Morning Skate: Positioning

Folks, it is Monday! Let’s have fun out there.

This Monday brings glad tidings — the Bruins are in the playoffs!

Sure, it’s December 13, but still...it’s better than being on the outside looking in.

With a win over Calgary to cap a 2-0-1 swing through western Canada, the B’s moved up into the second wild card spot, and while it’s certainly not time to gas up the duck boats, it’s a decent sign in what’s been an up-and-down season thus far.

It’s also a reflection of how far behind their Atlantic Division rivals the B’s have fallen — while they have 2, 5, and 3 games in hand respectively, the Bruins are 10, 10, and 8 points behind Florida, Toronto, and Tampa Bay.

Still, you don’t win a Cup in December, nor do you clinch anything. As long as the Bruins can hang around while the team continues to figure itself out, there’s little reason to panic.

As I mentioned prior to the trip, western Canada swings are often good bellwethers for a team, and in this case, the Bruins have to be pleased with how things went.

Considering they were missing their coach and had a number of guys shaking off the effects of illness, five points out of six is pretty good.

We’ve got a few good ones on tap this week, including a reunion with old pal Zdeno Chara on Thursday and a trip to Montreal on Saturday night.

Bruins vs. Canadiens on a Saturday night at Bell Centre, one week before Christmas — happy holidays to us all.

Today’s discussion topic

It would appear that NHL players going to the Olympics is in doubt due to COVID-19 concerns, at least according to the NHLPA.

Per that link above, the players are apparently concerned about a possible five-week (!!!) quarantine in the event of a positive test.

If I’m understanding that correctly and a player testing positive in Beijing would mean he’d have to isolate in China for five weeks (so even after the Olympics ended), yeah...I’d be considering backing out too.

What’s your guess: do players end up going or no?