2024/2025 Around the League

[expatriatedtexan]

Ovie reached #860. 7 goals in 11 games so far. it is happening, folks. and I am surprised it may even happen this season. wont even need his final contract year.

I'm really trying to celebrate and enjoy watching this, but damnit if global politics doesn't make it difficult.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Not that I think the Sens and Sabres have been run well (they haven’t) but rebuilding has to involve a fair share of luck too. Sabres got the first overall pick in two different drafts that did not boast a real superstar center at the top…and IMO those are starting to look like kinda weak drafts.

Sens are in pretty good shape actually. I just think they still have a bit too much dead weight hanging around.

I dunno....... the Sabres had Jack Eichel and he's won a Cup while somebody nicknamed "McJesus" still searches..

A LOT of fingers can be pointed at a LOT of different people in the Sabres chain of command for a dismal 13 years. But IMO, the common denominator is the owner of the franchise who gets it wrong every time.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853244480826065222

Imagine if Bednar had the balls to do this to Mikko

Has Jim Montgomery received the vaunted "vote of confidence" yet?

It can't be long in coming.....

 

[MonsterMack]

sigh, delete

 

[Pokecheque]

There is 'some' luck involved but I said at least 2 years ago that locking up players that hadn't proved it or earned it to massive long-term contracts was going to come back and bite Adams in the ass and it has.

I also paralleled the giroux signing when it happened to when we signed Iginla and called it 'the very same mistake' and I believe it has been. It's pretty much the same situation - you have a young power forward captain (Landeskog/B.Tkachuk) and you bring in a guy with a ton of clout to 'help out' the youngsters but it has the opposite effect. I don't think it's necessarily giroux's fault but it just wasn't the best move and you'd think he'd have at least helped them make the playoffs but nope, not even close.

That's the problem with these rebuilds - there just aren't any shortcuts...you wanna do it right then you have to take your lumps. Impatient owners, GMs and coaches usually end up f***ing it up. Realistically speaking, the Leafs should have had at least 1 Cup if they had done it right but they haven't even come close.

Leafs and Sabres made similar mistakes--they tried to build around the wrong defenseman. The Sabres with Eichel in tow thought Rasmus Ristolainen was that guy, and the Leafs tried making a go with Morgan Rielly.

Sabres drafting has also been pretty awful. Like the Avs, they too appear to have been pretty piss poor outside the top ten, and even then had one monumental whiff (Nylander's bro).

As for the Sens, despite the rollercoaster ride that was Eugene Melnyk, Pierre Dorion has them in relatively good shape. IMO they're much closer to contention than Buffalo. I don't begrudge them the Giroux signing one bit, it's similar to the Alex Tuch acquisition in Buffalo IMO. Sometimes, when your franchise has been in the dark for a long time and isn't a go-to destination for talent, it's good to bring in someone who actually wants to play there.

I dunno....... the Sabres had Jack Eichel and he's won a Cup while somebody nicknamed "McJesus" still searches..

A LOT of fingers can be pointed at a LOT of different people in the Sabres chain of command for a dismal 13 years. But IMO, the common denominator is the owner of the franchise who gets it wrong every time.

Yeah I agree, Pegula is an absolutely horrid owner. I kinda feel bad for Sabres fans. They went from a criminal (Rigas) who literally used the franchise like a giant credit card until he bankrupted it, then Golisano, whose most notable contribution to the franchise was...the Buffaslug, to Pegula.

Buffalo had Eichel but then did almost literally everything else around him wrong. Part of the problem was that Murray clearly game planned for McDavid and then didn't know what to do with the consolation prize.

 

[Hennessy]

There are a lot of businesses that have died post-Covid. Red Robins and Red Lobster are some of the notorious ones (Red Lobster just hired like a 35-year-old CEO or something). Not sure what the reason is, or if people are going to superior choices/ordering from home.

Red Lobster was cannibalized by a private equity firm that bought them and then leased the land the restaurants were sitting on. Then the pandemic hit and their top shareholder, a shrimp supplier, badly mismanaged things in an effort to cut costs.

I know way too much about Red Lobster for never having been to one.

 

[Balthazar]

Leafs and Sabres made similar mistakes--they tried to build around the wrong defenseman. The Sabres with Eichel in tow thought Rasmus Ristolainen was that guy, and the Leafs tried making a go with Morgan Rielly.

Sabres drafting has also been pretty awful. Like the Avs, they too appear to have been pretty piss poor outside the top ten, and even then had one monumental whiff (Nylander's bro).

As for the Sens, despite the rollercoaster ride that was Eugene Melnyk, Pierre Dorion has them in relatively good shape. IMO they're much closer to contention than Buffalo. I don't begrudge them the Giroux signing one bit, it's similar to the Alex Tuch acquisition in Buffalo IMO. Sometimes, when your franchise has been in the dark for a long time and isn't a go-to destination for talent, it's good to bring in someone who actually wants to play there.


Yeah I agree, Pegula is an absolutely horrid owner. I kinda feel bad for Sabres fans. They went from a criminal (Rigas) who literally used the franchise like a giant credit card until he bankrupted it, then Golisano, whose most notable contribution to the franchise was...the Buffaslug, to Pegula.

Buffalo had Eichel but then did almost literally everything else around him wrong. Part of the problem was that Murray clearly game planned for McDavid and then didn't know what to do with the consolation prize.

Speaking of Eichel…

 

[The Abusement Park]

Speaking of Eichel…

I'm going to guess we don't want to know the politics of most Avs(or athletes) to be honest.

 

[S E P H]

I'm going to guess we don't want to know the politics of most Avs(or athletes) to be honest.

I might have posted this some years back, but I read an ESPN magazine that mentioned that the NBA was the most liberal, MLB was the most conservative, and NHL was the most moderate of the three. The NHL was the most highly educated of all the sports as well. The two-party system is disastrous though, it really turned me off from any sort of politics. I have Ghanaian brethren and their politics are way more interesting than the USA's.

 

[S E P H]

Red Lobster was cannibalized by a private equity firm that bought them and then leased the land the restaurants were sitting on. Then the pandemic hit and their top shareholder, a shrimp supplier, badly mismanaged things in an effort to cut costs.

I know way too much about Red Lobster for never having been to one.

It's nothing special, but the biscuits are pretty legit. The problem is anything with butter is legit, so I am not sure if I give them full credit on that.

 

[henchman21]

I'm going to guess we don't want to know the politics of most Avs(or athletes) to be honest.

Knowing a decent amount of NHLers and people in the business, let's just say Eichel in the majority.

 

[hockeyfish]

I'm going to guess we don't want to know the politics of most Avs(or athletes) to be honest.

White... check. Male... check. Wealthy... check. Pretty much ticked off all the demographic boxes.

 

[Pokecheque]

Speaking of Eichel…

Bah, that's not even a closely-guarded secret. Most pro athletes tend to veer right anyway. It just makes me more appreciative of guys like Nazem Kadri and Scott Laughton who generally don't.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Bah, that's not even a closely-guarded secret. Most pro athletes tend to veer right anyway. It just makes me more appreciative of guys like Nazem Kadri and Scott Laughton who generally don't.

Why does their political affiliation matter to you? Generally curious.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Knowing a decent amount of NHLers and people in the business, let's just say Eichel in the majority.

Yeah knowing the families that most NHL’ers are coming from leaning right makes sense for most athletes.

 

[henchman21]

We have become very quick to villainize people with their political views, and really when we're talking about the NHL... the North American contingent is going to lean heavily to one side. Even if for the specific reason in that it'll help their pocket books. Caring how they vote is just going to lead to a lot dissatisfaction and taking some of the joy out of sports. We all tend to agree that EJ was a great character guy and a leader on this team. His play may not have always matched what we wanted, but he was a big part of the Cup win and we can all celebrate that. None of that should be tarnished because he's a Trumper.

 

[Chiarelli]

You’re gonna have a tough time in life if ~50% of the population disappoints/angers/annoys you because of the way they vote.

 

[McMetal]

Buffalo had Eichel but then did almost literally everything else around him wrong. Part of the problem was that Murray clearly game planned for McDavid and then didn't know what to do with the consolation prize.

Given the results we've seen with McDavid in Edmonton so far, I think it's perfectly fair to say that Buffalo was also capable of mismanaging a team built around him, too.

 

[Pokecheque]

Given the results we've seen with McDavid in Edmonton so far, I think it's perfectly fair to say that Buffalo was also capable of mismanaging a team built around him, too.

They very likely would have, yeah, but at least Murray would've been a bit less pouty about it.

It's still the most amazing teardown I've ever seen. There was NO ONE left on that roster once he was finally done. His huge mistake was thinking he could just build it back up in a hurry.

 

[henchman21]

Given the results we've seen with McDavid in Edmonton so far, I think it's perfectly fair to say that Buffalo was also capable of mismanaging a team built around him, too.

Yup... hockey is a bit of a weird sport. The vast majority of Cup winners... like 90-95+% have a legit star (or two or three) driving things, so you have to have them. But having a star or three also gives no guarantee of being a good, or even wild card team. Great players not winning Cups or having a ton of playoff success I think says more about organizations than it does individual players.

Just take Matthew Tkachuk. He took all sorts of heat for his playoffs with Calgary. People said he'd never get it and was destined to suck in the playoffs and would never win a Cup. In Florida, he's an absolute monster in the playoffs.

 

[hockeyfish]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853488447874367763

ewwww, what?

 

[henchman21]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853488447874367763

ewwww, what?

 

[The Merchant]

We have become very quick to villainize people with their political views, and really when we're talking about the NHL... the North American contingent is going to lean heavily to one side. Even if for the specific reason in that it'll help their pocket books. Caring how they vote is just going to lead to a lot dissatisfaction and taking some of the joy out of sports. We all tend to agree that EJ was a great character guy and a leader on this team. His play may not have always matched what we wanted, but he was a big part of the Cup win and we can all celebrate that. None of that should be tarnished because he's a Trumper.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853505855544574351

 

[Balthazar]

Just take Matthew Tkachuk. He took all sorts of heat for his playoffs with Calgary. People said he'd never get it and was destined to suck in the playoffs and would never win a Cup. In Florida, he's an absolute monster in the playoffs.

To be fair AFAIK only @dahrougem2 thought that. At least on this board.

Tkachuk's style was made for the playoffs...same with Brady if he ever gets there.

 

[Balthazar]

Friedman in his podcast today said that if he accepts to stay in Minny Kaprizov could get Draisaitl/Matthews AAV over 8 years.

If he signs for that kind of money and Rants isn't signed yet that's probably not good.

 

[dahrougem2]

To be fair AFAIK only @dahrougem2 thought that. At least on this board.

Tkachuk's style was made for the playoffs...same with Brady if he ever gets there.

Credit where credit is due, he played amazing for them.

It doesn't change how disappointing he was in Calgary in the playoffs IMO.