yave1964

How long until Bruce gets gassed? I mean, you cant fire 23 players

looking for a goalie. anyone on my team is available in the right deal.

The Sharks slipped to 0-4 and the DeBoer to the door rumors are circulating, panic hasn't officially set in but it is close. Marleau has been brought back to help shore up the middle six which has been dreadful to start the year. Hertl who was supposed to replace Pavelski has zero points and is a minus 5. the goaltending duo of Jones and Dell look to be channeling their inner Niemi, lack of depth everywhere seems to be killing the team early. It didn't help losing Kane for 3 games to start the year, it didn't help opening with two games against rival Vegas without him but every team faces stuff like this, San Jose has looked outnumbered being outscored 17-5 (!) to start the year. And the schedule doesn't get easier with the retooled Hawks followed by Calgary next on the list. This is a team effort in their collective futility. Not a single player is in the plus category, Meier, Leblanc and Hertl are combined for zero points between them. Karlsson seems to have slowed dramatically, it is hard to find a positive. Can they put it together? Well yeah, they have been a gold standard for a decade or more but they seem to lack depth, Jones is average at best in net and too much is being spent on him for too long, arguably same with Karlsson even. My feeling coming into this season was the window was closing but still open for one more run, it could be closing sooner than I thought.

Smallish defender who hits everything that moves, great penalty killer, I dont hate it. I like that Nemeth is a solid fortress, the two kids are another year older, Dekeyser looks solid, Green is able to be a veteran influence who plays on the SECOND power play unit, Hell, Bowey who was solid last year cannot even crack the lineup ( he will now that Daley is hurt). Dont get me wrong, Biega is never going to be confused with anything other than a bottom pairing guy but as a number seven filling in on days off or for an injury we could do worse. We had worse the last few years, lol.

Man his confidence level is through the roof right now. @SpikeDDS and I have both railed against Coach Blashill for years, Mantha has been his whipping boy for his poor defensive play and his offensive zone time has been limited. It is so nice to see Mantha finally with the training wheels off and the big line of Larkin, Mantha and Bertuzzi is clicking as well as any in the game. Two wins to start the year without Athanasiou in th lineup both against very god playoff teams from a year ago, that is a lot better than last season when we were more or less eliminated by the first of November.

Anyone have an opinion of Cody 'don't call me Tanner ' Glass? I have been following him for two years, I think he could be a Calder candidate centering Stone and Pax on the second line.

Chicklets is freaking AWESOME! Best podcast on the net period bar none including every single one. Bissonette and Whit and the rear admiral are vulgar, profane obscene and everything else I love.

@Podein25 When Kane more or less ran himself out of Winnipeg I applauded Buff and the rest for taking a stand. His reputation was well earned. This...… somehow this felt different to me though. This felt as if he were being targeted, no way no how should an on ice official tackle a player to the ice who is literally five feet from the next closest player. The officials lost control of the game, Kane should have been tossed for coming out the penalty box and throwing his gloves down in the second period and squaring off with Zykov with the puck literally 100 feet away. There are those who say he deserves everything he gets because of past transgressions and because he is a piece of sh1t and I get that too but this one, man I have a hard time faulting Kane for shoving a ref who tackled him to the ice.

A couple of days late because I wanted to wait until the decision on the suspension came down. Evander Kane has been suspended for a total of three games for shoving an on ice official during the preseason finale in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights.Above is the video of the altercation. I have watched it a dozen times, I have avoided Shark and Knight fan bases when searching for what other folks have thought of the incident and instead tried to read what other fans of the game with no skin in the game thought. There really is a lot to unpack here. These two teams really do not like each other and for a preseason game it got testy quick. Truth is Kane could have been tossed out earlier in the game (if he had been none of this would have happened) when he got mathcing roughing minors with Zykov as they came out of the penalty box they squared off with the puck at the oppsite end if the ice.and then in the third it really started to get out of control when goalie aaron Dell who has been known for a bit of fancy stick work in the past used his shoulder to the head of Mark Stone outside of the crease sending Stone flying into the boards in a scary moment. There were several fights and lots of hard hitting followed by pushing and shoving as the officials lost control of the game. And then. Kane and Engelland got into it, Engelland was looking to fight, so was Kane. The on ice official jumped between them, Kane swung his stick to swat Engelland in the legs and hit the official. The official clearly at that point became pissed off, Engelland and Kane were jawing on their way up the ice, it was clear that a fight was going to occur and the official grabbed Kane, threw him to the ice 9Kane and Engelland were not engaged, not touching each other even) an enraged Kane upon getting back to his skates shoved the official. He received an ejection for abuse of an official. Here is how I feel about it? Did Kane shove an on ice official? Absolutely. No question. Should he have been suspended? Not a chance in hell. Look Kane has earned his rep as one of the biggest horses asses in the game today, but the official tackled him to the ice. Upon disengaging Kane gave him a shove back. Should have been case closed. If you said he was getting three games for swinging his stick and hitting the official while swinging it at Engelland, fine, okay, zero problem with that but if someone follows me around the ice and tackles me I am going to give them a shove too. So my answer is no way does he deserve to be suspended for shoving an official who tackled him to the ice, but if you want to suspend him for swinging the stick and hitting the ref, well okay. The other question is, do officials unfairly target Kane? That one is a bit more complicated. I do believe he has a target on his back, mostly for being a loudmouth disrespectful punk in his younger days. I remember a game last year when Chara got ahold of Kane and started rag dolling him all over the place, the Zebra went and got a manicure and checked his email and then slowly came in and broke things up. Chara has earned the respect of on ice officials, Kane has earned their ire. Do I think he is targeted? Yes. Is it earned? God yes. I read more than a few comments attributing it to race which I emphatically disagree with, he is targeted, a weary eye kept on him because of his reputation which he has brought on by his lonesome. Truth is, I felt the on ice official if he had been holding Kane and Engelland has swatted him with his stick a bit of yelling would have occurred, a threat to knock it off and it would have been done. Kane has a target but HE put it there. I like Kane. He became the first 30 goal scorer to lead the league in Penalty minutes in nearly 40 years since the days of Tiger Williams, he brings something to the table that few can and even few are willing to put themselves out there and do. He can beat you in a dozen different ways, he isn't Marchand who is a sneaky little weasel who does dirty stuff when an official is not looking then runs away, he fights you in the corner, never gives a quarter and then can stick the dagger in with a goal with the best of them. The officials lost control of the game, Kane got three games I would be interested to know what if any discipline the officiating crew received.

lol. No, seriously, I like the Oilers for this year, Tippett gets the most out of his players, sets roles for them and demands they play his style. Really, last year, they were bad then good then bad again, I think they will be more consistent, Nurse is turning into a legit top pairing guy, Bear looks fantastic and they plan on running three lines. I truly like Koskinen and think the division is down a bit this year and they surprise some people.

Day before the opener, here are some predictions for this season. Feel free to jump in with your own PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE WEST Blues, Blackhawks, Avalanche, Knights, Sharks, Flames. Two wild cards will be the Stars and Oilers. I have the Jets and Predators slipping out of the playoffs this year. Jets lost too much talent, Rinne gets old for the Preds. PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE EAST Capitals, Flyers, Penguins, Lightning, Leafs and Panthers. Bruins and Hurricanes as the wildcards. I have the Jackets and Islanders falling out this year. Canadiens miss playoffs by a point on last day of the season. STANLEY CUP FINALS Lightning over the Avalanche in six tough fought games. Last year I took the Leafs over the Blues, way off the mark on Toronto and to be fair, I jumped off the Blues bandwagon early. HART TROPHY AS LEAGUE MVP Nathan MacKinnon the least recognized superstar in the game today gets his due. VEZINA TROPHY Andrei Vasilevskiy seems to always be in the conversation, he wins in a landslide this year. CALDER TROPHY Top rookie honors go to Cale Makar edges out Hughes. Makar forced long time 'Lanche stalwart Barrie out of town. ADAMS TROPHY Jeremy Colliton did a great job with the Hawks filling Quenneville's huge shoes. This year he gets them back in the playoffs. FIRST COACH FIRED Bruce Boudreau. It wont help. TIMES THE LEAFS ARE LINKED TO ALEX PIETRANGELO ON THN: at least 100. Per week. BIGGEST NAME TRADED AT THE DEADLINE: If he isn't resigned by then it will be Taylor Hall. If he is, it will be Ristolainen. BIGGEST BUST OF THE YEAR Full Kessel will find getting dished by Stepan and company not the same as playing on a line with Malkin. That is mine, feel free to jump in with yours.

A couple of thoughts on last nights draft. First, sad for j0e, hope all is well and that things work out for him and his Dad. Glad there is another Wings fan, saw he drafted Mantha and a few ex wings. HAH! Beat him to Larkin, lol @TropicalFruitGirl26 felt bad for j0e not being there so she drafted his centers, lol. Usually @pilldoc between us draft Backstrom and Monahan, around December I start offering him one for the other, around January he says, what the hell they are basically the same player and we swap them. This year he cut out the middle man (me) and simply drafted them both. @ruxpin for not preparing for the draft got serious quality late. Always drafts well. Same with @Bakanekimiwa.They are going to be tough outs this year. I didn't realize how much I missed having @hf101 in the league last year until last nights draft. Always has a plan while drafting. I tried to play along and figure out the draft strategy and saw HF come out solid in every category as usual. The new folks in the league did a good job. I believe they were winners in other leagues who moved up if I am correct? @molonosoff was both nasty and angry in the chat section, cracking me up throughout the draft. That is about it. Overall I am satisfied with my team, I always try to build a wall of strength for the final four categories (shots/hits/Faceoffs/blocks) to try to win the majority of them each week and feel I did an adequate job of doing so. I reached too early on a few players who I like simply because I like them and they suit my team and I didn't want to miss out on them but hey, it is what it is. Goalies flew off the shelf early as expected. Wishing everyone luck this year!

@TropicalFruitGirl26 Baertchi is not a favorite of mine but he was a mild surprise to me, a 15-20 goal guy kind of a low IQ but goals are goals and Vancouver letting him go says they are starting to get a plan in place. He and DeSmith were the two biggest surprises to me. Others on the list: Daniel Sprong was a bit of a surprise, the Ducks just traded for him last year and I thought he was a lock to make the team. Nic Petan was a mild shocker, I thought he had the Leafs made. If not he then certainly Agostino but he was cut as well. Sam Gagner was good with Edmonton last year in his second stinit and was a mild surprise on the list. Josh ho Sang finally has been passed over on the Island by kids like Bellows and others as far as being a prospect, tons of talent but a questionable work ethic. Not sure if anyone jumps on him or if he returns to Bridgeport.

@SpikeDDS I have been hyper critical for years with the Wings for not giving ice time to the kids, Yzerman is a God in Detroit and I believe in him turning the team around but like you I am frustrated up to a point with the kids not aiming the opening night roster. However: Up to a point I get it. Seider could use some seasoning, he would look brilliant one shirt then lost the next. Zadina was okay in the preseason, a bit snakebit the three games I watched with him in them he hit a post once and came close a couple of other times. Veleno, IMHO like Seider needs to take a bit at the next level and learn AHL hockey before playing in the NHL. Svechnikov showed promise in the preseason and seemed to get better as time went on but he needs to shake off the rust at the AHL level before he gets a shot to resume his career. In net, Larssen looked meh, I know he is our best goalie prospect and we let Rybar go who had a very good year in the minors to make room for him to split time with Pickard and he may be something in a year or two but needs seasoning. Hicketts and Kaski are more or less AHL fodder and desperation callups- nothing more. Hicketts is too small and Kaski got turned around ridiculously easily in his first games on the smaller ice. Kuffner too, he is an AHL forward-nothing more. To me, the biggest disappointment was Rasmussen who they moved back to his natural center position after playing on the wing last year and looking lost. He was a beast his first two games but then kind of petered out, again however Blash screwed with his ice time and had most of his draws in the defensive zone, he has a history of misusing these kids, I gotta think that will come to a halt sooner than later. Hirose and Cholowski didn't get handed jobs both went out and TOOK them. I admit to being a bit skeptical of Hirose but he could be the new Nyquist, a solid middle six winger who plays soft. As a matter of fact, I read Helen Saint James say that the big reason Zadina was shipped out is because he plays soft and they didn't want a third line of three non physical players in Hirose/Filpulla/Zadina which does make a certain amount of sense. I anticipate the Wings being bad this year and big time sellers at the deadline or sooner, guys like Helm, Abdelkader, Daley, Green, Nielsen, Filpulla, of the six of them maybe one or two will still be there by years end and the kids who go to the A and sulk will stay all year. Those who bust their but will get recalled and better perform. Howard too as an UFA will probably be shipped at or near the deadline. I love the Griffins, the thought of seeing real prospects like Seider, Zadina, Veleno, Svechnikov, Larssen, Jared McIsaac, Gus Lindstrom, Givani Smith, and Rasmussen mixed in with a bunch of AHL vets all hungry for the big time, all skilled, well it does give me hope. I think that sending the kids down nearly en mass is a sign that this year is being written off but that a definite plan is in place. I truly think by next seaaon there will be a near fifty percent turnover and most of these kids will be here permanently and more as well through the next draft. I am more hopeful now than at any point in the last seven or eight years that the slide has stopped, regardless of the final record this year and the turnaround has begun.

A contentious negotiation between sniper Patrik Laine and the Jets ended with Laine signing a two year deal at 6.75 million per with the team still remaining control of his next deal, Laine will be a RFA again at the end of the contract. Essentially Laine is betting on himself by taking a super short deal and the Jets are kicking the can down the road. What a rough offseason it has been for the Jets. A few of the lowlights: They lost a wonderfully spirited first round series to eventual cup winner St. Louis. It was on the short list of top series for a neutral observer to enjoy for the pure hockey of it, but the Blues moved on and went on to win the cup and the Jets were left wondering what if. UFA trade addition Kevin Hayes had no desire to stick around and was moved out to the Flyers before free agency began for a 5th round pick. Tyler Myers a safe steady blueliner, Big bad Dustin Byfuglien, and Jacob Trouba, all keys to the back end are gone with little coming in to replace them leaving the defense dangerously thin. Brandon Tanev, a wonderful 3rd liner who loves to hit and can score a bit as well left for Pittsburgh. Laine complained to the media about not playing on the top line during his holdout. Breakout young star Kyle Connor continues his holdout as the season is days away. As mentioned above Byfuglien is not with the team and it is a mystery if or when he will ever return. This organization looked poised to make multiple deep runs a few years ago, not saying the window is closed but man, it has been a brutal offseason. No team needs the puck to drop on 2019-20 more than the Jets.