TropicalFruitGirl26

@SpikeDDS A Stevie Y move indeed.... There is no question Yzerman will soon have the Wings back in contention on a yearly basis... he is just a no-nonsense, realistic, and like you said, intelligent executive. He took a terrible do-nothing Lightning franchise and turned them into a deep, perennial contender....with rows and layers of players in the system, and he and his staff will repeat that feat with the Red Wings. As for Fabbri, yea, nothing like a fresh start with more actual playtime to get a guy going. Talent was never the problem for him.... consistent playtime and health was. We see now what he can really do when he has both. Really looking forward to the Wings becoming contenders once again. With any luck, the Bolts will continue as that also, and we can get back to some good ol fashioned "playoff rivalry hatred" between us, eh?

Buffalonians not happy with that goal standing....

BRODIN: "Cmon man...I only score 4-5 times a year...ya gonna call this back????"

Wild taking it to the Sabres on the scoreboard so far. Nice to see. Does Minnesota actually have a full 60 min game in them? Stay tuned...

LOL...good question...I'll have to look into it. At this rate, they are playing an AHL 'weekend schedule' By midseason, they may very well have 40 games in hand on everyone else, so you may be right! Problem is...if everyone else is caught up...whom do the Lightning play?????? All joking aside, the are really gonna pay the piper so to speak when the schedule compresses on them harder than the Atlantic on a submarine that has gone too deep...………… yikes...

Bolts have been looking like they've turned things up a notch or three starting with that trip to Sweden where they swept both games against the Buffalo Sabres, then the first game back in North America, dismantle the NY Rangers. Of course, the Winnipeg Jets dealt the Lightning a loss, but even in that game, the Bolts almost pulled it off.... Connor Hellebuyck was outstanding in that one and I think if he doesn't pull the saves he did in that one (really spectacular stuff!), the Bolts complete the comeback and take that one too. Now to temper the excitement of seeing the Bolts play "Tampa Bay hockey", we must keep in mind that teams like the Sabres and Rangers are still rebuilding programs, Sabres allegedly being further along, but still, teams that have not been playoff teams for a bit, while the Jets, even with their off season losses on the blueline, DO have championship caliber, established talent on that team, including the aforementioned WPG goalie. But one thing I do like that I am starting to see the Bolts do more is establish a net front presence. They were mostly satisfied to set up the fancy plays in the past, take perimeter shots and look for the deft deflections around the circles..... but now, I am actually seeing guys stand in front of the goalies, push and shove with defenders, create screens, and generally cause chaos near the crease....and be satisfied with taking the ugly goal. And Pat Maroon is leading those tactics, but he isn't the only one either...Yanni Gourde, Alex Killorn, and even Stamkos could be seen over the last couple games hovering near the opposing crease. Good stuff. Speaking of Stamkos, he achieved a milestone in the Jets game...scored goal number 400 or his career. Really amazing. He hasn't quite hit 30 yet and already has that many! Granted, earlier in his career he was mostly just a pure scorer... 50-60 were never out of the question for him to possibly achieve regularly....but nowadays he plays a more complete game. Likely will never see outrageous goal totals again, but still will score enough, set up others, win face offs, and back check and play D all as part of his regular game. Still nice to see him hit numero cuatro ciento though. Next up, 500? We will see.

I almost took that myself....but still didn't quite trust NJ as a team that they wouldn't let him down too. I hope MacKenzie does well. This league needs some more outstanding young goalies and I don't want to see the organization ruin him somehow. We will really see what Mr. Blackwood is made of.

Honestly, at the time, that was a GREAT deal.... Schneider simply played lights out for a piss poor NJ team and as you know, the hope was the rest of the team needed to catch up competitively so Schneider could really bolster the team into annual contention. Just seems to me the guy just truly fell off a competitive cliff! Whether it really is due to some nagging injury that wasn't allowed to heal right, or like @J0e Th0rnton said, his confidence is just completely gone to blazes, only Schneider, his coaching staff, and his shaman know for sure..... I've always liked the guy. I feel real bad for him and his team is a in a ginormous hole in large part due to his inability to perform. MacKenzie Blackwood is just gonna have to grow up REAL fast, eh?

I can absolutely see that point of view, J0e.... thing is, if a player is that sensitive to fan reaction, then I'd have to question his overall fortitude. I think we can all agree athletes don't live in the same "world" as regular working folk. Even if the fans are wrong, the player can't worry about what negative energy the fans are trying to give him... he has to draw strength from his teammates, his coaching staff, and his own resolve based on him being a professional and his own talents. Not saying he would, but if Kucherov were the type of guy who wilts under the "pressure" of Tampa Bay fans, once again, I will say, he likely wouldn't last very long in a much more rabid hockey market.

Errrr...because someone had the bright idea he was better than Gardiner? I actually thought Barrie WAS an upgrade from Gardiner, although not by much. Barrie has disappointed. I wouldn't say he should have buried Gardiner's presence, but he definitely should have shown Leaf fans the reason he was brought in. Gardiner isn't having a stellar year by any stretch, but without looking at hard, current numbers, I believe he is having the better season over with the Canes.

TK makes me sad sometimes.... I'd still like him on the Lightning though...

TK might have been gassed....tried a weak pass instead of taking the shot, but he looked like he might not have had anything left.

What this game needs...……. Is a TK OT winnah!!

You don't pull on Superman's cape... You don't spit into the wind.... You don't tug the mask of the Lone Ranger... And you don't underestimate a relentless Barry Trotz team.... wow.... Tie game with just under 2 min to go...

The Fly making a mockery of a pretty good defensive Islander team. No TK on the scoreboard though....that disappoints me...

And just like that, Flyers up. @CoachX Try buffstream That's what I am using now...our big screen is not working and wont get one till Monday, so have been streaming games... Buffstream has worked beautifully all day. Not sure if HF wants that stuff littering the threads, so I sent you the direct Flyer link via PM. It has some initial pop ups, but just zap them and then just leave the stream alone and you should be fine.

Trickles through Reimer...but NOT in the net... Yep..sweet jeebus indeed...THOSE are the kinds of things that happens to bad teams like Minnesota. Always close but no cigar....not even a vape....

Commentary on the actual hit.... All SHOULD have been well with it...but like you guys said...Ovechkin DID leave his feet to make it.... And thing is... WHY????? Usually guys leave their feet to hit a larger opponent.. Ovi towers over diminutive Drouin who was scrunched low as it was already....Ovi could have just come in normally and made the same impact. Head didn't seem targeted or even hit, looked like shoulder to shoulder or clavicle on Drouin....but the fact that Ovi did make a jump off the ice...optics on that for him are pretty bad...

Crazy thing about this hit... I wasn't watching this particular game, but I was monitoring my fantasy hockey squad where I happened to have Drouin on my team. Shortly after the hit was made live, my fantasy hockey page showed Drouin as "day to day"... I mean, I won't make light of perceived dirty hits or players health being in jeopardy (I NEVER want to see a player injured especially intentionally no matter who he plays for), but I got to thinking... Man...that must have been a hellacious hit for the app to already be declaring Droin, not MINUTES after the hit, as DTD.... Fortunately for Drouin and the Habs, he was able to continue, and the DTD marking next to his name on my sheet disappeared. I have NEVER seen that before...usually players are marked DTD, Out, or IR after doctors have looked at a player or after the game after full examinations can be made. Ovi smashes a guy and the app immediately goes, "Oh crap...that hurt...Drouin is definitely day to day now.." Just nuts.....

Absolutely! It'll "right your ship" into the rocks and out of the playoffs....and you will be playing against JimmyDozens and CammyCamera in the Junior league next year...

@ruxpin Interesting match up we have going on... you continue to hang with either a tie score, or a one or two category lead. I have most goalie cats locked down, except saves and wins is still up in the air with me holding a slight edge.. When we tie, I need one cat obviously to overturn to my favor....but most cats you DO have you have by quite a bit. I will need to have a bit of an outburst, while your guys quiet down a bit, JUST so I can possibly steal away yet ANOTHER middling 9-8-1 type win... lol.... welcome to my world, The Green Star Middling Blades.... where we sit in middling 5th...doing middling things like, just barely nip opponents on a Sunday...never really doing bad, but never really doing elite...….. just....in...the middle.... As for that PIMs category... was wondering how the heck you ended up with so many...though you might have picked up Andrei Nazarov or Jody Shelly off retirement waivers... but no.... your Brendan Lemieux had been very...errr, Lemieux-like... 19 mins in PIMs just in one game.... for shame...

I agree. Granlund saw steady improvement every year he was on the team. I also don't know about "slowing the game down", unless that means he tried to be playmaker a bit too much at times, but seems to me, he loved playing the north-south game and still tried to help out on defense when and if he could. His trade counterpart, Fiala, other than loving the offense, doesn't seem to be nearly as good as Granny in other aspects. Yes, he is younger, but good lord, those turnovers and decisions under pressure....

Again..no need to be adversarial. Cherry picking comments, putting them out of context doesn't help matters. Basically, and I will leave it at this, is don't be douche to people, and they shouldn't be that way to you. Do what you like, but ultimately, it likely ends up with you finding your way out. Good day and good luck.

Right. Not a matter of seeking approval or not. Not a matter of caring whether a fan of another team has an opinion on yours....you, I and anyone else are free to either interact or ignore that opinion. Wild fans are not the only ones who can "see their team honestly"...and even that is a matter of perspective. Again, because you seem to keep missing the point...I was simply pointing out that fans here do tend to go into any board they want. Nothing more, nothing less. I hadn't realized the comment I quoted had some sort of sarcastic point to it....wasn't evident. I made that clear. Nothing to do with being told 'what to think' or seeking acceptance. It just is what it is. If you really have a problem with fans from other teams commenting on yours, you are free to ignore or block. It really is that easy...I have other 'hints and tips' for you too if you like. Things don't need to be adversarial unless you'd like them to be.

I see. I was just reinforcing the fact that posters here are all over the board in many cases...not just sticking to their "team forums". I missed your sarcasm point...it wasn't evident. My bad.