Mid-Week Mailbag: Apocalypse Edition
4 years ago
Author’s note: My apologies for the lateness of this week’s mailbag. It’s been a difficult week for everyone at the Nation Network and with the lack of anything resembling news to dissect, it seemed prudent to schedule it for a day without existing content.
The first game that comes to mind is Game 1 of the 2007 Western Conference quarterfinal between the Canucks and the Dallas Stars. It’s got everything: overtime heroics, goals from each of the Sedin twins, and an astonishing 72-save performance from Roberto Luongo.
It also wouldn’t hurt to replay the Sedins’ last home game again, which is probably my hands-down favourite Canucks moment aside from Alex Burrows’ overtime goal against the Blackhawks in 2011. If you really want a deep cut, we recently did an episode of Roxy Fever for the patreon feed that was all about the Daniel Sedin fly-by game against the Florida Panthers in January of 2016 and I would love to rewatch that game, too. For those of you that don’t remember, it led to the infamous “low-life” comment from Panthers’ colour commentator Denis Potvin, which in turn gave rise to one of the most iconic editions of the Provies in Vancouver hockey history.
Potato chips have always been my go-to comfort snack, but I’m trying to actually maintain a semi-healthy diet throughout this crisis, so I’ve been partial to tuna and crackers snack packs lately.
Elias Pettersson seems entirely capable of playing the part of a silent, cold-blooded killer if necessary, so if he’s got even the most basic survival skills he should have it in the bag. Sutter is the only other player I could see giving Petey a run for his money. He certainly has that Alberta farmboy affect, so I could see him being able to survive out in the wild for a long time. It depends on whether or not the ordeal is over quickly. If it becomes a war of attrition, I might give Sutter the advantage.
From Wikipedia:
“Olli Juolevi (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈolli ˈjuo̯leʋi]; born 5 May 1998) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fifth overall by the Canucks in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Born and raised in Finland, Juolevi developed in the Jokerit program before he moved to North America to play major junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)’s London Knights in 2015. After one season with London, he was drafted by the Canucks.Internationally, Juolevi has represented Finland in three World Junior Championships, winning gold at the 2016 tournament.”
I hope that helps you find what you’re looking for. One word followed by a question mark isn’t very specific.
I’m assuming human teeth, but I could also see some kind of barter system arising around water and gasoline like in Mad Max.
I think the analytics community in particular has always looked at Eric Tulsky as a potential future GM, but I’m not sure how likely that is given the current landscape. Forging relationships is obviously integral to managing a hockey team, and I don’t know what kind of opportunity Tulsky has had to cultivate working relationships with other GMs as a director of analytics. There’s also the danger of the Peter Principle taking effect and Tulsky being taken away from what he does best to fill a position he doesn’t have any experience in. Having said that, I still think Tulsky is a good bet to be the first ex-blogger-turned-GM, even if it takes awhile for him to get there.
The NHL has been a little opaque in its handling of that process, and obviously the situation is still unfolding, but my understanding is that the players had three more cheques coming at the time of the season suspension. They’ll be paid for the first and second half of March, but may be advised by the NHLPA to forego compensation for April in an effort to keep escrow down. My guess is we’ll find out more when we have an idea of whether or not the end of the season and/or playoffs are going to occur.
Obviously, everyone is struggling right now, but this is in some ways the easiest apocalyptic scenario you could picked to live through, provided you still have food and a roof over your head. It’s mostly going to be a matter of staying busy and keeping sane. With that in mind, here are a couple of tips that have helped me so far:
- Try to get as wide a variety of foods as possible, and stuff you have to cook. You’ll feel better, but it’ll keep your hand busy, too.
- Don’t ignore the news, but try not to get too sucked in, either. When you do read the news, approach it with a sense of curiosity rather than dread. We are living at the end of the End of History, and for better or worse, the world will not be the same when this is all over. If you can look at that as an intriguing possibility rather than the end of days, you can consume media without descending into alarmism.
- Make a list of things you always wanted to do, but didn’t because you never had the time. Anything from little odd jobs around the house, to learning a skill, to binge-watching that series you never finished.
- Throw yourself into a hobby. If you don’t have one, get one. Humans have been keeping themselves occupied for thousands of years with far less to hold their attention than we have now with the benefits of advanced technology.
- Make connections. Talk to people on the phone you’d otherwise never think to call. Ask for help, and be there for others who need help. That second one is especially integral. After my house burned down, I realized that helping other people isn’t selfless, it’s a form of therapy; and if you can approach caring for others as a way to care for yourself, you and your loved ones will all be better for it.
