WCHA 21-22 Season

[robertearle]

Saint Thomas apparently had six players out last weekend. The Gophers had three, two of which have been conceded to have been Covid.

Easy to follow the progression at Saint Thomas, if they had six last weekend they won't have enough to play this weekend against Wisconsin.

For the Gophers if they had three last weekend . . . ? One possible buffer for the Gophers might be that I believe the players that were Covid last weekend are roommates.

I meant the timing of St Thomas players facing off against Gopher players. If you start to show symptoms on Tuesday or Wednesday, you were certainly infected the previous Sunday and probably pretty contagious. So If a Gopher player were to have become infected last Sunday via a St Thomas player, they might show symptoms by Friday, or worse, they might not yet do so.

During the "2020" volleyball season played in the spring of 2021, infection passed from team to team just like that, "across the net" so to speak.

[Timothy A]

Let's get real. Cancelling games due to player safety is BS. Covid is 99.99% not a threat to these tremendously healthy and fit individuals. Not only that, I'm sure they are all vaxed to the max. A positive test does not mean you can't physically play. The WI men's hockey team had 9 players available on a Friday, so they slid the games to Saturday and Sunday, Guess Watts? The whole freaking team played Saturday less actual injured players. Dressed 3 goalies 6 D and 13 F. You can't tell me that on Friday they were physically too sick to play, but Saturday they could. Not a one looked like they were playing sick or over-fatigued. This is a joke. The players themselves said the protocol made no sense. Now if too many players aren't physically able to play, then the game can't be played. I get it.

And speaking of getting real..... if we are so fearful of this, why fill NBA/NHL stadiums with 20000 people or NFL stadiums with 80000 people with no masks or cloth ones? Why are we stuffing people into airplanes and Costco's? These cloth masks are garbage against Omicron. And these N95 masks are EASY to breath through (and talk). You don't even know it's on. I bet you could play hockey wearing them. I find it hilarious to see pictures of HS BB or VB players wearing these cloth masks, which are ill fitting and hard to breath through. And they are readily available, go on Amazon and buy some. You can wear them multiple times.

So Watts is the point of cancelling these games? People at risk should be protecting themselves. My high risk sister in law has been out of her house 14 times since March of 2020 (20 months), to the Dr or a Walmart pickup. That's it, poor Tammy. She's being responsible. Folks who are at risk should protect themselves. Analyze your risk level and live your life according to it and accept the fate of your choice.

I know it's all about not overwhelming Hospitals. They are not full of 20 year old fit people who are vaccinated. They are full of older people who are or aren't vaxed. The vaxed walk out after a short stay, the unvaxed roll out after a long one. Cancelling these hockey games by saying it's player safety has zero affect on hospital covid load. AND these schools are totally cool with in person classes! Does that makes any sense? Can't play hockey Sunday but go to 3 classes and the bar on Monday to watch the big game!

If we are going defcon 10 on this...make N95 masks mandatory for all. That will even protect the unvaxed. The government should be shipping them to all, along with test kits.

Watts is happening right now in regards to covid in 2022 is completely illogical. At least in 2020 and 2021 things that we did made some logical sense, even though back then we knew so much less than now. It's a mad mad mad mad world right now.

[Lindsay]

Good rant. I don’t know the answer but it’s apparent that a lot of things don’t make sense on this issue. Stalemate for a little while longer I guess.

Watts had a challenge to break Agostas record. It was going to be tough, with cancelled games it’s not happening ( especially cancelled games against the tommyettes ).

Id like to see OSU win a reg season championship; again the cancelled games messes with things, takes it out of the teams control a bit.

Frustrating, didn’t think we’d still be here.

[Gargoyle]

Let's get real. Cancelling games due to player safety is BS. Covid is 99.99% not a threat to these tremendously healthy and fit individuals. Not only that, I'm sure they are all vaxed to the max. A positive test does not mean you can't physically play. The WI men's hockey team had 9 players available on a Friday, so they slid the games to Saturday and Sunday, Guess Watts? The whole freaking team played Saturday less actual injured players. Dressed 3 goalies 6 D and 13 F. You can't tell me that on Friday they were physically too sick to play, but Saturday they could. Not a one looked like they were playing sick or over-fatigued. This is a joke. The players themselves said the protocol made no sense. Now if too many players aren't physically able to play, then the game can't be played. I get it.

And speaking of getting real..... if we are so fearful of this, why fill NBA/NHL stadiums with 20000 people or NFL stadiums with 80000 people with no masks or cloth ones? Why are we stuffing people into airplanes and Costco's? These cloth masks are garbage against Omicron. And these N95 masks are EASY to breath through (and talk). You don't even know it's on. I bet you could play hockey wearing them. I find it hilarious to see pictures of HS BB or VB players wearing these cloth masks, which are ill fitting and hard to breath through. And they are readily available, go on Amazon and buy some. You can wear them multiple times.

So Watts is the point of cancelling these games? People at risk should be protecting themselves. My high risk sister in law has been out of her house 14 times since March of 2020 (20 months), to the Dr or a Walmart pickup. That's it, poor Tammy. She's being responsible. Folks who are at risk should protect themselves. Analyze your risk level and live your life according to it and accept the fate of your choice.

I know it's all about not overwhelming Hospitals. They are not full of 20 year old fit people who are vaccinated. They are full of older people who are or aren't vaxed. The vaxed walk out after a short stay, the unvaxed roll out after a long one. Cancelling these hockey games by saying it's player safety has zero affect on hospital covid load. AND these schools are totally cool with in person classes! Does that makes any sense? Can't play hockey Sunday but go to 3 classes and the bar on Monday to watch the big game!

If we are going defcon 10 on this...make N95 masks mandatory for all. That will even protect the unvaxed. The government should be shipping them to all, along with test kits.

Watts is happening right now in regards to covid in 2022 is completely illogical. At least in 2020 and 2021 things that we did made some logical sense, even though back then we knew so much less than now. It's a mad mad mad mad world right now.

Good points, Timothy A, although opposite points can also be made. Your argument, not to put you in a box, is that we should acknowledge that we are at an endemic stage and should no longer be treating Covid as a pandemic. I think your post accurately reflects that we are at the awkward stage where we are questioning if the pandemic has transitioned, or is transitioning, into being endemic. Treating an endemic virus--like the flu or a cold--differs from the way we treat a pandemic. The scientific thinking on this seems to be evolving daily and even respected experts disagree. I suspect that we probably will know what would have been the best immediate route only in hindsight. That's the problem with issues of historical magnitude. Unfortunately, we're caught up in the current vortex. We do have historical information on pandemic/endemic transitions, so I would guess that a lot of experts are looking closely at that information and trying to come up with the best way to herd cats through the current situation.

[Timothy A]

Good points, Timothy A, although opposite points can also be made. Your argument, not to put you in a box, is that we should acknowledge that we are at an endemic stage and should no longer be treating Covid as a pandemic. I think your post accurately reflects that we are at the awkward stage where we are questioning if the pandemic has transitioned, or is transitioning, into being endemic. Treating an endemic virus--like the flu or a cold--differs from the way we treat a pandemic. The scientific thinking on this seems to be evolving daily and even respected experts disagree. I suspect that we probably will know what would have been the best immediate route only in hindsight. That's the problem with issues of historical magnitude. Unfortunately, we're caught up in the current vortex. We do have historical information on pandemic/endemic transitions, so I would guess that a lot of experts are looking closely at that information and trying to come up with the best way to herd cats through the current situation.

Excellent points.

[Timothy A]

Good rant. I don’t know the answer but it’s apparent that a lot of things don’t make sense on this issue. Stalemate for a little while longer I guess.

Watts had a challenge to break Agostas record. It was going to be tough, with cancelled games it’s not happening ( especially cancelled games against the tommyettes ).

Id like to see OSU win a reg season championship; again the cancelled games messes with things, takes it out of the teams control a bit.

Frustrating, didn’t think we’d still be here.

It felt good to let it out. I was inspired by Clark Griswold's meltdown in the Christmas vacation movie.

Watts breaking Agosta's record by getting an extra season to play to me would be meaningless. To mean something, it would have to be done in the same amount of seasons.

I hope the league is working behind the scenes to figure out how to get the lost games made up.

[Steamboat]

Scoreless after 1 period in Duluth. Beavers being Beavers.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Scoreless after 1 period in Duluth. Beavers being Beavers.

Then the 2nd and 3rd period happened with UMD scoring 4 in each of those periods.

Minnesota give up the first goal to Mankato (#5 still driving me nuts) and then proceeds to score the next 4 goals (a hat trick by Potomak) and lead 4-1 after 1 period. If the stats are right it says Minnesota put up 26 shots in the period...

[ARM]

Minnesota give up the first goal to Mankato (#5 still driving me nuts) ...

Perhaps, and I know the cringe-worthy plays of which you speak. At the same time, you have to also give her credit for the positive plays that she makes. She's tops on the team in +/- for a reason.

Speaking of the plus side of things, I thought that the back check yesterday looked very good.

[ManBehindTheCurtain]

Sydney Shearen suited up and played for Mankato yesterday. I am reasonably sure that she had some ice time earlier this season for the Gophers which would point to elimination of the former requirement that transfers within the WCHA sit out a year before becoming eligible to play for their new team.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Perhaps, and I know the cringe-worthy plays of which you speak. At the same time, you have to also give her credit for the positive plays that she makes. She's tops on the team in +/- for a reason.

Speaking of the plus side of things, I thought that the back check yesterday looked very good.

#5 could stand to simplify her game. She rushes the puck far too often and hangs on to the puck more than she should. Job 1 for this group of Gopher defensemen should be getting the puck to their forwards. That doesn't happen enough with #5. I prefer how #13 and #14 have adjusted their games from how they played in High School.

This is why it is very disappointing that #22 from Edina is going to the Sinners (along with Harvey) The Gophers really could use someone who legitimately can rush to puck from the defensive zone. #5 is not that player even though she thinks she is.

[ARM]

#5 could stand to simplify her game.

This I agree with, but I think it is true of a lot of Gophers. Take #16 for example. Pass the puck and get it back, put a shot on net and hunt a rebound, something simple. One doesn't have to try to stickhandle through the other team, eventually turn it over, and have your teammates standing flat footed and watching.

The Gophers really could use someone who legitimately can rush to puck from the defensive zone.

Or they can just recognize that it is faster to move the puck to the forwards, like UW has done for years. Bozek was as good at rushing the puck as the Gophs have ever had, but when she'd get to the attacking net, it seemed like her teammates usually had no idea of how to join the play.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

#5 with a great assist on Mankato's second goal...

2 shots for Mankato and 2 goals...That is some good goaltending.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Might be the worst period of hockey I have seen Minnesota play in a long time. 3-1 Mankato after 1 period.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Or they can just recognize that it is faster to move the puck to the forwards,

Yeah...that is what I spent time talking about but they still could use a defensive player with legitimate quickness and speed to rush the puck. No gots that.