lynxrattle

12 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Please, no politics in sports. Professional sport is a professional sport and nothing else. No one should suffer in sports as well as in life. Without Russian players NHL will suffer a lot too. And NHL made some statement regarding this situation.

 

No politics in sports, I do agree.

Every time there are Olympics Putin invades a neighbour. 2008 Georgia, 2014 Crimea/Eastern Ukraine, 2022 Ukraine, annexation of Belarus.

The Jets did this:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/hoosli-ukrainian-male-chorus-sings-ukrainian-national-anthem-ahead-jets-canadiens-game/

One reaps what one sows. Putin started the re-politicization of sports, doping of 15-year-olds, using athletes as election magnetes, now he gets it thrown right back at him.

Dmitri Khristich is joining the defense of Ukraine, biathlonist Yevhen Malyshev has been killed, boxer brothers Klitschko are on the Rosgvardija liquidation lists if they survive the battles. Athletes kill and die in wars.

I'm waiting for the Wild's reaction on Ukraine. The Jets had no hesitation.

Watching the Wild play and Kaprizov getting hit from behind by Gudbranson made me feel good. Perhaps Kaprizov is a Putinist. Perhaps he joins Putin's Russian Guards if the NHL bans Russian players. Perhaps he is a coward who doesn't do his part when children are being slaughtered with thermobaric bombs.

Writing this I realise that following the Wild is a peacetime activity. Our banking systems and airport facilities are already being attacked and tested. Russian cargo planes fly curious routes over our air bases.

I need hate to get ready for a possible invasion. One can hide in the grey, but if one sees in black and white, you can see what is evil. Like it says in that Rollins Band song Black and White, about paedophilia. Putin is just as evil as Stalin, Hitler or Mussolini was.

I expect you to understand Russian, so here's the start of the Russian poet Yevgeni Yevtusenko's poem for you:

Nad Babim Yarom pamyatnikov nyet
Krutoi obryv, kak gruboye nadgrobye
Mne strashno
Mne sevodnya stolko let
Kak samomu yevreiskomu narodu

Perhaps you could listen to the Shostakovich symphony (13th), where that came from, to start thinking about the horrible situation all of Russia is again, under the tyrant.

I'll take a break from visiting this forum. It's too confusing to visit a place of peace and having fun, while living in a place that is already receiving distressed Ukrainian women and children, and sending anti-tank weapons and volunteers to war. No hard feelings and all the best for everyone here. I'll get back here if and when I don't need the hate anymore.

I'll stay a Wild fan. One hint for the Wild. The compete level was better, but they have to pick their battles. As Ryan Carter said, Addison "won his battle" at the end of the first period and got a very good scoring chance. He used his strengths speed and agility. The Wild's players need to realise the individual areas they can dominate in and use them aggressively. It's not about hitting and fighting if you are not big and strong.

I'm having mixed feelings towards Kap and Kulikov, as citizens of a country that might attack mine when they're done in Ukraine. I'm also having mixed feelings towards the Wild. At a time like this I really don't want to see a team cowering away from aggression. Sports have teached important values from the ancient Romans to the Aztecs: one should never give up, no matter what.

The Wild burns the Flames 6 - 0.

Slava Ukraini!

Embarassed by the lack of compete here. Hopefully the Wild eventually gets better in accepting the need to win the 50/50 pucks.

The team has two glaring deficiencies. It leaves opponents uncovered, thus defense leaks and as a consequence we don't know if our goalies are good enough. The worse problem is lack of aggression. Kaprizov was challenged all through the game, as it should be. He held out well enough. But none of our players were challenging the best Flames players in similar fashion. Hockey is still also about grinding and playing a little bit mean. Our third and fourth line guys are mostly passive in challenging the other team in the good old Canadian fashion, and even the ones like Foligno don't have enough of that evil streak in them. We need more Tom Wilson throughout the line-up to be able to have a run in the playoffs.

Another bad game. 3 goals for should be enough

Kylington could have caused a major injury to Kap with that leg trick of his.

Oh well. One period left. Not a lot to wait for.

My thoughts exactly. We are hanging in there because they let us.

Sturm is worse in finishing than stone-hands Brodziak ever was.

We look like a beaten team already. The game should not be over yet, though.

Yeah that's what I think as well. The Flames look like a team I would love to see in the playoffs. Smart and tough as nails.

I wonder how Kahkonen will take this game, if it turns out into a goal scoring festivity for the Flames.

Just now, ClusterChuck said:

Too many 

Too few. We would need one forward and one d-man.

That got ugly real fast. We  could be in for a trashing.

A real goodstart .. I'm surprised but I'll take it!

It seems watchable. I'll be back when there's breaks.

Hartman playing in the third line. Eek with Kap and Zucc.

We'll see how it goes. I should thought about this beforehand and taken a laptop with me...

Yup. Some 80's style scoring competitions being played this late in the season. It's crazy.

I wouldn't want Russians out of the league. Most of the Russians are Putin's victims just like every one else. You say what even Ovechkin said in an anti-war demonstration in Russia and the police attacks you. If you do that abroad and mean it, you might get poisoned. If things get to semi-open warfare between the West and Russia, it might get unsafe for the Russian players, though. Just like it right now might not be safe for a Western KHL player to go have a drink in a Russian bar.

I'm going to try watching this game on my phone. If it works I might hang around during the breaks of the game.

5 hours ago, Icechipper said:

Mark Gionardo from Seattle. Would make a very good backline stronger. Will cost, but he's a rare breed of tough defenseman. 

I like that. The only thing is how to make that work from the cost point of view. He would be just what the Wild needs.

1 hour ago, Alexandron said:

Wild 3:2 OT(or SO).

Interesting fact, found from Russo, team did not practice yesterday and did not have morning skate today. Evason gave some rest to players. Roster will have no changes. It seems that game is going to be the most toughest one among 4 games in Canada. 8 SO for Markstrom  is very impressive stat.

It seems Evason sees the problem of not having the energy. I'm not sure though, if not practicing helps. I think it's more mental than physical.

Defecting from the 1980's Soviet Union might have been safer than defecting from Putin's Russia. Late Soviet Union was a collective dictatorship, and now it's a one man show in the style of Stalin. This adds to the risk of drafting Russian players. How will they cope in North America if they are Putin's followers? How will they cope, if they risk opposing the tyrant publicly, and their relatives are then pressured by the state or the Putin followers? Hockey is an aggressive game. How will characters like DeAngelo for example react to a Putin lackey like Ovechkin, who helped in putting Putin to power and still has Putin's picture on his Instagram page? Will the animosity grow, will it add to the risk of getting injured through cheap shots or fights? The drafting risk will get hard to predict.

Another change will be a change in the KHL. It will lose its North American and non-Russian players. Jokerit from Finland and Riga Dynamo from Latvia will leave the KHL too. (These two teams might of course be eventually be forced back into the KHL, if the Russians  aren't able to get rid of their tyrant...)

The Flames should win this easily. They have the edge in the kind of play the Jets won us with, and they really should be fired up after them getting pummeled in their last game.

3 - 1 Flames win.