Around the League 2019-20

[Bandit]

True, but this could easily lead to Babcock being blackballed and Crawford will probably be let go. The latter is an easy decision in light of the #hewasmean movement going on right now: Crawford is an easy blood sacrifice.

While it is true nobody is getting arrested, livelihoods and reputations are being ruined. Same thing with #metoo: not a ton of arrests there because a lot of it wasn't offenses that would put you in jail.

If one wants to say "it has only been one guy so far and let's wait and see" that's fine but, to me, that is willfull blindness. This is a snowball rolling down a mountain and the social media white knight mob can never be trusted to be rational, measured or truthful.

Don't you think the bolded is earned though if what these guys are saying is true? I mean I find it unlikely that Marner, Chelios, Franzen, Commodore and the reporter are all making this shit up about Babcock. Avery vs. Crawford? Hard to say, though given the whole Betruzzi Moore thing in Vancouver plus this I could see it. Crawford always kinda seemed to have a screw loose, but time will tell on that one.

I agree with you that no mob, twitter or otherwise, has ever proven to be rational.

 

[Choralone]

Before we worry about the pendulum swinging too far, it needs to at least swing a little bit.

 

[YP44]

how far down is tampa going to get before they pull he trigger on something. Too much talent there to be doing as poorly as they are.

Would target Vancouver's first from them but honestly do not know what they would even want from LA. Johnson + 1st for Lewis and Toffoli.

Lewis fill 4th line center role and they shede cap for next year when their goalie fors up to over $9m/year. Toffoli is there to provide value for the first but honestly I have not a clue where he would position in their lineup.

 

[BigKing]

Don't you think the bolded is earned though if what these guys are saying is true? I mean I find it unlikely that Marner, Chelios, Franzen, Commodore and the reporter are all making this **** up about Babcock. Avery vs. Crawford? Hard to say, though given the whole Betruzzi Moore thing in Vancouver plus this I could see it. Crawford always kinda seemed to have a screw loose, but time will tell on that one.

I agree with you that no mob, twitter or otherwise, has ever proven to be rational.

No. Their reputation? Sure. Making them toxic to the point that they can't work in their profession anymore even if they are very capable and have possibly changed their ways or will in the future? I don't care for that.

Now, the capable part can be argued but a guy like Crawford was already toxic but apparently went to Europe and adjusted his methods. Everyone already knew about these past incidents when Chicago hired him. Now they have to bow to internet pressure when they didn't care about it to begin with or, you know, they addressed these issues and determined he had reformed. If it is the former, then that can speak to this whole "culture has to change" thing but, if it is the latter, then that is sad. I say this as a guy who does not like Crawford.

As for worrying about the pendulum swinging too far, all I have is the results of other similar "cancel culture" movements so I don't have faith that it will just move a little bit.

 

[Bandit]

No. Their reputation? Sure. Making them toxic to the point that they can't work in their profession anymore even if they are very capable and have possibly changed their ways or will in the future? I don't care for that.

Now, the capable part can be argued but a guy like Crawford was already toxic but apparently went to Europe and adjusted his methods. Everyone already knew about these past incidents when Chicago hired him. Now they have to bow to internet pressure when they didn't care about it to begin with or, you know, they addressed these issues and determined he had reformed. If it is the former, then that can speak to this whole "culture has to change" thing but, if it is the latter, then that is sad. I say this as a guy who does not like Crawford.

As for worrying about the pendulum swinging too far, all I have is the results of other similar "cancel culture" movements so I don't have faith that it will just move a little bit.

Ok but don't you think you're jumping to those conclusions? Babcock isn't dead. He's been out of work for what? 2 weeks? and still going to get paid some 22 million to sit on his ass if he so chooses. I don't think his livelihood is at stake nor has it been even remotely close to proven he's never going to coach again. Maybe Crawford gets fired, maybe Chicago comes back and says they did their due diligence and are satisfied that he's changed. In either case, nothing has actually happened with him yet.

I also have my doubts that "the internet" has as much power as you claim it does, but neither of us can prove it either way.

 

[BigKing]

Ok but don't you think you're jumping to those conclusions? Babcock isn't dead. He's been out of work for what? 2 weeks? and still going to get paid some 22 million to sit on his ass if he so chooses. I don't think his livelihood is at stake nor has it been even remotely close to proven he's never going to coach again. Maybe Crawford gets fired, maybe Chicago comes back and says they did their due diligence and are satisfied that he's changed. In either case, nothing has actually happened with him yet.

I also have my doubts that "the internet" has as much power as you claim it does, but neither of us can prove it either way.

We will see how it plays out.

As for the internet, I don't mean Twitter only. It's just that Twitter is the trash fire in a homeless encampment that turns in to a 50,000 acre brush fire, in essence "jumping the freeway" and crossing into reputable online media and in to the sports world's hot take artists.

 

[Bandit]

We will see how it plays out.

As for the internet, I don't mean Twitter only. It's just that Twitter is the trash fire in a homeless encampment that turns in to a 50,000 acre brush fire, in essence "jumping the freeway" and crossing into reputable online media and in to the sports world's hot take artists.

No argument from me about Twitter. The fact that we live in a world where the POTUS spends one second of his life on Twitter is proof positive to me that Idiocracy has arrived.

 

[crassbonanza]

The Flyers look really f***ing good this year, I'm surprised how quite the national media has been about them. f***ing Lambert had them ranked 21st in his power rankings to further show that he doesn't have a f***ing clue about hockey, but they aren't getting much love around the league. Maybe them spanking the Leafs 6-1 will get them some exposure.

 

[Bandit]

The Flyers look really ****ing good this year, I'm surprised how quite the national media has been about them. ****ing Lambert had them ranked 21st in his power rankings to further show that he doesn't have a ****ing clue about hockey, but they aren't getting much love around the league. Maybe them spanking the Leafs 6-1 will get them some exposure.

Anything that results in a Leafs beat down is fine by me.

 

[The Tikkanen]

So many people pegged the Devils to be a playoff team with the additions of P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds, Nikita Gusev, #1 pick Jack Hughes, an improved Nico Hischier, and they lay an egg and have no stability in net.

Shero has to be on the hot seat as well, and there’s no way Taylor Hall is going to stick around to go through yet another hapless team like he did in Edmonton.

I thought the Devils would be better and an exciting team and what happened to them this season is similar to the Kings-nobody showed up. Schneider looks like his career is over, Gusev has lost all his hype and what the hell happened to Subban? These NHL players are getting old over night.

 

[KingsFan7824]

The post-Tavares Islanders right now give me a little bit of hope that a team can have a turnaround with a bit more structure. Aside from the goaltending, the D was constructed like a video game roster. Almost the entire season, one of the RHD has been playing on the left to unsexy results.

Obviously things are a bit of a mess right now, I don't think anybody's disputing that. But they'll still have a boat load of cap space in the offseason and they'll finally be able to move on from Greene/Schneider.

Not sure if I'd call it wasting Hischier's ELC years. The Kings didn't make the playoffs during Kopitar's ELC and the franchise seemed to do okay with Kopitar on his second contract. Obviously you'd like to capitalize when those guys are cheap, but nobody was touting Hischier as an instant #1 center.

It's the tough thing with Hall. For as good as he can be, he's been frustrating to watch over the last four years. Perhaps he'll thrive in a situation where he's not the main cog. But it's looking like the Devils will have been worse in three of the four seasons than they were before acquiring Hall.

The Kings also weren't trying in Kopitar's first 3 years. I guess it's not so much wasting Hischier specifically, but Hall has been there all 3 of those years. This year included going all in with Subban. They keep getting worse as the 3 years unfold too. When you luck out and win 2 lotteries, but you're on your way to losing your top established player, and your most expensive player hasn't been very good, and you have a $6m goalie you can't do anything with, it gets complicated. At least they have youth to build around though.

how far down is tampa going to get before they pull he trigger on something. Too much talent there to be doing as poorly as they are.

Would target Vancouver's first from them but honestly do not know what they would even want from LA. Johnson + 1st for Lewis and Toffoli.

Lewis fill 4th line center role and they shede cap for next year when their goalie fors up to over $9m/year. Toffoli is there to provide value for the first but honestly I have not a clue where he would position in their lineup.

Lewis isn't a C. Johnson has a full NTC until June 2021. Considering the age that's creeping up, and the cap hits that are adding up, TB needs that 1st. How would Toffoli help them? TB is a team full of soft Toffoli's. Maybe if they hadn't already been embarrassed last year. Maybe if they were better this year. At least save that pick for someone better than Toffoli. At worst you keep it, and accept that you're now an overpaid team that couldn't win.

The Flyers look really ****ing good this year, I'm surprised how quite the national media has been about them. ****ing Lambert had them ranked 21st in his power rankings to further show that he doesn't have a ****ing clue about hockey, but they aren't getting much love around the league. Maybe them spanking the Leafs 6-1 will get them some exposure.

I'm guessing you have, but without looking it up, who leads the team in points? Who leads the team in goals? Of the teams with the best records, the Flyers might be the least sexy team. The Islanders are there, but they at least had last year where they put themselves on the map. The whole lose Tavares thing. The Flyers have just existed for a while now. Since getting rid of Richards and Carter, they now have the 19th best record, and haven't been out of the 1st round since 2012. Perfect black hole team, and they're not the pre-cap Flyers anymore.

 

[YP44]

The Flyers look really ****ing good this year, I'm surprised how quite the national media has been about them. ****ing Lambert had them ranked 21st in his power rankings to further show that he doesn't have a ****ing clue about hockey, but they aren't getting much love around the league. Maybe them spanking the Leafs 6-1 will get them some exposure.

I agree about the Flyers. They have some depth at all most areas and have a goalie so should be good.

last night was a lot closer than the score indicates though. Empty netter than the leafs just gave up. Mathews called the team on it afterwards and he was spot on.

 

[Herby]

Nick Shore on waivers and somehow passed over by 22 teams. What a steal for the Jets!

 

[The Tikkanen]

Nick Shore on waivers and somehow passed over by 22 teams. What a steal for the Jets!

Nick Shore, meet Dwight King, Jordan Nolan and Alex Frolov.

 

[YP44]

Nick Shore, meet Dwight King, Jordan Nolan and Alex Frolov.

one of those things aren't like the other ones

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Nick Shore on waivers and somehow passed over by 22 teams. What a steal for the Jets!

Don't you dare insult the greatest fourth liner of our generation.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Don't you dare insult the greatest fourth liner of our generation.

Where did his advanced stat friend go?

 

[crassbonanza]

I'm guessing you have, but without looking it up, who leads the team in points? Who leads the team in goals? Of the teams with the best records, the Flyers might be the least sexy team. The Islanders are there, but they at least had last year where they put themselves on the map. The whole lose Tavares thing. The Flyers have just existed for a while now. Since getting rid of Richards and Carter, they now have the 19th best record, and haven't been out of the 1st round since 2012. Perfect black hole team, and they're not the pre-cap Flyers anymore.

I believe that Konecny does(who I really wanted the Kings to draft with the 13th overall at the time) and I find him to be an exciting player. I get your point though, they have a lot of high end depth and not a lot of star power outside of Giroux. Provy should become a star soon as well.

 

[crassbonanza]

I agree about the Flyers. They have some depth at all most areas and have a goalie so should be good.

last night was a lot closer than the score indicates though. Empty netter than the leafs just gave up. Mathews called the team on it afterwards and he was spot on.

The Leafs looked good in the first, but completely disappeared the rest of the game, only totaling 13 shots despite trailing for most of that time. You are right that they stopped skating though, which was pretty wild.

 

[Bandit]

one of those things aren't like the other ones

Yeah, King and Nolan are Stanley Cup champs.

 

[Schmooley]

Nolan was a strange case. Some games he could show somewhat high end skill while being a tough competitor. Other games he was a ghost with very little hockey intelligence. I liked him for the most part. He played his role well for that era of kings hockey

 

[Lt Dan]

Nolan was a strange case. Some games he could show somewhat high end skill while being a tough competitor. Other games he was a ghost with very little hockey intelligence.

Indeed

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

"we're not obsessed with Nick Shore," say 4 dudes intently following Nick Shore while he joins yet another NHL team.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

"we're not obsessed with Nick Shore," say 4 dudes intently following Nick Shore while he joins yet another NHL team.

He's so in demand that he’s joining his 6th team over the past three years.

 

[deeshamrock]

The Flyers look really ****ing good this year, I'm surprised how quite the national media has been about them. ****ing Lambert had them ranked 21st in his power rankings to further show that he doesn't have a ****ing clue about hockey, but they aren't getting much love around the league. Maybe them spanking the Leafs 6-1 will get them some exposure.

I'm not sold on AV yet, but this is the best start they've had in a long time, not for the last 7 years anyhow. It's more Hexys' solid drafting , Konecky, Lindblom, Ghost, Sandheim, Haag, and Myers, who is gonna be a stud, to have that size and speed, physical and IQ, is insane. He's a top pairing d in the making. Nobody drafted him and Hexy took a shot. And of course, Frost and Farabee, (thanks to St Louis, Brayden Schenn, the gift that keeps on giving) who are really skilled. Frost is a really smart two way player with a lot of offensive upside.

Finally all that talent Hexy grew on the farm (and more coming, Radcliffe, a 6'4 winger) I hope , as soon as they can unload Voracek, who is proving (salary and otherwise) to be a huge obstacle to move.

THey've had some breaks, a couple weeks back, they had 6 of 7 games in OT and on most, coughed up the 3rd period lead, in some games by mulitple goals.
AV's system is a bit too much run and gun for me and I think it will catch up to them just past mid season

But the young guns are exciting to watch
Provorov I think is going to develop into one of the top D's in the league.