Around the NHL 2024-25 regular season Part II - The holidays are upon us

Blackjack

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I know Drury’s dumb but I REALLY hope he’s as dumb as Ranger fans. They’re seriously saying they need to move Fox lol

As much as I’m enjoying the Rangers collapse, the fact that they have Igor and Fox and that they’re both fairly young means I don’t count out a complete turnaround in 1-2 seasons. It all depends on how quickly they can move on from the Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider core to whatever is next.

Thing is, I don’t know where that next elite forward is coming from. Perreault and Othmann are nice pieces, but I don’t think they’re going to be at quite that level.
 

Lou is God

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I remember reading that Laine was dumb as rock in the past, and while I don’t know for a fact if that’s true, this incident is a lot of smoke from a rock dumb fire.



Ok, being an asshole to your former teammates right before you play them away is quite the strategy.

And playing coy didn’t help, CBJ players took it very personally.





And also a narcissistic manchild.



Throws in some more bulletin board material because why not?

And how does this work out for him?









TL;DR The Columbus Front Office canceled his welcome back video. His pissed off former Blue Jacket teammates targeted him and knocked him out of the game after the 1st period with a UBI.
Speculation that the Habs staff noticed the Jackets hits on him were targeting his surgically repaired left shoulder:


If true that's crazy, one they held him out because of fear he was going to get hurt and two that former teammates want to physically hurt him to the point of injuring him. That's true hate right there.
 
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Hisch13r

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As much as I’m enjoying the Rangers collapse, the fact that they have Igor and Fox and that they’re both fairly young means I don’t count out a complete turnaround in 1-2 seasons. It all depends on how quickly they can move on from the Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider core to whatever is next.

Thing is, I don’t know where that next elite forward is coming from. Perreault and Othmann are nice pieces, but I don’t think they’re going to be at quite that level.

They’re the Rangers so that elite forward will fall in their laps. Panarin and Kaprizov are both up in 2026. I like the Wild so idk if they take a step back next year but if they do then there’s the guy lol
 
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TheBeerNerd

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As much as I’m enjoying the Rangers collapse, the fact that they have Igor and Fox and that they’re both fairly young means I don’t count out a complete turnaround in 1-2 seasons. It all depends on how quickly they can move on from the Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider core to whatever is next.

Thing is, I don’t know where that next elite forward is coming from. Perreault and Othmann are nice pieces, but I don’t think they’re going to be at quite that level.
The question of what's next has never been so simple when it comes to the Rangers. Someone on their subforum after the loss said that Jack Hughes is the kind of forward Devils fans can hang their hat on for 15 years, and the Rangers haven't had someone like that since Gilbert Perreault. That's a half century ago.

They're not as bad as their collapse indicates, but even if/when they reorient, it's going to be to a middle-of-the-pack team, with a wild card ceiling. That's going to be the case until they figure out what the hell to do.

They’re the Rangers so that elite forward will fall in their laps. Panarin and Kaprizov are both up in 2026. I like the Wild so idk if they take a step back next year but if they do then there’s the guy lol
Even if they get Kaprizov, that doesn't solve the problem they have (and have always had) with developing core pieces. If you want to win a Stanley Cup, you can't just have a bunch of mercenaries lead the way, you need a core group of home grown players and an identity. One Cup in 80+ years is proof of that.
 
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Blackjack

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Speculation that the Habs staff noticed the Jackets hits on him were targeting his surgically repaired left shoulder:

If true that's crazy, one they held him out because of fear he was going to get hurt and two that former teammates want to physically hurt him to the point of injuring him. That's true hate right there.

I thought targeting injuries was a fairly common thing, and is the reason why teams are always as vague as possible about what kind of injury a player has.
 
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My3Sons

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The thing about the Laine stuff is he isn’t wrong. It’s the same exact thing Waddell said. Columbus is historically the worst franchise in the league and recently has consistently been in the basement as well. Just maybe don’t say it and give guys a reason to take your head off lol
Those fans deserve better. If the New Orleans Saints could win a Super Bowl there is no such thing as a cursed franchise so there is no reason Columbus cannot become a winning team.
 

Its Always Sundstrom

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IDEKWTM

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Blackwood had flashes of very good in him, also very bad. For the past 4-5 years, every goaltender we had here failed. Some of it can be attributed to talent, but I believe the biggest reason was our system.

Is Markstrom really that much better than whatever we had the past few years? I'm not sure. Our new system is making him look much much better than he really is and I believe other goaltenders we've had in the past few years would have also been much better. Hence why I think it was a mistake to overpay for a goaltender until we had a new system.

You don't need a great goaltender if you allow under 20 shots a game and limit high quality chances.
 

IDEKWTM

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Don't think about it too much. After a slow start Marky's climbed back to among the best at high danger save %.

Yes, but we are also playing much much better defensively and he isn't getting tested as much relative to other goaltenders. Markstrom isn't suddenly a .950 goaltender. His career average is about 0.910%, right now he's playing at a much better rate and this should be attributed mostly to the team playing in front of him.

100%. I know people around here don’t love him because of the inconsistencies and the vax saga but he gave me a ton of hope back when he joined the team and I’m rooting for him
Politics/Vax saga should be a non-factor really.

People who hope he fails because of his views are miserable.
 

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