CRANBERRY, Pa. -- In this business, you're either there or you aren't.
And in turn, you're either covering something or you aren't.
For the first time in our six years of existence, DK Pittsburgh Sports won't be covering an event involving one of our three big-league teams. Because we won't -- check that, we can't -- cover the Penguins in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Oh, but we tried.
Two weeks ago, Dave Molinari tried and failed to enter Canada at the Peace Bridge crossing near Buffalo, N.Y., turned away by Canadian border officials because he failed to meet that country's criteria that only 'essential workers' qualify. He didn't have an NHL credential because the league hadn't yet issued them. He then stayed an extra day in Buffalo, hoping for help on several fronts that never arrived, after which we asked him to come home.
This past weekend, I tried it myself and also failed. In my attempt, I showed up with every conceivable piece of paperwork, not least of which was an NHL length-of-tournament credential and a letter from the league -- written for the express purpose of showing it at the Canadian border -- plus a whole lot more. I had the passport, the Nexus card that's always allowed me to go back and forth freely, the verification of employment, the hotel reservation in Toronto, the written 14-day quarantine plan ... you name it, and I'd met every criteria.
Except one.
I, too, wasn't an 'essential' worker.
Because, you know, of course I'm not essential. I'm a sports writer, for crying out loud. I barely qualify as essential in my own household, never mind any purported role in a pandemic.
At the same time, it was deeply disconcerting that, after my hour and a half in the Canadian border office, while two kind officers worked diligently to try to find ways to allow me through, the final arbiter was this: The NHL had submitted a list to the Canadian government of who should be allowed ... and reporters weren't on it. If reporters had been on that list, as I was told, I'd have had a very real case for entry, 'essential' or not.
Best sport. Worst league.
I was told by one border official I couldn't try again for at least another 14 days, by which point a presumed entry still would require my quarantining right through the Penguins' entire series with the Canadiens and likely beyond. I was escorted by that official back to the car, instructed to make a U-turn back across the bridge, back into the U.S., then just drove all the way back home.
Like I said, we tried. Twice. Very hard.
Both Dave and I had committed, by even attempting this, not only to the quarantine period -- where you literally can't leave a hotel room for 14 days, or a GPS tracker busts you and you can be fined up to $750,000 CDN -- but also to being away from home and family and everything until possibly Oct. 3, the projected date of a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
My understanding is that our situations are hardly isolated among American media outlets, though I'd never discuss specifics of what occurs anywhere else.
Why does any of this matter?
Well, let's answer first why it doesn't matter: Reporters who do make it Toronto and Edmonton, the other hub city -- meaning probably 99.99 percent Canadian reporters -- won't be getting any special access. They'll be on the same group Zoom calls as reporters lounging on their sofas in the U.S. Reporters there also won't be allowed to attend practices or skates. So the only edge was going to be a spot in the press box and a chance to see the game with our own eyes, to report on things not caught on the broadcasts, to pick apart elements of warmups, to notice who's missing from the bench to injury, that sort of stuff.
Would that be worth the tens of thousands of dollars and untold mostly miserable hours we were prepared to invest in this?
That's open to perspective, obviously, but I was 1 billion percent behind it. Because, to repeat from above, you aren't covering the event if you aren't covering it.
It's become blurred in some quarters what constitutes covering something. In my eyes, it comes with one qualifier above all: You're there. And I couldn't stomach the idea that we wouldn't be covering the Penguins in the playoffs, particularly in such an extraordinary time and setting, particularly when they've got a gifted roster that could push this process right to that Oct. 3 date.
Now, though, in a weird way, I can stomach it. Because I know we did everything we could, just as I know the NHL didn't do anything close to what it could. The border officials couldn't have made it clearer who was to blame, and it sure wasn't us.
So, now what?
Obviously, we're going to write about the Penguins in the playoffs, even if we can't cover them. Dave and Taylor Haase will be tasked with that, and I've no doubt they'll offer extensive, timely and thoughtful news, views, analysis and breakdowns from right here in Pittsburgh. They'll be on every call. They'll track every move. They'll share their expertise.
Me, I'm going to actually cover things. I'll be in St. Louis this coming weekend for the Pirates' 134th season opener, and I'll be assisting Alex Stumpf at PNC Park and beyond in a 60-game sprint that's got us both more stoked every time we talk about it. I'll also be at Heinz Field shortly after that for the start of the Steelers' transplanted training camp, assisting Dale Lolley through a fall and winter that feels so full of promise.
That doesn't mean I'll ignore the Penguins. That'd be bizarre. There's a reason I went back to Cranberry yesterday and will be there again today, and that's that I passionately believe in the importance of hockey coverage to our readers. But that's the beauty of the recent rebuilding of our podcasting platform. In radio, it's almost never about covering and almost always about pontificating from afar. Which is fine. I'll pontificate hockey with anyone, from afar or otherwise.
Here's my podcast today on Matt Murray:
But the written coverage, the foundation of this little place, has to go on, and that can't happen from my living room. It's got to be "in stadiums," to paraphrase Mike Tomlin.
Not complaining. Just explaining. Because you deserve to expect real coverage, and you deserve answers when it can't happen.
I'll be happy, as always, to discuss down in comments.
One last time: We tried. Very hard. Twice.
