conundrumed

I should have pegged Vegas down to 3rd. I just knew that Fleury move was atrocious juju. Call it karma or whatever, but that level of treatment to, really, in mafia terms, a "made" player. It's never going to end well. As for us, there was uproar about, "should have changed the core, BT sucks, yadda yadda". I liked the moves through all of that yelling, even Pitlick. No way that I thought this is Gudbranson, not close. But I relented when he said Sutter called him and said, "call us last", basically. He sure doesn't look overpaid now. We haven't had a serious bottom 6 in years. NHLers, not AHLers. BT sized up/hard NHLers and made massive strides correcting the G position, not just a good young backup, but from little depth to lots of depth also. I wasn't being a homer betting on it, I assumed we were going to be a hard and heavy team. Only Vegas can match our size, and they played the wrong hand. I hope we keep Lewis and sign him up for the org when he decides to hang them up. JG has never, ever played so relaxed. I have a notion that Lewis is influencing the mindset of the team. Historically, your bottom 6 pulls the weight and rests your stars, and damn, do we ever have a bottom 6, with options. This ride is just beginning. 2-1 LA. Do it LA, bury the dagger.

I'm sure there was at least one of us that predicted the Flames would win the division.lol

Minny pounding nails in Van's coffin. Backs!! All apologies.lol

Yup. Trying to put perfume on a pig.

Backlund on the PowerKill.

He's on LTIR and owed $4.9mil for next year. source CapFriendly.

Must be injured. Wings fans want to re-sign him for next year. We love him.

Holtby is too. Khudobin buried. Bishop and Khudobin STILL on the books next year.lol Combined over $7mil.

Khudobin.

No, I'm the friend with the giant bar recroom and 3 screens running games simultaneously. Sting playoffs started too and theyll lose hard, lol Hanifin!!

Lindy hit his flipping skate blade. That was 40, that was ridiculous luck for Oettinger. Dallas' pony show in net is now over with a 23 yr old, they can purge themselves of Bishop, Holtby, washisname.

I get a whole 3rd period to myself! Unhappy guests with the Bruins/Leafs results so that was pretty fun. Time to clinch!! I might be okay with an OT win to give Dallas another pt up on the Blights.

Lindholm getting his chances, Oettinger with a couple horseshoes tonight.

I'd like to join in, in-game, but tis the season that there's at least 4 of us indulging in hockey at my place. Glad we have stellar pizza delivery,.lol GFG

Speaking of which, any Hanifin news? I've seen him listed as day-to-day.

Connor was hilarious. Biggest Oilers homer ever x 1,000. JJ will be back. And I'll be the first to welcome him. I miss his posts, personally. If we all agreed this place would be boring.

Stuff is stuff. Lets do new stuff. Let's this car give us a good run, put the foot to the clutch and the foot off the brake. This is superfun. Pure gravy.

I was thinking about you too doublerob, for what it's worth. It makes a person no less a fan. More nervous perhaps, but that's a whole other thing.lol

Oh yeah, without question. The Flames feed wasn't a very good quality feed. I don't really get hung up on reffing much. I've come to expect that it's sketchy. Homer announcers are fun too. It's always Heroes vs Villains. I'm used to TBay and Bruins feeds.lol Even my Bruins buddies hate their announcers. Detroit's are best to me. They neither bash their team nor the opposition. Ol' Mickey Redmond is just excited for everyone on the ice. And they have great guests joining them in the booth for the action and stories. They keep it light and don't dissect every moment so seriously. It's fun and refreshing. Class of the league. Lidstrom was on for a Flames game last year. "So Nik, how would you contain Johnny Gaudreau"? Nik: "By praying probably" and they all laughed. They literally open with, "Johnny Gaudreau's in town and we never get to see him, what a treat for Wings fans". That's generally how they treat Western teams. "Yay, we get to see *fill in the blank* It's great. As is going to games at the Joe and LCA. All hockey fans, and not being belligerent about it, as opposed to, say, every CDN team's fans that play each other. Such a funner, respectful environment. Only the refs are worth hating.lol

I think peeps has become a very important cheerleader for us. He has come to the realization that whatever he says, the opposite happens. So he's running with it. Keep up the solid work peeps! Hits were 41-40 last night. I watched the Nashville feed and they said they played their best, most desperate hockey last night. lol If that's it, bring 'em on. No 3-3 or S/O in the playoffs, and we're still hiding components, they're not.

Yes. That was a physical game. As far as rd 1 matchup, I'm not selective. Gotta beat them all. No easy rides, everyone is 0-0 to start...cliche I know, but true.

Is there an error in cross' and rd's team standings or am I illiterate? Calgary 3rd?

Sneaky good with good depth gets 'er done. All of this is the positivity thread.

It is indeed a game day you sorry-assed starlings chirping a team that has far exceeded expectations. 2 weeks to go and we have a few whacks left at the pinata. Then the Enchilada. Be positive, quit whining. We were never anticipated to be here. Enjoy it. Or....complain. Your choice. GFG.

The final tally on his reg season: 67 games 43 goals (T-6th) 75 assists (3rd) 118 points (2nd) Pts/G: 1.76 (3rd) 1529 FOs (1st) 56.8% (2nd to anyone with over 1000 attempts) To put this into better context with the top 4 pt getters this year: Wyatt Johnston - C (1st) is exceptional on a much better team. They're going deep in the playoffs. Edmonds - RW (3rd) is Shane Wright's RWer. He's undrafted and 21yo. Evangelista - RW (4th due to last game off) is the driving force for the Knights who are on par with the Soo. It's really easy to expect Wyatt and Rory to have significant futures as NHL centers, Evangelista as a RW. In the context of his own team: 2nd in goals (2 off the lead) 1st in assists (by 28!) 1st in pts (by 39!!) My point is, he isn't putting these numbers up because they're loaded with high-end skill. They have some good players, but Kerins clearly drives the bus. Up next they're 4th seed vs a solid 5th seed team in the Guelph Storm. Should be a good 'er.