NHL 2023-2024: Stanley Cup Finals. Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers

[jingle.boy]

I'd say no, but I would've also said 'no' about Kane.  I've no doubt that if any of the other 31 GMs are even considering it, knowing what the situation is would be a condition of signing him to a league min contract.  But I don't see this happening.  If it's bad enough for a team to immediately send him home and place on waivers for the purpose of termination (ie, *with cause*), why would any other GM/owner want to touch that powder-keg.

Except maybe Columbus.   

[SchecterShredder]

Well, Boston once signed a guy who bullied a developmentally disabled boy into licking urinal cakes, even after the NHL outright said he's ineligible to play so I wouldn't rule out some GM taking a run at Perry. Unlikely, but certainly not unthinkable.

Funny thing about Kane is that he still has lots of drama going on lol. At least he's still performing on the ice. Definitely a well established POS though. No arguments there.

[Anguyen92]

A minimum salary deal for a guy whose last contract was terminated due to alleged workplace issues?  I'm going to take a hard pass on the guy.

[jingle.boy]

Well, Boston once signed a guy who bullied a developmentally disabled boy into licking urinal cakes, even after the NHL outright said he's ineligible to play so I wouldn't rule out some GM taking a run at Perry. Unlikely, but certainly not unthinkable.

Didn’t Bergevin draft some kid with a sketchy past?

[Anguyen92]

^^ Yes, he has.  A player that stated he didn't wanted to be drafted in the 1st round because of the heat revolving a bad incident on the player's part!  WHY DID THE KINGS HIRED THIS GUY (Bergevin that is)!

[Stadler]

Question for the group: do you take a risk and sign Perry for $2M or something without knowing the full details of what happened? It doesn't sound like the type of situation where the league would step in and say "nobody can sign this guy for legal reasons".

He's certainly past his prime; but at the right price, and in the right role, he could be a good depth player.

Someone paid Deshawn Watson $250M of guaranteed money without, apparently, a full understanding of what went on.  This is low-hanging fruit.  Not suggesting it's right or wrong (though I have my opinions), just noting this wouldn't be the most egregious signing in the history of pro sports.

[Anguyen92]

The guy flat out says it doesn't involve any players or their families. I mean...that doesn't cover it?

I mean if you want any further confirmation that the rumor is false.  Corey Perry is now saying what happened had nothing to do with his former teammates or their families.  As for what actually happened that led to the contract termination, it's not really something I or you or everyone else here or anyone outside of the bubble need to know every single details about.  If he wants to divulge it later on and not get into legal troubles about it, that's on him to divulge willingly on his terms.

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1730320098726949296

[Stadler]

Even though I've written those before, those kinds of statements are maddening. I mean, I get it, you have to say all that, but it just sounds so...  contrived to me.   In any event, the most recent article I read said that it was "a workplace issue" when asked if it was criminal, which tells me that there wasn't a rape or sexual assault involved (thank god), but in terms of what happened, it's sounding more and more as if this guy had too many beers at a corporate function and metaphorically (or maybe not) hung his weiner out.

[pg1067]

Even though I've written those before, those kinds of statements are maddening. I mean, I get it, you have to say all that, but it just sounds so...  contrived to me.   In any event, the most recent article I read said that it was "a workplace issue" when asked if it was criminal, which tells me that there wasn't a rape or sexual assault involved (thank god), but in terms of what happened, it's sounding more and more as if this guy had too many beers at a corporate function and metaphorically (or maybe not) hung his weiner out.

That's exactly the way I read it as well.

We'll see if dude cost himself a jersey retirement in Anaheim.

[ProfessorPeart]

My thought when I read that was maybe he was imbibing during games and got caught. They are in the middle of a season so I don't see any events that he might have gotten sloshed during. Drinking during and maybe drunk on the ice.

[TAC]

My thought when I read that was maybe he was imbibing during games and got caught. They are in the middle of a season so I don't see any events that he might have gotten sloshed during. Drinking during and maybe drunk on the ice.

I don't know. I don't think he'd have his contract terminated for that. He'd be put in the program for sure though.

I think the lawyers are on to something.

[SchecterShredder]

Also, they already said it involved a staff member. This isn't just about him getting shittered on company time. As has already been speculated here, he crossed an ethical, but not legal, line involving a non-player member of the organization. Perhaps while drinking or hungover. I still go back to racism or sexual harassment as my top contenders. Both of those could easily breach the team's code of conduct, and might not meet the threshold for criminal charges. Then again, if he was hungover or had some drinks and was confronted by, say the training staff, perhaps he got physical? Still wouldn't necessarily warrant criminal charges, but it would get you fired from any job.

There's so many different permutations here that theories could run abound. I'd like to say only time will tell, but I have a feeling we'll never hear the details. Funny thing is, this isn't much of a story if they come out with the details at the onset. It would've burned out after day 1. Now this story has legs because of all the speculation.

[jingle.boy]

The Leafs are going to give me a stroke before too long if they keep blowing 3rd period leads.  In the past week ...

Up 3-1 over the (fucking) Blackhawks last Friday - lose in OT
Up 2-1 over the Pens - lose in Reg
Up 3-1 over the Kracken - win in SO

21 games played, and 10 have gone to OT/SO - fortunately, they're 7-3 in those, but still... gotta be able to close out these games, especially against the likes of CHI and SEA!!

[Stadler]

My thought when I read that was maybe he was imbibing during games and got caught. They are in the middle of a season so I don't see any events that he might have gotten sloshed during. Drinking during and maybe drunk on the ice.

I'll see if I can find it, but the article I read specifically said (as reported by I think Emily Kaplan) it was a team-organized function.

Found it.

[pg1067]

What I'm now curious about is how the rumor that he was banging Mel B. got started.

I don't know Bedard's family situation.  Are his parents split up?  Does his mom hang around the practice rink?

[Anguyen92]

Kings got a much needed rebound win against the Avs after a depressing 2-1 loss on Wednesday where they got goalied by the Capitals (which is weird that they are hanging on to a playoff spot, but they are not getting the pts. productions, especially from Ovi, they typically would need to be in that spot)??

Kopitar broke the all-time Kings assist record that was held by Marcel Dionne and Byfield got the two needed goals to get the Kings the comeback win.

[jingle.boy]

Very strange that the Leafs are off until Thursday??  I genuinely checked to see if it was their bye week for some reason ... nope, bye week's for everyone are before or after the ASG.  Very odd to have 4 days off... then they play 12 games in 22 days (with another 3-day break around Christmas).  Gonna be a tiresome stretch playing virtually every other day.

[Anguyen92]

The Kings' scheduling has been weird since Thanksgiving week.  They had a Monday against the Coyotes.  Then a back to back against the Ducks and Habs on Friday and Saturday.  Then a four-day break before going against the Capitals last Wednesday and then another four-days until they went against the Avs today.  Still got a lot of road trips planned out to even out the games played between the Kings (at 21 games) and the Golden Knights and Canucks (both at 24 games).

[Stadler]

What I'm now curious about is how the rumor that he was banging Mel B. got started.

I don't know Bedard's family situation.  Are his parents split up?  Does his mom hang around the practice rink?

Early in the season, she was at all the games with her husband.  I think there's a sister in there as well.  I seem to remember something about a hug when Conner was drafted too.   

[pg1067]

The Kings' scheduling has been weird since Thanksgiving week.  They had a Monday against the Coyotes.  Then a back to back against the Ducks and Habs on Friday and Saturday.  Then a four-day break before going against the Capitals last Wednesday and then another four-days until they went against the Avs today.  Still got a lot of road trips planned out to even out the games played between the Kings (at 21 games) and the Golden Knights and Canucks (both at 24 games).

It was weird all of November.

Game on Nov. 4, then three days off, then three games in four days.

Game on Nov. 11, followed by four days off, then three games in five days.

Then the stuff you mentioned.

The Kings have played 21 games so far, which is the fewest in the league, except for the Senators, who have played only 19 games.  Meanwhile, Vegas and Vancouver have played 25 games (and Columbus has played 26).

The good news is that, in terms of points earned per game, the Kings lead the Western Conference with 1.476 (Vegas has 1.44, Dallas has 1.41, Colorado has 1.333, and Vancouver has 1.32).  In the Eastern Conference, the Rangers have 1.551, and the Bruins have 1.542 ppg.

The "bad" news is that the Kings schedule is packed in December with 13 games, and the only break longer than 2 days coming around Christmas (nothing unusual, but it'll be an adjustment compared to November).

Looking forward to seeing the Kings break the record for consecutive road wins to start a season on Thursday in Montreal.

What I'm now curious about is how the rumor that he was banging Mel B. got started.

I don't know Bedard's family situation.  Are his parents split up?  Does his mom hang around the practice rink?

Early in the season, she was at all the games with her husband.  I think there's a sister in there as well.  I seem to remember something about a hug when Conner was drafted too.   

Is that unusual for a highly touted rookie, though?  Seems like there should be more to it for that kind of rumor to get going.  But what do I know?

[Anguyen92]

Well, the Kings almost blew the road wins to start a season streak in Columbus.  Blue Jackets ran away with a 3-0 lead at the end of the 2nd.  Kings somehow came all the way back and won it in OT.  I think this is the 3rd straight game the Kings played the Blue Jackets in Columbus where the Kings had to come back from a multi-goal deficit to force OT.  No matter, a W is a W.  They can sort out what went wrong in due time.

[jingle.boy]

Impressive.

Buffalo almost did the same (at home) against Detroit.

[Anguyen92]

This was the day of comebacks and almost comebacks.  The Kings had to rally from 3-0 to win 4-3 in OT.  The Sharks were down 4-1 against the Islanders and had to score all 3 goals to tie in the last 8 minutes in the game and won 5-4 in OT.  Buffalo almost came back against the Red Wings.  The Canucks were down 5-2 against the Devils and was able to tie it 5-5 before the Devils scored a last minute goal to win it.

[pg1067]

Well, the Kings almost blew the road wins to start a season streak in Columbus.  Blue Jackets ran away with a 3-0 lead at the end of the 2nd.  Kings somehow came all the way back and won it in OT.  I think this is the 3rd straight game the Kings played the Blue Jackets in Columbus where the Kings had to come back from a multi-goal deficit to force OT.  No matter, a W is a W.  They can sort out what went wrong in due time.

I have a friend who, anytime the Kings give up the first goal, posts "Shutout!" on Facebook, as a play on myth that, when you comment on a shutout, you jinx it.  I routinely make fun of her for this, but it's tradition.  After the third goal, I posted, "It ain't working!"  Within seconds, the Kings scored the first goal, so I commented, "...and just like that!  Now to get a few more."  Less than 5 minutes later, they got #2 and 90 seconds after that, #3.  I willed that win into being!   

P.S. I just watched the highlight videos of the Kings' goals on ESPN.  I assume it was the Columbus announcers (since they kept referring to the BJ's goalie by his first name), but on the second Kings goal, they kept referring to Phillip Danault as "Matthew Danault."  Dafuq?!

Hoping they get the record tomorrow in MTL.

[jingle.boy]

Well, the Kings almost blew the road wins to start a season streak in Columbus.  Blue Jackets ran away with a 3-0 lead at the end of the 2nd.  Kings somehow came all the way back and won it in OT.  I think this is the 3rd straight game the Kings played the Blue Jackets in Columbus where the Kings had to come back from a multi-goal deficit to force OT.  No matter, a W is a W.  They can sort out what went wrong in due time.

I have a friend who, anytime the Kings give up the first goal, posts "Shutout!" on Facebook, as a play on myth that, when you comment on a shutout, you jinx it.  I routinely make fun of her for this, but it's tradition.  After the third goal, I posted, "It ain't working!"  Within seconds, the Kings scored the first goal, so I commented, "...and just like that!  Now to get a few more."  Less than 5 minutes later, they got #2 and 90 seconds after that, #3.  I willed that win into being!   

Hoping they get the record tomorrow in MTL.

Hopefully that doesn't foreshadow that "commenting on <something>, you jinx it". 

[pg1067]

My comments only make good things happen!   

[Anguyen92]

Well, the Kings almost blew the road wins to start a season streak in Columbus.  Blue Jackets ran away with a 3-0 lead at the end of the 2nd.  Kings somehow came all the way back and won it in OT.  I think this is the 3rd straight game the Kings played the Blue Jackets in Columbus where the Kings had to come back from a multi-goal deficit to force OT.  No matter, a W is a W.  They can sort out what went wrong in due time.

P.S. I just watched the highlight videos of the Kings' goals on ESPN.  I assume it was the Columbus announcers (since they kept referring to the BJ's goalie by his first name), but on the second Kings goal, they kept referring to Phillip Danault as "Matthew Danault."  Dafuq?!

Did they at least try to give it a French-Canadian flair and say Mathieu?  I mean if you are going to be wrong, but you might as well lean into it further.

[pg1067]

Well, the Kings almost blew the road wins to start a season streak in Columbus.  Blue Jackets ran away with a 3-0 lead at the end of the 2nd.  Kings somehow came all the way back and won it in OT.  I think this is the 3rd straight game the Kings played the Blue Jackets in Columbus where the Kings had to come back from a multi-goal deficit to force OT.  No matter, a W is a W.  They can sort out what went wrong in due time.

P.S. I just watched the highlight videos of the Kings' goals on ESPN.  I assume it was the Columbus announcers (since they kept referring to the BJ's goalie by his first name), but on the second Kings goal, they kept referring to Phillip Danault as "Matthew Danault."  Dafuq?!

Did they at least try to give it a French-Canadian flair and say Mathieu?  I mean if you are going to be wrong, but you might as well lean into it further.

Not really.  It's on the second Danault goal (I think on the first one, they just used his surname):  https://www.espn.com/nhl/game?gameId=401559611

[jingle.boy]

Leafs are shipping Klingberg off to Robidas Island.

https://www.nhl.com/news/john-klingberg-injury-status-hip-surgery


Guess that clears them to go get Tanev now.  Rumour was they were trying to package a deal last week to get BOTH Zadorov and Tanev, but couldn't come to terms on how much salary Calgary would retain - which allowed Vancouver to swoop in and grab Zadorov.  Now that Klingberg's $4.1M AAV is back on the table, that should be enough to cover Tanev (or someone else).

[Kwyjibo]

The oilers win five in a row and even Skinner seems to play somewhat solid. 

Is this the big turnaround or just a short lived episode?

[SchecterShredder]

The oilers win five in a row and even Skinner seems to play somewhat solid. 

Is this the big turnaround or just a short lived episode?

Seems like they've turned a corner. Skinner has a save % around 0.94 over these last 5 games. I don't expect him to keep up that level of play, but hopefully he's returned to his all-star form from last season. McDavid is finally healthy, and it clearly shows. He looks like a different player than he did during those first 10 games (of which he was mostly injured), and he's putting up the points to back it up.

The problem they're going to have moving forward is maintaining this level of play. They dug themselves such a massive hole that they need a 0.700 winning % the rest of the way to hit 100pts. It's not impossible, but it's a big task.

[jingle.boy]

The oilers win five in a row and even Skinner seems to play somewhat solid. 

Is this the big turnaround or just a short lived episode?

Seems like they've turned a corner. Skinner has a save % around 0.94 over these last 5 games. I don't expect him to keep up that level of play, but hopefully he's returned to his all-star form from last season. McDavid is finally healthy, and it clearly shows. He looks like a different player than he did during those first 10 games (of which he was mostly injured), and he's putting up the points to back it up.

The problem they're going to have moving forward is maintaining this level of play. They dug themselves such a massive hole that they need a 0.700 winning % the rest of the way to hit 100pts. It's not impossible, but it's a big task.

Fortunately, they've got two teams ahead of them that should be easily passable (Seattle and Calgary), and Vancouver is showing that their hot start was probably just as much an anomaly as the slow start by the Oil (going 4-6 since starting 12-3-1).  Heck, even Vegas has gone ice cold since starting 11-0-1.

There's a reason it's an 82-game season.   

I'm hoping the Leafs can pull the trigger on some D moves soon.  Relying on players 7-8-9 on the depth chart is going to catch up with them - it already has to an extent, given the number of blown 3rd period leads they've had in the last month or so.  Battle of Ontario tonight, and they better spank the Sens after 4 days of rest.

[Anguyen92]

Well, the Kings did it.  They set the longest winning streak on the road to the start the season, with 11 wins, against the Habs.  Byfield with 2 goals, 3 pts.  Kopitar with 3 assists.  Doughty with a goal and an assist.  Top guys came to play today.

[Anguyen92]

Also, the Sharks are a weird team, man.  First they went winless in like 11 or so games.  Two of those games they let in 10 goals per game back to back.  This road trip has been really fruitful for them.  They've been scoring a lot.  Winning games that no one really expected them to win.  Comeback from a 3-4 goals deficit against the Islanders and Red Wings.  Like they were down 4-0 against the Red Wings and scored four goals in like 5 minutes near the end of the 2nd.  3 of those was within 2 minutes (two short-handed and one where the guy that committed the penalty and was just out of the box, Vlasic, had the primary assist on the 3rd goal.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, that game was bonkers - both teams combined to score 6 in like under 4 minutes.  The 3 that the Wings scored were in 49 seconds I think?

Leafs gutted out a win, but lose Woll - who was lights-fucking-out.  Absolutely highway robbery twice on Tarasenko, and stopping someone on a clear cut breakaway (I think it was Norris or Stutzle).  Then a pretty bad looking injury on a nothing play.  Hopefully it's not a long term thing, and he just tweaked something.  Jones did an admirable job to come in stone cold, and preserve the win with the Sens pressing hard.