NHL 2022-2023: FA July 13th - LET IT BEGIN

[Anguyen92]

Oh, we can continue doing more smack talk?  All right, another strong quote from The Rock. "Stronger than a bear, faster than a buck, the biggest thing to hit Canada because the Maple Leafs suck."

[jingle.boy]

There’s a reason the rear view mirror is so much smaller than the windshield. Keep living in the past!

Oh, we can continue doing more smack talk?  All right, another strong quote from The Rock. "Stronger than a bear, faster than a buck, the biggest thing to hit Canada because the Maple Leafs suck."

[King Postwhore]

Smack talk to Chad?

Bruins and 1ST round exits.

RUN EVERYONE!!

[jingle.boy]

You guys are so tuff picking on the lowest hanging fruit



Obvious statements are not “smack talk”

[TAC]

Jimmy Carr! 

[jingle.boy]

Jimmy Carr! 

THAT you know!?!?

[King Postwhore]

*faints*

[TAC]

Jimmy Carr! 

THAT you know!?!?

[TAC]

The Bruins have had a pretty favorable strength of schedule so far, but after tomorrow's game against Chicago, their next 10 games are:

@ TB  W 5-3
@ Florida L 5-2
Canes W 3-2
TB W 3-1
Avs W 5-1
Vegas  L 4-3 (SO)
@ Avs W 4-0
@ AZ
@ Vegas
NYI

Beat a severely depleted Avs team tonight. Basically played their AHL team. Avs came out scrappy and the B's came out flat, but the ice eventually tilted.

[TAC]

Love the Sharks' throwback Seals uniforms.

[jingle.boy]

Tage Fucking Thompson.

Nuff said.  Love that dude.  He's going to be a force for years to come.

[gmillerdrake]

Tage Fucking Thompson.

Nuff said.  Love that dude.  He's going to be a force for years to come.

Was texting a LOT last night with my buddy who writes for The ATHLETIC, my dad....brothers. I know that trade to Buffalo got us O'Reily and he was a HUGE part of the Cup win in 2019.....but man....what Thompson is doing right now, becoming a Superstar.....was always what was believed he'd be when he was a young Blues prospect and player.

I 'get' the trade....I guess I'm OK with the payoff of getting that first Cup....but man, watching him just flourish and become a Superstar is REALLY tough knowing that we basically traded him for two good seasons of Ryan O'Reily. It's a tough pill to swallow but the Cup run and Championship doesn't happen if that trade doesn't happen.

[SchecterShredder]

I think most teams' fans would be OK with a trade that brought them a single Stanley, even if it meant trading away top notch prospects with bright futures. This question was asked on TSN radio in Edmonton a few years ago: If you had to pick, would you prefer annual deep playoff runs to the conference or cup finals; or winning a Cup every 20 or 30 years?

Personally, I'd take the Stanley once a generation.

[pg1067]

Your send those 5-dollar.. no, fifty-cent ... no, nickle-and-dime group of jabronies you call a hockey team to Toronto so they can have the smacketh layeth down on their candied asses.

I'd love to talk smack, but I don't entirely have the confidence my team can back it up

Like I said....  Bleh....

[Anguyen92]

I think most teams' fans would be OK with a trade that brought them a single Stanley, even if it meant trading away top notch prospects with bright futures. This question was asked on TSN radio in Edmonton a few years ago: If you had to pick, would you prefer annual deep playoff runs to the conference or cup finals; or winning a Cup every 20 or 30 years?

Personally, I'd take the Stanley once a generation.

It's like saying would you rather be the Sharks or would you be the Caps and Blues?

Your send those 5-dollar.. no, fifty-cent ... no, nickle-and-dime group of jabronies you call a hockey team to Toronto so they can have the smacketh layeth down on their candied asses.

I'd love to talk smack, but I don't entirely have the confidence my team can back it up

Like I said....  Bleh....

Yeah, I was thinking all kinds of possibilities could happen in the game and the worst one happened for the Kings.

[jingle.boy]

[KevShmev]

I think most teams' fans would be OK with a trade that brought them a single Stanley, even if it meant trading away top notch prospects with bright futures. This question was asked on TSN radio in Edmonton a few years ago: If you had to pick, would you prefer annual deep playoff runs to the conference or cup finals; or winning a Cup every 20 or 30 years?

Personally, I'd take the Stanley once a generation.

Yep, you take the Cup, without question.

For me, while I want the Blues to win and get frustrated when they lose in the playoffs, especially when our goalie gets run over and hurts our chances  , nothing can ever take away 2019.  As a sports fan, that was, in essence, the climatic moment of my sports fandom; everything else now is just gravy. 

[gmillerdrake]

I think most teams' fans would be OK with a trade that brought them a single Stanley, even if it meant trading away top notch prospects with bright futures. This question was asked on TSN radio in Edmonton a few years ago: If you had to pick, would you prefer annual deep playoff runs to the conference or cup finals; or winning a Cup every 20 or 30 years?

Personally, I'd take the Stanley once a generation.

Yep, you take the Cup, without question.

For me, while I want the Blues to win and get frustrated when they lose in the playoffs, especially when our goalie gets run over and hurts our chances  , nothing can ever take away 2019.  As a sports fan, that was, in essence, the climatic moment of my sports fandom; everything else now is just gravy. 

I get the sentiment behind that and totally agree......for our fanbase and organization......that 2019 run and Championship was just awesome to experience. For me, being able to experience that with my kids....what a great chunk of memories....then the parade weekend and all that.....just so much fun.


BUT....that doesn't buy perpetual tolerance for lazy, uninspired hockey. In fact, it only magnifies the expectations from the players and team. The Blues traditionally have been consistent with a workman's effort and you knew that even if they lost for the most part they were working their butts off and it was just the matter of one team has to lose.

That's not the case with this group of players and it's infuriating. Lazy ass playing plain and simple with no hint of it turning around. It's ugly....and due to Armstrong's willy nilly throwing NTC's at aging vets I don't see how anything can be done about it. It's just going to be ugly and no Cup win can excuse what we're seeing right now.

[TAC]

NTCs are a way of the league right now, unfortunately.

[gmillerdrake]

NTCs are a way of the league right now, unfortunately.

It’s brutal. Totally hamstrings your team   I get it from a players perspective but man, the back end of those contracts you’re just screwed. Or in the Blues case…..the front end as well 😂

[jingle.boy]

NTCs are a way of the league right now, unfortunately.

It’s brutal. Totally hamstrings your team   I get it from a players perspective but man, the back end of those contracts you’re just screwed. Or in the Blues case…..the front end as well 😂

I don't disagree, but it is pretty common for players to want/demand/get that security as part of their last 'big' contract.  And the reality is, if the team starts to really shit themselves towards the end of those contracts, many players are willing to flex that NTC - they just don't want to be arbitrarily sent to any team.  Like, who's gonna want to be dealt to Anahem or Arizona in an off-season where they just need salary to meet the cap min?  Sure, the Ducks look promising in a few years, but if I'm a mid-30 year old player with 2 years left on my contract and have been with a team for 5 years or more, no way in hell I'm gonna want to up-root my family for that shit.

[gmillerdrake]

NTCs are a way of the league right now, unfortunately.

It’s brutal. Totally hamstrings your team   I get it from a players perspective but man, the back end of those contracts you’re just screwed. Or in the Blues case…..the front end as well 😂

I don't disagree, but it is pretty common for players to want/demand/get that security as part of their last 'big' contract.  And the reality is, if the team starts to really shit themselves towards the end of those contracts, many players are willing to flex that NTC - they just don't want to be arbitrarily sent to any team.  Like, who's gonna want to be dealt to Anahem or Arizona in an off-season where they just need salary to meet the cap min?  Sure, the Ducks look promising in a few years, but if I'm a mid-30 year old player with 2 years left on my contract and have been with a team for 5 years or more, no way in hell I'm gonna want to up-root my family for that shit.

Yeah…..totally get it. The ‘hope’ from the organization is you get say 3-4 solid years on a 6-7 year deal and you just eat the rest basically because you got a deal on your AAV to play the Cap space game.

What the Blues are facing is there are three/four players that are shitting the bed REAL early in these long term contracts with NTCs

[TAC]

What the Blues are facing is there are three/four players that are shitting the bed REAL early in these long term contracts with NTCs

Who?

Serious question. I don't know because I am still unable to watch Blues games.

[gmillerdrake]

What the Blues are facing is there are three/four players that are shitting the bed REAL early in these long term contracts with NTCs

Who?

Serious question. I don't know because I am still unable to watch Blues games.

- Schenn (5yrs left)
- Krug (6 yrs left)
- Saad (I think it’s 4 years left)
- Paryako (7yrs left) I think. Maybe 6
- Binnington (6yrs left)

[TAC]

What the Blues are facing is there are three/four players that are shitting the bed REAL early in these long term contracts with NTCs

Who?

Serious question. I don't know because I am still unable to watch Blues games.

- Schenn (5yrs left)
- Krug (6 yrs left)
- Saad (I think it’s 4 years left)
- Paryako (7yrs left) I think. Maybe 6
- Binnington (6yrs left)

Ok thank you!

I never understood why they gave that contract to Krug. I certainly can't blame him for taking it, but seriously, who were they bidding against?
I don't know the answer but why didn't they just resign Pietrangelo?

Schenn-felt like he was a core player going forward. He'd probably benefit from a coaching change.

Saad- Not sure what to say. I always thought he was solid. No idea what the money is.

Parayko-The guy looked like the next Victor Hedman. Can't blame them for locking him up.

Binnington- Whatever or however bad that contract ultimately is, you don't have the Cup without him. End of story. Just enjoy the Cup. You're only three years out. They can always send him down to the AHL affiliate, no?

[Nick]

On a completely unrelated note, Husso was HUGE in a big Red Wings win over the Bolts last night.

Faced 30 shots in the third and stopped 28, definitely impressive. Detroit needs to work on tightening up their late game defense but Husso has been a great surprise. I had expected him and Ned to battle it out more, but so far he has been the go-to man.

Overall, with the expectations I had for this team coming into the season, with all the new players joining and a new head coach, I am pleasantly amazed they are where they are. I have no delusions of grandeur that the playoffs are in the offing, though anything is possible I suppose, but I have been very impressed with the whole team and Lalonde as coach. It is just nice to see the rebuild starting to maybe trend upwards now under Yzerman. Everyone seems to have their heads in the right places, not looking too far ahead but not dwelling too much on the past.

Yeah, and even if the Wings don't make it, just being in a good enough place to really go battle for a spot late in the regular season would be huge. And up until last night's very bad game, I was thinking they really were keeping things together really well night in and night out for awhile and might have that more realistic shot. It seems they just have that really off game every so often.

On a related note, if Jennie were to get me a shirt/jersey for Christmas, who would you go with?

I have a Seider shirt, but it got messed up in the wash a bit.

My probable candidates include:
Seider
Hronek
Husso
Kubalik
Larkin
Soderblom
Raymond

[Anguyen92]

What the Blues are facing is there are three/four players that are shitting the bed REAL early in these long term contracts with NTCs

Who?

Serious question. I don't know because I am still unable to watch Blues games.

- Schenn (5yrs left)
- Krug (6 yrs left)
- Saad (I think it’s 4 years left)
- Paryako (7yrs left) I think. Maybe 6
- Binnington (6yrs left)

Ok thank you!

I never understood why they gave that contract to Krug. I certainly can't blame him for taking it, but seriously, who were they bidding against?
I don't know the answer but why didn't they just resign Pietrangelo?

Schenn-felt like he was a core player going forward. He'd probably benefit from a coaching change.

Saad- Not sure what to say. I always thought he was solid. No idea what the money is.

Parayko-The guy looked like the next Victor Hedman. Can't blame them for locking him up.

Binnington- Whatever or however bad that contract ultimately is, you don't have the Cup without him. End of story. Just enjoy the Cup. You're only three years out. They can always send him down to the AHL affiliate, no?

I believe Pietrangelo wanted a NMC or signing bonuses in the contract.  The amount for him in comparison to the Doughty and Karlsson contracts is a huge bargain.  Doug Armstrong feels really strong against NMC for whatever reasons.

So if they send Binnington to the AHL, so whose their goalies now?  Greiss and.....  At least, for the Kings, they still got Quick (not much of a brag since his game is inconsistent due to age, but if the team can pull it together, he can still deliver a game-stealing win).

[gmillerdrake]

What the Blues are facing is there are three/four players that are shitting the bed REAL early in these long term contracts with NTCs

Who?

Serious question. I don't know because I am still unable to watch Blues games.

- Schenn (5yrs left)
- Krug (6 yrs left)
- Saad (I think it’s 4 years left)
- Paryako (7yrs left) I think. Maybe 6
- Binnington (6yrs left)

Ok thank you!

I never understood why they gave that contract to Krug. I certainly can't blame him for taking it, but seriously, who were they bidding against?
I don't know the answer but why didn't they just resign Pietrangelo?

Schenn-felt like he was a core player going forward. He'd probably benefit from a coaching change.

Saad- Not sure what to say. I always thought he was solid. No idea what the money is.

Parayko-The guy looked like the next Victor Hedman. Can't blame them for locking him up.

Binnington- Whatever or however bad that contract ultimately is, you don't have the Cup without him. End of story. Just enjoy the Cup. You're only three years out. They can always send him down to the AHL affiliate, no?

Petro came down to he wanted a full NMC and Armstrong has this weird ego thing where he’s never handed one out. The only one the Blues have now is O’Reilys and that came with him. The money was there for both sides but Armstrong was an idiot. Then he gives that horrible contract to Krug as an F U to Petro. That is when the dominos began to fall for them.

Paryako is a decent defender who eats a ton of ice time. It’s just that he was ‘supposed’ to take Petro’s spot as the top dog and he just can’t make the jump. It’s not a ‘bad’ contract per se it’s more that he’s not made that jump to being the man that was hoped for.

Saad is what it is. He’s not bad…..streaky…..but he’s just another Ho hum style of player.

Binnington is a prick who I’m thankful that he was on fire in 2019 and much of 2020 leading into the playoffs. Covid fucked the Blues more than any team out there because they were playing well and primed for a Cup defense. But since then Binnington has been a headache and I have a hunch his teammates don’t like him. They played way better in front of Husso last year and ot looks like they’re doing the same this year.


I am happy with the Cup Tim…..believe me. As I said, that was such an awesome time and experience. I just don’t like watching lazy hockey from the team I coach to the Blues. And that’s what the Blues are doing right now. Lazy and uninspired

[jingle.boy]

I tell ya, the Leafs are far from lazy.  Having 5 of their top 8 D injured for various periods in the last two months (Muzzin, Reilly, Brodie, Benn, Mete), and still able to go on a 13-game unbeaten in regulation streak is pretty impressive.  I mean, when you're hitting # 9, 10 and 11 in the depth chart for defence, and still have the 3rd best GAA in the league, something's working well.

And holy fuck is the tandem of Murray/Samsonov looking like aces for Dubas right now.

[Anguyen92]

The Leafs have went over two games without allowing a goal with those two goalies.  Sure, it was against the Stars and Kings, but both teams have an uptick in scoring this year compared to last year.

[jingle.boy]

The Leafs have went over two games without allowing a goal with those two goalies.  Sure, it was against the Stars and Kings, but both teams have an uptick in scoring this year compared to last year.

Dallas is 2nd in the league in GF (to Buffalo!?!?!  I guess those big outbursts - 9 vs CBJ; 8 vs Detroit on 10/31; 6 vs Blues help a lot).

Kings are 4th.

So yeah, B2B shutouts with 2 different goalies, and 4 injured D is

[TAC]

I picked the Leafs to win the Cup last year, so I guess they're the faves this year for me again.

Which would be funny if they waited for Chad to become a Sabres fan and THEN they finally win the Cup.

[romdrums]

On a completely unrelated note, Husso was HUGE in a big Red Wings win over the Bolts last night.

Faced 30 shots in the third and stopped 28, definitely impressive. Detroit needs to work on tightening up their late game defense but Husso has been a great surprise. I had expected him and Ned to battle it out more, but so far he has been the go-to man.

Overall, with the expectations I had for this team coming into the season, with all the new players joining and a new head coach, I am pleasantly amazed they are where they are. I have no delusions of grandeur that the playoffs are in the offing, though anything is possible I suppose, but I have been very impressed with the whole team and Lalonde as coach. It is just nice to see the rebuild starting to maybe trend upwards now under Yzerman. Everyone seems to have their heads in the right places, not looking too far ahead but not dwelling too much on the past.

Yeah, and even if the Wings don't make it, just being in a good enough place to really go battle for a spot late in the regular season would be huge. And up until last night's very bad game, I was thinking they really were keeping things together really well night in and night out for awhile and might have that more realistic shot. It seems they just have that really off game every so often.

On a related note, if Jennie were to get me a shirt/jersey for Christmas, who would you go with?

I have a Seider shirt, but it got messed up in the wash a bit.

My probable candidates include:
Seider
Hronek
Husso
Kubalik
Larkin
Soderblom
Raymond

If you're thinking long term, I'd say Seider, Larkin or Raymond.  Hronek has been outstanding this year, but I don't know if he is for sure part of the long term plan.  Kubalik has been equally outstanding, but same as Hronek, I'm not sure if the Wings keep him long term.  If Ken Holland was still GM, he'd probably have given Kubalik a 7-yr, 35-mil deal with a full NMC already. . You could also go off the board and get a Berggren jersey.  Doing what he's been doing on the 4th line so far has been awesome to see!

[KevShmev]

I think most teams' fans would be OK with a trade that brought them a single Stanley, even if it meant trading away top notch prospects with bright futures. This question was asked on TSN radio in Edmonton a few years ago: If you had to pick, would you prefer annual deep playoff runs to the conference or cup finals; or winning a Cup every 20 or 30 years?

Personally, I'd take the Stanley once a generation.

Yep, you take the Cup, without question.

For me, while I want the Blues to win and get frustrated when they lose in the playoffs, especially when our goalie gets run over and hurts our chances  , nothing can ever take away 2019.  As a sports fan, that was, in essence, the climatic moment of my sports fandom; everything else now is just gravy. 

I get the sentiment behind that and totally agree......for our fanbase and organization......that 2019 run and Championship was just awesome to experience. For me, being able to experience that with my kids....what a great chunk of memories....then the parade weekend and all that.....just so much fun.


BUT....that doesn't buy perpetual tolerance for lazy, uninspired hockey. In fact, it only magnifies the expectations from the players and team. The Blues traditionally have been consistent with a workman's effort and you knew that even if they lost for the most part they were working their butts off and it was just the matter of one team has to lose.

That's not the case with this group of players and it's infuriating. Lazy ass playing plain and simple with no hint of it turning around. It's ugly....and due to Armstrong's willy nilly throwing NTC's at aging vets I don't see how anything can be done about it. It's just going to be ugly and no Cup win can excuse what we're seeing right now.

I get what you are saying, but just remember how for years Blues fans just thought, "Just let us win one Cup!!"  Well, they did, and I don't intend to be greedy about it.   Like I said, anything now is gravy, and I agree that it's no excuse for the situation they are in now, but I am just speaking from the perspective of one fan (me), who will gladly take more if we can get it, while still always being grateful for 2019.

[TAC]

The Bruins have had a pretty favorable strength of schedule so far, but after tomorrow's game against Chicago, their next 10 games are:

@ TB  W 5-3
@ Florida L 5-2
Canes W 3-2
TB W 3-1
Avs W 5-1
Vegas  L 4-3 (SO)
@ Avs W 4-0
@ AZ L 4-3 WTF?
@ Vegas
NYI

Bruins outshoot the Coyotes 46-16 and lose. On the GWG, they got caught sleeping on a possible icing, giving up on the play. Even with the shot advantage, the Bruins simply had no fire tonight.