yzerman19

Can we get Pinto back for tomorrow night at this point?

I'm in a hotel and can't get NHL network...any "angels" out there with links?

Not sure...good powerplay work. I need to see how this team grows.

No way is that what he said. What an idiot blogger.

US team doesn’t have an identity yet either...you could tell a bunch of guys we’re not on same page. The Lafreniere goal was a bad play by The D and an excellent play by Alex. He’s the highest regarded player in the tournament, you can’t let him put up 4 points. I think he just showed how much better he is than the USA DCorps

Great game to start off the best tournament!

Well he’s about to turn 20...solid numbers, not game breaker numbers, but don’t know his role on the team. Strikes me as a character guy.

Thanks for giving me a shot, coach. Thanks for giving me your very best.

Krygier and Janicke with the Ralph Cox talk. Always tough to be one of the final cuts.

Congrats Pinto! Final roster is out

I think Rocco got the winner off his ass

Yep to both Rocco and Kristo- I remember

Trying to think of UND players to win world junior gold: Brad Berry, James Patrick, Greg Johnson (RIP), Zach Parise, Drew Stafford, Brady Murray, Jonathan Toews, Jason Herter all come to mind...who else has guys? No google..

USA roster not set yet is it? I thought they still had some cuts to make

Attendance is a thing, absolutely; however I got Lowell playing in Worcester which should alleviate some of that. To move BC could be argued, however then you are disrupting bracket integrity for the 1 and 2 seeds, which should be an absolute last resort.

tinfoil hat eh? Since the institution and widespread understanding of the pairwise and methodology for seeding, its gotten a lot harder to grease a team to the Frozen Four.

And Allentown is the region of death at the moment

No, not even close! : )it’s saying who would make the playoffs if the season ended today...on an off-day...

Ageee it’s super early for braketology, but my take right now, but here’s what I’ve got: Albany Cornell vs Notre Dame Ohio State vs UMass Loveland DU vs Providence BC vs ASU Worcester UND vs Army Clarkson vs Lowell Allentown Mankato vs UMD Penn State vs Bowling Green You keep bracket integrity except for swapping Lowell and ASU, which prevents a first round Hockey East matchup while at same time boosts attendance in Worcester. Bracket integrity > highest seed nearest home, when it’s a long plane ride no matter what...and you’re swapping the lower seeds.

Be careful what you wish for. Altru could easily sell...once you do that though you lose local autonomy. Decisions would not be focused on grand forks interests. Which in theory senior management would be considering and the board would be reinforcing.

Ha! I hadn’t thought about that irony before...but I’ve never bought into 12 years from annihilation either.

Better to scale back than live with a bad decision...kinda like getting married. healthcare is not a booming industry. Customers don’t want to have to pay for it...

It is vastly more likely that they made this decision based on industry trends and their own financial plan than an inability to place bonds. My point is NOT about the financial position of Altru- as you can see by my other post, there are many reasons to be conservative. My point is that it is improbable that they couldn’t get the bonds placed. as for running ones own business- tons of respect for the entrepreneur. I will likely consider running my own business when I finish running this $14B one.

So...not sure what local places would be involved in a discussion of the initial subscription of a bond issue. Perhaps in the “friends” clause they would be guaranteed some bonds. For the record, I once worked on the trading desk of a municipal bond (including healthcare revenue bonds) underwriter, so I’m pretty well versed in the process. You are correct that a downgrade changes the market expectation of interest. However debt is still historically cheap, and bond insurance is also a common solution to fear of default. I don’t really feel like crunching the numbers on cash flow this morning- I’m enjoying my coffee and the fact the Sioux are #1 in the Pairwise. To be in the situation you describe, they would’ve had to have abandoned the industry standard approach as well as their historical approach to their detriment.

As an industry expert, Here are some notables to consider: 1. Altru is remaining independent, which creates G & A pressure in terms of scale and shared services. Simply put, administration costs more per service because of this Costs more than it does at larger systems. 2. Serving the entire community as an independent requires a breadth of services that limits the opportunity to focus Solely on centers of excellence with strong margins. In other words, they have some major loss leaders on services important to the region. They could jettison some of those and make people drive to Fargo- they would if they were for-profit or part of say Sanford. The investment required for related tech is also costly with a longer payback period due to less usage. 3. Cost of care focus from payors as well as technology And care advances have tilted the model to lower margin office and outpatient treatment. Gone are the days of big loss leading pcp network to feed profitable specialty to feed lucrative admissions. Volume of lucrative admissions is declining. Think OP ortho- prime example. 4. Govt payments I.e. Medicare and Medicaid doesn’t cover costs and is tightening. The single largest payor for all delivery systems doesn’t pay the rent, is tightening, and is a growing % of services with an aging population. Revenue forecast not looking so hot. 5. Skilled labor costs continues to put pressure on mid-market regionals like Altru. Nursing and physician markets are tight. Their market rate is not benchmarked to the local wage structure. Bottom line is operating pressures that have turned many smaller community hospitals into nothing more than birthing centers and triage are progressing up market. Altru’s commitment to stay locally owned creates additional challenges economically, but also keeps jobs and decision making in GF. I think they are being judicious given the environment. As for quality of care and experience issues for patients, that’s a separate animal. I’m only speaking to the business side of the industry.