We are all used to hockey players acting with bad behavior while on the ice. But some of the players for the Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs took it just a little too far.

It happened in Canada last week when news broke that players on two teams — the Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs — jumped to the front of the line to be vaccinated against swine flu.

The news came as lineups reserved for high-risk groups stretched around city blocks. That meant that highly paid athletes had jumped ahead of pregnant women, children below the age of 6, and people with chronic illnesses, many of whom had waited up to seven hours at immunization clinics. The preferential treatment also came as some clinics were forced to shut down because they ran out of vaccine. (Also last week, in Ukraine, which is gripped by a swine flu pandemic and in the throes of election leadup, H1N1 became fodder for the biggest political football match to date.) (Global Post)

That’s just a little outrageous. The players claimed that they were at high risk and needed preferential treatment because of the fact that they travel a lot. Their thought was that, due to the exposure of many cities as they traveled from game to game, they should be in the front of the line for the vaccines.

Hmmm…thinking high of ourselves a little much?

While in some ways the players are right about their high chance for exposure, it’s not like there is any national crisis that makes hockey games a necessity. This kind of defense makes sense when you are talking about national leaders who have to travel, or perhaps military personnel. You know..people who actually make a difference when running and protecting a country?

It’s just hockey. I’m sure the public will live if a few games have to be canceled.