J0e Th0rnton

On 4/19/2024 at 9:55 AM, ruxpin said:

Congrats to Gulliver @yave1964 on his 23rd consecutive Lilliput Hockey Championship.

 

 

Can't be 23 in a row. 2018 yo!

That joke is losing steam fast though. Was good for the first few years, but now it's like "that was 7 years ago koji"

On 4/2/2024 at 10:29 AM, pilldoc said:

@Math @yave1964  @Jagged Ice @Mad Dog @Hale @bbgarnett @hf101
@TropicalFruitGirl26 @Ladyneat @J0e Th0rnton @ruxpin @Brewin Flames @molonosoff

 

Good Morning,

 

First of all I would like to thank everyone for a tremendous FHL season.  It has been an exciting year.  The final playoff spot was decided on the last day of the regular season.  It is also great seeing new blood in the semi-finals this year.  Congrats to @Math for winning the President's Cup this year.  What an absolutely fantastic season!  Good Luck to the Final Four GM's as we begin finishing up the season.

 

With that being said,

 

Now to pass on the news that is the real intent of this post.  After giving it much thought and consideration over the past few weeks, once this season concludes, I have made the painful decision to step down as the League Commissioner for the HF.net Sweet 16 FHL.  In addition, for the time being, I will also not be participating in the the Sweet 16 FHL next year as a GM.

 

Rest assure, this painful decision was not taken lightly.  I enjoy the sincere friendships I have with many of you on here.  I have been competing against most of you for almost a decade now.  It has been a blast.

 

As I mentioned to a few of you privately, I simply do not have the time right now to fully commit to this League.  Due to such a busy home and work life right now, I am missing out on starting players and goalies.  I don't have the time available to really research players in order to make my team better, as I have done in years past.  Its not fair to me, its not fair to my opponent, and it certainly is not fair for this League. 

 

I have been a part of this League and League Commish for nearly 10 years now and and as much as it pains me for stating this, but for the time being, I feel I need to step away for a bit.  Again, this was an issue I wrestled with myself for several weeks now.  Simply put, this was not an easy decision to make.

Rest assured, for those whom I compete with in NAHANA, I will remain an active GM in that League.  However, for the time being, I simply cannot devote the time or energy for 2 FHL's right now and I had to make a choice.  For me the choice was clear to stay active in NAHANA for the foreseeable future.

 

Therefore, effective May 1st, I am looking for a volunteer who would like to take over the reigns as the Sweet 16 FHL League Commish.  I can certainly help answer any and all questions to provide a smooth transition.  I also have a list of all GM's both past and present along with their e-mail address's which I can forward to the new League Commish.

 

Thank You everyone for your understanding,

Best,

~doc

HF.net Manager

HF.net Sweet 16 FHL soon to be former League Commish

 

 

I totally feel you mate. I usually spend time getting all ready for playoffs and check 3 times a day. This year I just clicked autofill rosters for the last month and looked at it every few days because of the junos, even after they were over. 

Used to be work to live. Now it's live to work......

You are awesome and we're a great Commish!!

7 hours ago, Math said:

Well, it's play-off time. I unexpectedly finished first and as a fellow Stars fan, the table is perfectly set for the traditional play-off choke lol.

 

Good success to anyone, let's get it on !

Congrats on the pres trophy first year!!!

This is my first time missing the playoffs......arg

For the first time since entering fantasy, I'm missing the playoffs.....arg

On 1/13/2024 at 7:35 PM, thegx.ca said:

Literally worse lineup and worse team on paper in NHL history this 2024 team looks like a farm team...so no reason for hope at all...

Everything looks great to me.

The goal is tanking for picks lol

On 2/3/2024 at 5:15 PM, JR Ewing said:

 

I think they're a good team, but reallllly think that Adam Foote did long term harm to the middle of the roster with the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade and sign. I thought and think that it was indescribably bad. When Montreal backs out of a bidding war for a Quebec-born player, you know you've gone too far.

 

Dubois floating that shift in Columbus to get benched and chuckle at Torts told me a lot about him

4 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

I had a SJW come at me for saying this back when Twitter was a thing.

You have probably seen teen girl mojo referenced here and that is her spirit jersey in my avatar pic.

 

 

One thing I think gets missed when men say this is, we see how childlike teenagers are- and it's not how we remember them from our teenaged years.

We (men) base our idea of teenage women on our memories (which are flawed but we remember our girlfriends from high school etcetera).. until a teenaged woman is in your house and can't smoosh a spider in her bathroom, it is revaltory as to how immature a 17, 18, 19 year old person is. 

 

Anyway I 100% have this fear as teen girl mojo gets set to go to school in Ohio, we live in South Central PA so it's 5.5 hours to get to her if things go badly.

I totally understand. There but for the grace of god go you and I.

My wife is 34 and can't  smush a spider LOL

3 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

So glad they didn't have cells phone in the early 90s in my 20s...

 

...not for me but for my friends I'm as clean as the driven snow...

 

I let someone lie about me having a web camera in my apartment once and it saved me a headache. Circa 2010, I took a girl from work home from a work party. We ended up dating for like a few months and hooking up regularly, but it was hush hush because work, even though we were different departments 

Shortly thereafter. folks from work saw us out together and the rumor mill started so we stopped(wasn't going anywhere anyways).

I'm not sure why, maybe she didn't like the rumor mill tarnishing her reputation as a sweet young innocent girl, but she lied to a bunch of people and told them it only happened once and that she was blackout drunk and that I had taken advantage of her.

I started getting the cold shoulder at work and not being invited out to the work drinking nights and I had no idea why. Eventually one of the girls at work, whom my roommate Cam asked why she was acting like such an asshole to me, blew up and me and told him the ******** story.

My roommate, God bless his soul, knew she was over regularly and that it was ********, but he went the extra mile. First he told that girl "lol, ask Koji to read his Blackberry messenger history and you will see that girl was regularly coming over for friends with benefits **** stone sober in the middle of the day. And i should know, I had to listen to them after backshifts.... ".

He approached the girl in question and warned her that big gaming computer setup in my room also recorded everything we did and that i had videos of her jumping all over me stone sober.

It was ********. I'd never record anyone. But my gaming setup being right by my bed made it believable enough that she frantically started Messaging me later that day LOL. My roommate filled me in that he had let that ******** that i recorded her slip just so she would believe i would have evidence against  lies.

I was kinda fuming and stressed by this point, but I had to play along. I just told her I refuse to answer by text and if she wanted to talk she could meet me for coffee to "clear up" some things.

That conversation was.....I'll say funny. 

The other girl from work approached me and asked to read my BBM history  

Long story short, my name was cleared in the court of public opinion and i was invited back out to work drinking nights lol. But my God that was a stressful stretch.

He got paid and now he's mediocre. Lol

3 hours ago, pilldoc said:

Agree with @Brewin Flames .... he is damaged goods a bizillion years old (ok ...38) and his last really productive years was 8-9 years ago.

 

Its his last rodeo .......

His body is 45 due to style of play lol

1 hour ago, thegx.ca said:

Too much pressure for Campbell...hopefully he'll straighten out in the minors and return better...

His record in the AHL thus far is pretty meh too. 5-6-0 in 11 games and a sub 90%sv

Maybe he gets traded for Merzlikins and that identically bad contract lol

3 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Yea...Messier was pretty emphatic about the danger young players put themselves in playing that way.
He even went on to describe how a player can sorta turn sideways, still protect the puck, while at the same time not lining their heads up with the boards.

But if they are being COACHED to turn completely away....yikes...hard for the youngster to question a coach on it.

Very alien indeed to Mr. Messier!

Messier as a player would not have given an F and would have creamed the player lol

Of Course if Messier played today, like Scott Stevens, he would not be able to do what he did back in the 80's and 90's and get away with it

Messier was eating suspensions in an era when Dirty plays were largely forgiven LOL

1 hour ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Rangers continue to scuffle getting wins as they get beat by the Capitals 3-2.
Still sitting in 1st place in the Metro but those skate steps they are hearing? 
The Carolina Hurricanes...

Despite the talent on the Rangers, I am not sure I buy them yet as Stanley Cup contenders.
They have some solid veteran forwards, but an injury here or there would certainly thin them out to the point where they  HAVE to rely on younger players still learning their way...

I am not particularly sold on their bottom six grinders, and their defense, outside of Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, and MAYBE Erik Gustafsson, still largely unproven.

Shesterkin, of course, covers a lot of deficiencies and/or inexperience defensively, but again, if he isn't available or on his game, I don't see Jonathan Quick backstopping this squad to the Finals, much less winning it all.

I like the Carolina Hurricanes coming out of the Metro and into the East Finals, who have been building towards a Cup championship for a few seasons now. Even though the Rangers have as well, I just feel the Canes have the better mix and formula ready...except, maybe (and ironically) their goaltending without Freddie Andersen.
Can young Kotchetkov backstop this team to a title? Dunno...maybe, maybe not.

And who could I envision the Canes facing in the East Finals?
Boston is always a good answer, but you know what? 
The Florida Panthers...who seem to have been and continue to be, on the same sort of competitive track as the Canes.

Panthers and Hurricanes...two teams who looked like they were gonna regress big time this year, seem to have figured out their schtick and looking pretty darn good these days.
 

The Answer is yes Kochetkov can.....I BELIEVE!

And how dare you misspell the name of the next Lord Hasek?!!!!!!

Strange rumblings indicate Merzlikins isn't happy being #3 goalie.

How about Merzlikins for Jack Campbell? Almost the exact same contract, same length and both need a change of scenery lol

Might be like moving the beat up old deck chairs around, but why not?

22 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

 

It's difficult to think of a player who would be a worse match for the coach.

 

Actually he has been way better two way this year and clearly trying to work on that part of his game.

Initially we thought Zegras drop in production was because he was too focused on two way play. We know now he had a lingering injury, but before he went off he was playing solid two way hockey.

Last night was a bit of a fluke injury. His skate got in parssinen's stick and swept and his ankle smashed into the boards awkwardly

32 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

So word on the street is he Cutter did not want to play in Philly and refused to sign his ELC.

 

So I guess we got something for him ....  don't want a cancer during the rebuild. 

 

A RHD is a GOOD thing along with the 2nd RD pick which in regimes before were traded away like candy ....

 

 

Drysdale is actually a really good player in the making so its not a total loss.

Mintyukov emerging made him a bit expendable. Anaheim also has Luneau and Zellwegger as prospects so they are deep on D and need a goalscorer. Zegras, McTavish and Carlsson are all playmakers.

Zegras Michigan was so fast and smooth

3 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

 

 

He won because the bruins offense forgot they had to score to win....that loss still sucks/stings.

 

And what has binnington done since, jack sh&t.

Binnington has done plenty since......usually in the form of a childish blowup

12 hours ago, Math said:

For the goalies (unless you have an elite G like Öttinger, Hellebuyck, Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Shesterkin): Complete lottery ! (ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit)

 

In an era where tandems (or 1A/1B) become more and more the norm, it's really difficult to have any clue on how a goalie will perform in the beginning of the season. Demko was injured and awful last season, now he's like God. Talbot was good for the dump, and now he's skating on the water. On the other side, Gustavsson has become an AHLer, Schmid and Vanecek are terrible, Markström has a hard time too.

 

Even constant and top-tier goalies are not safe. Varlamov was about to claim a timeshare with Sorokin, Georgiev was fantastic in October and then horsesh!t in November, Detroit is currently running three goaltenders. Two or three bad starts in a row and your undebatable #1 position is in jeopardy. This position is so versatile. Maybe in February we will be all fighting to grab Kähkonen lol.

Goalies are definitely voodoo year by year. 

Ive had a drink or three after work so I am going to blab a bit. Strike averted. My teams union just got them a $4 an hour increase and busy season is almost over and I finally get a vacation. im happy as a clam and so relieved. I was actually thinking of quitting for the last 2 months. I don't get anything because i am not in the union, but I don't care, I just wanted something for my team to show how valued they are and  to combat the toxic attitude and lack of care that was sweeping through my department and stress I was feeling every second of the day at work and home where I constantly get called for help.

On that note, here comes me blabbing like a pseudo intellectual dork lol.

I like to look at categories in terms of sections.

I consider offense section: G, A, PPG, PPA

Peripheral section : SOG, FW, HIT, BK

Lottery section: PIM, +/-, GWG, SHP

Now you can control how many tickets you buy for the lottery Section, but its still a lot of variance. by buying tickets, I mean, you get more chances at a GWG if you have goalscorers. You have more shots at SHP if you have Pkers. You get more  chances at PIM's if you have temperamental goons, but even a lady bing forward can get 5/10 and a game and snag that category circumstantially, and you can restrict your drafting to good teams to have a better chance at solid +/- but that restricts your scoring pool. But its still a lot less control than say, hits or blocks or faceoff wins where you can load up on guys who take faceoffs from the wing or shot blocking Dmen.

Goalies are the same, but different. Their sections are reliant on the teams in front of them.

Wins and Saves are volume Categories. So unfortunately are losses, so having a good workhorse can be a boon. Sv% and GAA are more variable in that you can get 3 good games in a week and bench goalies to retain the good GAA and sv%, so volume matters less. the real lottery category for goalies is SO.

So the way I see it, goalies have 5 controllable categories, 1 Lottery, Forwards have 8 controllable categories, 4 Lottery, so despite goalies having 6 categories to 12 skater categories, I feel they are more valuable. Significantly so due to this league having 16 teams because the pool is so shallow to find a goalie. 2 or 3 goalies are going to decide 45% of the controllable categories.

Currently, I have 2 workhorses and I hope its enough to keep going safely because in offensive categories i was getting beaten bad. in fact im one of the lowest scoring teams in the league. im also only middle of the pack for Peripherals. I had good FOW and SOG for awhile, but too many guys went down with injuries.

Now I am combing waivers trying to improve some more. Come on down Kerfoot. Win some faceoffs from wing will ya?

For Brewin, I think this will help quite a bit for goalie cats. He was relying on the Calgary duo and Jake Allen for starts and Kochetkov is a shot of adrenaline from a 3rd team. Where i would be looking to improve next is Peripherals, but it may be too late for that as the team is very scoring oriented from top to bottom. Hopefully scoring plus improved goaltending = wins

3 minutes ago, Math said:

I think it was very important for a market like the Jets to ink those two long-term, given all the rumors and overall negativity around those who wanted to leave. That was a factor for the Niederreiter extension for example.

I honestly think getting Wheeler out of that locker room was probably a big plus too.

5 minutes ago, Brewin Flames said:

I might have kicked myself if i gave up Eichel or DeBrincat, but this trade seemed fair enough.

I did ask for cat first and you said no lol.

13 minutes ago, Mad Dog said:

Both of these two players are studs and proven stars.  The Jets had to do it. I would say looking at the comparable contracts of similar players, these new contracts are in the right neighborhood.

id call these contracts team friendly compared to what they could have asked for. Especially Hellboy. He's placed top 4 for the Vezina in 4 of the last 6 years and accrued votes for the hart trophy in all 4 years. Even when Winnipeg's defense is putrid, he's solid. A bad year for him was 29 wins and a 91%sv

Trade announcement.

Halifax trades Pyotr Kochetkov to brewin flames for Jason Robertson.

With Andersen out with blood clots, Kochetkov the goalie of the future is being given opportunity now. Brewin  needs a goalie with markstrom out week to week and I need firepower as my team has been sinking lately despite great goaltending.

Kochetkov has played 7 of the last 10 games, once in relief of Raanta and won 4, lost 1 and had 2 where he did not get a loss credit. He's given up 2 or less goals in 5 of 7 appearances.

Robertson doesn't look like the 47 goal 109 point +37 guy from last year as he is currently under a ppg with 22 points in 23 games and a -4, but I'm confident he will heat up.

I still have 2 workhorse goalies to fall back on and Thompson finally just came off IR so I'm hoping to change my fortunes with a boost up front.

Might shock those who know how much I love Koochie since ive hounded folks to get him in the keeper leagues. But this isn't a keeper and maybe I can draft him again next year lol.