conundrumed

The entire NHL is littered with players that like the devil's dandruff recreationally. It's fairly well known. I can easily name 20 that haven't been publicized. It's pretty widespread. Every time a story breaks, I just go, "yup".

Blake Coleman - 30G-scoring shutdown winger. Worth more than his $4.9 this season. Young players taking positive steps forward, lots of things to be excited about in a down season. I'm quite happy that this has been a "take a step back" season. Overwhelming tumultuous drama, we were constantly just waiting for the next fuse of bad news to ignite. Although it's an unfortunate season results-wise, that was always a likelihood. Nice to see Conroy sticking to his guns as much as he can and getting good results on trades. He's definitely not letting other GMs take advantage. I think when I said NO to playoffs and had us finishing low in the division, it was more being hopeful that we would get off of the news feeds for the wrong reasons and fall into fully assessing where we're at. So I'm pretty happy with how it's going. That, and the stupid Satoshi Nakamoto of constantly blaming Markstrom and inventing reasons of why he's ruined has gotten the teflon bullet. He's a solid NHL goalie and always has been. I'm pretty down on the fanbase for being so Satoshi Nakamototy to him and handing out free passes to skaters that are great 1 minute and total boneheads the next. The only consistency has been inconsistency. Hopefully that chapter is over. It was a very long chapter. I've often said in the past that the Flames always seem like a low IQ team. Zary is showing the difference imho. Pelletier will too. Smart, smart, shifty players. Huberdeau is a high IQ player. Surround him with the mundane, and he's invisible. Lots to be excited about moving forward. In the meantime, cheer for the Wings this year. There's more than enough heart in that team to go around. From Larkin, who has never played a playoff game, to Veleno, Rasmussen, Walman and Raymond that bleed everything just to be NHLers, to Perron going, "how the f$%# did I become a mentor?" to Seider, likely the cleanest great Dman in the league after Makar, to, finally, Alex Lyon, career AHLer that backed the Panthers into the playoffs, then they threw him away. They are now a ragtag team of every other team's misfits/we don't need you/you're not worth the cost/risk (Compher, Ghostisbehere, Maatta). They actually are. Who can't get behind that? All while waiting for the solid pipeline to move up. I believe in magic. They're going to be a nuisance, I hope. Last year's Florida.

So few people seemed to see Detroit as the improving team over Buffalo and Ottawa, I found it a bit of a headcratcher. Toronto’s commentary was pretty much, “not only were they stuck in an airport and arrived just 90 minutes before puck drop, it’s only Detroit”. The Wings have given away at least 6 games they should have had this year. If they put it all together they can be a really good team. It seems like few want to believe it. Kane left the game after his first shift. Didn’t really matter, just screwed up their PP because he runs it/great at entries. Plus, Leafs, the Wings didn’t play all that well. Fairly poorly really.

She was a tight one! Good game by Reimer and D clearing his rebounds. Kane injured on 1st shift. Needed a regulation win. Toronto only has 13 regulation wins this season. Ottawa has 12, for comparison. The league should prolly revisit their point structure. But then again, whenever they mess with something, they make it worse. The inundation that is TML head to Western Canada. Keep 'em there for a few months woodja? We need a break. Especially the excessive media. Who's the next player on the cross of their media to feed a fan frenzy?

Oof, Wings didn't get to the arena until 6pm, so they pushed the start back from 7 to 7:45. Ouch.

Big game in Toronto tonight. Win and move into the 1st wildcard spot, 1 pt back of the leafs, though they have 2 in hand. D has been looking better, GOTTA be better. One of the best GF in the league, one of the worst GA. She's an adventure. LFG! GWG!!

Your man-crushes are showing. lol A lot of teams have really solid G prospects. Even we have one! Walstedt had a rough ride in his 1st NHL game. All of them will have ups and downs for a few more years. The only thing that matters at 21 is that they haven't hit their ceiling yet. Detroit took Cossa over Walstedt due to feeling Cossa had more dev to work with. That's it, that's all. They scout the crap out of Sweden so they didn't have an uninformed opinion, they just felt Cossa's celing is higher. Drafting potential doesn't always work out. There are a lot of great young goalies in the A beyond those 2 to 4. There are still plenty of hurdles for all of them. A few will get there, many won't. Absolutely none of them are currently sure-fire, or they'd already be tearing through the NHL. Not being negative, Askarov and Walstedt could be scrapping it out for Vezina's in a few years, but that isn't the current situation.

Gotta keep pace for that 16yh oa! lol Wings win, Flames win, Leafs lose...pretty good night. Leafs v Wings tomorrow. Could be Samsonov v Reimer, yikes.

9-4-1 in the past month boys!!

This is only the 2nd game after ARI, close travel and a day off.

He should practice not passing pucks to the opponents dmen....still.

You mean he?

That goal was completely on Andersson and his usual D play. That's why he was so angry.

Wow, nice turn of events!!

Feeling like they won already?

Goal leaders in 2024:

Was waiting on Eichel info but lost patience.lol They're a little beat up!!

Good to know!! Vegas' backup is a bit fishy but I believe it'll be Thompson starting. Though Hill could return at any time now.

Go Flames Go!!

Calgary Flames @ Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena - 8PM MST Watch live on CBC/SN All Regions; Listen Live on FAN960 Knights aim to continue revival vs. Flames The Vegas Golden Knights, optimistic they are escaping a slump, continue their longest homestand of the season on Saturday night when they face the Calgary Flames in Las Vegas. The Vegas Golden Knights, optimistic they are escaping a slump, continue their longest homestand of the season on Saturday night when they face the Calgary Flames in Las Vegas. It will be the second contest of a five-game home stretch for Vegas, which started the homestand with a much-needed 2-1 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. The result was only the third win in 10 games for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who began the season with a 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) but have gone just 13-13-4 since. Alex Pietrangelo scored the game-winner vs. Boston with his sixth career overtime goal, tapping in Mark Stone's crossing pass into an open right side of the net for his first goal since Nov. 10. "I needed that one," Pietrangelo said. So did the Golden Knights, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back that began with a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday in Denver -- the fifth time in a 26-game span that they were blanked. "Identity game for us in terms of hard to play against," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think the Bruins would say that, and they were hard to play against. So you've got yourself a playoff-type battle. I think the more we're in those type of games, the (more) it will bring the best out of us, getting dragged into the fight so to speak." Added Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel, who had a goal and an assist, "Just a real gutsy win by our group. A lot of good to like about tonight. We need to build on this moving forward." Cassidy said, "We're going through some downs right now. There's no doubt about it. So this is a really good win against a really good hockey team. I like the way we won. We gutted it out. It was playoff-style hockey out there, and we didn't buckle." Calgary brings a two-game winning streak into the Saturday contest. The Flames scored six goals in each victory. It was a dads trip for the Flames, who were greeted with high-fives and a victory tunnel formed by fathers of the players as they left the ice following a 6-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday in Tempe, Ariz. Yegor Sharangovich registered his second career hat trick and Blake Coleman had a goal and two assists to lead Calgary, which jumped out to a 4-1 first-period lead. Jacob Markstrom finished with 32 saves. "When you get a lead like that, it is really hard for a team to come back on," Flames coach Ryan Huska said. "I was really pleased with (the start). We need more of those." Huska laughed when asked about getting mobbed by the fathers as the team left the ice for the long walk to the Mullett Arena locker room. "No, I didn't even know they were going to be there," he said. "It was actually a funny moment. It's neat. That's what makes these trips and really what it's all about. It was neat to see that." Huska gave the fathers, adorned in their sons' jerseys, an assist for the quick start the Flames had to the game. "You always want to play well for your dad, whether you're a young kid or an NHL player that makes a lot of money," Huska said. "When dad is around, the guys tend to play better." The Saturday game will be the third meeting between the teams this season. Calgary won the first one 2-1 on a MacKenzie Weegar goal with five seconds left in overtime on Nov. 27 at home. Host Vegas won the second one 5-4 in overtime on Dec. 12 as Stone had two goals, including the game-winner, and two assists. --Field Level Media

And there we have it. Many are putting way too much stock into Kylington just magically being what he was 2 years ago quickly. It's not really feasible. It's going to take a lot of time. This season would surprise me. I really hope the best for him, but I'm not sure the heavy pace and pressures of the NHL lifestyle is what's best atm, we'll find out. I hope he's been good with his money so he's not pressured to do it in that regard. He's still trying to figure out what is best for him. To be frank, generalizing that someone is struggling with mental health is a pandora's box of possibilities. I've witnessed a few different ones in both adults and children, as we likely all have. None are pretty. Feeling ashamed, therefore silent and undiagnosed is a common theme. All that matters is that he gets himself figured out and holds his head high. I don't care who our 4-8 dmen are, that crap pales by comparison, none of that matters.

That's my wonder too. Same as Sharangovich. Both are good 2-way players. Pretty much no one comes into this league good at faceoffs, it's an acquired art through experience. Not sure how mgmt views it, but for where Zary and Sharangovich are right now, I still expect them to make solid improvements through experience alone. We're still in a holding pattern to see what we're going to do about our UFAs and then available ones. For now, I'd suspect Zary to move to center. Pretty much a natural progression is my thought. He's pretty much proven playing wing is zero problem. As much as many scoff at +/-, I've been watching the trend most of the season. Kadri was about -10 prior to Zary and Pospisil joining him. He's currently +1, Zary +12, Pospisil +8. Coleman is not only our points leader, but rocking a +22. Just having an unreal season. Worth his weight in gold. Backlund is +9 by comparison, so Coleman's contributions are everywhere. Also leads the team in SHG and GWG. He's been magnificent. Mangiapane is on the rise having reunited on the 3rd line. Hanifin is, unsurprisingly, our top Dman at +12, partnered with Tanev at +9. Weegar is +6 whereas partner Andersson is +1. On the negative side, wherever Huberdeau goes, it's either stagnating or worsening his linemates +/-. Sharangovich at -9, now paired with Huby, is one to keep an eye on. Dube's -11 is pretty much indicative of the wretched season that he's having. His value is on death row, in a contract season of all times... So the +/- stat is pretty much exactly what we're seeing on the ice. It's telling the story that we're seeing as it trends over time. Just thought I'd throw this out there.

Signed through 24/25 at $3.1/yr. 17 goals now after tonight. I guess. It's been a half a season and Yegor Sharangovich is having an impact. Acquired from the NJ Devils, along with a 2023 3rd rd pick (Aydar Suniev) in exchange for sniper Tyler Toffoli. Sharangovich was the odd man out in New Jersey's 2023 playoff run that saw them acquire Timo Meier to bolster their roster. Kudos to Craig Conroy for swooping in and asking about that young guy they replaced with Timo Meier and offering them another "experienced" sniper. Personally, I'd have done that trade straight across at the time. Some GM I'd be. From camp, he was trying to be fast but looked meh because we aren't fast. So he started on the 4th line. He performed admirably as a 4C. Since then, he's asserted himself into the roster, all situations. In half a season. Colour me impressed in his adjustment, and hopefully the team keeps remembering that he's a finisher. How are we feeling about the new guy? What might his ceiling be?

Well that was 3 out of 4 points on the night. I'm going to Flames Talk to start a Sharangovich thread.

I was a big fan of that trade. We also netted a great prospect in Aydar Suniev.