cross16

In that speech he emphasized some interesting words. Says their investigator spoke with those who “were willing to participate”. I don’t think that’s by accident. It’s possible their investigation didn’t include talking to the victim, which would mean it’s not necessarily true their investigation means everything is clear.

Poor might be a stretch but I think you'd be hard pressed to convince me he's done a good job. The majority of the team he inherited. He made good moves to bring in Fiala and Danault but that's kind of it. Hasn't drafted well either. Mclellan is a good coach but is one that tends to have a shelf life but I do see this as more of a roster construction thing then a coaching thing. I don't think their roster is great.

Right now it sounds like this won’t be a quick trial and could take over a year. So my guess is he gets suspended, non qualified and then UFa. Past that I think he remains suspended by the nhl and like never plays a game in the NHL again.

My suspicion would be the first move is the players will get suspended while the proceedings unfold. I'd be a little surprised to see contract's terminated at this point but possible. For Dube, my guess is he gets suspended and his contract just run out. Dube would not count against the cap if he is suspended.

I don’t get the argument behind why he could have hit a home run in the summer. It sounds like they had more suitors after him now than in the summer and the Canucks sure wouldn’t have been interested in the summer. I don't think it’s fair to assume he nets more in the summer. yes the flames were trying to sign him but I don’t think that means if another teams GM was making a big pitch Conroy would have said no. and for the same reasons you suggest he had more value are the same why it made sense for the flames to make a push to retain him. if the flames wanted to hit a home run with this they needed to move him in 2022.

I just don't think you hit home runs at the TDL anymore because teams are just not moving top prospects. I think if you are looking for reasons to dislike this move it probably comes back to misplaced expectations. I've said all along I expected the Horvat return for LIndholm and I would say they got a bit better than that. The first Van got was more valuable but Conroy's quantity approach I think makes up for it IMO.

Conroy was on the fan this morning and something I found interesting is when they brought up who is going to play center he listed off several players but Zary wasn't one of them. Now he did say they were willing to try a lot but he listed of Schwindt, Rooney coming back even that Posposil has played center in the past. But no mention of Zary. Now i'm not going to hold someone's feet to the fire based on a radio hit but I found it interested becasue the Flames were not intentional about getting Zary to play center in the A and now he wasn't the first thought of the GM when there is an opening. Seems like confirmation to me that they don't see Zary as a center at the NHL level.

to be fair the Athletic article that outlined the potential Lindholm trades was written by 2 writers who speculated on what they thought the return would look like. I’ve never heard a rumor that Colorado actually offered Ritchie.

there is a difference between knowing someone was involved and evidence required to proceed with charges.

I have approved mental health leaves at my work. I’m very familiar with how it works. all I will say is I’ve know for some time that Dube was involved and that if charges were filled he’d be named. So sure if you want to believe the flames or the league didn’t know be my guest but I won’t. This has not been a well kept secret. but at no point did I blame the flames or the nhl because I don’t. I believe all 5 of them should get their day in court and even if I heard he was involved I would not advocate cutting or burying a player until the legal process played out. I just don’t like Seravelli trying to push this angle that the clubs were totally taken aback by this. Just furthers a culture that should want to change itself.

Frank has been really off on this one and honestly he's really starting to hurt his credibility with me. Trying to absolve the teams of this is a bad look. This has been talked about in the hockey world for some time and the names that are being charged have not exactly been kept quiet. I don't doubt at all that players were told by the counsel not to say anything but that doesn't mean the clubs didn't know.

I don't think whether or not he is under the care of mental health professionals matters in this case. It's pretty clear now, and was strongly suspected at the time, that the reason he needed to step away were these charges. I'm not suggesting the Flames lied but they wondered into a place I don't think they should have. for a few days the storyline was "good on the Flames" and that shouldn't have been the case.

The Flames should have to answer to, and be held accountable for, trying to spin this as them looking out for Dube's mental health. Was questionable when it happened and looks terrible now. Especially trying to time it with Kylington's arrival.

really surprised on DiSimone not disappointed losing either guy though.

Full amount yes. Looks like Dube is off the roster (so they gain a roster spot)but he still counts against the cap. I would be very surprised if the nhl would grant the flames LTIR in this situation. not to get ahead of things but a suspension, if it gets there, would remove his cap hit as suspended players don’t count.

Still can't figure out why Osterle appears to have fans in this organization. I won't be shocked if Ruzicka is claimed but I expect him to clear

Looks like the dots are fully connected on this. 5 players now have taken indefinite leaves coinciding with this report that they will need to report for charges. I'll withhold anything else until it becomes official but really hard to see this as just a coincidence. Going to be very disappointing if the Flames tried to spin this into a mental health thing if the root cause is something different.

Think the dots are fully connected on this one. There is your 5 of 5.

Dots continue to connect on this one. Both of these dropped today

I think if the Flames can they are going to try and throw Ruzicka into a deal for some depth elsewhere. I doubt you can get anything for him on his own but I could see a team wanting the depth as a throw in. I don't think they see a future for him here and I get it. I don't think he is an NHLer.

This is where I am. I just don't see the details you want to see in Ruzicka's game at this point in his career especially when he doesn't have the puck. I agree he is trying I just don't think he has very good details about his game so he gets on the wrong side of the play too often. I'm not surprised he keeps coming out because what does he give you? A good shot when he's going yes but outside of that he doesn't give you much.

That appears to be a mistake in reporting. Based on everything i've seen Reaves is on IR NOT LTIR. The Leafs are not saving any money on his contract they are just using the roster space

Felt like the NHL was doing a lot of good things several years ago but they are descending back into joke status amongst the major professional sports. If a player does something serious enough to warrant his contract being voided how in the hell can he be free to sign for another team only months later? Just a brutal look for the league. I mean it's the OIlers so not surprised at all they would stoop to this level but it's more of a joke that the league allows this. Just no standard at all.

Pretty familiar script. Flames play solid but they are just not good enough and don’t have the top end talent you need to win games like this.

The oilers are just so much more skilled than the flames. Puck movement and skating is easy for them, for the flames stringing together 3 passes is a challenge.