NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 1, 2020
The NHL extends its self-isolation period, results of the NHLPA poll revealed and much more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
TSN: The NHL extended its self-isolation period for players and staff to April 15 because of the rapidly changing COVID-19 situations.
Darren Dreger believes the league won’t be to return to NHL facilities until local authorities in each market lift the ban on social gatherings. Meanwhile, Pierre LeBrun reports playing a 16-team playoff in four centralized, less-affected locations without fans is among the options under consideration by the league.
SPORTSNET: The city of Toronto yesterday announced a ban on city-led events until June 30. However, it subsequently stated that didn’t prohibit sporting events at private facilities.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That provides a glimmer of hope for those hoping the NHL returns to action sometime in June. However, that’s going to depend on how long this pandemic lasts. If there’s been little or no change, don’t expect a resumption of pro sports in June.
TSN: Darren Dreger reports over $450 million in signing bonus money was to be paid out to players on July 1, which is the traditional start of a new season. That date could be changed to September 1, deferring the bonus money payout. The Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars lead the league in signing bonuses.
Pierre LeBrun suggests the current adversity facing the NHL and NHLPA could have a silver lining if it brings about an improvement in talks toward a new collective bargaining agreement.
LeBrun went into greater detail in his column in The Athletic, pointing out business will suffer for a few years following this pandemic. He believes the league and the PA cannot afford a CBA work stoppage in 2022. He feels the eventual discussions between the two sides over how to transition through the coronavirus pause could lead to long-term CBA stability.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: LeBrun thinks the two sides will have “transition rules” negotiations on everything from the salary cap to escrow to critical dates like the start of free agency. Out of those could come the framework for working out a new CBA before its expiration in September 2022. As he points out, the league needs stability coming out of this pandemic. Another labor war between the two sides could set the league back for years.
CBA negotiations were already showing progress and a lack of rancor, with the two sides’ mutual agreement not to re-open the CBA last fall as a prime example. If the league and the PA can successfully transition out of this current situation, they should be able to avoid another labor dispute.
LeBrun also reported Seattle is interested in hosting the 2021 NHL Draft in conjunction with the expansion draft.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was voted the NHL’s best forward in the NHLPA’s player poll (Photo via NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I think that’s a great idea. Montreal was supposed to host this year’s draft, but they stage the 2022 draft.
NHLPA: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was voted the best forward in the NHLPA Player Poll, with Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman the best defenseman and Montreal’s Carey Price the best goaltender. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was voted the most complete player and the player they’d want on their team in a must-win game. Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand was named the best and worst trash talker.
THE SCORE: St. Louis Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said teammate Jay Bouwmeester is feeling better and remains in St. Louis during the league’s hiatus. Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac episode during a Feb. 11 game against the Anaheim Ducks.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said his family in Germany is doing well during this pandemic. His home country is the fifth hardest-hit, with 64,000 cases and 560 deaths. “It’s obviously concerning,” said Draisaitl. “My family is doing what they’re supposed to, they’re staying in. So far everyone is healthy. I hope that it stays that way back home. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do.”
NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said he hasn’t started contract talks yet with his free agents. The notables include Brian Elliott, Justin Braun, Derek Grant, Oskar Lindblom, and Nolan Patrick.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flyers have over $69 million invested in 13 players for 2020-21. Fletcher could be waiting to find out what next season’s cap numbers will be before opening contract discussions.
SPORTSNET: Arizona Coyotes president and CEO Ahron Cohen and GM John Chayka are donating 20 percent of their salaries to COVID-19 relief efforts.
NJ.COM: Devils owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer made a six-figure coronavirus donation to RWJBarnabas Health’s Emergency Response Fund to aid the health care company’s response to COVID-19. The Devils also donated “7,000 pairs of gloves, 10,000 hand sanitizer units and an assortment of sanitizing wipes and sprays, to RJWBarnabas.” The team also announced it would extend its support of part-time employees to May 15.
ESPN.COM: San Jose Sharks president Jonathan Becher defended the club’s decision to play three home games in early March following a recommendation by Santa Clara county against large gatherings. He claimed the club made Tthe best decision we could with the information we had at the time.”
Regarding the ongoing pandemic that is shutting everything down, this sign – which popped up in one store recently – should appear in any open establishment
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!
Just because we are open doesn’t mean we are here for you to spend your time BROWSING around. We are designated as an ESSENTIAL SERVICE. We are not here for you because you have nothing else to do. We are not here for you because you feel like getting out of the house for awhile. We are in a STATE OF EMERGENCY. This is NOT A VACATION! Every customer who walks in our doors PUTS US AT RISK. We really don’t want to be here, but we realize that we are needed. YOU don’t see how many times a day we wash and sanitize our hands to try to keep ourselves safe. YOU don’t see our upset co-workers in the break room struggling to keep their composure. YOU don’t see our spouses who worry about us every minute we are at work and who are our strength when we get home. We have our jobs to do and we realize the IMPORTANCE OF OUR JOB TO YOU. The LEAST you can do is come in with a sense of purpose, get what you need, and get yourselves HOME.
Please share, maybe we can get the message out there.
George, Don’t want to be political here, just because you’re considered essential business doesn’t mean you have to stay open.
Just because the business is open doesn’t mean you have to go to work.
You being in Ottawa the employee could just say they have a love one at home who need tending, tell there employer they have a cold.
Hopefully the business is doing what they can to keep their employee safe, hand sanitizers, 6ft, wash your hands often and medical mask, plexiglass dividers at the checkouts, gloves.
People will go out and people will go to business that are open. But you always have options.
The message is quite simple and straightforward. Absolutely nothing “political” intended or applicable.
If you don’t absolutely NEED anything in the establishment – stay the f*&k at home!
The letter is more harmful then good, if the owner posted the sign and if his feeling are that strong close the doors. It’s that simple.
What color is the sky in your world? We’re talking grocery stores and pharmacies here. Are YOU saying it’s ok to get out and browse to “relieve the boredom?” Jaysus
George O, really who goes to a grocery store to browse. Read what i said never mind trying to put your own spin on things.
Chrism you’re 100% spot on.
The letter on the door does absolutely nothing, other then anger people.
A notice on the door of kindly asking people to limit themselves to one person per family to do the grocery shopping is more helpful then the tone of that letter.
Has nothing to do with kids gloves. D
Did you see the government shutting down the sale of lottery tickets, closing liquor stores, or cannabis shops are these what you call essential services?
Regardless of the times and stress does give the business the right to be rude there is consequences to these actions.
A convenience store is open is it essential services?
Gas/ Convenience should customer only be allowed to purchase gas and prepay at the pump only?
What about a Truck stop with showers would you want to clean them, its essential service.
I understand the frustration better then most, but the letter has no purpose.
Lmao! What field are you in exactly? And these reports are by cdc who…. I’m sure their opinions are nothing compared to your coworkers at GameStop!
For such an important guy… you sure as hell have a lot of free time on your hands! Hey back to saving lives …. on call of duty! Lmao
As someone who is working right now I can empathize with this sign. But I don’t like the tone. People should have an idea of what they need and get in and out. Only go if they need stuff and not to just get out of the house. But that sign if management allowed it would only serve to make the atmosphere even more hostile. That’s not what we need. It’s focused on the fear and anger as opposed to the sense of duty and responsibility the essential services should have.
Right idea… poorly stated message
The time for the kid gloves, politically-correct approach is long past, I’m afraid Chrisms. Or do you want a repeat of the Italy/Spain situations?
George you hit the nail on the head. However, unfortunately this letter / message falls on deaf ears anyway. It targets the world of the entitled
They are entitled to spend everyone else’s money, and entitled to gamble with other people lives. But you can’t tell them that… it’s not sensitive to their feelings . Which apparently take precedence over people lives!
“So what if I kill your grandma!, it’s my right to hack all over things while I browse this store “
I work in an essential service as well, but we don’t need to deal with the public in person as we are business to business. Although previously they could and did come to our office/warehouse for material and we had distancing procedures in place and posted, with an acknowledgment they had to read and sign. I shut that down a couple weeks ago. 1 dumb ass changed the equation and I remembered that a certain portion of the population is ignorant, stupid or simply selfish. Now the stakes are higher so the tolerance is lower.
And no Caper we can’t choose to close. The only thing that would make that happen is if a-holes like that guy caused an infection in this building. I don’t care who he works for.
I am with George I couldn’t care less about peoples feelings if they don’t care about the rest of society’s health and safety. Their choice not mine.
This isn’t a political issue nor is it difficult to figure out what needs to be done and anyone who chooses to ignore it can f*** off.
Exactly Ray and Nyr4life. That is their prerogative as a business. And I’m sure – given the circumstances – they could not possibly care less if a-holes offended by the message ever shop at their establishment again.
Ray any business can shut down if they want to. The malls are closed. It sound like you don’t need people to come to your place of work which is fine.
So because your stress it mean its ok to be rude and ignorant because you perceived other were?
I don’t buy that garbage. I have no time for rude messages put out there to the masses. Proper signage will do. You deal directly with the one off.
The message is saying don’t come in, we don’t want you, stay the F$%K OUT! then close the doors.
If your that fearful and scared for your life, it only takes one customer to pass on the virus, every single customer is a risk and at risk from the employee it goes both ways.
The only way to stop the virus is everyone stay one. EVERYONE!
Flatten the curve, then what, as reported last night they expect it to spike again in the fall.
Until there is a cure, a vaccine covid-19 isn’t going away.
It has nothing to do with kid gloves George. It’s about not succumbing to fear and losing our heads. That attitude will make this crisis even worse.
And listening to any member of the boomer generation throw entitled around is mind boggling
Don’t panic people. Wash your hands, leave your homes only when you need to, let us do our jobs safely. But if you’re not sure whether you want Cheerios or rice crispies I ain’t gonna freak out on you.
So washing your hands cures the problem? Lol. Misinformed and entitled I guess ? You may want to start reading up on the latest on this virus.
6 foot ? Wrong! They are now saying 26-28 feet . And HOURS of the virus lingering airborne. Washing your hands? Really? This is why it will linger for months instead of weeks. Misinformation, entitlement …..
I’m not a boomer either. I’m a gen X. Which apparently was the last of the chain to not need to be coddled like a child in our 20s, 30s, and up.
Your lackadaisical attitude about other people’s lives is mind boggling!!!!
I want to clarify something. I’m not all that concerned about the message as it pertains to the customers. Those few that are coloring outside the lines should be told off. My concern is that the owner of the business allowed themselves or one of their employees to post this. It is incredibly demoralizing to the team working there. Either shut down the business or shut down the panic. Terrible management
I’ll take the advice of the way infectious disease experts i work with daily over the headline grabbers trying to get attention. I know you’re scared ny. It’s a scary situation. But panicking ain’t gonna help.
Btw. I work directly with these individuals daily so calling me lackadaisical is downright ignorant.
Chrism spot on and well said.
This isn’t about fear or panic.
This isn’t about being rude.
This isn’t about feelings or anger.
This isn’t about what generation you are.
Here is what I know:
The industry I am in is essential, and if our customers were not able to get the material they need it is a big problem, for everybody in the 3 provinces I am responsible for.
If we get a COVID case in one of the buildings, it closes for 14 days. Not a choice it will happen. Company policy. We will not put our employees in that type danger. Some are working from home, some need to be on site because they have to be or we would close.
It is my personal responsibility to do everything in my power to make sure we stay open.
Not just to my staff, but to everybody.
If you guys want food, they need to stay open as well. This really isn’t a choice.
Do you want electricity? Want heat? Want gasoline? Think these services just keep running if you walk away and close? Think again.
This is about doing what we need to do to keep these essential services open and doing what we need to in order to make it happen without endangering the staff. These services keep our society running and this from getting worse.
That is the basis for any of these decisions, as it should be. If I have to offend someone to achieve that, so be it. I did it once and will do it again.
Lmao. Chrism is the most important guy in Walmart.
What field are you in again? How does one find so much time to complain about feelings online when you’re out there saving lives?
Maybe this hasn’t struck Amish Mayberry just yet. They are FORKLIFTING corpses into makeshift morgues in NYC. Building makeshift hospitals on Central Park!
Yeah wash your hands and stop being paranoid! Brilliant!
Your not normally a very pleasant person ny and being frightened isn’t bringing out what little of a best side you have. Do every one a favor and go back to your bunker… hunker down, and wait till the end times. When the rapture occurs and takes all the non entitled people up to heaven you can be the first one through the gates. God bless.
You know … I don’t normally wish someone catch this and bring it home … but you’re making it tough…
Maybe you in an icu or a loved one will be the cure to your ignorance? Maybe when it hits home for YOU … you’ll not be such a self centered pos?
I think I’m at the realization there will not be anymore hockey this season and the Stanley Cup won’t be presented.
Latest reports indicating July before things get back to some form of normality.
Asking people to keep social distancing and to stay at home, is going to become much more difficult as the temperature rises and more and more people after a long hard winter want to and will flock to the beaches and parks to be outside and enjoying summer life.
When this happens the flatten curve will no longer be flatten it will take a turn north.
As i would love to sit down enjoy some playoff hockey i just don’t see it happening, hopefully I’m wrong for many reasons.
I’m glad to see that everyone wants to keep these employees safe, but are you doing your part?
When you going shopping, are you buying everything on one trip that will last you for two weeks?
Are you wearing sterilized gloves when you visit these businesses
Are you wearing a mask, this will stop the spread of droplets and won’t fall onto the employee or other customers in the business.
Are you using the prepay option at the gas pumps?
If your not doing these things then may i suggest that you read George O posted letter because it applies to you.
Gloves, masks? Yeah… best of luck finding any of those. Shopping for 2 weeks? Pretty hard to do when shelves are empty and you are limited as to how many packages of meat, loaves of bread , cases of water , etc you are allowed to purchase in one stop.
I’m doing my part. I’m working from home. I’m not taking leisurely strolls in the parks and streets. I am high risk, so I limit my exposure to other people , public places etc.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
For those wanting leading medical advice on Covid-19
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/03/30/coronavirus-social-distancing-mit-researcher-lydia-bourouiba-27-feet/5091526002/
So – 3 feet says WHO – 6 feet says CDC – this learned outfit says 26 feet! Stop being paranoid? How about those three getting together and coming up with something definitive based upon one anothers’ findings and research
Yeah MIT says 26 feet. But hey, Chrism says no… and he doesn’t know the difference between there, their and they’re … so who am I to listen to anyone of those brilliant MIT research minds?
Lol. And people like chrism pass this brilliant understanding down to a younger generation? No wonder this is spreading like wildfire….
Scary!
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/26/21192211/coronavirus-covid-19-social-distancing-end?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Any of you Boston fans have any insight on the goalie thing from the other thread?
I sure hope Pengy and his family are doing well during this time.
My thoughts exactly. I know Lyle touched base with him a week or so back … but didn’t hear the response.
Hi, George. I responded to your e-mail last week. I e-mailed Pengy twice, but haven’t heard any response. Like all of you, I’m hoping he and his family are ok. I hope all of you are ok.
Same goes for all of you! I hope pengy and the others we ain’t heard from are fine. Even striker who I know still reads every day.
Didn’t see that Lyle. Thanks for the update.
Right now there are 2,392 confirmed cases in Ontario, the vast majority of which are in the GTA. And this is just the tip of the iceberg as increased testing (up wards of 5,000 a day – andf the fact some results are not confirmed for 10 to 12 days) will shoot that total up considerably over the next two weeks
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-coronavirus-wednesday-emergency-order-1.5517172
No I don’t Vinnie. I just don’t suffer fools gladly and I’ll say so. Now shove your head back in the sand like a good ostrich.
Holy crap grumpy people I ran a business for 31 years if an employee put a stupid sign on the door that degraded customers I would fire his ass on the spot absolutely stupid if you don’t want to be open close door treat people with respect. None of this has anything to do with hockey which is why I come on this site to escape what’s happening in our world right now. Had lunch a while back with Brayden he was kinda hoping his contract would have worked out with Seattle expansion draft I didn’t get feeling he was expecting to sign back with Washington but that was than this is now.