NHL 2015 - Weeks 1-27

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 5:27 pm

That's about as big of a whiff as I've had on a player in forever. I was convinced he was a fine low 2RD / high 3RD whose stats were getting a huge bump because of his partner and it was the other way around. Staal is a mess, Boyle (signed with Stralman's dollars) is finished and everything is terrible forever.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:42 pm

Kucherov, so hot right now.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:40 am

Thought tickets for tonight's Caps game would be a steal, but not really. They are shutting the metro down at 11 so there is a risk of not being able to get home for some fans.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:40 am

I was at the Caps game in 2010 the night Snowmageddon hit. I got home just fine, and they were closing the Metro closer to 10pm that night.

Caps games are almost always done by around 9:30 or 9:45 if they have OT. You'll have time to get a beer at RFD afterwards.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:59 am

I've carped a lot about the Sharks, so I thought I'd note that they are 6-0-1 in their last seven, and the one overtime loss was Monday in a game in which they outshot Ottawa by a more than 2 to 1 margin, so I'm pretty pleased with their direction. They are finally getting some production from their depth players. The problem for the last couple years was they had five guys who provided all the offense. Now, hopefully that is changing. Young guys you've never heard of like Joonas Donskoi, Matt Nieto and Chris Tierney are looking like good NHL players.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:10 am

sancarlos wrote:I've carped a lot about the Sharks, so I thought I'd note that they are 6-0-1 in their last seven, and the one overtime loss was Monday in a game in which they outshot Ottawa by a more than 2 to 1 margin, so I'm pretty pleased with their direction. They are finally getting some production from their depth players. The problem for the last couple years was they had five guys who provided all the offense. Now, hopefully that is changing. Young guys you've never heard of like Joonas Donskoi, Matt Nieto and Chris Tierney are looking like good NHL players.

This is the year the Sharks go far when they are under the radar.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:16 am

I think I tend to disagree, the talent just isn't there you see.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:20 am

mister d wrote:I think I tend to disagree, the talent just isn't there you see.

Well, that is the question that needs to get answered. Five guys have carried this team with no help in recent years (Pavelski, Thornton, Burns, Marleau, Couture). The rest have been free riders until now. So, is the recent success a short-term illusion or are the these young guys actually developing into real players? Too soon for us to really know the answer definitively, but at least we are seeing potential we didn't see much of in the past. So that is exciting for a fan of the team.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:26 am

Think you hold Marleau or trade him?

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:29 am

mister d wrote:Think you hold Marleau or trade him?

He's getting old, but he still has gas in the tank, and historically he has a great record as a playoff scorer. If the Sharks fade and look certain to miss the playoffs, I could see them dumping him for a top pick or a top prospect. Otherwise, I'd be surprised. I think maybe he is happier in San Jose now that the team is improving, too.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:47 am

sancarlos wrote:
mister d wrote:Think you hold Marleau or trade him?
He's getting old, but he still has gas in the tank, and historically he has a great record as a playoff scorer. If the Sharks fade and look certain to miss the playoffs, I could see them dumping him for a top pick or a top prospect. Otherwise, I'd be surprised. I think maybe he is happier in San Jose now that the team is improving, too.

I'd keep him. He's still got a good 5 years left, people are predicting that he'll break Gordie Howe's career games played record.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:39 pm

He's gotta have the longest current tenure with a team, right?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:39 pm

Nevermind, forgot about the future Ranger in the desert.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:52 pm

mister d wrote:Nevermind, forgot about the future Ranger in the desert.

yup. Also, Patrik Elias has been with the Devils for 20 years but has less games played than Doan and Marleau
Chris Phillips in Ottawa too, 18 years and 1200+ games

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:56 pm

There is no match possible for Chris Phillips in terms of career length plus utter forgetability. You could ask me in three days to name as many players on Ottawa as I can and I guarantee I'd forget I ever typed this.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:03 pm

mister d wrote:There is no match possible for Chris Phillips in terms of career length plus utter forgetability. You could ask me in three days to name as many players on Ottawa as I can and I guarantee I'd forget I ever typed this.

I seem to remember you having an opinion about Chris Neil awhile back.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:07 pm

Chris Neil can fuck himself forever.

(And he fits here given his co-chair status with Doan on the "Not That Type of Player" committee.)

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:14 pm

It'd be an insult to Shane Doan to say he and Chris Neil are anything of the same sort of player.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:15 pm

99% of the time, no. But both have their annual, at a minimum, "he won't be suspended because he's never been suspended before and besides he's definitely NTTOP" shitfest.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:44 am

!!!

https://vine.co/v/iilwrbO79ww

???

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:50 am

Could he have been out of it so much he thought he was hitting a Pred (or just didn't know what he was doing at all)?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:53 am

I would be willing to bet he doesn't get suspended at all. (1) He can argue unintentional / flow of play as he was trying to change off and avoid the forward / too many men and (2) he had just been blasted into the boards and the league will have no desire to suspend a guy whose defense could be a head injury. And, of course, (3) he's a veteran.

(It was absolutely intentional.)

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:26 am

That guy has the same name as someone who played for the Bruins and is probably out of the league by now

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:49 am

He absolutely "meant" to do it, in the same way you reflexively swat someone when they startle you. He was pretty clearly concussed and just blasted the poor linesman in almost a reflexive way... Guy could probably barely focus more than a few feet and his peripheral was out of whack, which are some of the immediate results/symptoms of concussions.

He should be sat out, regardless of a league suspension.

ETA: Hockey really seems to be flying under the radar on this issue. Those broadcasters are like every other crew I've heard... Guy gets blasted into the boards and can barely make it back to the bench and they call him "woozy." No mention of a concussion and I doubt they brought it back up again.

I'm not saying the NFL and those that cover it are paragons of virtue, but they are much less likely to ignore something like this these days. I mean, shit, the straw that broke the back of Brady Hoke and Dave Brandon was the national shame of allowing an apparently concussed QB back on the field. Something announcers likely would have barely mentioned 5 years ago, let alone expressing outrage over it.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:11 am

Nonlinear FC wrote:He should be sat out, regardless of a league suspension.

He's not going to the all-star game so he will be.

Nonlinear FC wrote:ETA: Hockey really seems to be flying under the radar on this issue. Those broadcasters are like every other crew I've heard... Guy gets blasted into the boards and can barely make it back to the bench and they call him "woozy." No mention of a concussion and I doubt they brought it back up again.

It definitely is, probably dictated by teams/league. The good thing is hockey can change a few things around and be 90% safer versus basically ceasing to end in its current form. Of course ... that requires the league to actually act.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:21 am

timely read

Though:

Bourque said he has not sought medical advice for his memory issues, although he might in the future.

sort of ruins the effect.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:24 am

The really fucked up thing is the leagues covering up the long term effects. The whole "you knew what you were getting into" is complete bullshit revisionism. In the early swamp, which was long ago but not that long ago, we used to laugh about concussion stories. There was a joke about my history during my best man's speech at my wedding which was 8.5 years ago.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:06 pm

It was totally intentional but mistaken identity. If he had actually hit a Predator or even a Flame it would have been fine.

I'm not sure what the league should do.

Flames should be fined for letting Wideman back onto the ice, that's a different issue that the league needs to address.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:18 pm

Does the NHL use spotters?

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:18 pm

(Channeling the Hockey PDOcast guys) - but the league has independent observers for concussions!

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:19 pm

Their point is, "when have you ever seen or heard of the spotters pulling someone from the ice?"

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:26 pm

Right, but atleast you'd have someone in position to see it (and/or to blame for not seeing it or not responding). The hit was in the far corner along the bench side; expecting the bench to see what happened isn't realistic and expecting the player to self-report is pretty much a known non-starter.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:29 pm

mister d wrote:Right, but atleast you'd have someone in position to see it (and/or to blame for not seeing it or not responding). The hit was in the far corner along the bench side; expecting the bench to see what happened isn't realistic and expecting the player to self-report is pretty much a known non-starter.

Agreed, especially on the far end of the ice from the Flames bench. Still, it's not like the spotter would have run out there between Wideman hitting the boards and the linesman. The argument is that he shouldn't have gone back in the game, and, in my opinion, his only defense to the hit on the official is that he was concussed and didn't know what he was doing/where he was.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:31 pm

Agreed with all of that, but there should be someone accountable for him going back in the game. If there are spotters not spotting, the spotters should be fired.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:34 pm

Hockey has such a warrior mentality. Guys regularly get smashed up and make it back onto the ice as soon as they can. The trainers or league spotters who are supposed to rein this in have about as much influence on what occurs as pro wrestling referees. I don't think the league will act until we start seeing lawsuits.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:04 pm

If the league cared the refs should blow the whistle when someone wobbles after a head hit. Wideman skated nearly 100 feet to his bench after the hit.

In soccer when two heads collide the play is stopped immediately.

But then you all know what that would cause. Fakers. The Kovalev rule.

Post by **brian** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:13 pm

degenerasian wrote:If the league cared the refs should blow the whistle when someone wobbles after a head hit. Wideman skated nearly 100 feet to his bench after the hit.

In soccer when two heads collide the play is stopped immediately.

But then you all know what that would cause. Fakers. The Kovalev rule.

If you get pulled off the ice by a spotter for a head hit you should have to sit out at least the rest of the period. That should weed out anyone faking and would be a positive step in player safety.

ETA: I don't know how long it takes to go through the concussion protocol but doing it between period sounds like the perfect time. Especially since some symptoms may not appear for a few minutes.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:15 pm

degenerasian wrote:The Kovalev rule.

Or the Degen Rule, which states GO THE FUCKING HELL!!!

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:54 pm

mister d wrote:
degenerasian wrote:The Kovalev rule.
Or the Degen Rule, which states GO THE FUCKING HELL!!!

hahaha it's stupid rule showing how stupid the NHL is. I'm on your side.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:57 pm

Wideman's been suspended indefinitely pending hearing.

My guess is it's gonna be 10 games