Jeremy Laura: A very bad pre season twist

Here we go again. Not sure how much people will take of it this time around.....will just leave it at that.

IF there's another lock-down/whatever term to be used, I'd think it would be the death-knell for serveral teams; AZ comes to mind right off the bat, OTT next. Feels like there would be some constriction for sure. As we saw with the Sen's sale, teams are carrying untold debt and probably couldn't survive the massive loss of revenue.

I hope this doesn't happen, but who knows anymore. Despite the increase in attendance thus far, I expect at least AZ to fold...even with "help" from the league. The 'Yotes are a sub-standard team at best so regarless of whater comes out of this latest bout, I'd expect them to fold.

Here in St Louis things are looking grim as well... numbers rising. My oldest daughters in laws are all sick with covid, mom, dad and brothers..including her husband.... and unlike the covid my wife and I experienced 2 years back theirs is accompanied with vomiting.... they think when her father in law went to a Cardinals/ Mets game he brought it home...they've been sick since last Friday...and yes, masks are appearing once again everywhere you go... this country can't do this again, let alone the NHL... be safe out there and hopefully this goes away, though I feel it's just beginning.....sucks

Here we go again. Not sure how much people will take of it this time around.....will just leave it at that.

IF there's another lock-down/whatever term to be used, I'd think it would be the death-knell for serveral teams; AZ comes to mind right off the bat, OTT next. Feels like there would be some constriction for sure. As we saw with the Sen's sale, teams are carrying untold debt and probably couldn't survive the massive loss of revenue.

I hope this doesn't happen, but who knows anymore. Despite the increase in attendance thus far, I expect at least AZ to fold...even with "help" from the league. The 'Yotes are a sub-standard team at best so regarless of whater comes out of this latest bout, I'd expect them to fold.
- mcmastermike1968

If AZ is still in the building they were last year it maxes out at 5k. Student tickets are $25. I don’t know how you make that work. The Utah thing is being floated and there is a lot of land but the $ have to be there too

Here in St Louis things are looking grim as well... numbers rising. My oldest daughters in laws are all sick with covid, mom, dad and brothers..including her husband.... and unlike the covid my wife and I experienced 2 years back theirs is accompanied with vomiting.... they think when her father in law went to a Cardinals/ Mets game he brought it home...they've been sick since last Friday...and yes, masks are appearing once again everywhere you go... this country can't do this again, let alone the NHL... be safe out there and hopefully this goes away, though I feel it's just beginning.....sucks
- angryagain

I don’t know where it all lands. Just getting random hits so far as far as official posts go. Just a heads up is all I can think of at this point

The American people won’t listen any longer, and for good reason. All of the previous mandates and lockdowns didn’t work. That’s a fact borne out by the different states policies.

Yes, there are new mutations, but they’re never as strong as the original.

Live your life as you see fit, not what some governmental agency says. Want to wear masks and stay home, do so, without apology. However, if you want to skip the governments solutions, you do that too.

Personal choices, not government mandates. They lie so often, they can’t be trusted.

Let’s get to some hockey!

Play all the games in Florida. Or bow down to Pharmakeia again. Forget Joe Biden.

The American people won’t listen any longer, and for good reason. All of the previous mandates and lockdowns didn’t work. That’s a fact borne out by the different states policies.

Yes, there are new mutations, but they’re never as strong as the original.

Live your life as you see fit, not what some governmental agency says. Want to wear masks and stay home, do so, without apology. However, if you want to skip the governments solutions, you do that too.

Personal choices, not government mandates. They lie so often, they can’t be trusted.

Let’s get to some hockey!
- Hokeeguy9

Well, as the Left loses their stranglehold on the Culture War we will see them revert to their core principles as Obstinate Authoritarians. If you’re pre-disposed to risk surrounding upper respiratory infections, take precaution. If you’re pre-disposed to succumbing to fear mongering, meet Math. The older, more honest older sibling to science.

1/1/2020 - 1/1/23 : 743,319,554 cases ~ 6,768,371 Deaths = 0.9% Risk of Death Rate

For Comparison

1/1/2019 - 1/1/2020 : 14,900,000 ER Visits ~ 400,000 Deaths Resulting from Medical
Professional Error =
2.7% Risk of Death Rate

A Basic ER Visit Presents a Risk of Death Rate Totaling 1.8% Greater than that Presented by a Covid Case.

It’s a War on for your Mind.

All Figures Per CDC / WHO

It’s all by design.Another election to steal . Ballot harvesting doesn’t work without a pandemic. Make sure to ware your masks lmao !

Here we go again. Not sure how much people will take of it this time around.....will just leave it at that.

IF there's another lock-down/whatever term to be used, I'd think it would be the death-knell for serveral teams; AZ comes to mind right off the bat, OTT next. Feels like there would be some constriction for sure. As we saw with the Sen's sale, teams are carrying untold debt and probably couldn't survive the massive loss of revenue.

I hope this doesn't happen, but who knows anymore. Despite the increase in attendance thus far, I expect at least AZ to fold...even with "help" from the league. The 'Yotes are a sub-standard team at best so regarless of whater comes out of this latest bout, I'd expect them to fold.
- mcmastermike1968

Why would you expect it to hurt Arizona? They'd be the team least affected since they're losing money haveing to play games at Mullet Arena. Ottawa was just bought by a group with infinite money. They'll be fine.

The American people won’t listen any longer, and for good reason. All of the previous mandates and lockdowns didn’t work. That’s a fact borne out by the different states policies.

Yes, there are new mutations, but they’re never as strong as the original.

Live your life as you see fit, not what some governmental agency says. Want to wear masks and stay home, do so, without apology. However, if you want to skip the governments solutions, you do that too.

Personal choices, not government mandates. They lie so often, they can’t be trusted.

Let’s get to some hockey!
- Hokeeguy9

Live your life as you see fit as long as it matches how you want to live your life, right? That's the American way.

Such garbage should not be advertised

Here we go again. Not sure how much people will take of it this time around.....will just leave it at that.

IF there's another lock-down/whatever term to be used, I'd think it would be the death-knell for serveral teams; AZ comes to mind right off the bat, OTT next. Feels like there would be some constriction for sure. As we saw with the Sen's sale, teams are carrying untold debt and probably couldn't survive the massive loss of revenue.

I hope this doesn't happen, but who knows anymore. Despite the increase in attendance thus far, I expect at least AZ to fold...even with "help" from the league. The 'Yotes are a sub-standard team at best so regarless of whater comes out of this latest bout, I'd expect them to fold.
- mcmastermike1968

Sens had debts because although Melnyk had assets when he bought the team, he didn't have the cash to buy them. He basically bought the team on credit. Problem is eventually he lost his business and his wife divorced him and took him to the cleaners. He had to refinance the debt of the team multiple times because he never had the money. I remember hearing something about him trying to build a new pharmaceutical company which he probably leverage the Sens even more to get financing (no proof of this and too lazy to look it up) for it. He tried to use the Sens to get a Casino license but failed.

In the end, the Sens were probably his biggest asset still even despite all the debts he had accumulated by basically buying the team on a credit card.

Unless the new owner does the same stupid thing, he should be fine. Would also help if they get an arena downtown instead of the middle of nowhere in Kanata. Traffic is bad enough these days trying to go out there that most people that don't live in the west end aren't interested in going there and that cuts out most people that live downtown, east of Ottawa and Gatineau.

Yes, the clowns running this country and the world are trying for another lockdown complete with masks, vaccines, and such heading into 2024 and the election. Also look for them to destroy what is left for the economy and to institute a total digital currency and to put us all into 15 minute cities. In other words, where you live, you won't be able to travel anymore than 15 minutes from your house. The city of Tucson, AZ had already voted in favor of this, but has not of yet implemented it. I'm sure it's being done other places in the U.S.

Why would you expect it to hurt Arizona? They'd be the team least affected since they're losing money haveing to play games at Mullet Arena. Ottawa was just bought by a group with infinite money. They'll be fine.
- Squeaky

I used AZ for several reasons; among them, they draw a "loan" from the NHL to sustain operations, they're operating routinely in the black without a true home nor a plan to get one, and can only draw ~5k fans on a sell-out night.....they're best postured to become an operational liability based upon numerous reports. Now, I MAY be off on my understanding, and will happily review any corrections as usual. The operational costs of a NHL team vs. HRR in a 5k seat college arena indicates massive operational losses year over year until they can get a new arena and draw sufficient numbers to pay back loans, etc... and turn a profit.

Not say OTT is going down, should have been more clear; my reference was how in debt the team was when the sale went public, I read somewhere ~$1/2bn which no one outside of hockey lord-dom was aware of, which in indicates there are surely other teams in the same boat.... Again, making an assumption, but where there's smoke..

If I see you wear a mask... I take and wipe my Azz....

Sens had debts because although Melnyk had assets when he bought the team, he didn't have the cash to buy them. He basically bought the team on credit. Problem is eventually he lost his business and his wife divorced him and took him to the cleaners. He had to refinance the debt of the team multiple times because he never had the money. I remember hearing something about him trying to build a new pharmaceutical company which he probably leverage the Sens even more to get financing (no proof of this and too lazy to look it up) for it. He tried to use the Sens to get a Casino license but failed.

In the end, the Sens were probably his biggest asset still even despite all the debts he had accumulated by basically buying the team on a credit card.

Unless the new owner does the same stupid thing, he should be fine. Would also help if they get an arena downtown instead of the middle of nowhere in Kanata. Traffic is bad enough these days trying to go out there that most people that don't live in the west end aren't interested in going there and that cuts out most people that live downtown, east of Ottawa and Gatineau.
- dcz28

Always an insightful and well-articulated submission from you. Thanks.

Look, I HATE seeing my NHL suffer. I know it's really a "northern thing" and trying to sustain expansion in certain areas of the US is going to be a struggle. FL does well because of Snow-Birds and transplants as well as successful teams. AZ struggles with the same aggregated population but no resounding success and are in debt without a home. UT may do well, I dunno. SC would be a failure because folks here aren't hockey-oriented (Charlotte Checkers draw ~ 1/2 area capacity, Greenville Swamp Rabbits draw ~ the same....), that is UNLESS a team was brought here that was already solvent with unlimited financial resources, significant infrastructure and fans. Oh, and had a VGK-like expansion draft.

After watching the NHL come out of C-19, and seeing how the world has changed so dramatically, I have very real concerns about how sustainable the NHL would be in another C-19 event.....

I don’t know where it all lands. Just getting random hits so far as far as official posts go. Just a heads up is all I can think of at this point
- Jeremy Laura

SC has seen an uptick in cases and hospitalizations... Am seeing the same reports for the past couple of weeks. Definitely bears attention.........

My theory: The way the modern (post 1960s) securities markets work, is it's always "what have you done for me lately?" If a public company goes from a huge loss to $200 million in profit for a quarter, $200 million is now the floor and the expectation is that in every future quarter, they will exceed the performance of the previous quarter. If they don't, their price suffers, and the investment banks will threaten to make changes to the board. What does this have to do with the return of masking even though we have three years of data that shows masks had a minimum impact on transmission?

When Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson made more than $100 billion from the vax at very high profit margins because the US taxpayer funded the R&D, that set the floor and the expectation for the future. There are no one-time events or windfalls in the security markets, only expectations of perpetual growth.

Since the pharmaceutical industry is the top funder of politicians at all levels of government, and they are also the top source of ad revenue for the entirety of the US media and the top funder of US educational institutions, in order for that industry to meet financial markets demands, they need Covid to last until the next virus hits. As booster rates go down significantly as people stopped paying attention to Covid, they need to bring it back to the forefront to combat booster hesitancy. Even though the current variant is even more moderate than Omicron, it does have similar transmission rates so it's the perfect variant to make another vax push. Universities will do their part, the media will do their part, and politicians will do their part. Masks are an important tool to remind everyone that Covid lives on, and since most people hate wearing them, they can renew their messaging that the only way to get rid of the mask mandates is to comply with booster schedules. They'll start with masks, move on to distancing and banning large gatherings, and if they have to, they'll return to lockdowns in the states that support them. Canada will support a return to social distancing and lockdowns, so yes, this is gong to be a year of uncertainty for the NHL.

My theory: The way the modern (post 1960s) securities markets work, is it's always "what have you done for me lately?" If a public company goes from a huge loss to $200 million in profit for a quarter, $200 million is now the floor and the expectation is that in every future quarter, they will exceed the performance of the previous quarter. If they don't, their price suffers, and the investment banks will threaten to make changes to the board. What does this have to do with the return of masking even though we have three years of data that shows masks had a minimum impact on transmission?

When Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson made more than $100 billion from the vax at very high profit margins because the US taxpayer funded the R&D, that set the floor and the expectation for the future. There are no one-time events or windfalls in the security markets, only expectations of perpetual growth.

Since the pharmaceutical industry is the top funder of politicians at all levels of government, and they are also the top source of ad revenue for the entirety of the US media and the top funder of US educational institutions, in order for that industry to meet financial markets demands, they need Covid to last until the next virus hits. As booster rates go down significantly as people stopped paying attention to Covid, they need to bring it back to the forefront to combat booster hesitancy. Even though the current variant is even more moderate than Omicron, it does have similar transmission rates so it's the perfect variant to make another vax push. Universities will do their part, the media will do their part, and politicians will do their part. Masks are an important tool to remind everyone that Covid lives on, and since most people hate wearing them, they can renew their messaging that the only way to get rid of the mask mandates is to comply with booster schedules. They'll start with masks, move on to distancing and banning large gatherings, and if they have to, they'll return to lockdowns in the states that support them. Canada will support a return to social distancing and lockdowns, so yes, this is gong to be a year of uncertainty for the NHL.
- bluelineenforcer

Well THAT'S pretty bleak!!

Seriously, VERY insightful and thought-provoking. Troubled times. I really hate seeing the negative impact on the 2 sports that are, to me, the very best in athleticism and professionalism; rugby and hockey. Both sports suffered greatly and are to some degree still struggling. This sucks.

Thanks, Blue. GREAT read, for me.

Here in St Louis things are looking grim as well... numbers rising. My oldest daughters in laws are all sick with covid, mom, dad and brothers..including her husband.... and unlike the covid my wife and I experienced 2 years back theirs is accompanied with vomiting.... they think when her father in law went to a Cardinals/ Mets game he brought it home...they've been sick since last Friday...and yes, masks are appearing once again everywhere you go... this country can't do this again, let alone the NHL... be safe out there and hopefully this goes away, though I feel it's just beginning.....sucks
- angryagain

Sorry they got sick, but, they got better. How is this any different from the flu or any other virus?

Covid is the flu ffs

You be told what to and like it!! Drones