from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The situations are not entirely analogous, please believe me that I understand that, but when pro sports went on during World War II, I doubt that folks complained every day about patchwork rosters being inequitable.

That is the attitude we need to adopt as the NHL, as well as the NBA and NFL, try to power through a third consecutive pandemic-infected season.

It is not going to be fair. Some of it is going to be ugly. Postponements and rescheduling are not going to be fair to everyone. Some teams are going to be hit harder than others. Some teams have been hit harder than others. The Islanders, for instance, seem to be trapped in an unending ghoulish amusement park ride that has gone horribly out of control and will never end.

But that is the reality of what 2021-22 has become as the third straight season with a virtual asterisk attached to it. Here is the crux of the matter: The imperfect NHL and imperfect NHLPA are doing the best they can in an environment in which the landscape and rules change almost every day....

continue for more on the above topic plus othe topics like this...

Brad Marchand, the poster boy for self-interest, thinks that NHL players who want to go to the Olympics should be permitted to do just that while the league plays on through the Beijing Games and teams dip into their taxi squads to replace the athletes who have opted to go to China.

In other words, he is suggesting that the Bruins should just play without their best four players — presuming that Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak all would have chosen to go — while fans pony up full price to watch a hybrid NHL-AHL roster.

Playoff spot in jeopardy? Pshaw. Marchand wants a medal.