from Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press,

COVID-19 is no joke. But the way the NHL has mishandled an outbreak on the Vancouver Canucks sure is, suggesting a tone-deaf league that will always put profit over people, including forcing a sickly bunch to hit the ice when it was unsafe to do so.

Only a player-led revolt and some public shaming forced a last-minute change of plans that is just slightly less egregious.

If NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and company had their way, the Canucks would have hosted the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night, their first game since March 24 and the start of a murderous stretch of hockey that would involve 19 games over 31 nights. It would have come after just one measly practice, with multiple players still in virus protocols and others still working their way back from battling serious symptoms that were a result of the more potent Brazil variant.

That, folks, was a recipe for disaster.

Instead, Vancouver was given an extra two days to gear up for what will now be 19 games over 32 days starting Sunday, which is still ridiculous.

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