May 25: The list is empty again today. Moving forward we will only publish it if a player is added to the protocol.
May 24: The long-awaited day has finally arrived. When the NHL released it’s COVID Protocol Related Absences list on Monday evening, it contained no names. It is the first time since the list originally debuted at the start of the regular season that the contents has been empty. Granted, the list now only includes the 14 active playoff teams as opposed to all 31 clubs, but it still marks a major achievement in the league’s battle against the Coronavirus.
Of course, the final step toward a league-wide clean bill of health actually came with the elimination of the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. When the Colorado Avalanche completed their sweep of the Blues, they also ended the seasons of the only two players on the latest CPRA list: David Perron and Nathan Walker. In fact, every player who has appeared on the list since the playoffs began on March 15 has now been eliminated – Perron, Walker, and Blues teammate Jake Walman and Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose team was bounced by the Boston Bruins on Sunday as well.
With the NHL already feeling confident enough in its COVID-19 status as to allow relaxed policies to vaccinated teams, the hope is that this empty CPRA list becomes the norm and not the exception. With postseason results obviously carrying much more weight than regular season results, the league does not want to see any of their playoff series tainted by COVID results. The Blues’ absences, particularly Perron’s, were certainly felt, but as major underdogs against Colorado anyhow, the league escaped without much controversy. They hope that can continue throughout the postseason and that the CPRA list becomes a permanent thing of the past moving forward into next season.
joyous
@DarkSide830 – Almost seems like a typo, though, doesn’t it? Let’s hope it’s the first step back to normalcy.
Sorry, Mac, but Lord Fauci has postponed normalcy indefinately. But look at all that money he’s saved you on hockey tickets! ;D
@Gbear – Thanks, Dougie Downer! I’ll have to use “all that money” on a new hot water heater, instead. Maybe a couple of PC upgrades too…
:(
The irony, of course, being that it’s the people who think of doctors as despots who have most delayed a return to normalcy.
Australia, NZ, most of Asia have been back to normal for months (before vaccines) by actually taking it seriously. If they had even a handful of cases, they’d shut down, snuff them out and then return to normal…instead of, you know, doing every single thing they could think of to spread it as much as possible.
Concerts, sporting events, full stadiums, no masks…and no virus. For months.
I would question the numbers from “most of Asia”.
Japan is seeing a hard spike right before the Olympics.
India, under-reporting but don’t worry about all those bodies collecting in the Ganges.
Does anyone trust China?
Australia and NZ have the benefit of being islands, so far away from most anywhere that they can control their borders. The UK for instance is too attached to Europe to isolate in the same manner. So geography plays a part in their success.
The Australian government has been criticized for how many citizens have been prevented from flying home due to restrictions. In Canada, we have learned you can fly into the US, and catch a taxi into Canada to avoid most restrictions as they are based on flights. Loopholes that Australia and NZ don’t deal with.
Reading forwhomjushbelltolled response is indicative what happens to one when their news sources become nothing more than a self assuring echo chamber. He’s actaully praising efforts that denied citizens basic freedoms and then cherry picks a few nations to demonstrate that violating basic human rights is really a good thing. It’s almost like the Nuremberg trials never happenend!
As more and more evidence shows, the original outbreak in Wuhan happenend in 2018, which is why nations around China are showing prior immunity from Covid now. The only thing draconian lockdowns did was cause a steep rise in suicides, drug overdoses and depression related deaths. But at least they didn’t get covid, right?!
Um, you are also in your own Echo Chamber. Cannot debate this, as there is no debating with echo chamber individuals.
Normalcy will resume in 14 minutes when the Leafs start their backup goaltender,still asking him to win 15 more games in less than 2 months.
Happy Memorial Day MacJab!
@Dave – Right back at ya! :)