Lifelongbender

To be clear, I'm not saying that the order is reasonable. I'm not even arguing that it is constitutional (though the courts have long recognized that rights can be reasonably limited in respect of the welfare of the nation as a whole). I am simply saying that the claim that the order isn't a legally binding thing is false. We can understand that it might not meet the criteria required to be considered Constitutional if tested by a court, but we must still understand that it is the law of the land until that time. The rinks we all depend upon have everything riding on this.

In all fairness, professional players are tested frequently and can control their exposure better than people at large because their job is going to the stadium, and not to an office building. This is not an entirely fair criticism because it compares apples to oranges.

The fact that there isn't an enforcement mechanism for some of this, especially that which may occur in a private home, doesn't mean it isn't a legal order. I'm not sure that I think such things are or at least should be constitutional, but the order does have the force of law, even if it can't be enforced in some situations. You can be denied entry to a business for not wearing a mask; a business can lose their license for not complying with the order. Believe what you want. We are going to get shut down completely soon enough, but it's you guys who refuse to go along that are going to make it that much sooner. Wearing a mask is a small price to pay for your kids to get to play, even if it is ridiculous.

A heartfelt essay about a topic that's been discussed a bit here on the board in the past. This sort of thing needs to be out there. https://thehockeythinktank.com/2020/11/16/decades-later-chicago-youth-hockey-scandal-brought-to-light/ The Hockey Think Tank is a great resource, by the way, in general.

Man I hope you're right. At least this weekend.

I'm sorry, but this is simply incorrect. Like it or not face masking is mandated by the state government. From the header of the recent order: From section 2 of the order: My emphasis on the above quotes. Obviously the list of circumstances continues ad nauseum. For the record, this question and answer are part of the FAQ that was released yesterday about the mask mandate: Again, emphasis mine. Whatever you may think about the reasonableness or efficacy of masking in controlling this outbreak, it is a fact that our state government has decided that you must wear masks in public places indoors whether or not social distancing can be maintained. There cannot be any doubt that until tested by a Court and then vacated by the Court this order must be considered a legal and binding one. Any claim otherwise is incorrect. For the record I doubt strongly that masking at any time is worthwhile, and I am certain that masking on ice, while possible and not really dangerous as some have claimed, is ridiculous and has no merit. I just wanted to make sure that there aren't people who think that this is somehow not a legally binding order. You, your organization, and the ice rink, can all be cited for violation of this order (although it's not clear to me from this order/FAQ response what the possible consequences for an individual might be from a legal standpoint). There is an exemption for medical issues in Section 3. It's a safe bet that nobody will wear a mask on the ice, and refer to that when called out for it. Eventually there will be a shutdown because they'll say we aren't complying with "commonsense measures to control the outbreak" or something that means the same thing. My kids have games on both days of this weekend, but I'd be willing to give at least even odds that we don't even get to play this weekend, much less any weekend afterwards.

It's correct that this is not a rink thing, but a regional thing, but for the sake of completeness YMCA has issued the same requirement for masks on the ice.

The government will just say that if you can't play in masks, hockey should not be happening. But, with all due respect to @Danner27, with whom I do not have a beef, this is just wrong. Players can, and have been, play in masks. My daughter's team practiced in full masks last night, and they skated quite a few Herbies in order to get ready for wearing them in games. I don't like it - and the players will hate it even more than I will hate enforcing it - but it can be done, and if my beer league started requiring them, I'd wear them and keep playing, if the alternative is not playing at all. As for spectators, it's clear from the order that they're concerned about indoor air quality as a vector in transmission. Agree with this or not, I expect spectators to be banned at hockey games pretty soon.

The universal answer to this question in this region is Binnie's.

I'm sure everyone here either has, or soon will, see the attached file, probably from their organization or business manager. Is this a prelude to stopping hockey entirely for a while? Or maybe to banning spectators from the stands again? Is there anyone connected enough to have insight on what PAHL is thinking? Quick Shot_Covid Update 11.5.20.pdf

I've been there for a couple PIHL games - JV games - and they weren't actively checking anyone, though we did see a rink staffer come through once at one of the games. I'd note that our spectators, and those of the opponents, were generally wearing masks and observing reasonable distancing, so that may be why they didn't complain.

Feeling especially self-righteous and aggressive today?

I had been assuming that the Livebarn feeds that were shut down - this includes several rinks in the area - were doing so in part to reduce the risk of being caught not exactly following the restrictions. By that logic I figured they'd open their feeds when the restrictions were relaxed. I know that when a new install is done, for a week or so they keep the feed private. I assume that has to do with commissioning and testing of the system.

I like Doc quite a bit, but like every great play-by-play guy, he's going to have some detractors. I don't know how much love Mike Lange gets outside the city, either, but I love the guy.

This is true. As far as I can tell there isn't much going on there right now because they are a NY area team.

I know some teams that would be very interested in this idea, I think.

Bradford is actually just as far from us as Buffalo. I don't know anything about them, sadly.

Both of my kids have their first PAHL games on Halloween. That's a peewee and a U16.

We played in a scrimmage at RMU over the weekend, and one at YMCA. At RMU, spectators for both teams were respectful of both social distancing and masking. Same at YMCA, which is being very strict about the people in the stands.

And, on top of that, a Pittsburgh guy by transplant. He's a legend.

Obviously the Erie area teams, like the Erie Lions, come to mind. https://www.erieyouthhockey.com/ And the Crawford County Flames in Meadville, PA, are not much more than two hours from Buffalo. https://www.facebook.com/ccyhaflames/

I agree with @Saucey on this one. What I don't understand is why we are all, yet again, frothing at the mouth about a team calling itself AAA in our area. We all understand that there aren't too many real AAA players in this area, and we all understand that the team(s) in question probably aren't really AAA level. Unfortunately there are people who are either willing to pay for an additional 'A', in which case it's their wasted money, or people who fall for the hype regarding such teams, in which case they should have done more research. It's possible that there are parents and players who believe that such a team is right for them for any number of reasons that don't need to make sense to any of us, too. I just don't understand why everyone is so obsessed with going on and on about this. Really, it's not worth the effort.

I can't verify at Spencer, but my boy played 5v5 at Ice Castle last night.

Yeah, that meets the legal definition of assault. It should meet the definition of anyone who plays sports, too. Totally indefensible behavior for which he should be banned without delay.

The funniest part is that the asshat blatantly stepped into the opposing player, couldn't stay on his feet through the contact he initiated, and then CLEARLY held the stick after the contact. He even extended his elbow for the contact. This guy shouldn't be playing anywhere. What an embarrassment.