Curt

Interesting perspective. There certainly is truth to this. At least for some people. I think if enough of the US population is vaccinated and those who aren’t are a good cross section of the most healthy/least at risk, then social life will be able to get back to essentially normal, and we can work towards rebuilding those relationships you are talking about. I do think we need to get back our basic social structures, but I don’t think 100% need to be vaccinated to do that. And to be clear my numbers are just estimates. I am in no way qualified to determine who and how many should/shouldn’t be vaccinated.

Yeah, and get that too. There is also a certain value to the national ideal of being that leader of the world, because someone is going to be, so you’d rather it be the US than Russia/China/etc. Also, there are times when something is just the right thing to do. Everyone is going to have a slightly different view on that though. I just think that, totally separate from any moral or emotional reasons, it probably makes the US a safer place to prioritize vaccinating healthcare workers in Nigeria and Brazil before healthy 20-45 year olds who can work from home in the US.

My view on this: The US should first worry about vaccinating our most vulnerable and those most likely to catch and spread it. In my mind, that encompasses something around 75% of the population, but I’m no expert. Beyond that, I think there are extremely valid arguments for putting a lot of effort into helping to make sure that those who are most likely to catch and spread Covid worldwide are vaccinated, even if you are looking at it from an “America First” type of perspective. Having Covid raging in 3rd world countries puts the US at serious risk because this virus mutates, and the more cases there are worldwide, the more chances there are for a more deadly and/or contagious strain to pop up, possibly one that currently developed vaccines are ineffective against. If a strain such as that starts spreading it will not respect international borders. It will be in the US as well, and everyone could be back in the ***** for months and months until we get a vaccine that works. The US does not exist in a silo. Its not about being a bleeding heart. This is not a moral question for me. It’s a question of what is the fastest way to make it safe for everyone to go back to normal social/public activities. At a certain point it just makes sense to help other countries, even if some fraction of the US population is yet unvaccinated.

This is easier said than done. It’s a TV contract issue. The networks already have the Olympics on the schedule. The NHL won’t have national networks to broadcast playoff games on if they delay the season. They are going to make sure that their playoff games get full national coverage.

No. There is no reason that they should be vaccinated before anyone else in their age/health group. The idea that they should be vaccinated because they are in the entertainment industry is not compelling to me. The idea that they are in a high risk profession has some merit. There are a lot of other high risk professions though that would fall in line with them. Especially considering that hockey player is not an essential job.

I’m just surprised that the contact tracing found any Sabres who made contact with Devils players. Seriously though, hope everyone remains healthy. It’s a lot more important than hockey.

There you have it. Bennett didn’t formally ask for a trade. His agent did.

He isn’t going to help a team defensively. Also, he seems like a total POS.

Not going to argue about it. The advanced stats were good, I thought their play reflected that. It was a small sample size. They have played poorly lately, and I’m sure that the advanced stats reflect that as well.

Glad to hear that you feeling great. It is quite sad what the organization has become. I also definitely don’t have the same emotional investment in the outcome of the games as I once did. I don’t get angry about it, but it’s definitely not as fun as when they were good. From a talent standpoint I honestly believe that they are in decent shape. Good enough to be right in the playoff race. They just never seem be able to sustain good play for any length of time. I thought they would be better than last season, and I still hope that they are, but results have been very mixed.

What guys did they bring in who have good analytics, but are actually bad players? I actually believe that they do have the talent to make the playoffs (except maybe in goal, I could see that holding them back regardless). A failure of this team to play good hockey falls squarely on the coaching. The goalies are the goalies, but the team needs to play better overall. I don’t know how they feel in the locker room, but I honestly hope that they don’t feel like you sound right now. It seems unhealthy. My advice to you would be to try to care less. You seem to be putting yourself through unnecessary mental anguish.

Nice info. Just one thing. This would make Ullmark just about a league average goalie, not replacement level.

I hope you feel better. The bolded isn’t true. Yeah, maybe.

He had scored goals in 3 of the past 4 before today.

No team is perfect. Chances against are going to happen. They are not getting even average goaltending.

I have not watched him a lot. My impression of him is a slightly better Lazar type of player. I’m all for that. I think Buffalo could certainly use that.

As you said upthread, all trades have risk. I guess I just don’t see a Sam Bennet acquisition resulting in a slightly improved 3rd line as a high reward type move.

Oh goodness. Untruths!

But what does this mean? I don’t understand what you are saying here at all.

I mean I think he is playing injured. He doesn’t look like himself.

I think there is something physically wrong with him.

This sounds nice, but doesn’t actually work. Players don’t work hard for a coach who doesn’t care about them or a coach who they hate. The coach needs to help create an environment where the players are all working hard for the coach and for each other. It’s a mindset thing.

What??? No way!!!

I think an average starter and average backup could be enough.

I don’t understand. You mean my style of player they are moving towards comment?