NHL team Vancouver Canucks ban Fortnite after losing season

Cal Jeffrey

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In context: Fortnite has become a phenomenon. Some have compared it to WoW in that players are becoming addicted and spending way too much time on it. At least one professional hockey team thinks it is a big enough distraction that it has banned its players from playing the battle-royale sensation.

Fortnite has become so popular that it is reportedly leading to addiction, interfering with people's marriages, and affecting professional lives.

According to ESPN, management for the Vancouver Canucks have banned their players from playing the game during the upcoming season. The ban comes following the team’s lackluster 2017-18 season with a W/L ratio of 31/40 earning it second to last in the Western Conference.

Other players in the league think that Vancouver is just scapegoating the game.

“I think they just needed something to blame after last year,” said Patrik Laine, star winger for the Winnipeg Jets. Even so, Laine said that his team made a similar arrangement this season. “We kind of made a deal if we're playing like that, we can give up our PlayStations, so we're not going to take them on the road. But I don't think that's going to happen.”

The concern is that after staying up late playing the game players are not at their peak during practices and games. It particularly concerning at the major junior level where young up-and-comers are not wholly focused on playing hockey at a professional level.

Even some of the top draft picks admit to playing Fortnite probably more than they should. Brady Tkachuk, a winger picked up by Ottawa in the fourth round, acknowledges that he and other young players play Fortnite quite a bit.

“I don’t think it's much benefit [to his hockey career],” said Tkachuk when asked about marathon Fortnite sessions. “But I mean we’re playing when we get back to the hotel. We got a little squad going, so I mean it’s good to get a bond like that.”

Fortunately for Tkachuk, Ottawa is not planning a Fortnite ban this season, even though the team had a worse season than the Canucks chalking up a record of 28/43 in the Eastern Conference. However, now that he’s in the pros, Tkachuk better be ready to prove that he belongs there.

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Its not a excuse if players are actually staying up late playing the game, constantly being tired, missing practices or being late. Then yes that is a problem. But if none of that is a issue, hard to blame the game.
 
This reminds me of the case of that [Russian?] guy who lost his job and wife for being addicted to Fallout 4. I've been an avid gamer since I was a kid, and that has never being an excuse for not doing outdoor activities, spending time with family, or failing at school or job. Yeah, sometimes you get excited with a new game and go to bed late at night, for a few days maybe, but still deliver. In time you learn to leave new games for the weekend, so that you can control yourself afterwards.
In very few cases I've requested some time off from work, previously assessing the risk and delivery dates, when some game just eats hours and hours on end and you know that completing that playthrough will let you focus later, back at work. I can only recall the launch of XCOM 2, but probably there was another similar situation, in the 4 years I've been working in the tech industry.

The moral of the story is: responsibility is a very important value that must be taught and pursued since you're little.
 
Its not a excuse if players are actually staying up late playing the game, constantly being tired, missing practices or being late. Then yes that is a problem. But if none of that is a issue, hard to blame the game.

The problem isn’t Fortnite.... the problem is players staying up all night having fun.... it used to be EA Sports NHL franchise.... now it’s Fortnite.... it will be something else next year....

Hockey teams, like pretty much all sporting teams, are made up of young, competitive males.... in the days before video games, they’d be at bars drinking until 3am instead.... or at casinos...or strip clubs....

The news here is that “modern” athletes seem to prefer gaming to drugs/alcohol/drugs/prostitutes.... I figure that’s actually a good thing :)
 
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These days it's easier to create scapegoats to blame for poor performance, than the individual player for not acting like an adult and prioritizing their time.

It isn't like this is a potential make-or-break career for alot of them. But let's blame a video game instead of forcing them to grow up and act like adults.
 
The only thing I do not like about this game you can't save your player gear you die you loose everything you found. The only way to win at this game is to have a group of friends watching your back.
 
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