Around the league part 2

[Rumpelstiltskin]

SJ is gonna be gooooooooooood in a few years

Yeah, and also in a few years, games at the Pond likely aren't going to be fun either. But at least the team will have new leadership by that point -- right??

 

[Lt Dan]

Yeah, and also in a few years, games at the Pond likely aren't going to be fun either. But at least the team will have new leadership by that point -- right??

 

[tigermask48]

To be fair a lot of people have been predicting this for literally years and years

now the new plot twist is giving Byfield the PERFECT contract for him to exit to one of those teams

Oh I'm aware, I was one of those that thought this past season one of the "weaker" Pacific teams could jump up.

 

[Herby]

Indeed SJ is doing things right these last 2-3 years. These are the kind of deals a rebuilding team makes. Not Danault, Fiala, PLD, etc.

Unfortunately I think our fanbase (as a whole, not on this forum) subscribe to Axl's infamous take here

"I'd rather be a black hole team than be picking in the Top 5"

 

[King'sPawn]

Did you expect any less from sports media members? (which trickles down to public discourse) 100% of the people writing for the Athletic wish they were writing for a publication that sounds a lot like the Athletic, so they try and push this as something waaaaaaay more than it is.

Again, if this were Brent Burns he'd have had to have done the same thing, and it would get ZERO news coverage, ZERO. Other than maybe people joking he doesn't look like a caveman anymore.

Ask yourself why that is?

Well, the answer is a history of whitewashing and cultural appropriation, from Native Americans to African Americans. White guys (like me) haven't had centuries of differing types of behavior and racial insensitivity where we have had to mask or change our identity. The closest is when Polish people and other refugees had to "Americanize" their name, but we also don't see businesses requiring people to change their name to fit in. Else we'd be giving that company shit too.

Comparing shaving your beard as a white person to cutting your hair or Americanizing your name just isn't the same. It's why we should care about various cultures. And you know what? If Brent Burns said he's from a subset of people whose culture and identity is tied to their beards, I'd defend his right to keep a beard.

But to your question of "why", that's why. It's an unpleasant part of American history. And I'm not even "outraged" about it, because Duclair seems okay with it. I just think we've come along far enough of just handwaiving insensitive behaviors encouraging the suppression of identity.

And yes, I recognize Lamoriello has his own history and comes from an era of expecting employees to be well-groomed. The difference is nobody's making him grow a beard or afro.

And I'll be honest - I wasn't too far from thinking a lot of what you were thinking years ago. It took conversations, literature, and various stories about people affected in ways I never had to worry about and was never taught in all my years of school (including college). I know "white privilege" sounds like a buzzword, but it's applicable because it's something I never had to worry about as a person.

But I'm sure posts will get deleted or I'll get plenty of angry responses for being "woke" from various people. But I agree with Gord's general sentiment, even though he's angrier about it than I am. But I can't agree it's BS. It matters. Even if it doesn't affect me.

 

[Schmooley]

The difference is nobody's making him grow a beard or afro.

I would love to see Lou with a beard and afro

 

[Bandit]

If you have a job where your boss thinks he has power over you to tell you what to do with your own body, your job f***ing sucks.

 

[johnjm22]

I went to a recruiter after high school. Was considering joining the Marines.

As silly as it sounds, having to be clean shaven didn't work for me and was one of the factors in my decision not to join. (9/11 happened a month later).

While I think Lou requiring certain grooming standards is lame, there's plenty of occupations that require such things.

Had Duclair brought up black culture, I could understand Miller's response. But that's not what happened. Miller likely just took advantage of a virtue signaling opportunity.

 

[kingsfan28]

It's official

https://x.com/i/web/status/1827076952554901701

SJ is gonna be gooooooooooood in a few years

There was a time when the Oilers had like five #1 picks, including McDavid and the term "scary good " was always thrown around. We all saw how that worked out.

 

[BaileyFan]

There was a time when the Oilers had like five #1 picks, including McDavid and the term "scary good " was always thrown around. We all saw how that worked out.

They went to Game 7 of the finals?

 

[KingsFan7824]

On July 1st, 2024, a 4 year/$14m contract was voluntarily agreed to and signed, knowing who it was signed with. No surprises. No new GM out of nowhere. The bed was made, in a free agent way. Could choose where to go, and a 4 year deal likely says there were other options, and the place chosen has rules for everyone who goes there.

Self-flagellation is a hell of a drug.

 

[kingsfan28]

They went to Game 7 of the finals?

it took 14 years.

 

[tigermask48]

it took 14 years.

Only 4 more years than the last time the Kings won a playoff series.

 

[Statto]

The AHL is mandating neck-guards. I know some will object on the basis of “they’re adults so it should the their choice”, but I agree with this move. Even older guys will still be living in the naivety of the “invincibility of (relative) youth” and “it will never happen to me”… until it does.

Good decision and disappointing that at usual the NHL lags on these things.

 

[tny760]

The AHL is mandating neck-guards. I know some will object on the basis of “they’re adults so it should the their choice”, but I agree with this move. Even older guys will still be living in the naivety of the “invincibility of (relative) youth” and “it will never happen to me”… until it does.

Good decision and disappointing that at usual the NHL lags on these things.

i still wonder how much protection these neck guards actually offer since every manufacturer seems content to just put a layer of kevlar and call it cut resistant even though kevlar isn't exactly that. at least warroad puts dyneema on the wrists but for some reason the neck is just "cut resistant fabric" which i have to assume is just a layer of unbranded kevlar

every level of cut resistant fabric in the states has ANSI tested amounts of protection depending on how much pressure they handle in a slicing motion, and quite frankly i think a skate blade is blasting those tests out of the water because of the weight involved. and this isn't even accounting for the kids who are gonna modify/gut their stuff for comfort's sake

just hate to see "security theatre" for something as important as this. probably aren't gonna know til someone get diced up through the neckguard too unfortunately

 

[King'sPawn]

i still wonder how much protection these neck guards actually offer since every manufacturer seems content to just put a layer of kevlar and call it cut resistant even though kevlar isn't exactly that. at least warroad puts dyneema on the wrists but for some reason the neck is just "cut resistant fabric" which i have to assume is just a layer of unbranded kevlar

every level of cut resistant fabric in the states has ANSI tested amounts of protection depending on how much pressure they handle in a slicing motion, and quite frankly i think a skate blade is blasting those tests out of the water because of the weight involved. and this isn't even accounting for the kids who are gonna modify/gut their stuff for comfort's sake

just hate to see "security theatre" for something as important as this. probably aren't gonna know til someone get diced up through the neckguard too unfortunately

Hopefully as things develop more they'll develop industry standards, like helmets. Because I agree. There's no point putting a glorified turtleneck sweater on.

I'm glad they're doing this. My biggest concern is as more protection is required, it becomes more cost prohibitive for people to enter the sport.

 

[tigermask48]

i still wonder how much protection these neck guards actually offer since every manufacturer seems content to just put a layer of kevlar and call it cut resistant even though kevlar isn't exactly that. at least warroad puts dyneema on the wrists but for some reason the neck is just "cut resistant fabric" which i have to assume is just a layer of unbranded kevlar

every level of cut resistant fabric in the states has ANSI tested amounts of protection depending on how much pressure they handle in a slicing motion, and quite frankly i think a skate blade is blasting those tests out of the water because of the weight involved. and this isn't even accounting for the kids who are gonna modify/gut their stuff for comfort's sake

just hate to see "security theatre" for something as important as this. probably aren't gonna know til someone get diced up through the neckguard too unfortunately

I feel like it can be summed up as "better than nothing I guess?" shrug.

I can recall discourse about visors becoming mandatory years ago and the same with helmets becoming mandatory in 1980s. Heck even with helmets becoming mandatory last year during warm-ups

It's probably better than nothing, and this change will become the norm, and everyone will forget in a year or two players were allowed without them.

 

[Herby]

Still wild to think Craig MacTavish played without a helmet through the 1997 season, when the seamless glass brick walls had been installed into arenas around the league.

 

[tny760]

Hopefully as things develop more they'll develop industry standards, like helmets. Because I agree. There's no point putting a glorified turtleneck sweater on.

I'm glad they're doing this. My biggest concern is as more protection is required, it becomes more cost prohibitive for people to enter the sport.

yeah those jofa helmets can barely be considered helmets by modern standards but i suppose if you require it, market forces eventually will make it better

 

[bland]

Gotta start somewhere.

I think folks sometimes get wrapped up in ramifications as though it's a finished product when in reality everything is really a work in progress for positive change.

And that applies to damn near every endeavor.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

yeah those jofa helmets can barely be considered helmets by modern standards but i suppose if you require it, market forces eventually will make it better

I was just about to say if they're required you can be damn sure better and more efficient options will appear

hell i remember when mouthguards were just glorified chewing gum

 

[Herby]

The AHL is mandating neck-guards.

Good to know every player in the Kings organization will be safe from throat injuries until age 22.

 

[kingsfan28]

I was just about to say if they're required you can be damn sure better and more efficient options will appear

hell i remember when mouthguards were just glorified chewing gum

Some players still think they are and chomp away like my dog and his chew toy.

I'd love to see them add a bit more safety to the chin straps and not let players determine the length. Players have it dangling down as much as 3-4 inches and it really creates problems after getting hit with the helmet moving away from it's intended use or getting completely knocked off. Juice might be the worse offender. He had it either pulled or knocked off at least 5 times last year, and I think it cost them a goal when he had to leave the ice.

 

[Dog as Man]

I would also like to see shock sensors that convey how hard a head strike of ice or glass or elbows was. Info blue-toothed to bench. We should be beyond "How many fingers am I holding up." Real data, real protection.

 

[YP44]

Still wild to think Craig MacTavish played without a helmet through the 1997 season, when the seamless glass brick walls had been installed into arenas around the league.

crazy he was playing in the league at all.