conundrumed

Damn that's heavy, thanks!! I didn't know that connection. Great interview by Steve. I noticed my link was pulled and not surprised. It was at 0 views when youtube alerted me.lol For anyone that missed, Eddie is at the Ohana Festival (his own creation) and talks about Chris and the family asking for a version of this song for his memorial:

Phillips was 1 of the few bright spots in the Wings beatdown game. In on both of their goals. Some of the Caps guys got hit pretty hard, he wasn't one of them. Hopefully Phillips can keep it up. But I guess we didn't need a 4th line RW. /s Can't blame him for leaving. Pretty much flattened all of his tires, he didn't have much choice.

If we could we would? This is where the unending "trade him" talk gets tiresome so I'll just cheer him and hope for the best. He isn't going anywhere no matter how much bickering happens so no point wallowing in it.

Coaching doesn't adjust goalies in my experience. The guys that I schooled with would just argue. To the point of, "why don't you strap 'em on and show me then"? We did a lot of push-ups.lol I have a hard time believing that a goalie even bordering the NHL level is getting pushed over by a coach to change how he goes about it. They can show you why you need work on specifics, but they sure as Blockchain can't tell you to change how you play. Markstrom still does the double-stack, and I can near guarantee you everyone has been telling him not to since Bantam. *source: I loved that move. Markstrom's timing has been off is about all that I can see. He's just a bit off in being squared up. It shows in his body language. Puck's are passing him where they normally wouldn't. He's opening up too much when he moves. I'd have 2 guys pass back-and-forth in front of him. Honestly, you don't even have to shoot. Just stop and say, right there man, your arm's coming away from your body. Or, right there in the corner, you're not square. Markstrom is a great goalie imho. Every little mistake becomes a mounting problem it seems like. He really doesn't need much adjusting, maybe just reminders. He can give up 3 goals he wants back while making 6 saves that he had no business stopping. When he puts it all together, dude is a frigging sensational goalie. We sure lose sight of 2 years ago. "Oh woe is me, JG and Chucky are leaving, what's ever to become of us"? Well, your goalie kicked the Satoshi Nakamoto out of everything that year. He lost the Oilers series, because he was your best player all year. Without Markstrom 2 years ago, was this really a very good team? He won half the Blockchaining games. Now he's treated like dirt by fans. You reap what you sow. I'd take him on my team anyday. Markstrom for Husso? Done. Blockchaining rights. Both are great goalies, Markstrom can be an elite goalie when he's got it going on, as good as anyone. He did that 2 years ago. But no one seems to give a Satoshi Nakamoto. So whatever, I guess.

It's quite funny with Zahorna now back with the Pens. Hopefully something from nothing. At Dubas' expense would make it even funnier. God knows he's a wunderkind according to too many hockey analysts. Has no one been to SSM?

I blame Sean Burke for goalie coaches being glorified. Specifically Devan Dubnyk. He only needed ritalin.lol "Calm tf down. Stay square, play your angles, know where the crease is. Calm tf down Hasek". Works every time. Luongo was the worst for a goalie making life hard on himself. Dude was full-on panic, like, a lot. Lost his crease regularly in sheer panic mode. Coaching can only try to make you stop playing with high anxiety. They can't control it, that's on you. They say goalies are a weird breed, but really, they are under the most pressure. You can't coach away how an individual deals with that. Let them be smokers.lol Call the smoke shack the goalie room. Maybe have some hallucinogenic mushrooms hanging around for emergencies. "This guy has great ideas" - nobody.

Not a bad plan. Celebrini and Eiserman are going to be spectacular. Eiserman has 10g through 6 games so far. Caulfield has the record with 72 in a season. I'm pretty sure that record is going to fall. Eiserman belongs with Yzerman.lol

I don't mind that at all. I think Hunt has had a good camp. I should mention that I never expected to cheer on Dryden Hunt. So he has proven me wrong and I like that!

Eddie took part in the SnowyChallenge if anyone is wondering how this came about. And like him(and Jack Johnson I should add), he would have dug deeper to see what he is supporting. I have little doubt that he would have reached out to Chris...and of has course the celebrity-power to do so. So I just want to say that the emotion that he's showing isn't fake. It's why him and Jack Johnson are my 2 favourite songwriters. Both of those guys are basically fronts for charitable causes. I know from friends booking Jack Johnson for "Rock The Park" in London that you absolutely cannot just say, "we'll give you $10mil". It HAS to be rock-solid donations to charitable causes with every penny forged in the contract. He only shows up for charity. If it's $10mil to his charity, fine. But he does not contract himself live for anything outside of charity. This is the way with these 2 and why I'll always support them so heavily. I very highly doubt that the phone call was random. He's the antithesis of a rock star, though a rock star that doesn't wanna be one. It's very admirable these days to see celebrities better understand their ability to raise money and awareness to things that matter. He acknowledged Gord Downie on the Hip's farewell tour at a Pearl Jam Chicago show and the band were wearing Tragically Hip shirts. Sorry to take this off track, I'm just a little wary that some folks may treat this as gimmicky rather than heartfelt. How many people in that audience would even know who Chris Snow is? A lot of credit should also go to Neil Young for helping young artists cope with excess fame before it destroys them. That's a very real thing. Likely the only reason Pearl Jam is still around. He was also trying hard to pull Kurt Cobain back from the destructive path that Pearl Jam was on. I'm sure that's one of Neil's biggest regrets was letting fame win again. Alas, I loved playing this song but was then asked to play it at a memorial for a friend that completed suicide. I wish that I'd said no. Because now it is always about that and I won't play it for random people. I just can't get through it without a breakdown. Such a weighty song. RIP Chris. From experience, this song gets played a lot, it will be a hard one to listen to from here on in for your loved ones. I guarantee that.

If Calgary had the Wings, Lions and Pistons for the past 10 years, their expectation level would be zero too.lol Let alone the economic collapse. Recovery on most fronts has everyone supercharged though. A nice line yesterday with Rasmussen-Compher-Perron, they looked fantastic. Tuomisto finally showed the slapper everyone's been talking up. Bedard had some great moments, but damn that team is not going to be good no how. Detroit ran about 1/2 a roster and the other half a mix of top prospects. Pretty much looked like a practice. Chicago ran a roster, that's about the nicest way I can put it. Shots favoured the D only 34-29. Lalonde is quite literally running these games like practices, particularly when they go up a couple of goals. 6-1 actually flatters the Hawks. Detroit's going to have a handful of cuts that would probably make the Hawks roster. Grand Rapids should be fire this year. Injuries were a huge deal last year, they won't have near the same impact this year. Just not Husso, he needs to stay healthy for the best chance. Ottawa and Buffalo getting all of the press is perfect! It'll be interesting to see how these 3 teams make out this year. A study in roster builds. It's really too bad Danielson's only option is jr. He's more than ready for the A.

A fine homage moment from one of my fave artists:

Markstrom has a no movement clause. He's not being traded. It was never an option and Conroy has never implied that Markstrom is going anywhere. So maybe (hopefully) for the last time, are we ready to stop blaming Markstrom for absolutely everything. The easy-out and lowest common denominator is "blame the goalie". He wasn't even responsible for the Edmonton playoff loss. Go back and watch the coach and the rest of the team in full-on panic mode. We need to focus on defending against teams that can crank up the pace. Because if we can't improve on that, it does not matter at all who is in net. Constant odd-man rushes kills this team. 1. Stop being so liberal defending the O blue line. 2. Stop with 4 guys constantly racing N. A simple turnover and you're all going the wrong way. 3. Stop holding the effing puck in the O zone. The Van game proved it to you, but old habits die hard I guess. Those 3 things are constantly on repeat. The same mistakes over and over. So many young high-end Dmen now just thriving on 4 opponents leaning north. The puck's going the other way in tenths of a second.

RIP. Condolences to the family. I'm certain that his legacy will not be soon forgotten. I expect his addition to the Flames uni's this season. Every non-Flames hockey fan that I know has brought his story up with me now, so if nothing else, I'm glad that his story is widespread throughout the community.

5-2 Detroit. Phillips with 1g, 1a. Damn he's tiny but didn't get caught by the Detroit Giants. Almost a spectacle with Seider, Wallinder, Soderblom, Newpower and Gettinger in the lineup. Wallinder's 6'4" makes him the small guy. They keep talking that Berggren's spot on the roster isn't guaranteed. That's a little unsettling. Who knew Detroit has Michael Hutchinson on a pto? lol Getting him in game shape for Tampa... Husso looks great in his first appearance, I'm a big fan. Fabbri leaves with an UBI...talk about a player that bleeds high-end talent whose whole career has been relentless injury derailment...it's hard to watch. The high-end talent is undeniable, wouldn't wish that career on anyone. Just give the guy one complete season hockey gods, damn. Should have had a long and illustrious career with St. Loo. He's an easy Jordan Kyrou with better passing ability.

@Heartbreaker....Detroit now up 4-2 on Washington after a Caps goal by...should I say it should I say it? Yes, one Matthew Phillips.

Markstrom has a full no movement clause. Plus Conroy has never indicated that he has any plan to move him, but expects him to bounce back.

Parker Bell sent to the Wranglers, I was hoping for that. Along with Stromgren, Sutter and Gourley. Morin back to jr and Diotte released.

I have to admit, I wasn't huge on Danielson. He's kicking me in the teeth. It's the poise that's getting to me. He's played with great confidence at things that he knows that he's good at. Starting with playing responsibly conservative, almost to a fault. He's completely selfless in the O-zone, dishing to a guy he thinks has a better look when I think he should shoot. 2 years ago when Raymond made the team, I'd say Danielson would have too. Right now, I hope that he gets a 9 game look. But Detroit has so much depth, I'm not sure if he can steal ice from Veleno. He's definitely not playing his way off of the roster. Hopefully Lalonde will give him looks in the top 6 in the preseason to see if he can handle that kind of stress with/vs solid NHLers. He does not look far off of an NHL player so far.

The closest to a D-first C is Ronni right now. I have faith in Kerins with 2 more years of development. Both will remain centers, just a question of developing to the pace/smarts of the NHL. One of the top 120 hockey centerman in the world isn't exactly an easy nut to crack. Heck, I wish that I was in the top 120 at something, anything, in my own community. As I age like fine wine with a failing cork, I find it harder and harder to be overly-critical of any 18-30yo that can even come close to the NHL. When Ronni lands here and fans can actually see him on the regular, I think that they'll be very pleasantly surprised. If 3rd assists were a thing, he'd have many. He always seems to be the one getting the play moving out of his end when I saw him in Plymouth. Hopefully he can elevate his icetime with Tappara this year and we can get him here with very good tutors in Lindholm and Backlund. His main attributes are f/os and he's really good at all of defensively, passing and IQ. Not showing in pts is fooling everyone here I think. He led their u20 to a championship last year. Without question, he was their all-situations C. He's the opposite of the pts guy that you have to teach D. Everyone now spouts about, "you have to create your O from D", so that will be in his sweet spot, the O will come. I'll be sailing the high seas to watch him this year. I quite like how he plays, if you can't tell.lol We took him as a, "safe pick". He's still really safe.

ends up with Evander Kane in the 1st rd thinking it was Harry Kane🤮

I'm not even sure if that was driven by him. Seems like all of his teammates wanted him to be the C. Virtually all of them said he was the de facto captain. I know I'm taking liberties with that, but mainly accurate.lol I wasn't much of a fan of re-signing him, because I didn't think 2 years for $9mil was in the realm of possibility. That's tidy af, I don't know Satoshi Nakamoto! Heck, if he's still effective at 37, extend him yearly from there if he likes!

It's not looking good:

2 x $4.5. Done deal. I like this one!! https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/flames-sign-mikael-backlund-to-two-year-9m-extension/

I'm feeling like this is my year....to finish in the bottom 3rd. I have zero idea how to rank a lot of guys starting with: Stutzle, Hughes, Hischier, Pettersen, DeBrincat, Keller, Chychrun...endless list of lucky guesses. Are the old guys still in the top 30? McDrai and then everything looks like a crapshoot. I may just have to leave it to yahoo for once.

That is likely spot on his value. No deals given or taken. Someone tell me how to feel. I understand but don't love it. It could be untradeable, perhaps. Seriously hope the wheels don't fall off the team this year, I'm sick of the off-season drama.