Stoner

You forgot the part where the veteran slips on the carpet. Call 888 88 88. What if the players mimed scoring a goal using an imaginary net at the dot? They could even let the goalie score some night. It's not wilder than what the Hurricanes do. I can't see the league saying you can't do it.

This won't sit well, but my understanding is that it won't really change much. The vaccinated won't be maskless and carefree. There's an open question as to whether even if vaccinated you can carry the virus and infect others. Also, 95% effective isn't 100%.

Yes and thank you. But what? Maybe the horn blows, the red light flashes behind the opposing goalie, the goal song is played, the starting five skate past the bench and bump gloves, then report to center, up 1-0 before the puck drop. It's like — goddamit we're going to score tonight; get used to it, Leafs. Maybe they assemble around the goalie and all skate to their spots, letting the starting center go last to some kind of great fanfare. I'm seeing a graphic superimposed on the ice over the dot — that rotating "spotlighted" player circle you see on some broadcasts. There are a million billion things you could do. It's weird that, as far as I know, no NHL team does anything special in the time between the anthems and puck drop.

Thank you. That's good food for thought. Would it shock you to find out I didn't give a lot of thought to an idea that I know will never come to pass? I think my assumption was that since it's being done before rugby, soccer and basketball games at the very least, those issues you mention had been resolved. Probably not a good assumption. Are you OK with the "appropriation" of this tradition in any setting? What about the school boys honoring a retiring teacher?

Seriously folks! That period between the end of the anthems and the drop of the puck is just brutal. Guys milling around. Loud music being blared. The ref looking for his whistle/a puck/loose change on the ice. Let's spice it up. And maybe solve the notorious slow starts that somehow plague successive generations of Sabres. Make a group of mercenary out of towners into true Buffalo soldiers. Honor the brave Maorians. It would be a tough sell for a conservative sport. I'm hoping what Carolina has done started the process of removing hockey sticks from butts. Also — if NS is on board, I see no stopping it.

Interesting. So there's precedent for what the Sabres are planning? Also... NZ 101, NBAAS 79.

How hard do you try to make sure no one knows what you're trying to say? Uncanny. Almost every post. It must come naturally. Who made fun of it?

Correct. And the posts expressing the opposite opinion, also about the government's response, will live forever with the plastic bottles and the cockroaches. And our moderator would never even think to delete the post you can't rebut. There are none so blind...

Certainly multimillionaires would not be motivated by the opportunity to get 10 grand more.

People can shove their #2020s in a sack. This is the best thing that's happened this year. An awesome Monday and an awesome Wednesday. Winning streak!

How much for calf pics?

This is a great day in the United States of America.

The purpose of the vaccines right now isn't to return our lives to pre-Covid normal. It's to almost immediately protect those who are most at risk. Sorry — some hockey games might get postponed. Thoughts and prayers.

Turn on the news. Pfizer is shipping out six million doses in the next several days. That's it. There might be 40 million doses by the end of the year. Hill I'm fighting on? Isn't that a saying reserved for someone who's expressing a lonely, unpopular opinion? You're muddying the waters because you got caught in an indefensible position.

Pfizer will be trying to fulfill a pre-order of 100 million doses, enough for 50 million people. They are paid for. There are none to sell to the Arizona Coyotes. Am I missing something? But I think you're right about how long it's going to take before it's the turn of young, healthy people.

There's no line though. At first, there are just a bunch of people standing shoulder to shoulder, all of them in about equal need. Your argument might be a tiny bit better later on when we're down to people with less risky underlying conditions and supplies of vaccine are larger. Only a tiny bit though. These guys need to wait their turn. You'll win out ultimately, of course, in a country where buddies of people in power get a hospital bed and the good schtuff while sicker people are on their couch trying their luck with Tylenol. I'm not even sure this is worth debating. There will be a season without players getting vaccinated. Actually, what you're proposing is grosser, for lack of a better word: we need Jack to get a vaccine instead of a nursing home resident so he doesn't fall ill on the eve of Game 7.

The definition of selfishness. But not surprising. It's why we're in this mess. How can your enjoyment of watching some dumb jocks whack at a puck mean more than a human life? And at this point it is one for one. If Jack gets a vaccine a nursing home resident or a nurse doesn't. You guys might not even be in the minority. We are a sick culture.

Excess deaths.

At first we're only going to have enough Pfizer vaccines for 50 million people — and the government might not be able to get more vaccines from Pfizer until late spring. The first delivery, enough for only several million people, is imminent. Thankfully, the marketplace will not rule, not yet anyway. I don't see any scenario where vaccines will be available to young, healthy professional athletes. Nor should they be, nor could any such access be morally defensible. The tweet about the NHL's desire to get their folks vaccinated before the season got quickly cleaned up, which is good.

Is it safe to assume the immunity lasts at least c. eight months? We're not hearing about lots of people in NYC/NJ getting re-infected.

Why would the vaccine ever be for sale to non-government entities? Supply will not meet demand in this country this winter and likely worldwide supply will not meet demand for a looooong time. Any purchase of vaccines would be the definition of cutting the line.