[News] Flames have 20 players, 3 coaches, and 10 support staff in COVID protocol

[heep223]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Goriders said 'players' were saying what was happening was 'overkill'.



Yzerman isn't a player. Sorry, but you made it sound like multiple players are saying what's happening is overkill. So far, it's one player from what I can tell.

So far the NHL has extended the Christmas break by a couple days, said no to the Olympics (good call) and there are restrictions in various arenas (made by provinces and states). They're still playing. If they cancelled the season I would probably agree with you more, but as of now this really doesn't seem like a big deal, imo.

“other NHL players and executives share Hellebuyck’s questions about the COVID pause, and protocols.”

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/nhl.nbcs...-overkill/amp/

[Fuzz]

Have they said when the next Flames game is, or is it still up in the air?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Have they said when the next Flames game is, or is it still up in the air?

Nothing has been announced yet.

Lots of logistics to figure out as well with the 50% capacity limit now in effect.

[tvp2003]

This was the email they sent to STHers late Wednesday afternoon:

Effective immediately, we will be reducing capacity to 50% for all Flames games and will monitor tickets sales for both the Calgary Roughnecks and Calgary Hitmen to ensure capacity restrictions are met.

Our team is currently addressing the implementation of this change and will be in contact with all ticket holders prior to the end of day on December 24 with details.

Please note that no further ticketing information is available at this time. We thank you for your patience and will be in communication with you regarding more detailed information by the end of the day on December 24.

[browna]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Nothing has been announced yet.

Lots of logistics to figure out as well with the 50% capacity limit now in effect.

Flames are supposed to let us STH know by the end of today.

Logitistical nightmare for sure, deciding which 1 out of 2 tickets is valid for a game 3 days from now, and then again NYE, then the ticket holder figuring out if the even can go or want to go. And you don’t want to split any account holders seats up or they won’t go…but what if they were only planning to use 2 if their 4 in the first place and those 2 will go unused?
Could use the Ticketmaster online portal for STH to manage people’s intentions to use tickets in the first place, but with not much lead time, Christmas day tomorrow, it’s really tight.

And are you spreading people out by the ticket choice? In theory the whole lower bowl can be full but upper bowl almost empty and you have 50%.

And as mentioned, ticket holder will want to know about not just the 27th but future games, which the Flames may or may not know yet.

No matter what, here or somewhere else, people aren’t going to be happy, but it’s a no win situation for the Flames or Oilers or Canucks, to try and figure this all out in a matter or days, for an indeterminate period of time.

Nevermind from the Flames standpoint, staffing for all this.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I can’t even begin to imagine the logistics of this. With groups of 2/3/4/5 etc then spacing them out. Each game would be totally unique. Refunds for single game buyers, STH’s, game packs etc. People coming from out of town. And what if a group of 4 is coming from out of town but bought their tickets in two sets of two. Plus the whole secondary market and ticket transfers.

It must be a nightmare.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

The idea of going full lower bowl and almost empty 2nd is actually funny to me. Maybe full lower and first 5 rows of 2nd, or whatever would produce an even split. I’d love it if they did that. Then go 2nd bowl almost full with lower bowl empty for a different game. Or just alternate full rows. Not likely to have too many groups split between rows.

But of course all that runs counter to the point of half capacity. You’d want a checker pattern I’d think.

[tvp2003]

The only requirement is 50% capacity and 100% masking; no requirement to space people out (as far as I know). Trying to space EVERYONE out is impossible IMO.

If you have 2 tickets I highly doubt they’d leave you with a single; I could see priority given to the more expensive seats strictly from a revenue standpoint. It will also cause some weird ripple effects in the secondary market as well, if people scramble to buy tickets if theirs were cancelled.

[browna]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

The idea of going full lower bowl and almost empty 2nd is actually funny to me. Maybe full lower and first 5 rows of 2nd, or whatever would produce an even split. I’d love it if they did that. Then go 2nd bowl almost full with lower bowl empty for a different game. Or just alternate full rows. Not likely to have too many groups split between rows.

But of course all that runs counter to the point of half capacity. You’d want a checker pattern I’d think.

Is there spacing requirements when seated?

My guess is that if you are sitting up in PL and you can see vast areas of seats open in prime areas, you'll move down.

How heavily will this be policed, given Flames staffing, not sure.

Yeah and if it was for 2 games, easily done. It could be done for 6 or 10 games, for all the reasons and in name of equality it has another layer of complexity.

And how many will go if they can't have a drink or food? Us as STH don't mind as much because we don't spend a lot of money each game, going to so many. The glut of holiday games is.a PITA by the end to us ticket holders becuase of so many games in a 10 day window, becuase it's catered to the out of towners coming in for a game or two and loading up on "the experience" ie food and booze.

[browna]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

The only requirement is 50% capacity and 100% masking; no requirement to space people out (as far as I know). Trying to space EVERYONE out is impossible IMO.

If you have 2 tickets I highly doubt they’d leave you with a single; I could see priority given to the more expensive seats strictly from a revenue standpoint. It will also cause some weird ripple effects in the secondary market as well, if people scramble to buy tickets if theirs were cancelled.

I can see the headline now when someone runs to the CBC how their lifelong dream of going to a Flames game turned to "disaster" because the tickets they got for their one visit to Calgary from Olds, was cancelled, claiming the Flames are elitist for having so many expensive tickets as the one chosen, and weren't notified sooner and booked a cheap prepaid hotel room they can't cancel etc etc.

TBQH, as an almost 20 year ticket holder who would get screwed by this, ticket wise, I hope they give ROFR (again, if even they wanted to do this (they won't because of optics) there isn't enough lead time for doing this in advance the 27th) to the most expensive seats. Paying out refunds to each one of those club seats is the same as a refund to 5x one of the seats in our section.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

It would defeat the point of 50% capacity if they kept the lower bowl or entire sections full. You absolutely have to space out seats and police seating. It wouldn’t be that hard. Just have ushers check tickets at each tunnel and/or put something on the seats that can’t be used.

It’s not like they won’t have extra staff available considering no concessions will be open.

But who knows. I wouldn’t put anything past the flames or the province.

[Strange Brew]

Trying to keep spacing in the seats seems like a bit of theatre considering you won’t have that spacing everywhere else. And who can sit together? A household? However many tickets were purchased together?

And enforcing is going to be an absolute pain. I really don’t envy the organization having to figure this out and police it. Hopefully customers approach it all with a respectful attitude.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Trying to keep spacing in the seats seems like a bit of theatre considering you won’t have that spacing everywhere else. And who can sit together? A household? However many tickets were purchased together?

And enforcing is going to be an absolute pain. I really don’t envy the organization having to figure this out and police it. Hopefully customers approach it all with a respectful attitude.

Finding out the tickets is the easy part. The hard part is getting to 50%.

Flames have a seating chart I’m sure. First step, all non ST are cut. Second step, all boxes stay. Third step, go section by section and cut enough ticket blocks to get to 50%. Do this for lower bowl and 2nd bowl. Ignore 3rd level. It’s out completely to offset the boxes being at 100%. Tickets are all done in groups based on owner. If bob and Jim have singles next to each other and are under separate accounts, too bad, you go alone or don’t go. Only tickets under same STH account are kept together.

Done.

[Fire in the disco]

Can’t imagine not having a beer at the BOA

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by heep223

“other NHL players and executives share Hellebuyck’s questions about the COVID pause, and protocols.”

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/nhl.nbcs...-overkill/amp/

There are almost 1000 players...mostly high school educated that have gotten everything their way for their entire lives. Of course there are a few

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by dino7c

There are almost 1000 players...mostly high school educated that have gotten everything their way for their entire lives. Of course there are a few

Well Hellybuyck is University educated, does his opinion hold more weight?

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Well Hellybuyck is University educated, does his opinion hold more weight?

Not much, what was his major again?

They want to continue to play a kids game for millions of dollars with no restrictions...that doesn't mean it's the right thing for society.

One of the most vocal anti restriction players had their career ended by fake covid

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Well Hellybuyck is University educated, does his opinion hold more weight?

Hellebeyck's major is listed as "Undeclared Business" and he left before finishing his second year. So I'm going to say... no?

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by dino7c

There are almost 1000 players...mostly high school educated that have gotten everything their way for their entire lives. Of course there are a few

Well all pro sports are asking similar questions.

It's fine to ridicule the player's but I don't think it's crazy to look at the disparity in how different employers are implementing protocols and trying to suggest an approach that is based in logic.

Originally Posted by dino7c

Not much, what was his major again?

They want to continue to play a kids game for millions of dollars with no restrictions...that doesn't mean it's the right thing for society.

One of the most vocal anti restriction players had their career ended by fake covid

It's not as simple as saying all athletes are uneducated and don't want any restrictions. Who are all these players saying they want "no restrictions"?

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

All pro sports are asking similar questions because they don't want their games and seasons interrupted. It's not an opinion to be dismissed out right sure but it is entirely self serving. For me it's not a question of should professional athletes not be tested, the question is should the rest of the population be tested more?

My s/o is tested multiple times a week, she tested positive (rapid test)back in September, asymptomatic, followed up with an official PCR test with AHS. It sucked, she got incredibly mild symptoms two days later and they passed. It sucked, it was annoying for a little while because she felt fine, it interrupted our lives but it stopped her spreading it to lord knows how many people, perhaps to people who wouldn't of felt just a little sicky.

So yeah it sucks, it would be fun to watch some hockey games now, and no one wants their lives to stop but for those in hockey circles that just want stop being tested? No sorry, no, pretending you're not infecting others doesn't make it go away. Suck it up big boys.