Sod16

The most miraculous feat since Panarin turned Ryan Strome into a 21 goal player.

It creates strain on the team and the lines when there is a guy you don't feel comfortable putting on the ice in the third period or OT.

If any of you were wondering why Trouba is now on the third unit and will be entirely dispatched if his contract can be moved, now you know after watching the second period.

Actually, what the Habs did was repeatedly swap their first round picks with expansion teams years in advance (trades no one would make today). That's how they got LaFleur. After the 1970 season, Montreal traded its top pick for the following year, 1971, for Oakland's top pick in 1971. It wasn't as dumb from Oakland's standpoint as you might think. Oakland had made the playoffs in 1970 and Montreal had not, resulting in Montreal having a higher pick in 1970. Montreal was thought to be in decline. From the standpoint of the date of the trade, the chances of Montreal missing the playoffs in 1971 in the East were possibly higher than the chances of Oakland missing the playoffs in the West.

Yes, we've won with him, but I don't see a reason to wait for the inevitability of a goal against on one of these power plays. He is basically not permitted to check. It's the most outrageous officiating I've seen, because it's calculated as opposed to honest bad calls.

The authority on clean hits, Suban, is pontificating between periods on how D'Angelo's hit was clean and should not have been penalized. Is he testing my gag response?

I've been looking, but no, not at least at even strength.

We haven't seen a PP like that in a while. Can we really keep Rempe in the lineup when he's going to be called for things that not a single player in the rest of the league would be called for?

Trivia: UNC v. Duke (What would Canes fans prefer to watch?)

Oh they make a lot of noise when the Canes are in contention. When they are out of the playoffs, they will be drawing 8,000 again, just as they did three years after they won the cup. The honest truth is that it is a lame market and the team should be moved. Nashville is a similarly sized mid-South city, and it has better fans.

Financial resources and high payrolls were directly behind all of the cups won by Toronto and Philly over the past 49 years.

It was really all a matter of sponsoring junior teams, and MSG ownership was too cheap to do that. One problem was that during the 40s and 50s, the Norris family owned both the Red Wings and a major stake in MSG Corp., and they put all of their junior team apples in one basket (the Red Wings). The Rangers were viewed as a filler of dates in an arena that was focused on boxing and the circus. The Rangers did sponsor one great junior team in the 50s, the Guelph Biltmores, who produced Gilbert, Ratelle, Howell, Prentice and others. The league as still skewed that even when the universal draft was begun in 1969, they let gave the CANADIENS the first pick so that they could take the top French Canadien player. Give me a break!

Stupid franchises. TB and Carolina should have these two locked up long term. Let's get some NJ Gerard Gallant rumors started.

For the reasons stated, the league was rigged in favor of Montreal, Toronto and Detroit, which finished first every year between 1943 and 1966 and won all but one cup in that period. Before the War, the Canadian junior system was not as well developed and was not the exclusive feeder, so the Rangers, Boston and Hawks were competitive. As far as Kreider being in the top 5, remember that the schedule was 48, 60 and then 70 for a good chunk of the 100 years. The game was also more low scoring during large swaths of that time. And hey, how many of the Rangers from the 1950s could jump out of filled swimming pool?

No. The first round may not end until Sunday, and they won't start the second until everyone is done with the first, and even then they add a few days.