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People don't get chirped for wearing full shields/cages. They get chirped when they wear a full shield/cage and play like idiots.

Here in metro NYC a few of the rinks are getting ready to reopen. Sport-O-Rama in Rockland county, NY reopens for hockey on July 7. I skate in a Friday Night gang there for over 30 years. I’m going to stay off the ice for awhile before I rejoin the group. I’m close to the at-risk age group. Also I have returned to work at the Pro Shop this week after three months closed at the Ice House in Hackensack, NJ. Work is a priority. The Ice House is reopening this Monday for figure skaters with limited sessions. Hockey returns July 6 at Ice House. What are your plans ? Start playing immediately or wait ?

Same sizing as ice skates. Just get yourself a relatively cheap pair of "entry-level" skates from any of the manufacturers whose boots you're used to, already. A modern pair of $150 or $200 Bauers (for example) are much better than the top of the line skates that you could have bought 20 years ago. Same goes for modern ice skates if you decide to go with a conversion. I hadn't skated on wheels in 20+ years until I dug out my 1997 Bauer "Breakout 50" and used them until my Marsblades were installed on a new pair of boots. In the meantime, I tried and then resold a pair of Bauer RS; the boots were fantastic but I didn't like the Hi-Lo setup instead of smaller wheels in front and in back. The boots I bought for the conversion were virtually identical to them: entry-level Bauer MS-1 ice skates ($65) and they're great. You're not going to break down either of those boots without skating very hard in them for quite a while. If you spend $300 or $400+ on much higher-end skates, you may find them way too stiff, as I did: I also bought a pair of Alkali Revel II and returned them to Hockey Monkey immediately without even skating in them (obviously) just based on how uncomfortable and stiff they were compared with the Bauers, which felt perfect right out of the box and without baking. (The MS-1 are so "low level" that they're not even intended to be baked.) For reference, I normally use very stiff ice skates and tape them heavily for lateral support...so, if I'm saying these boots are plenty stiff, you can trust that.

My big fear with all of this is that someone in the media could have been privy to some of this information for years - because I understand why players might not speak out during their careers and think of all the sources that reporters have in the CHL - and didn't say anything because the power structure in hockey was big enough to survive it and try to discredit that person. If these prove true (as I assume they are) then the entire thing needs to be cleaned out, but I fear that it may not be.

The fraternity mentality leads to all kinds of horrible things. I was never a huge fan of the hockey player Carcillo but good on him for taking the lead on this. I hope this changes things for the better.

I think everyone playing with fogged up full bubbles is probably more dangerous than this virus, not to mention it's going to create even more contact between players. also, in China when they opened schools back up the kids played sports with masks and some actually died from it. Apparently the mask was inhibiting o2 for some kids to the point of fainting and a few kids died. I think that's more dangerous for young, healthy folks than this virus. I think a simple test before the season and then tell people not to come if they have symptoms and that's that. Anyone who feels like it might be dangerous can always opt out for a season and see how things go. Personally, I had covid in March and I'd say that it wasn't pleasant but I've had worse flu illnesses in past years. I got the flu last year and it knocked me out harder than this. People have to make their own decisions ultimately