ECQF: Boston Bruins (4) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (5) (Boston wins 4-1)

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

There are all sorts of things that the statement could mean, including
- The family is physically fine, but members are struggling mentally being away from their father
- His wife is struggling under the weight of caring for 3 children
- The family is struggling with the reality of being away from each other during a global pandemic
- Tuuka is struggling with the guilt of being away from them
- Countless others.

Any of these could be true, or none of them. But even if one of them is true, absolutely none of them, in my view, justify him abandoning his obligations to your teammates and the Bruins.

Yes, sometimes when people have to work, their family misses them. It can be a struggle when dad's away. I would suggest that if his wife is having trouble dealing with three kids on her own, and can't get other family to help, that Rask's $7 million dollars a year might help alleviate some of that burden through child care services that he can afford that many other people who have jobs and miss their families and have to struggle with these things cannot afford.

The point is, these are not unique difficulties. They're faced by many people. They're probably being faced by a lot of players in the bubble. They're certainly being faced by ordinary people who don't have millions of dollars. All of those people still do their jobs and don't walk out on their responsibilities, particularly not at a crucial time.

The point is we don't know. And I'm not going to guess what's going on. Because I don't need to. If someone says "Right now, during this global pandemic, my family needs me" I'm good. I don't need to know anything else.

Well, lucky you if this is how your job works. For most people, this means you're fired. And rightly so.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Well maybe that's what's wrong with the world then.
The fact that you don't think any of those reasons are good enough for him to return home is really the gap in our perspective.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

How is doing your job leaving your family hanging? If anyone in the NHL just randomly decides to skip a road trip because they feel like spending time at home with their family, not for any specific reason but just because they're having a hard time being away from them, you don't think that's in any way objectionable?

You don't have the facts and all you're doing is speculating. Frankly you'd make a good writer for some rag magazine that follows the movie stars around and makes things up.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

As I've said fifteen times at this point, I'm going on the information provided by the GM. I'm not speculating. You're speculating that there are facts other than what we've been told when there is no reason to think that there are. And all of these:

- The family is physically fine, but members are struggling mentally being away from their father
- His wife is struggling under the weight of caring for 3 children
- The family is struggling with the reality of being away from each other during a global pandemic
- Tuuka is struggling with the guilt of being away from them
- Countless others.

Are different ways of saying, "they're having a hard time with Tuuka being away". So even the people disagreeing with me in here can't seem to come up with another possible explanation given what Sweeney said in his presser.

[DeluxeMoustache]

I hope by now you have said your piece.

Life can actually be hard for a lot of people, unbeknownst to others. Even if they have enough money and lots of nice things.

The team asked the players to put themselves in a highly unusual situation. Rask did, and it did not work for him (and his family).

I feel very confident that they have not disclosed 100 percent of the story. Most statements to the media are so.

I can come up with a lot of potential scenarios, purely speculative, that would fit this narrative. Personal, challenging scenarios. And if some of them were the actual reasons, the disclosures look a lot like what you see here. And it would make sense not to give details.

Because the details are, frankly, none of your god damn business.

I do not think you have enough information to accurately judge the guy, therefore judging him unfavourably, I agree, is a bad look.

[IrishSpring2013]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Well, lucky you if this is how your job works. For most people, this means you're fired. And rightly so.

If I had to take time away from work to be with my family I would not be fired. If Gaudreau, Lindholm, Monahan or anyone had to step out of the bubble for family reasons I'd be annoyed for about an hour.

But I have a hearing in two weeks and a brief to write and cross-examinations to prepare,

Corsi, you routinely post short story length posts on Calgarypuck, in 90% of topics. Go hang out with your dad.

[ThisIsAnOutrage]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Any of these could be true, or none of them. But even if one of them is true, absolutely none of them, in my view, justify him abandoning his obligations to your teammates and the Bruins.

Yes, sometimes when people have to work, their family misses them. It can be a struggle when dad's away. I would suggest that if his wife is having trouble dealing with three kids on her own, and can't get other family to help, that Rask's $7 million dollars a year might help alleviate some of that burden through child care services that he can afford that many other people who have jobs and miss their families and have to struggle with these things cannot afford.

The point is, these are not unique difficulties. They're faced by many people. They're probably being faced by a lot of players in the bubble. They're certainly being faced by ordinary people who don't have millions of dollars. All of those people still do their jobs and don't walk out on their responsibilities, particularly not at a crucial time.

Well, lucky you if this is how your job works. For most people, this means you're fired. And rightly so.

I agree with this; what puts it over the top for me is the bolded part. Some families have a loved one in the hospital, in prison, in the army, or working overseas, and for those reasons they cannot be together right now. So many of these families will also have so much less than Rask, and their situations are so much less certain than his: he was facing at most a seven week stay in a fricken hotel in Toronto. Yet these families persevere, while he walked out on his team.

Trying to play this off some like some sort of noble, devoted family man is a really, really weak move. Those guys/gals have to, want to, and are working to support their families right now. Rask is not that. Again, he had to stay in a hotel in Toronto for, at most, seven weeks. We've seen what the human spirit is capable of, and it's way, way, way more than that.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Yeah but it's just a game. Family is way more important than a game.

[Dion]

This isn’t just the normal physical, mental and emotional grind that the lengthy playoffs of basketball and hockey usually provide. This is all of that on steroids. This is harder.

What each league is attempting is perhaps the only way to stage a championship during a pandemic. The bubbles have proven incredibly successful at keeping the coronavirus at bay. It comes with a cost though, and not just the tens of millions of dollars in setting it up.

This is a human physiological experiment. Isolation amid the normal desperation of a championship chase. No one can truly know the impact.

The leagues have done almost all they can to keep players comfortable. No one is going to equate living in a nice hotel featuring as many entertainment distractions as possible with what millions of regular workers go through. This isn’t a military tour of duty or a stretch out on a fishing boat or an oil rig. It’s not even lengthy business travel for project managers or salespeople or anyone else. This is pro hockey and pro basketball. Millions are earned. Fame is generated.

It doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Nearly everyone who has had to work away from their family, particularly one with young children, let alone a newborn, understands the struggle. Two weeks can feel like two years. The prospect of two months, and without the ability to even leave the bubble and find additional normalities in life, well, it clearly can be too much.

Rask certainly isn’t the only NHL or NBA player who has considered leaving the bubble, even if a championship is a possibility. Whether others follow over roughly the next two months of competition is the question.

If you are a team in either league, you might want to double your efforts at working with players to ease the situation. If Boston can lose its starting goaltender, then anyone can lose anything.

Organizations, coaches, fans and teammates can be frustrated, but working is a choice. Rask didn’t have to opt in and always had the right to opt out.

Besides, a player who isn’t 100 percent bought in for a playoff run is probably not one you want to count on.

Rask is a terrific talent, but he complained about the lack of atmosphere during the games (“dull”) and said this felt more like “playing an exhibition game.” He hadn’t cost Boston any playoff games yet, but his .889 save percentage wasn’t up to par either.

Both leagues are allowing family visits into the bubble. Maybe that will help. Either way, this isn’t going to be easy, and with each successive day in an unnatural and controlled environment, no one really knows what to expect.

Trying to win a championship is already stressful enough. There is a reason every team employs sports psychologists. The mental performance has to be there. Players have to rise up without the intensity of crowds, without the normal rhythm of life, without their friends and families to offer that unconditional support after games.

No one knows how that will impact decisions big or small, but a star player just left a team with clear title aspirations. You rarely, if ever, see something like that.

It’s why these 2020 NBA and NHL championships may be the hardest to win of them all.

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/rasks-deci...161221594.html

[chubeyr1]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Yeah but it's just a game. Family is way more important than a game.

Yes family is more important.

Yet it is not just a game! It is a job and a well paying one.

Some people do not have the option not to go to their jobs. Or their family have no place to live and nothing to eat.

I understand the choice these players are making. Does not make them bad people.

Only thing I am arguing about is its just a game! If it was just a game people would not be paid millions to do this. It is a business.

I have no big issue if a millionaire wants to go home and be with family. We would all do this if we could.

It is not just a game though. It is a billion dollar business.

[Flamenspiel]

^^It is just a game though, and importantly, he does not need the money. I am 100% ok with the decision. I could see this happening to more players and teams.

I think we are seeing that there are entire teams that are not engaged in this years playoffs. In particular Washington and St. Louis look disinterested.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Well maybe that's what's wrong with the world then.
The fact that you don't think any of those reasons are good enough for him to return home is really the gap in our perspective.

It's a difference between value systems. And not taking any sides here, I just think we should respect different viewpoints even if they go against our very core values. Although this is extremely difficult. But there ARE questions, like this one, that have grey area to them and there can be an argument made both sides.

[Mass_nerder]

Have we talked about Svechnikov's injury and how awful Jack Edwards is yet? Or are as still arguing about Rask?

I'm not sure what to call what Chara did on his take down of Svechnikov, but it definitely looked a little dirty.
see the play here
I'm sure he wasn't intending to hurt the kid, but I didn't like the play much.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

Have we talked about Svechnikov's injury and how awful Jack Edwards is yet? Or are as still arguing about Rask?

I'm not sure what to call what Chara did on his take down of Svechnikov, but it definitely looked a little dirty.
see the play here
I'm sure he wasn't intending to hurt the kid, but I didn't like the play much.

I don’t know about blaming Chara. It was a pretty mild battle in front with a very unfortunate ending. I broke my ankle falling almost identically. Whether it’s knee or ankle, it isn’t good. Hope he recovers quick as he was becoming a beast of a player.

Jack Edwards is garbage. And there is nothing new about that.

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

I don’t know about blaming Chara. It was a pretty mild battle in front with a very unfortunate ending. I broke my ankle falling almost identically. Whether it’s knee or ankle, it isn’t good. Hope he recovers quick as he was becoming a beast of a player.

Jack Edwards is garbage. And there is nothing new about that.

It looked like he got his leg behind Svechnikov, then forced him backward over it.
Again, I don't think there was any intent to injure, but I also don't like the play

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

Have we talked about Svechnikov's injury and how awful Jack Edwards is yet? Or are as still arguing about Rask?

I'm not sure what to call what Chara did on his take down of Svechnikov, but it definitely looked a little dirty.
see the play here
I'm sure he wasn't intending to hurt the kid, but I didn't like the play much.

Chara didnt do a thing wrong there...normal position battle in front of the net and it looked like Svechnikovs skate got caught in a rut and couldn't turn with him...ugly stuff for sure but nothing but an accident.

As for Edwards...yeah he is a piece of work but thats nothing new and not sure what it has to do with this? Did he say something I missed?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Chara didnt do a thing wrong there...normal position battle in front of the net and it looked like Svechnikovs skate got caught in a rut and couldn't turn with him...ugly stuff for sure but nothing but an accident.

As for Edwards...yeah he is a piece of work but thats nothing new and not sure what it has to do with this? Did he say something I missed?

He implied Svechnikov got what was coming to him for poking the bear.

[tvp2003]

Did Chara know it was Svechnikov, one of Carolina’s star players? Yes.

Was Chara looking to physically impose his will on a smaller player? Yes.

Was Chara trying to snap Svechnikov’s knee in half and remove him from the series? Not a chance.

Looks like two guys battling for position in front of the net. Happens 50 times a game if not more. Some people are suggesting it’s a slew foot I don’t really see it. Was Chara being reckless? Maybe, but it looks more unlucky from Carolina’s side.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

He implied Svechnikov got what was coming to him for poking the bear.

Sounds like something he would utter....he is a buffoon.

NESN viewers love him for some reason though.

[Flamenspiel]

Na, I see the Chara stuff as very much in the same league with Jamie Benn. He targeted an important player and strategically removed him. I remember the Caps doing it with Crosby and the Rangers with Carey Price years ago.