B21

In the IOC's defense, the only other option after Oslo withdrew was Kazakhstan whose own human rights issues are only slightly better than China's.  "Slightly better" as in firing squad over the electric chair better. 

12 hours ago, Podein25 said:

 

Bettman and the NHL reportedly scuttled any deal that was not at least in the $750M range because they were worried about a possible sale that was below that because of the $500M price tag for Seattle which was on the horizon.  Per Rick Westhead TSN

It worked. Local paper reporting $900MM.

10 hours ago, ruxpin said:

Hey! Look who the cat dragged in!

 

Good to see you, bud. Hope you're doing well.

 

Interesting news. No hint of a rumor before this, right?

LOL! Alive and well. Just busy with life. Moved out of the 'Burgh and to the hockey hotbed known as the suburbs of Atlanta Georgia. Speaking of which, when did the Thrashers move?

So no rumors recently which is surprising in today's world especially considering these talks had apparently been going on for months. The team wasn't for sale - Fenway approached the Pens.  That said, there were rumors of a sale in 2015 when Burkle and Lemieux hired Morgan Stanley to look at "options" but nothing came of it. 

https://triblive.com/sports/report-fenway-sports-group-in-talks-to-purchase-penguins/

Wow. Didn't see this coming.  First reaction...replace deep pockets (Ron Burkle) with deeper pockets (Fenway/John Henry) and Mario keeps his stake. No major front office change. So far so good. No mention of a price tag yet though.

17 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

Perry protected his team mates by accepting the fight, and showed respect for Tavares by risking his own health after he had injured Tavares. Unintentionally, I think, but it is what is. If he hadn't accepted, the Leafs might have jumped some other player in frustration. I respect Perry a little bit more, because he accepted responsibility on a thing that really had little to do with him. Unlucky, what it is, and the speed of the game nowadays, as WOW said.

Or Toronto could have understood that it was CLEARLY not intentional and...maybe...let it go? God forbid. Does this BS HAVE to happen everytime a guy gets hurt? 

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

 

I was watching NHL network this morning.   I guess it was trying to get both clubs (from Foligno's POV, the Leafs) back up and back into the game.   Perry obliged apparently out of respect to Tavares.  

 

I can't say I particularly get this.   I think in a crowded arena, it would be to regain focus for both team and for crowd to get them out of that "oh my god, what did I just see?" moment.    But from my vantage, it's silly.    But tradition and all that, I guess.

 

Bizarre tradition.

Bizarre for sure.

If you need to witness a "fight" to get motivated or get your head out of your arse...during the playoffs (!!!)...then you probably shouldn't be playing professional hockey in the first place.

"Boy I just don't have it tonight. Oh wait - Foligno fought Perry for no reason other than some bizarre code? I'm ready to go now!"

59 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

I was coming here specifically to say very similar, but you've got it well-covered.

You're both spot on. Absurd. Bullshite. I'd never wish injury on a player but I was hoping Perry broke Foligno's face there. Enough with having to "answer" for something completely unintentional and unavoidable by the "hockey police".  

Little late but the guy is now 3rd all time in wins behind only Roy and Brodeur. Still a class act, too.

I don't understand how anyone could "not" be "fonda" him.  

On 5/9/2021 at 1:21 AM, notfondajane said:

I just hope the Pens could get past the Islanders. They defeated the Pens 4 of the 5 playoff series. Should they beat that team they may have a chance to go to the Finals.

To be fair, 3 of the 4 they lost were in 1975, 1982 and 1993. I don't think Rick Kehoe and David Volek will have much of an impact this series. :)

Who knew that one can still rock blonde hair tips at 36...

8 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Totally agree. The only thing that would work in these circumstances would be to make sure Wilson gets injured every time he gets on the ice.

Not even sure that would work. I get the "old days" angle on this when the Tony Twists and Rob Rays and Donald Brashears of the world would never let this happen the stars on their team.  That may work for the Matt Cooke-types but not the Tom Wilson-types.   Wilson is Tony Twist with skill.  Wilson has two 20G/40 PTS seasons under his belt and is on pace for the same this year had the season been a full 82 games. Tony Twist had 10 goals total in 10 seasons.  

Someone could go after OV - he of 6'3 and 236 who - while not a fighter - is clearly not a "lightweight".  

That leaves the wallets.

Side Note: Was looking career stats for enforcers. Has their ever been a better fantasy hockey season than Bob Probert in 1987-88?

74 GP

26 G

33 A

398 (!!!) PIM 

@WordsOfWisdom

While I disagree about an employer not being able to punish and employee for conduct outside the workplace (especially employees very much in the public eye such as professional athletes) the overall premise of your rant is spot on.

It's sad that we live in a world where a single accusation is enough. 

12 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

I was at Slippery Rock during that same time period.  So I 100% understand.

As a Pens fan at La Salle during the "Legion of Doom" years....I can relate.  :-)

10 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

Let me help with this.

Your team is in "win now" mode.

Carter can still take draws, he can still skate faster than you think he can. He can still shoot the puck from anywhere.

He's a decent guy to have in your bottom 6 because he's good at hockey and he's won before.

He's also better than 5 of the guys in your bottom 6.

The move was made to win a championship this year, the Pens will have to get past, 2 good teams from the division then a really good team in the next round. Before they play for the cup. You will need a guy with his experience and skill set.

I'm not saying plan the parade, just saying your team is better today than it will be with those two picks.

This. And...Tanev is out until the playoffs. Malkin doesn't appear to be close. You get a guy who can still score a little, can play up and down the line up and play multiple positions. PP and PK. Two Cups under his belt and his old boss just showed him some love.  

On 4/3/2021 at 10:36 AM, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I guess my point (which kind of got buried within my post) is:

 

• Do teams share playoff revenue with teams that aren't allowed fans in their building?
• Could a team like the Leafs play in a neutral city somewhere? (Somewhere they're allowed to have fans?)

 

Could you imagine a baseball postseason where the Yankees aren't allowed to have fans in their stadium due to covid but the Red Sox and Dodgers are?  That's basically what we're talking about here.  Could that even happen in MLB?  The Yankees would probably boycott the postseason and shut down all of MLB with their clout. 

 

Last year this wasn't an issue because the entire NHL playoffs were played in two BUBBLE CITIES: Toronto and Edmonton, with NO fans. This time it's different. Everyone is in their own city playing by their own rules.  How can you allow one team to play in front of fans and not allow their opponent to do the same? Given that Ontario just entered a third lockdown today, it seems highly unlikely that the Leafs will be allowed to have fans in their building in May. 

 

How (from a business perspective) would the Leafs even agree to participate in these playoffs unless they have the same opportunity to generate revenue from ticket sales as their American counterparts? If I were running MLSE I'd say "No fans = No Leafs. ie: The Leafs will sit out the playoffs and boycott unless we're allowed to have fans and/or unless the playoff revenue goes into a pool and gets split among the teams."

 

Not quite. NHL revenue leans heavily on gate receipts. Baseball is all about revenue from the local television markets. And the Yankees on TV (hello YES Network) make a heckuva lot more money than the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees financial dominance has nothing to do with gate receipts and everything to do with being the most popular sports team in the largest market in the U.S. and owning a quarter of the network that airs their games. That’s a license to print money.

On 3/29/2021 at 9:43 PM, WordsOfWisdom said:

With their loss tonight, the Sabres have lost 18 straight games, tying Pittsburgh for #1 all time!   

 

18 games!

 

The Pittsburgh Penguins hold the record for the longest losing streak in NHL history at 18 games, which was set in the 2003–04 season; that team finished last in the NHL with a 23–47–8–4 record (58 points).

 

From Wikipedia

 

One more loss and the Sabres have the top spot!  

Yeah but the Sabres have actual NHL players. Dick Tarnstrom led the Pens that year with....52 points. Dick. Tarnstrom. Career high for him BTW! Of course, he was a -37, too.   Rico Fata...a stellar -46.  Wait for it....John Sim played 15 games for the Pens that year. He even had a GWG!

On 3/28/2021 at 11:29 AM, mojo1917 said:

Troll game is strong with this photo.

-good for him.

Phil earned that one.  Could argue he should have won the Conn Smythe both years.

@yave1964

Fair point but he NHL also does less (i/m/h/o) than any other major professional sport to protect its star players so if stars like McDavid and MacKinnon return what I'm sure has been done to them (and not caught on video by YouTube warriors and bloggers) I have nooooooo problem with it.  If you can't beat them with skill then clutch/grab/elbow/spear/slash/cheap shot/hurt them.  That kinda BS cost Mario and countless other players years of their careers. Every team has been on both sides of that coin at some point.

I hit enter before finishing the topic name. If any moderators can add the "y" at the end of "Fleury" it would be appreciated.

Oh @notfondajane!!!!

Would your head have exploded?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/rutherford-tried-as-hard-as-i-could-to-get-fleury-back-in-pittsburgh/ar-BB1ehXEV

At least it looks like they made the right call between Jarry and Murray. That's not saying much. Jarry has played better lately - maybe finding his groove. But up until now, the only goalie worse than Jarry has probably been Matt Murray. 

On 2/10/2021 at 2:02 PM, yave1964 said:

@B21

 

Wherethehellyabeen??

 

Glad to see you back in here

@yave1964

@pilldoc

Thanks!!

As you can see - I have a lot less free time on my hands.  Kids, man. Not just any kids but boys. Had a herd of boys within a few years of each other hit the age where they are in constant motion, start playing sports, double their food intake but yet can't completely brush their teeth, bathe and, for that matter, properly wipe their arses.  Slowing emerging from that neanderthal phase.

Not in the 'Burgh anymore either. Moved mid-pandemic to that hockey hot bed Atlanta.  I'm going to try and get back into the swings of things.  

Hopefully, I can keep up appearances here.

13 hours ago, pilldoc said:

 

I can think of a dozen tough guys in NHL history who I would love to see pound Wilson to the ice ......

 

Tie Domi

Georges Laraque

Dave 'Tiger' Williams

Joe Kocur

Stu Grimson

Marty McSorley

Donald Brashear

Gino Odjick

 Basil McRae

 Rob Ray

Tony Twist

Dave Brown

 

Most on this list span the 80's and 90's....

 

The NHL needs to remove the Instigator Rule and the players policy themselves again.  I understand the NHL does not want donnybrooks of yesteryear but this crap like Wilson pulls needs to stop .....

Great idea. Problem is....Wilson fights, too. I'm not saying he'd come close to beating any of those guys...but he'd drop the gloves. He's 6'4 and 220 lbs.  The only way to really stop a guy like Wilson is to hit him where it hurts....games and money. 7 games for this with his history is clearly not enough.