The Swamp

Kaapo's usage remains "not great". There's speculation (or hope) that Quinn is strictly teaching at this stage, so for a player like Kaapo its all about playing responsibly and doing shit off the puck. At the same time, at some point with a lack of stable linemates (or just center) and too much time with clear bottom six-ers, you risk not developing his offensive game beyond where he was drafted. So like I said, I'm optimistic, but a portion of that comes with blind faith that the Rangers are explicitly de-prioritizing current results.

Jack Hughes sucks. Don't bother watching.

VGK appears to have fleeced the Devils in that Gusev trade, which delights and surprises me. VGK get the Devils 2nd rounder this year and it looks to be a high one, so they should have two picks in the top 40.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:42 pm There's speculation (or hope) that Quinn is strictly teaching at this stage, so for a player like Kaapo its all about playing responsibly and doing shit off the puck.

Learning on the job can't be easy when you're such a high-profile player. Too bad he didn't play in the AHL first.

Jack Hughes sucks. Don't bother watching.

I trust your judgment on the Rangers. Other times, your bias tends to show. Just a little bit.

You know who else sucks? Makar and Pettersson. I'm glad the Rangers failed in their attempts to trade up for one in 2017.

Vegas/Minnesota on tv tonight, so I can watch Kaprizov, the newest member of the All Swamp Team. Is that a thing yet? If not, it should be. I'm not sure what the qualifications are. As of now, it's just comprised of players at least two Swampers like.

Kaprizov -- ??? -- ???

Heiskanen -- ???

Fleury

Who's our center? Barzal? Couturier? Bergeron?

Cirelli!

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:19 pmCirelli!

No. Not after Oshawa beat Erie in the 2015 OHL playoffs.

Besides, you can't vote for a player on your own team. (I just made up that rule.) And you can't vote for obvious players like McDavid or MacKinnon or Matthews or Tom Wilson.

Brayden Point.

Ryan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:57 pmBrayden Point.

Too bad chedda can't vote for this.

Okay, Swamp, get your votes in for Patrice Bergeron and the Bhutan national anthem.

All four of the centers above work, as would (future Ranger) Clayton Keller (we’d move him back off the wing).

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:33 pm (future Ranger) Clayton Keller

I wouldn't mind this. Not that I want Coyotes fans to suffer any more than they already have, but I want players like Keller and Ekman-Larsson rescued from that situation. The team brought back the kachina jerseys, so that should be enough of a distraction for a while.

Is there Keller trade talk? Or are you just trying to will this into existence?

Keller is really good. I like him. He's a little guy, and I'm always partial to them. Arizona has another little stud that flies under the national radar - Conor Garland. He usually sticks out if you watch a Coyote game.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:51 pm Keller is really good. I like him. He's a little guy, and I'm always partial to them.

I mentioned him in this thread in 2017 about smaller players. I had such a crush on Mitch Marner back then.

Keller talk started before he was drafted, another guy the Rangers were trying to trade up for. That plus the AZ <-> NYR pipeline plus Arizona now desperately needing picks has made people try to will it back.

This will be only the second time VGK has lost two in a row in the regular season under DeBoer.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:03 pm Keller talk started before he was drafted, another guy the Rangers were trying to trade up for. That plus the AZ <-> NYR pipeline plus Arizona now desperately needing picks has made people try to will it back.

Every fanbase has its own wish list. Penguins fans have lusted over Michael Grabner, Max Domi, and Anthony Duclair at various times. Or maybe that was just me.

Just checked the scores, and I see that Edmonton is winning, 6-0. It's against Ottawa, but it still counts.

bapo! wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:29 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:03 pm Keller talk started before he was drafted, another guy the Rangers were trying to trade up for. That plus the AZ <-> NYR pipeline plus Arizona now desperately needing picks has made people try to will it back.

Every fanbase has its own wish list. Penguins fans have lusted over Michael Grabner, Max Domi, and Anthony Duclair at various times. Or maybe that was just me.

Just checked the scores, and I see that Edmonton is winning, 6-0. It's against Ottawa, but it still counts.

It's something. We can't beat Ottawa.

Feel free to put Justin Holl on the blueline of the All Swamp Team. Played a couple games here in Indy. Furious the Hawks didn't protect him.

bapo! wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:29 pmEvery fanbase has its own wish list. Penguins fans have lusted over Michael Grabner, Max Domi, and Anthony Duclair at various times. Or maybe that was just me.

I have opinions on all of them!

Grabner: Weird career, probably would have been a perfect Pens winger if he hadn't accidentally blown up as a goal-scorer before he was able to go there. A lot of Hagelin in his game in terms of insane speed but better hands and far worse hair. I can't believe he's already out of the league.

Domi: Special type of asshole for being a Canadian Trump supporter. And his dad. But other times seems to do decent things and I think he has diabetes or something?

Duclair: First line "guy I overshot on and by the time he actually had a solid year it was still so far under my personal expectations that it doesn't count as being right". Rangers picked the right guy to flip in the Yandle trade, even if the trade overall was a terrible idea.

I need to look through the league and figure out my personal list. I'll try to avoid guys like Barzal that everyone loves and Cirelli who Rangers fans uniquely pined for this past offseason.

I overrate players who impressed me in juniors. Domi and Duclair were on that great line with Sam Reinhart that won the gold medal at the 2015 World Juniors. I have a soft spot for everybody on that team. Also, I went to an Erie/London game that season. In a game with McDavid, Marner, and Dylan Strome, Domi was by far the best player on the ice that night.

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:02 am Rangers picked the right guy to flip in the Yandle trade, even if the trade overall was a terrible idea.

One of those good result/bad process trades. The Penguins had one of those a few years ago. They traded a young high-end defensive prospect (Simon Despres) for a Ben Lovejoy-type (Ben Lovejoy). They won the Cup that year, so I can't argue with the results, but I still don't like the trade. Since then, Despres has had his career derailed by concussions. Might have been a decent player otherwise.

To GM Jim Rutherford's credit, he made about 10 moves after that that were much worse.

Leaving the experience of seeing Lovejoy's swollen face on that runup to the Winter Classic show out of the equation isn't fair.


(and not to do to this thread what you guys did to the 311 thread, but I just checked out what he's up to on Twitter and he doesn't post much anymore but he did pledge his brain to CTE research so that's nice of him)


ETA: SHIT, forgot he left and came back

I just loved that clip. Sorry.

Now I'm thinking about how great Crosby was that season prior to the injury at the WC and how much the next year plus of Crosby skates? stories sucked. Need some pick me up music...

Crosby was so good the first half of that season. Best hockey of his career. That moment leading up to the Winter Classic was probably the happiest, most optimistic I've ever been about the Penguins. And then the next year was a disaster.

Here's the Lovejoy clip from that show, with Crosby and MAF.

Usually NHL players are kicked out of hotels for other reasons... (also you can tell when tech/business reporters are not sports fans).
https://www.businessinsider.com/san-jos ... Insider%29

San Francisco Knights?

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:33 am San Francisco Knights?

It's impressive because they literally got every component of the name wrong.

I would like to veto any thought of Domi being a Swamp favorite.

I thought he’d be a perfect fit for Torts, but... no. He has been progressively worse now for each of the teams he’s played for.

brian wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:59 am

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:33 am San Francisco Knights?

It's impressive because they literally got every component of the name wrong.

They've since corrected the story.

ETA - Ah, didn't see the URL.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 2:24 pm

brian wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:59 am

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:33 am San Francisco Knights?

It's impressive because they literally got every component of the name wrong.

They've since corrected the story.

ETA - Ah, didn't see the URL.

I read it a few times trying to figure out if it was an AHL/ECHL/etc team or wrong sport.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:44 pm I would like to veto any thought of Domi being a Swamp favorite.

sancarlos has used his challenge. He has 0 challenges remaining.

Is Kaprizov our left wing? Or can somebody like Nikolaj Ehlers take that spot? Can we just put Kaprizov on the All Swamp Rookie Team that I just made up instead?



Fleury is in the protocol. Damn it.

Kaprizov is our everything.

I will never see his name and NOT say “HOW DOES THAT FEEL, KAPRIZOV?!?”

(That’s two references to the ‘04 Cup Finals today, which is two more than there were during the ‘04 Cup Finals)

Ryan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:37 pm I will never see his name and NOT say “HOW DOES THAT FEEL, KAPRIZOV?!?”

Yes!!! A friend spent a lot of that playoff season listening to radio streams online. He still talks about Phil Esposito. 'How does that feel, Kiprusoff?' is a part of our lexicon.

Stop talking about the '04 Final.

Keep talking about the '04 final.

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:35 am Keep talking about the '04 final.

Keep talking about last night's Lightning game.

Detroit's leading scorer has no goals, at the halfway point of the season.