carpandean

This year is exceedingly rare. The best prospect in 10 years is coming out in combination with another one of the top prospects in the same generation (if not 2nd best, close to it.) The closest thing to that before was 2004 when Malkin and Ovechkin came out. Despite all of that, only two teams - Sabres and Coyotes - really made an effort to degrade their on-ice performance through player moves. The Oilers did a little, but not nearly as much (their best players were much too young), and the Maple Leafs' players have checked out, but I wouldn't accuse their front office of purposefully tanking. We haven't seen anything approaching what just those two teams have done since pre-2004-05 lockout, despite higher odds than what they have now. This is a perfect (s**t) storm that is unlikely to be repeated even without any changes to the system.

We know that the players won't do it. We can't even get our players under long-term contracts (Ennis, Moulson, etc.) to do it and they would stand to benefit far more from a successful tank than another teams' players would stand to benefit from derailing it. Too many players on that team would not be in comfortable positions (long-term contracts), themselves, so they will play hard for their own best interests. Losing a game on purpose (not just thinning the roster, but actually playing on the ice to lose) is morally reprehensible and no GM/Coach is going to walk into the dressing room and say, "let's teach these tankers a lesson tonight, boys; go out there and lose one for the moral high ground." Team-wise, the only exception seems to be Toronto, whose "stars" are mailing in every game. As for roster manipulation, it can be done when rebuilding by trading off players for future assets (even that takes time, not to mention an open trading season), but there's not much that can be done in the short-run to affect one game. They are limited in call-ups and there would certainly be outrage from the players if some of them are sat in favor of lesser players just to prove a point. I don't see any of them doing much more than playing the backup goaltender. Not to mention one heck of a "playoff" beard.

Data has to be a little thin for high-end NCAA players (compared to CHL players). Not that there aren't any (Toews, Heatley, Vanek, etc.), but Eichel's producing (point-wise) at a higher level than even those few data points. Tough to infer what he's going to be capable of.

Depends on who gets 'em. I'm not worried about Carolina anymore. The Maple Leafs are 12 ahead with a guaranteed tie breaker and if the Sabres get 13+, they'd likely be passing us for 27th, anyway. I'd just prefer that they not be sticking around. Now, if I were an Oilers fan (and maybe a Yotes fan), I'd definitely be concerned about them. And, on some real, "Around the NHL" news: the Hamburglar got flame-broiled by the Rangers tonight.

Not bad (the outcome, not the game, itself.) I'll take it.

It won't be. Kane is coming, Reinhart is coming, etc. Some of the best players on the team are still kids. Plus, we have a lot to trade with.

As I said earlier, that's why I couldn't watch this game in person. I can't change how I feel about the outcome, but it's not fair to the players to cheer against them in their own building.

I say yes, but I'm watching the NHL scoreboard, so my only basis is the number changing to a 3.

I was thinking that if you put these teams together, you could make a nice AHL team.

If they win tonight, I'm going to break my computer screen repeatedly smashing my face onto that.

That's good to know.

They are. They have a (9 - game-in-hand) lead on Boston and (13 - game-in-hand) lead on Florida with 8 games left. They may be playing poorly, but neither team behind them is playing really well, either. Ottawa is playing well, but they are currently the 8th-place team.

I'm still worried about Carolina (could be eliminated tonight) and Toronto falling below us, so ...

Nolan was rewarding him for showing up early by trying to get him the hat trick. Did I mention the hat trick? Yeah, he got one.

Unfortunately, 99% of casual fans won't know that and will think it a misogynistic term, on par with the "Peaches" and "Belles" in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Down by 1 with under a minute left, the Sabres pull Hackett and score. On the faceoff, Matt Ellis pressures the Coyotes' D-man, who then falls, creating a 2-on-1 with Ellis and Hodgson. Cody goes top shelf for the shocking, come-from-behind regulation win.

I couldn't possibly go to this game in person. It's an extension of the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule. Very few of these players are guaranteed a spot with the team in the long-run, so cheering against them in person wouldn't be fair. Most fan who actually go, likewise, probably won't boo them or cheer for the Coyotes, so I don't expect a lot of that, but I imagine that there will be a larger-than-normal number of empty seats.

That's 8 points in the last 6 games for the Oilers. Hope they keep it up, so that we can at least stop worrying about 28th (1 in 9 odds of McEichel vs. 1 in 3 for 29th.) They've got some tougher games coming up.

Oilers blew a three-goal lead, but our boy Roy won it on the PP in the third. Two points and an ROW. :thumbsup:

Coyotes with an unexpected OT win (still an ROW) against Detroit. That certainly helps the cause.

29, 21, 29, 27, 7, 8, 26, 25, 9 Not conceding, but those are the current ranks of the Sabres' remaining opponents.

Would be tough to lose him, but if taking him out allows for a real quarterback to come in, then they'd have to seriously consider it. The drop on D wouldn't be nearly as big as the rise on offense.

No doubt that Ted is playing a "bend, but don't break" system that lets teams take lots of shots from the outside, but limits their prime chances from the middle and in close. It's their only hope. They aren't going for possession or Corsi or anything like that, because they couldn't hope to compete that way, but rather for survival and the hope that they can capitalize on the rare PP, odd-man rush or garbage goal. Keeps games close (annoyingly so in the case of OT/SO's), but over the season hasn't won much. Unfortunately, it won't have to in order to finish out of 30th.