreaks in Toronto I'm not surprised that slightly less trafficked cities have better numbers right now. I'm talking about what things will look like if things get relaxed enough to allow these games and assuming Edmonton maintains numbers like that is effectively assuming that either the city stays locked down during the games or that the virus basically just never goes there(or, if it does, it doesn't spread) which I'd be thrilled with but seems not terribly realistic.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Obviously the BC numbers are something else but with the way the country shut down after the initial outbreaks in Toronto I'm not surprised that slightly less trafficked cities have better numbers right now. I'm talking about what things will look like if things get relaxed enough to allow these games and assuming Edmonton maintains numbers like that is effectively assuming that either the city stays locked down during the games or that the virus basically just never goes there(or, if it does, it doesn't spread) which I'd be thrilled with but seems not terribly realistic.

Well things like restaurants and malls have already started to re-open in Alberta so it'll be interesting to see how their numbers react to that in the coming weeks before an official decision is made on the hub sites. But regardless I can't possibly see how Toronto would be picked over Edmonton or Vancouver unless they just absolutely want a team in the EST time zone.

Edmonton's numbers have always surprised me. You're definitely right in that there are some geographical reasons for the numbers over here being worse than over there but I'm not sure what the explanation is for the numbers being so different from Edmonton (524 cases, 49 active) to Calgary (4,785 cases, 561 active) when their populations are pretty close.

 

[Zee]

Hearing rumblings that the 2020-2021 season may not start until Jan 1 and they still plan on playing 82 games.  Wow.  These 2 seasons will be among the most bizarre we've witnessed in the NHL. 

 

[Kin]

Well things like restaurants and malls have already started to re-open in Alberta so it'll be interesting to see how their numbers react to that in the coming weeks before an official decision is made on the hub sites. But regardless I can't possibly see how Toronto would be picked over Edmonton or Vancouver unless they just absolutely want a team in the EST time zone.

But considering that these games are being played almost exclusively for the TV audience doesn't that stand to reason? They're going to want to get as many games on TV as possible so staggering time zones seems pretty standard.

Edmonton's numbers have always surprised me. You're definitely right in that there are some geographical reasons for the numbers over here being worse than over there but I'm not sure what the explanation is for the numbers being so different from Edmonton (524 cases, 49 active) to Calgary (4,785 cases, 561 active) when their populations are pretty close.

Edmonton is probably, among Canada's major cities, the one furthest from the US border where a lot of cases would have come in. That wouldn't explain the whole thing but I'd also wager Edmonton's airport is less busy than Calgary's.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

But considering that these games are being played almost exclusively for the TV audience doesn't that stand to reason? They're going to want to get as many games on TV as possible so staggering time zones seems pretty standard.

This was something that I was definitely wondering about, especially since you pointed out that there are only 3 teams from the East on the list of potential hub cities.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/BuffaloVogl/status/1265653221571395584

This seems completely pointless, so very Buffalo-y.

 

[Bates]

Obviously the BC numbers are something else but with the way the country shut down after the initial outbreaks in Toronto I'm not surprised that slightly less trafficked cities have better numbers right now. I'm talking about what things will look like if things get relaxed enough to allow these games and assuming Edmonton maintains numbers like that is effectively assuming that either the city stays locked down during the games or that the virus basically just never goes there(or, if it does, it doesn't spread) which I'd be thrilled with but seems not terribly realistic.

Well things like restaurants and malls have already started to re-open in Alberta so it'll be interesting to see how their numbers react to that in the coming weeks before an official decision is made on the hub sites. But regardless I can't possibly see how Toronto would be picked over Edmonton or Vancouver unless they just absolutely want a team in the EST time zone.

Edmonton's numbers have always surprised me. You're definitely right in that there are some geographical reasons for the numbers over here being worse than over there but I'm not sure what the explanation is for the numbers being so different from Edmonton (524 cases, 49 active) to Calgary (4,785 cases, 561 active) when their populations are pretty close.

The meat plant outbreaks have made up much of the difference between Calgary zone and Edmonton zone. I think the international arrival airport has also contributed. 

 

[Highlander]

The Cup is going to be awarded 6 months after the season ended.  That, to me, is ridiculous.  Yeah yeah, I get trying to salvage the TV dollars.  But these are two completely different seasons now, which will also compromise next season.

Scrap this year, and gear up to get things going in October.  Imagine being a member of the 7 non-playoff teams and having to wait 8 to 10 months to play again.  As well as those 8 play-in teams who will have gone through all the hassle to isolate and train after months off, to be done for another 3 to 4 months again after a measly 3 to 5 games. 

This is a foolish venture.

Everything you say makes sense, however we are making an assumption that even in October we will be allowed back into sporting events.  This may not be allowed until a vaccine is available, which could be into mid 2021. Under this scenario it may make sense to continue on this convoluted path towards having hockey.  I know we are all starving to see our Leafs play again.

It seems every day another curve ball is heading our way regarding how this will all play out.  For example the next winter season for snowbirds is in question.  Travel insurance companies will not be covering Covid-19 infection,  so will Canadians want to be in Florida or AZ for the winter with the threat of having to spend time potentially on a ventilator???  I won't.  Looks like I have to get out the winter jacket and boots :'(.

 

[L K]

The Cup is going to be awarded 6 months after the season ended.  That, to me, is ridiculous.  Yeah yeah, I get trying to salvage the TV dollars.  But these are two completely different seasons now, which will also compromise next season.

Scrap this year, and gear up to get things going in October.  Imagine being a member of the 7 non-playoff teams and having to wait 8 to 10 months to play again.  As well as those 8 play-in teams who will have gone through all the hassle to isolate and train after months off, to be done for another 3 to 4 months again after a measly 3 to 5 games. 

This is a foolish venture.

Everything you say makes sense, however we are making an assumption that even in October we will be allowed back into sporting events.  This may not be allowed until a vaccine is available, which could be into mid 2021. Under this scenario it may make sense to continue on this convoluted path towards having hockey.  I know we are all starving to see our Leafs play again.

It seems every day another curve ball is heading our way regarding how this will all play out.  For example the next winter season for snowbirds is in question.  Travel insurance companies will not be covering Covid-19 infection,  so will Canadians want to be in Florida or AZ for the winter with the threat of having to spend time potentially on a ventilator???  I won't.  Looks like I have to get out the winter jacket and boots :'(.

The problem with a vaccine is that it isn't simply the matter of having a vaccine, but having appropriate implementation of the vaccine.  If we get a giant anti-vax brigade and only get 50% uptake of a vaccine, that isn't going to be enough to create the herd immunity necessary to make the vaccine meaningful.  So it isn't just a matter of having a vaccine, but actually getting sufficient compliance to protect the population at large.

 

[Kin]

I know we are all starving to see our Leafs play again.

Speak for yourself. I'm really not. I don't need to see the Leafs if it means a tournament like this and especially with what's going on in the world. Hockey's a fun way to pass the time but if they announced no games until August or October or next year, I don't think I'd care much.

 

[Bender]

I know we are all starving to see our Leafs play again.

Speak for yourself. I'm really not. I don't need to see the Leafs if it means a tournament like this and especially with what's going on in the world. Hockey's a fun way to pass the time but if they announced no games until August or October or next year, I don't think I'd care much.

I think I'd feel more starved if it was another lockout and not a global pandemic [emoji14]

 

[OldTimeHockey]

I know we are all starving to see our Leafs play again.

Speak for yourself. I'm really not. I don't need to see the Leafs if it means a tournament like this and especially with what's going on in the world. Hockey's a fun way to pass the time but if they announced no games until August or October or next year, I don't think I'd care much.

I kind of agree here, but many may see it as a way out of the darkness or depression they are feeling. They may seem it as some sort of return to normalcy.

 

[Kin]

I kind of agree here, but many may see it as a way out of the darkness or depression they are feeling. They may seem it as some sort of return to normalcy.

And I wouldn't criticize someone for feeling that way, I'm just saying it's not universal. I also think some pragmatism needs to exist when we're still at a time where people can't hold funerals for their loved ones.