I don’t think you can blame players for missing their families nor can you blame them for not realizing just how much they’d miss them when they agreed to go in the first place. Halak time
Ivan Barbashev left the bubble for the birth of his first born. Stayed a couple days and came back. He also doesn’t have the leverage Rask does to do that but still. Edit - and if the Blues get swept, it will be for nothing because he won’t be able to play until Gm 5
I don’t see the relevance in comparing player’s decisions to play or not. Everybody’s different and has different circumstances.
Sure but there is an assumption that every player should handle the bubble the exact same way. It’s just not going to be the case. I will say that Rask seems like he went into this thing begrudgingly anyway, so he should have just stayed home.
The other thing to remember is most players try to plan out pregnancies so they happen in the summer to ensure they can be around for the birth and such. I bet there is a decent amount of guys in the bubble like Rask that just had, or will soon have, a kid. It’ll be extra tough for those guys who are going to be dads for the first time.
They are barely home during the season and it’s even worse in the playoffs, rask just doesn’t feel like playing anymore.
And give me a break with the « It’s hard to get motivated because there are no fans in the stand » narrative, just look at your paycheck if you want to get some motivation.
tell me what you think devine, you think I am being stupid right now? i understand that these guys are humans and it’s not as easy as it was before the pandemic but they should feel lucky to be playing and making some money for themselves and their peers. There are way worse situations than this. but rask can do whatever he wants, he earned it. He will have to deal with the repercussions though
What repercussions? No one should be judged for not playing sports right now. Money isn’t everything.
Mental health has zero to do with how much money a person makes. This is also the irony of pro sports. All of us (myself included) are so quick to cast aside a highly paid when he’s no longer producing but we get offended when one leaves of his own volition.
that’s a good point, the amount of money he makes should not be part of the discussion since it is irrelevant to his mental health. but let’s be honest here, he would not leave if he were a borderline ahl guy without millions in his bank account. Like I said he earned it so he can do whatever he wants
Teams brought extra goalies but they also have emergency goalies outside the bubble. The Athletic had a story about Michael DiPietro in Vancouver. He skates daily. He’s tested daily. But he can’t leave his apartment outside of hockey stuff in case he is needed in the bubble. It’s crazy.
exactly, Louis domingue is doing it for the canucks and he is going crazy. They barely skate because the other goalies get most of the reps and the black aces just hang around the team in case shit happens. That is a shitty situation but they need the money
I think the argument with Rask is he made it so it sounds like he took his ball and went home. I attribute some of that to his mental health. My point is other guys will likely follow suit. They probably won’t be raked over the coals though because they won’t leave in the same manner Rask did.
I'm a single guy with no kids so I have no idea what Rask is going through so I can't really judge him. It sounds like he struggled with the decision to go but went to try to help his team and his head/heart weren't fully into it. If he stayed longer it may have impacted his performance if it wasn't already and cost his team a game and even a series. I can't fault him for making a family decision and also a mental health one. It's weird to see people criticizing him for that.
goalies forgetting why they play goalie and not defense is always funny to watch. Mike Smith is the worst of them all, if I were on his team I would tell him to stay in your fucking net and try to stop some shots. When guys on my team try to play goalie it drives me nuts, I want to hand them my gloves and tell them to just go ahead and finish the game if you want to be a goaltender so much.
he knows he's an unabashed homer, but the market supports his shit so he just get's more and more biased each day.
He’s part of the reason Boston fans are some of the most insufferable homers of any fans in the league. They feed into each other.
fucking goalies, they are all so good. They can change a series just like that. Dropped him from my pool a few months ago...fuck me
If Bowen Byram pans out the Avs may go on a Blackhawks type run the next few years. Might lose today but still
they are stacked and they gave incredibly team friendly contracts. Mackinnon at 6 a year is a joke, girard is signed for like 6 years at 4 a year. Another bargain for a top 4 and second pp guy. edit- girard is 5 a year