Around The League 40: As we barrel towards 40 teams

[Stickpucker]

The reason that Buffalo was stuck for a long time is they kept trying to jump-start their rebuild before it was primed. That Ville Leino signing may have been one of the worst in NHL history. Then by the time they were out from under that, they went and traded for O'Reilly before they had the depth to manage such a move. Basically Pegula was running the team like GM mode on the NHL series rather than letting the guys in his front office do their jobs, and the team inevitably sucked as a result. It's no coincidence that they're finally turning a corner after he gave Adams much more free reign than his prior GMs. Buffalo's issue is that it took him a decade to realize he doesn't know what the f*** he's doing with the Sabres

Ah Pegula had a classic case of Tepperitis.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Rummaging through some stuff yesterday and found this. A fun artifact considering a 36-year-old Crosby is going up against Connor Bedard tonight.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Rummaging through some stuff yesterday and found this. A fun artifact considering a 36-year-old Crosby is going up against Connor Bedard tonight.

View attachment 750651

if only the pens won the lottery and got bedard

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

if only the pens won the lottery and got bedard

If you're going to say things that are going to make me physically ill, can you say it at least earlier in the morning so I can go home early?

 

[HisIceness]

Rummaging through some stuff yesterday and found this. A fun artifact considering a 36-year-old Crosby is going up against Connor Bedard tonight.

View attachment 750651

I'm a bit confused by this, it says Playoffs 2006 and the Penguins didn't come anywhere close to qualifying that year.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I'm a bit confused by this, it says Playoffs 2006 and the Penguins didn't come anywhere close to qualifying that year.

If Connor Bedard puts up 90 points this year I promise he'll still be a massive story in May even when the Blackhawks finish 29th...

 

[Svechhammer]

Well.... Shit.

 

[Chrispy]

Well.... Shit.

That sucks. Aside from the simply human aspect, Barry is the best thing ESPN has in terms of hockey coverage.

 

[DaveG]

That sucks. Aside from the simply human aspect, Barry is the best thing ESPN has in terms of hockey coverage.

Yep. Him and Linda Cohn seemed to be the only two that actually gave a damn about the sport on the network.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Tommy Novak had 43 points in 51 games last season… and I spent a period and a half thinking he was Tomas Nosek.

In related news, this Tommy Novak guy has really been impressing me lmao.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Tommy Novak had 43 points in 51 games last season… and I spent a period and a half thinking he was Tomas Nosek.

In related news, this Tommy Novak guy has really been impressing me lmao.

If Nashville has another down year, Novak could get a rather large return at the deadline. Not as much as Jeannot because he will be a UFA next offseason, but possibly more than the stereotypical deadline pickup because he only makes $800K this season.

 

[WreckingCrew]

Wait, did that game start at 5:30?

 

[HisIceness]

Melrose has always been the guy for ESPN even during the OLN/Versus era. I remember 2009 he predicted the Hurricanes would be in the Conference finals prior to the playoffs starting, and he was right.

Wait, did that game start at 5:30? On a Friday?

Yes, well Tuesday but yeah.

 

[WreckingCrew]

Nashville scores 11 sec into the 3rd to take a 2-1 lead, scores again not long after but on obvious GI. Tampa scores on the PP a min later and then on a PS just another min after. Tampa up 3-2 just 4 min into the 3rd

Yes, well Tuesday but yeah.

DOH, duh, I'm on PTO the rest of the week so it's felt like Friday today lol

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Tampa needed Nashville to take the lead to wake up again. Now it's 3-2 with Hagel scoring on a penalty show.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Novak, what a rocket of a wrister! Now, it's just one game, but that guy was raging hot to finish the year last season. The version that we're seeing right now needs to be a Cane. I know the front office isn't going to do it, but man.

EDIT: Tampa, I think, has some flaws this season, especially with Vasi's injury, but that power play is still lethal. 4-3 Tampa.

 

[HisIceness]

The Predators have potential to be a fun team to watch in the future.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I liked what Nashville did in free agency last year. Their prior leadership group might've gotten complacent, so they replaced a huge chunk of them with true character guys like ROR. Him and Josi are great examples for their young up-and-comers to look up to.

 

[cptjeff]

Yeah, need to tighten up on the penalties a bit (or a lot), but Nashville looks good. Still, give Tampa that many power plays...

 

[HisIceness]

Bucci is trying a little too hard to be, I don't know, Gus Johnson lite?

 

[Derailed75]

Yep. Him and Linda Cohn seemed to be the only two that actually gave a damn about the sport on the network.

I think Buccicross (sp) does but hks game call needs lots of work

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Part of me is deeply afraid that Pittsburgh is going to have one or two final magical seasons like Boston did last year. I said this in another board, but I don't think that Dubas could've played his cards any better considering the circumstances that he walked into. I don't think that they'll snatch the Metro title or our shot at the Cup away from us, but EK gives them that somewhat-thin shot of doing that.

 

[Derailed75]

That shot of Hall sitting next to Bedard is a lesson for teams of how much pressure to put on a kid/man. Hall was supposed to be the next big thing. Dont get me wrong he is a solid NHLer but has never and will never live up to the hype he got.

Sometimes maybe give the kid some time and a chance without the entire weight of a franchise on his shoulders

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Pittsburgh doesn’t scare me in the slightest.

They have less depth.
They are old
Their defense is really bad
Almost all of them are injury prone
Their goaltending is meh

 

[WreckingCrew]

Wow, blatant flop by Malkin is somehow called a trip lmao, that's the shit we usually get penalized for...his foot was BARELY touched and he fell the opposite direction the touch should have sent him