Speculation: Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XXIII

[brakeyawself]

Most youth coaches in Canada, hockey dads, etc will teach you to hold your stick with your dominant hand on top, so since 90% of peoples dominant hand is their right; that results in almost 90% of Canadian players being left handed. But in BC for some reason, most people are raised to shoot with their dominant hand on the bottom, which would inverse that percentage. It seems the US & Russia also have higher percentage of right handed shots than Canada. In the case of the US I would think it’s because many kids play baseball first. Sweden I think has more left handed shots, Finland I think right handed.

The stereotypes about handedness do tend to hold true with the very elite players, lefties having the hands (Kane, McDavid, Crosby, Kucherov, Gaudreau, Pettersson) righties with their powerful shots (Ovechkin, Stamkos, Kovalchuk, Hull, Laine)

And haha I’m one of the weird ones like you, I am quite ambidextrous. I can write as well as play sports with either hand if I want

I wonder if it has to do with power as you said about Ovi etc... You do, or should get more power with your dominant hand lower down though. At least I would think so. So that's really weird. Which makes me curious why the left handed thing started with your dominant hand on top. The only thing I can think of is that when pokechecking or useing your stick with one hand, most people would want their dominant hand controlling the stick at the top. But even the articles I am reading, while they explain what happened after curves were added to sticks, as most players prior used flat sticks and thus could play more ambidextrously, they don't exactly explain WHY it happened or why it became the norm in Canada but not the rest of the world.

I would think most players would want more power, but maybe it does have to do with better reach and one handed control, which you wouldn't get with your dominant hand on the bottom as much.

Which perhaps means, a lot of the righties that use their stick on the right side are more ambidextrous, thus allowing them to control the stick efficiently with their left hand, and similarly, left handers who use their stick on the left might be more ambidextrous, allowing them to control the stick efficiently with their right hand. Which would explain why so few use their dominant hand at the bottom. But this is just a running hypothesis. Very interesting though.

And yea man, I really had no idea how hard of a time most people have using their off hand. My cop buddy told me people can't usually do simple things like stabbing, punching or shooting with their off hand which is why they so often can rely on angle of attack to determine a persons dominant hand. Where as, and maybe this has to do with boxing and fighting a lot as a kid, I usually will use my left for defense and jabs while holding my right for power. But I also will use my left for grappling and fine tasks, like if I did have a knife, so I could keep my right hand free for power. Tyson was the complete opposite as a southpaw, but they trained him to fight traditionally, as a right hander would, which is probably why his left is so absolutely deadly and almost comes out of no where. People are expecting the jabs to keep coming from the left and all of a sudden he throws a left haymaker or uppercut and it's over.

 

[Tob]

Hours removed from his 2 week long getaway at his local Holiday Inn, Rick Carpiniello flips his computer mouse onto its back to dust out the rubber ball socket as he waits for the cathode ray tube monitor unit to warm up. After only using his open palms and fists to demand service at the buffet or clutching at his Big Gulp cup while laying on a beach chair beside the dumpster behind a 7-11 during his excursion, Rick begins to use his fingers for delicate tasks for the first time in 2 weeks. As he struggled to twist off the plastic cap holding the rubber ball in place, Rick notices underneath his pinkie nail, a drip of dried on golden syrup that must have been a nice surprise he saved for himself from the chicken and waffle early bird special 11 days ago. "Sweet but challenging, just how I like my meals" Rick mumbles as he polished off his pinkie and closed his eyes to relish the sensation of the dried fructose bead dissolving down his throat. "High fructose corn syrup and Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn or as Americans call it, Sailor Moon...the two only gifts the Japanese gave us." Pleased with his handiwork, Rick looked for a napkin to wipe the saliva off his pinkie. Remembering the stack of napkins he had pilfered from Golden Corral, Rick reaches into his still packed vacation bag he fashioned out of the shower curtains and rod Holiday Inn had graciously provided to him to take home. "Anything not bolted down, right?" a pleased Rick Carpiniello said with a chuckle as he glanced at the 500 pound stone and ceramic Colonel Sanders statue sitting in the corner of his room that someone had left outside of KFC. With his mouse and monitor warmed to the task, Rick begins to scroll through his Twitter timeline and checks the two Twitter accounts he considers to be essential to his job as the lead writer for the New York Rangers for The Atheletic: @TomsOldDay vintage football cards account and @Super70sSports. Rick takes a deep breath and pushes pass the mental hurdle of re-engaging in sports journalism after an extended time away. "I can do this", Rick muttered as he looked to the two picture frames of Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker sitting on the corner of his desk for emotional support. "I need you now ladies", Rick pleaded. With one more deep breath and with his eyes closed, a sense of relief and calm washes over Rick like Aunt Jemina's syrup have washed over Betty Crocker's super moist box cakes many times before on Rick's dinner plate. With a rekindled passion for sports journalism, Rick begins to browse through the dozens of tweets of vintage baseball and football cards. Inspiration strikes and wasting not a single moment or risking an once in a lifetime nugget of journalism slipping out of his on-set pre-diabetic mind, Rick begins to construct several tweets quoting pictures of his favorite cards. "Badass", "Badass", "Badass" Rick continued. Having now covered both football and baseball to once again exceed his own expectation of sports journalism excellence, it dawns on Rick he has yet to provide hockey coverage ever since he suggested Mika Zibanejad could be traded in an eventual Eichel blockbuster in a tweet two weeks ago. He exits out of Twitter and googles "Elliotte Friedman Twitter" in hopes of finding some news worthy events Rangers fans would be interested in. "A development in the Jack Eichel situation: hearing he is now going to be represented by Pat Brisson" Elliotte Friedman writes. "There it is", Rick whispers while shaking his head as even he's amazed by how proficient he is at gathering intel from his NHL inside sources. Now all that remains is passing along this news to his loyal subscribers and followers in a meaningful way Rick believes the casual unknowledgeable fan would be able to understand. After workshopping several versions of his weekly contribution to the Rangers beat, he decides against "Interesting, no?" and "Somewhat interesting, yes?" and instead goes with "Somewhat interesting, no?". "You've done it again, Rick" he says to himself as he leaned back into his McDonald's Play Place coil spring toy rider horse he happened to find while waiting for his Big Mac meal in 1992. Once more satisfied with both the quality and quantity of his work Rick picks up an industrial plastic tarp and begins to get dressed. "No, not today, I'm feeling good about myself" Rick says with a growing smile as he instead opts for the oversized table cloth and the giant blue IKEA Polypropylene tote bag with cutouts for his legs to slide into. Rick shouts out his window at the Chili's restaurant that had attracted him to apartment building years ago, "I'M COMING, GET THEM READY" he hollered. After a brisk 45 minute walk down from the 4th floor of his building and across the street, Rick sits down and readies himself for lunch. "Make this quick, I only have 4 hours" he instructs the waitress. "Bring the best 6 you have in the kitchen for me to examine and I'll pick 3 and we'll go from there." he says. Putting away her notepad for taking orders, the young waitress replies back, "Sure thing, I'll bring them right on over while you enjoy your drink, let me know if you need anything! My name Kristie by the way, I'll be your server tonight!". Once she stepped away, Rick begins to mumbles under his breath, "....if I need anything...some appreciation for fine journalism would be nice... I bet you don't even have an Atheltic subscription even though it's available to students at 75% off". Rolling his eyes as far back as his 28.9 BMI would allow, Rick places all 4 dinner napkins on his thighs to make sure his dinner doesn't soak through to his pants again like last time. Moments later, the waitress returns with the 6 biggest onions the state of NY has to offer for Rick to select for his 3 blooming onions. Despite warding off his unbearable hunger from not having eaten in over 4 hours, Rick's relentless work ethic would not allow him to sit idly by while waiting for his food. Instead, Rick decides to become the hardest working person in the restaurant by checking on his recent Twitter likes while the chefs battle flying grease and the dish boy slaves in the dish pit oblivious to the indomitable triumph of human spirit occurring in the dining room as Rick scrolled through his Twitter mentions. At last, Rick's lunch arrives and 6,500 calories into his meal, the waitress returns to ask him how his meal is going so far. Without breaking eye contact with the center core of his 3rd blooming onion, Rick replies back, "badass". Unsure of what to make of the response, the girl asks him if he would like a different type of cola for his refill only for Rick to reply back once more, "badass". Finally, unable to communicate with him, the girl begins to step away from the table only to hear him utter again and again, "badass... badass... badass".

This is starting to get a little too mean This will be the last edition of Carp short stories.

 

[brakeyawself]

Hours removed from his 2 week long getaway at his local Holiday Inn, Rick Carpiniello flips his computer mouse onto its back to dust out the rubber ball socket as he waits for the cathode ray tube monitor unit to warm up. After only using his open palms and fists to demand service at the buffet or clutching at his Big Gulp cup while laying on a beach chair beside the dumpster behind a 7-11 during his excursion, Rick begins to use his fingers for delicate tasks for the first time in 2 weeks. As he struggled to twist off the plastic cap holding the rubber ball in place, Rick notices underneath his pinkie nail, a drip of dried on golden syrup that must have been a nice surprise he saved for himself from the chicken and waffle early bird special 11 days ago. "Sweet but challenging, just how I like my meals" Rick mumbles as he polished off his pinkie and closed his eyes to relish the sensation of the dried fructose bead dissolving down his throat. "High fructose corn syrup and Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn or as Americans call it, Sailor Moon...the two only gifts the Japanese gave us." Pleased with his handiwork, Rick looked for a napkin to wipe the saliva off his pinkie. Remembering the stack of napkins he had pilfered from Golden Corral, Rick reaches into his still packed vacation bag he fashioned out of the shower curtains and rod Holiday Inn had graciously provided to him to take home. "Anything not bolted down, right?" a pleased Rick Carpiniello said with a chuckle as he glanced at the 500 pound stone and ceramic Colonel Sanders statue sitting in the corner of his room that someone had left outside of KFC. With his mouse and monitor warmed to the task, Rick begins to scroll through his Twitter timeline and checks the two Twitter accounts he considers to be essential to his job as the lead writer for the New York Rangers for The Atheletic: @TomsOldDay vintage football cards account and @Super70sSports. Rick takes a deep breath and pushes pass the mental hurdle of re-engaging in sports journalism after an extended time away. "I can do this", Rick muttered as he looked to the two picture frames of Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker sitting on the corner of his desk for emotional support. "I need you now ladies", Rick pleaded. With one more deep breath and with his eyes closed, a sense of relief and calm washes over Rick like Aunt Jemina's syrup have washed over Betty Crocker's super moist box cakes many times before on Rick's dinner plate. With a rekindled passion for sports journalism, Rick begins to browse through the dozens of tweets of vintage baseball and football cards. Inspiration strikes and wasting not a single moment or risking an once in a lifetime nugget of journalism slipping out of his on-set pre-diabetic mind, Rick begins to construct several tweets quoting pictures of his favorite cards. "Badass", "Badass", "Badass" Rick continued. Having now covered both football and baseball to once again exceed his own expectation of sports journalism excellence, it dawns on Rick he has yet to provide hockey coverage ever since he suggested Mika Zibanejad could be traded in an eventual Eichel blockbuster in a tweet two weeks ago. He exits out of Twitter and googles "Elliotte Friedman Twitter" in hopes of finding some news worthy events Rangers fans would be interested in. "A development in the Jack Eichel situation: hearing he is now going to be represented by Pat Brisson" Elliotte Friedman writes. "There it is", Rick whispers while shaking his head as even he's amazed by how proficient he is at gathering intel from his NHL inside sources. Now all that remains is passing along this news to his loyal subscribers and followers in a meaningful way Rick believes the casual unknowledgeable fan would be able to understand. After workshopping several versions of his weekly contribution to the Rangers beat, he decides against "Interesting, no?" and "Somewhat interesting, yes?" and instead goes with "Somewhat interesting, no?". "You've done it again, Rick" he says to himself as he leaned back into his McDonald's Play Place coil spring toy rider horse he happened to find while waiting for his Big Mac meal in 1992. Once more satisfied with both the quality and quantity of his work Rick picks up an industrial plastic tarp and begins to get dressed. "No, not today, I'm feeling good about myself" Rick says with a growing smile as he instead opts for the oversized table cloth and the giant blue IKEA Polypropylene tote bag with cutouts for his legs to slide into. Rick shouts out his window at the Chili's restaurant that had attracted him to apartment building years ago, "I'M COMING, GET THEM READY" he hollered. After a brisk 45 minute walk down from the 4th floor of his building and across the street, Rick sits down and readies himself for lunch. "Make this quick, I only have 4 hours" he instructs the waitress. "Bring the best 6 you have in the kitchen for me to examine and I'll pick 3 and we'll go from there." he says. Putting away her notepad for taking orders, the young waitress replies back, "Sure thing, I'll bring them right on over while you enjoy your drink, let me know if you need anything! My name Kristie by the way, I'll be your server tonight!". Once she stepped away, Rick begins to mumbles under his breath, "....if I need anything...some appreciation for fine journalism would be nice... I bet you don't even have an Atheltic subscription even though it's available to students at 75% off". Rolling his eyes as far back as his 28.9 BMI would allow, Rick places all 4 dinner napkins on his thighs to make sure his dinner doesn't soak through to his pants again like last time. Moments later, the waitress returns with the 6 biggest onions the state of NY has to offer for Rick to select for his 3 blooming onions. Despite warding off his unbearable hunger from not having eaten in over 4 hours, Rick's relentless work ethic would not allow him to sit idly by while waiting for his food. Instead, Rick decides to become the hardest working person in the restaurant by checking on his recent Twitter likes while the chefs battle flying grease and the dish boy slaves in the dish pit oblivious to the indomitable triumph of human spirit occurring in the dining room as Rick scrolled through his Twitter mentions. At last, Rick's lunch arrives and 6,500 calories into his meal, the waitress returns to ask him how his meal is going so far. Without breaking eye contact with the center core of his 3rd blooming onion, Rick replies back, "badass". Unsure of what to make of the response, the girl asks him if he would like a different type of cola for his refill only for Rick to reply back once more, "badass". Finally, unable to communicate with him, the girl begins to step away from the table only to hear him utter again and again, "badass... badass... badass".

I usually hate the Athletic. So really, I never knew they give subs to students at 75% off. Now I understand why that rag is so popular.

Oh, and don't forget Sushi man. I mean sure the Koreans helped, but it's fairly Japanese.

I was gonna say boba, but I think that's actually Taiwan.

And I think that's part of the problem with this world of rapid content turnover. You almost HAVE to produce content that you normally wouldn't even consider. It's really less about the quality and more about the constant need for "NEW, NEW, NEW!" Which forces journos to just pump out muck like their job depended on it, which it does. It's sad really.

Faux maple syrup on "box cakes"? That sounds pretty decadent. But real maple syrup is just soooo expensive.

And no way is high fructose corn syrup superior to cane sugar. It's why the Mexican CocaCola tastes so much better than the North American versions.

 

[Matt Rentfree]

Hours removed from his 2 week long getaway at his local Holiday Inn, Rick Carpiniello flips his computer mouse onto its back to dust out the rubber ball socket as he waits for the cathode ray tube monitor unit to warm up. After only using his open palms and fists to demand service at the buffet or clutching at his Big Gulp cup while laying on a beach chair beside the dumpster behind a 7-11 during his excursion, Rick begins to use his fingers for delicate tasks for the first time in 2 weeks. As he struggled to twist off the plastic cap holding the rubber ball in place, Rick notices underneath his pinkie nail, a drip of dried on golden syrup that must have been a nice surprise he saved for himself from the chicken and waffle early bird special 11 days ago. "Sweet but challenging, just how I like my meals" Rick mumbles as he polished off his pinkie and closed his eyes to relish the sensation of the dried fructose bead dissolving down his throat. "High fructose corn syrup and Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn or as Americans call it, Sailor Moon...the two only gifts the Japanese gave us." Pleased with his handiwork, Rick looked for a napkin to wipe the saliva off his pinkie. Remembering the stack of napkins he had pilfered from Golden Corral, Rick reaches into his still packed vacation bag he fashioned out of the shower curtains and rod Holiday Inn had graciously provided to him to take home. "Anything not bolted down, right?" a pleased Rick Carpiniello said with a chuckle as he glanced at the 500 pound stone and ceramic Colonel Sanders statue sitting in the corner of his room that someone had left outside of KFC. With his mouse and monitor warmed to the task, Rick begins to scroll through his Twitter timeline and checks the two Twitter accounts he considers to be essential to his job as the lead writer for the New York Rangers for The Atheletic: @TomsOldDay vintage football cards account and @Super70sSports. Rick takes a deep breath and pushes pass the mental hurdle of re-engaging in sports journalism after an extended time away. "I can do this", Rick muttered as he looked to the two picture frames of Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker sitting on the corner of his desk for emotional support. "I need you now ladies", Rick pleaded. With one more deep breath and with his eyes closed, a sense of relief and calm washes over Rick like Aunt Jemina's syrup have washed over Betty Crocker's super moist box cakes many times before on Rick's dinner plate. With a rekindled passion for sports journalism, Rick begins to browse through the dozens of tweets of vintage baseball and football cards. Inspiration strikes and wasting not a single moment or risking an once in a lifetime nugget of journalism slipping out of his on-set pre-diabetic mind, Rick begins to construct several tweets quoting pictures of his favorite cards. "Badass", "Badass", "Badass" Rick continued. Having now covered both football and baseball to once again exceed his own expectation of sports journalism excellence, it dawns on Rick he has yet to provide hockey coverage ever since he suggested Mika Zibanejad could be traded in an eventual Eichel blockbuster in a tweet two weeks ago. He exits out of Twitter and googles "Elliotte Friedman Twitter" in hopes of finding some news worthy events Rangers fans would be interested in. "A development in the Jack Eichel situation: hearing he is now going to be represented by Pat Brisson" Elliotte Friedman writes. "There it is", Rick whispers while shaking his head as even he's amazed by how proficient he is at gathering intel from his NHL inside sources. Now all that remains is passing along this news to his loyal subscribers and followers in a meaningful way Rick believes the casual unknowledgeable fan would be able to understand. After workshopping several versions of his weekly contribution to the Rangers beat, he decides against "Interesting, no?" and "Somewhat interesting, yes?" and instead goes with "Somewhat interesting, no?". "You've done it again, Rick" he says to himself as he leaned back into his McDonald's Play Place coil spring toy rider horse he happened to find while waiting for his Big Mac meal in 1992. Once more satisfied with both the quality and quantity of his work Rick picks up an industrial plastic tarp and begins to get dressed. "No, not today, I'm feeling good about myself" Rick says with a growing smile as he instead opts for the oversized table cloth and the giant blue IKEA Polypropylene tote bag with cutouts for his legs to slide into. Rick shouts out his window at the Chili's restaurant that had attracted him to apartment building years ago, "I'M COMING, GET THEM READY" he hollered. After a brisk 45 minute walk down from the 4th floor of his building and across the street, Rick sits down and readies himself for lunch. "Make this quick, I only have 4 hours" he instructs the waitress. "Bring the best 6 you have in the kitchen for me to examine and I'll pick 3 and we'll go from there." he says. Putting away her notepad for taking orders, the young waitress replies back, "Sure thing, I'll bring them right on over while you enjoy your drink, let me know if you need anything! My name Kristie by the way, I'll be your server tonight!". Once she stepped away, Rick begins to mumbles under his breath, "....if I need anything...some appreciation for fine journalism would be nice... I bet you don't even have an Atheltic subscription even though it's available to students at 75% off". Rolling his eyes as far back as his 28.9 BMI would allow, Rick places all 4 dinner napkins on his thighs to make sure his dinner doesn't soak through to his pants again like last time. Moments later, the waitress returns with the 6 biggest onions the state of NY has to offer for Rick to select for his 3 blooming onions. Despite warding off his unbearable hunger from not having eaten in over 4 hours, Rick's relentless work ethic would not allow him to sit idly by while waiting for his food. Instead, Rick decides to become the hardest working person in the restaurant by checking on his recent Twitter likes while the chefs battle flying grease and the dish boy slaves in the dish pit oblivious to the indomitable triumph of human spirit occurring in the dining room as Rick scrolled through his Twitter mentions. At last, Rick's lunch arrives and 6,500 calories into his meal, the waitress returns to ask him how his meal is going so far. Without breaking eye contact with the center core of his 3rd blooming onion, Rick replies back, "badass". Unsure of what to make of the response, the girl asks him if he would like a different type of cola for his refill only for Rick to reply back once more, "badass". Finally, unable to communicate with him, the girl begins to step away from the table only to hear him utter again and again, "badass... badass... badass".

Holy ****balls, Tob! Paragraphs for god's sake!

 

[brakeyawself]

Holy ****balls, Tob! Paragraphs for god's sake!

Meh, formatting is so........... 1998.

It's like my English teacher in grad school always said, "Nothin better than a big wall of text to make you appreciate life."

 

[EdJovanovski]

I wonder if it has to do with power as you said about Ovi etc... You do, or should get more power with your dominant hand lower down. Which makes me curious why the left handed thing started with your dominant hand on top. The only thing I can think of is that when pokechecking or useing your stick with one hand, most people would want their dominant hand controlling the stick at the top. But even the articles I am reading, while they explain what happened after curves were added to sticks, as most players prior used flat sticks and thus could play more ambidextrously, they don't exactly explain WHY it happened or why it became the norm in Canada but not the rest of the world.

I would think most players would want more power, but maybe it does have to do with better reach and one handed control, which you wouldn't get with your dominant hand on the bottom as much.

Which perhaps means, a lot of the righties that use their stick on the right side are more ambidextrous, thus allowing them to control the stick efficiently with their left hand, and similarly, left handers who use their stick on the left might be more ambidextrous, allowing them to control the stick efficiently with their right hand. But this is just a running hypothesis. Very interesting though.

And yea man, I really had no idea how hard of a time most people have using their off hand. My cop buddy told me people can't usually do simple things like stabbing, punching or shooting with their off hand which is why they so often can rely on angle of attack to determine a persons dominant hand. Where as, and maybe this has to do with boxing and fighting a lot as a kid, I usually will use my left for defense and jabs while holding my right for power. But I also will use my left for grappling and fine tasks, like if I did have a knife, so I could keep my right hand free for power. Tyson was the complete opposite as a southpaw, but they trained him to fight traditionally, as a right hander would, which is probably why his left is so absolutely deadly and almost comes out of no where. People are expecting the jabs to keep coming from the left and all of a sudden he throws a left haymaker or uppercut and it's over.

It’s because the proper way of stick handling is to do almost all of the control with the top hand, your bottom hand should have a way looser grip on the stick than most people think. A common method of practising this is guys will put the cardboard roll from toilet paper around the shaft and they’ll hold it in their lower hand, then try to stickhandle without deforming the cardboard roll at all. That is how loose the bottom hand should be! Or else your stickhandling will be choppy; that’s the main difference in what makes a player have “smooth” hands. So I think that general coordination is more important than the increase in shot power. That coordination greatly affects your stickhandling, passing, checking, and like you said especially when you have one hand on the stick defending.

I’d say the shot power mostly makes a difference at the extreme ends, like if you took two guys off the street who’ve never held a hockey stick. They’ll probably shoot harder with their dominant hand on the bottom. If you take two elite players of identical caliber skill with the only variable being that one shoots with their dominant hand at the bottom, that one probably shoots a bit harder. The individual difference isn’t that substantial but when you go to the extreme, that difference will manifest in a group of those dominant hand at the bottom players having harder shots. It’s a thing with statistics in many areas of life, like say men are on average a 55/100 in terms of aggression and women are 45/100. The way those bell curves go, the people represented at the extreme end of aggression distribution will be overwhelmingly men, even though the difference between average men and women isn’t that drastic.

And oh man don’t get me started with knives lol, that’s something I apparently do strange. Not stabbing people, but when eating. I hold my knife with my left hand and my fork with my right hand. Apparently everybody else who’s right handed holds their knife with their right hand and their fork with their left hand? But then if they aren’t using the knife then they pick up the fork with their right hand?

 

[brakeyawself]

It’s because the proper way of stick handling is to do almost all of the control with the top hand, your bottom hand should have a way looser grip on the stick than most people think. A common method of practising this is guys will put the cardboard roll from toilet paper around the shaft and they’ll hold it in their lower hand, then try to stickhandle without deforming the cardboard roll at all. That is how loose the bottom hand should be! Or else your stickhandling will be choppy; that’s the main difference in what makes a player have “smooth” hands. So I think that general coordination is more important than the increase in shot power. That coordination greatly affects your stickhandling, passing, checking, and like you said especially when you have one hand on the stick defending.

I’d say the shot power mostly makes a difference at the extreme ends, like if you took two guys off the street who’ve never held a hockey stick. They’ll probably shoot harder with their dominant hand on the bottom. If you take two elite players of identical caliber skill with the only variable being that one shoots with their dominant hand at the bottom, that one probably shoots a bit harder. The individual difference isn’t that substantial but when you go to the extreme, that difference will manifest in a group of those dominant hand at the bottom players having harder shots. It’s a thing with statistics in many areas of life, like say men are on average a 55/100 in terms of aggression and women are 45/100. The way those bell curves go, the people represented at the extreme end of aggression distribution will be overwhelmingly men, even though the difference between average men and women isn’t that drastic.

And oh man don’t get me started with knives lol, that’s something I apparently do strange. Not stabbing people, but when eating. I hold my knife with my left hand and my fork with my right hand. Apparently everybody else who’s right handed holds their knife with their right hand and their fork with their left hand? But then if they aren’t using the knife then they pick up the fork with their right hand?

Oh shit. You're right about the stick handling. I didn't know about the toilet roll method. But that makes a lot of sense. And I guess the more ambidextrous you are the less you'll notice the difference in control to power ratio.

And true about shot power. All though this does make me wonder how much harder Ovi might actually shoot with his dominant hand.

As far as the bell curve goes yea lol. I actually had an argument recently with a guy on HFboards who was basically making a case of "appeal to authority" of the elite pro scout compared to basically everyone else. Basically, he asserted if you aren't a pro scout you can never be correct going against the opinion of a pro scout. I tried explaining the curve but he was a bit hard of understanding.

Lol. Man, I use my knife and fork the exact same way. Left hand knife, right hand fork. Some people actually SWITCH HANDS after they've cut the food. Like they'll put the knife down, put the fork in the right hand and eat. It's true. But I am kind of an animal, sometimes I only use a knife for eating. I mean, they both stab. Why bother with two? Unless you're eating rice or something. But then, if you can use chopsticks to eat rice, you can use a knife.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Red Lobster finally ran out of shrimp

 

[jay from jersey]

We can give him 8 years and the aav he wants, but its going to take two to Tango and a structured salary that is either tradable or buy out worthy in the 6, 7, and 8th year.

Just how smart is Ziby and his agent as it pertains to his age vs that 5 year mark and the 35+ rule vs. his back-nine years and one last contract? Or, cash on now short term 5y- at big dollars and bounce off into DJ Rave land in his mid/late 30's.

Dude is a free spirit, only he knows where the path leads?

Does he want 5x$10=$50? With protection. Or, 8x$8=$64? And we shingle the 6-8 years on a declining scale with a NO nmc/ntc in the back half?

Gonna be tough on a plus 35 contract.
Those are usually structured to be the same as buying out regular contracts so it doesn’t look like cap circumvention the way they structure it

 

[BBKers]

I spoke with a scout yesterday. Not with the Rangers. He specifically and outta the blue then mentioned two NYR draft picks that he felt were a bit off “off the board” considering whom he thought might have been the better pick at these positions. The picks he mentioned were:

#106 NYR Kalle Vaisanen over #108 Victor Stjernborg
#112 NYR Talyn Boyko over # 134 Liam Dower Nilsson

I know very little about this. This was a strange draft in CoVid times. Time will tell...

 

[Kocur Dill]

Gonna be tough on a plus 35 contract.
Those are usually structured to be the same as buying out regular contracts so it doesn’t look like cap circumvention the way they structure it

My understanding is the +35 applies to new contracts signed in the players 35th birth year?

 

[jay from jersey]

My understanding is the +35 applies to new contracts signed in the players 35th birth year?

Yea but they aren’t going to sign a 29-30 year old for 8 years at 9 plus mill where the final 2-3 years of the deal are an easy buyout. It’s going to be like every other contract. Sure they can massively front load the deal so he gets 99% of the money early, but the cap hit will continue, just like every other deal.
There’s no advantageous position where dealing/buying out a 35-38 yr old with a 9-10 mill cap hit works in our favor. Odds are it’s going to look like Kessel looks now, something to that effect. That’s the point I’m trying to make.
Not a very ideal situation.
I really wonder if Zibby would take 5 years at 11 per. Similar to panarin but massively frontloaded.
The would be the ideal situation, because theoretically the core of the team would still be intact and competitive once Zibby and Panarins deals run out in a similar time frame. Then NYR would still have LaF,Kakko, Fox etc and then have the cap to replace Zibby and Panarin with younger options and a lot of cap. Might be a pipe dream, but I would try.
As it sits now, there is a 1-2% chance that the Zibby deal isn’t at least 7 years. Maybe, a slight chance he’ll take 6 years, but these players and agents aren’t stupid. They don’t go around leaving years on the table on a retirement contract. We saw it with Kreider, Panarin, now couturier and RNH. I don’t really see how fans have these fantasy’s or how he loves NY so much he’ll take a 5 yr 9 mill per deal.
It’s like thinking we are going to have a complete homegrown D full of cheap options and Fox and Trouba and everyone is going to get equal ice time. It’s just not realistic and ridiculous thinking.
I rather talk about things that are actually in the realm of possibility for the team going fwd.
The cold hard facts are we either sign Zibby for between 9-10 for 7 years, or go in another direction. That is the scenario we are looking at whether we like it or not.
That’s why I’m not completely against getting Eichel and try convincing Zibby to waive at the TDL if things start to go south this season. Even with the injury risk, he might be the younger better option with less term on his deal. I’m not too concerned that Eichel is going to break down while he’s signed from age 25-30. Even with the neck surgery.
I’m far more concerned with Zibby going to shit from age 30-37

 

[RangerBoy]

Good. Show that quote to Zibanejad.

Zibanejad and Couturier are very similar players. Some people would say Couturier is the better overall player.

By advanced metrics, Couturier is a flat-out stud. Over the past three seasons, he ranks 10th among all NHL skaters in Goals Above Replacement; over the past five, he’s fifth. Only Connor McDavid, Brad Marchand, Mark Stone and Brayden Point grade out better — that’s illustrious company.

But Couturier isn’t just a billboard for the importance of advanced metrics. There aren’t many forwards in hockey who have been as consistently productive on the scoresheet as Couturier. In fact, only 16 forwards over the last four seasons have paced for at least 26 goals and 70 points in each of those years: McDavid, Marchand, Stone, Alex Ovechkin, Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, John Tavares, Leon Draisaitl, Mark Scheifele, Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon, Patrice Bergeron, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos … and Couturier.

Why the Flyers had to commit to Sean Couturier: Breaking down the 8-year, $62 million extension

 

[SA16]

Zibanejad and Couturier are very similar players. Some people would say Couturier is the better overall player.



Why the Flyers had to commit to Sean Couturier: Breaking down the 8-year, $62 million extension

They aren’t similar at all

 

[Irishguy42]

My understanding is the +35 applies to new contracts signed in the players 35th birth year?

Per CapFriendly: "A contract is designated a 35+ contract if the players age on the first year of the contract is 35 or older (as of June 30 prior to the year of the effective contract)."

 

[Vitto79]

So Hartford is gonna have a stacked D

when’s Pirri getting signed to a 2 way deal ? calling that

 

[LORDE]

"...and Mrs. Simpson what did you do after they kicked you out of the restaurant?"

Sobbing "We went fishing"

 

[GAGLine]

My understanding is the +35 applies to new contracts signed in the players 35th birth year?

Correct. It is only contracts signed when the player is 35+. Any contract signed before they turn 35, regardless of the player's age when the contract ends, is NOT a 35+ contract. I believe it's based on the player's age as of July 1st (or June 30th...I would have to look it up), so if they are 34, sign on June 1st and turn 35 on June 10th, it would be a 35+ contract. But if they sign on June 1st and turn 35 on July 10th, it would not be a 35+ contract.

 

[Ola]

I spoke with a scout yesterday. Not with the Rangers. He specifically and outta the blue then mentioned two NYR draft picks that he felt were a bit off “off the board” considering whom he thought might have been the better pick at these positions. The picks he mentioned were:

#106 NYR Kalle Vaisanen over #108 Victor Stjernborg
#112 NYR Talyn Boyko over # 134 Liam Dower Nilsson

I know very little about this. This was a strange draft in CoVid times. Time will tell...

Yeah, felt like there is a little risk we knee-yerked that draft.

I have no big issues with Drury’s off season. But it’s stuff like this I am far from sold on Drury with. Does he have the experience to realize that you must have a long steady consistent plan with the draft, that only will pay off many years down the road even if you stick to that?

Ultimately you get the front office you pay for, or however it should be put. We went out and got a good coach, that is no guarantee, but since he replaced someone that was incompetent I think it will show.

Are there reasons to expect Drury to do a great job as a GM? What reasons would that be? We have now signed an AGM, that might help a bit.

It’s a bit like icing the roster Buffalo does this year, what should we expect? At least Gallant is a solid coach.

This is a big mystery for me with this team — why isn’t more requested? I mean if we spent 40m on the team we put on the ice, people would be pretty upset. When we have a super meager front office like we have had under Gorton and now under Drury, why is it never covered??

And this is the biggest problem with Dolan. He don’t understand how you build a professional organization.

 

[Boris Zubov]

"...and Mrs. Simpson what did you do after they kicked you out of the restaurant?"

Sobbing "We went fishing"

Does this sound like a man who had all he could eat?

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Hours removed from his 2 week long getaway at his local Holiday Inn, Rick Carpiniello flips his computer mouse onto its back to dust out the rubber ball socket as he waits for the cathode ray tube monitor unit to warm up. After only using his open palms and fists to demand service at the buffet or clutching at his Big Gulp cup while laying on a beach chair beside the dumpster behind a 7-11 during his excursion, Rick begins to use his fingers for delicate tasks for the first time in 2 weeks. As he struggled to twist off the plastic cap holding the rubber ball in place, Rick notices underneath his pinkie nail, a drip of dried on golden syrup that must have been a nice surprise he saved for himself from the chicken and waffle early bird special 11 days ago. "Sweet but challenging, just how I like my meals" Rick mumbles as he polished off his pinkie and closed his eyes to relish the sensation of the dried fructose bead dissolving down his throat. "High fructose corn syrup and Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn or as Americans call it, Sailor Moon...the two only gifts the Japanese gave us." Pleased with his handiwork, Rick looked for a napkin to wipe the saliva off his pinkie. Remembering the stack of napkins he had pilfered from Golden Corral, Rick reaches into his still packed vacation bag he fashioned out of the shower curtains and rod Holiday Inn had graciously provided to him to take home. "Anything not bolted down, right?" a pleased Rick Carpiniello said with a chuckle as he glanced at the 500 pound stone and ceramic Colonel Sanders statue sitting in the corner of his room that someone had left outside of KFC. With his mouse and monitor warmed to the task, Rick begins to scroll through his Twitter timeline and checks the two Twitter accounts he considers to be essential to his job as the lead writer for the New York Rangers for The Atheletic: @TomsOldDay vintage football cards account and @Super70sSports. Rick takes a deep breath and pushes pass the mental hurdle of re-engaging in sports journalism after an extended time away. "I can do this", Rick muttered as he looked to the two picture frames of Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker sitting on the corner of his desk for emotional support. "I need you now ladies", Rick pleaded. With one more deep breath and with his eyes closed, a sense of relief and calm washes over Rick like Aunt Jemina's syrup have washed over Betty Crocker's super moist box cakes many times before on Rick's dinner plate. With a rekindled passion for sports journalism, Rick begins to browse through the dozens of tweets of vintage baseball and football cards. Inspiration strikes and wasting not a single moment or risking an once in a lifetime nugget of journalism slipping out of his on-set pre-diabetic mind, Rick begins to construct several tweets quoting pictures of his favorite cards. "Badass", "Badass", "Badass" Rick continued. Having now covered both football and baseball to once again exceed his own expectation of sports journalism excellence, it dawns on Rick he has yet to provide hockey coverage ever since he suggested Mika Zibanejad could be traded in an eventual Eichel blockbuster in a tweet two weeks ago. He exits out of Twitter and googles "Elliotte Friedman Twitter" in hopes of finding some news worthy events Rangers fans would be interested in. "A development in the Jack Eichel situation: hearing he is now going to be represented by Pat Brisson" Elliotte Friedman writes. "There it is", Rick whispers while shaking his head as even he's amazed by how proficient he is at gathering intel from his NHL inside sources. Now all that remains is passing along this news to his loyal subscribers and followers in a meaningful way Rick believes the casual unknowledgeable fan would be able to understand. After workshopping several versions of his weekly contribution to the Rangers beat, he decides against "Interesting, no?" and "Somewhat interesting, yes?" and instead goes with "Somewhat interesting, no?". "You've done it again, Rick" he says to himself as he leaned back into his McDonald's Play Place coil spring toy rider horse he happened to find while waiting for his Big Mac meal in 1992. Once more satisfied with both the quality and quantity of his work Rick picks up an industrial plastic tarp and begins to get dressed. "No, not today, I'm feeling good about myself" Rick says with a growing smile as he instead opts for the oversized table cloth and the giant blue IKEA Polypropylene tote bag with cutouts for his legs to slide into. Rick shouts out his window at the Chili's restaurant that had attracted him to apartment building years ago, "I'M COMING, GET THEM READY" he hollered. After a brisk 45 minute walk down from the 4th floor of his building and across the street, Rick sits down and readies himself for lunch. "Make this quick, I only have 4 hours" he instructs the waitress. "Bring the best 6 you have in the kitchen for me to examine and I'll pick 3 and we'll go from there." he says. Putting away her notepad for taking orders, the young waitress replies back, "Sure thing, I'll bring them right on over while you enjoy your drink, let me know if you need anything! My name Kristie by the way, I'll be your server tonight!". Once she stepped away, Rick begins to mumbles under his breath, "....if I need anything...some appreciation for fine journalism would be nice... I bet you don't even have an Atheltic subscription even though it's available to students at 75% off". Rolling his eyes as far back as his 28.9 BMI would allow, Rick places all 4 dinner napkins on his thighs to make sure his dinner doesn't soak through to his pants again like last time. Moments later, the waitress returns with the 6 biggest onions the state of NY has to offer for Rick to select for his 3 blooming onions. Despite warding off his unbearable hunger from not having eaten in over 4 hours, Rick's relentless work ethic would not allow him to sit idly by while waiting for his food. Instead, Rick decides to become the hardest working person in the restaurant by checking on his recent Twitter likes while the chefs battle flying grease and the dish boy slaves in the dish pit oblivious to the indomitable triumph of human spirit occurring in the dining room as Rick scrolled through his Twitter mentions. At last, Rick's lunch arrives and 6,500 calories into his meal, the waitress returns to ask him how his meal is going so far. Without breaking eye contact with the center core of his 3rd blooming onion, Rick replies back, "badass". Unsure of what to make of the response, the girl asks him if he would like a different type of cola for his refill only for Rick to reply back once more, "badass". Finally, unable to communicate with him, the girl begins to step away from the table only to hear him utter again and again, "badass... badass... badass".

This is starting to get a little too mean This will be the last edition of Carp short stories.

I gave you a 4.63 on good reads.
It would have been higher but I was hoping for a mention of Corelle plates during the build up scene, so that omission was a bit of a let down.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I spoke with a scout yesterday. Not with the Rangers. He specifically and outta the blue then mentioned two NYR draft picks that he felt were a bit off “off the board” considering whom he thought might have been the better pick at these positions. The picks he mentioned were:

#106 NYR Kalle Vaisanen over #108 Victor Stjernborg
#112 NYR Talyn Boyko over # 134 Liam Dower Nilsson

I know very little about this. This was a strange draft in CoVid times. Time will tell...

Passing on Stjernborg is a blessing for Sam

 

[Savant]

Passing on Stjernborg is a blessing for Sam

It’s the other one that I had more issues with

 

[Avery16]

I spoke with a scout yesterday. Not with the Rangers. He specifically and outta the blue then mentioned two NYR draft picks that he felt were a bit off “off the board” considering whom he thought might have been the better pick at these positions. The picks he mentioned were:

#106 NYR Kalle Vaisanen over #108 Victor Stjernborg
#112 NYR Talyn Boyko over # 134 Liam Dower Nilsson

I know very little about this. This was a strange draft in CoVid times. Time will tell...

I had a problem with what we did in the 1st round and didn't do in the 2nd round. By the 4th round, I think anyone complaining about one pick over another is sharpshooting.

 

[Fitzy]

So Hartford is gonna have a stacked D

when’s Pirri getting signed to a 2 way deal ? calling that

The hockey player equivalent of a pitching machine?