shrader

And it could take a year or two before he gets to that point. But if the kid does have the good shot that has been mentioned, I want to see it tested. I'm convinced that Jack could put the puck on even a Gerbe-sized stick. Now let's just find someone who can do something with that.

Who was passing to him most of the time? If he does see some time with Eichel, I think it's safe to say that he wasn't seeing that level of passing up to this point.

Every team needs a reserve center.

A good amount of this perception is based off of the media prospect rankings we've seen thrown around. We've got the perfect recent example of how much those things vary from team to team. Take a look at the draft every single year. How many times during the course of just the first round do you hear/read "but that guy was ranked XX picks later"? It's safe to say that those published rankings aren't exactly bible.

I hate making predictions, but I feel very comfortable when I say that I don't expect them to use all 3.

This moves beyond an NHL-CHL issue at this point. What you're describing becomes an issue for the PA. Why would they have any interest in reducing the rights of the player by adding one more year of team control? And also, we're not talking about the CHL losing 31 random players. We're talking about them losing 31 of their best players. It's hard to imagine that happening without a big drop in talent. Let's not forget that those leagues are also a business just like the NHL is.

I don't know how you could possibly quantify this though.

That was fast. I saw his farewell to the NHL.com gig post this weekend and was wondering what the next step was.

See, I think those conspiracies wind up being the most uniting. That's the rare case where you get to see both sides join up for a good laugh. "You and I may be different, but at least you're not that guy."

And they could very well be approaching the point of moving picks to supplement the roster. Time will tell with that. What we shouldn't do is be held accountable for the sins of previous GMs. If he is handed a team that needs a ton of reshuffling, he needs to do exactly that regardless of what just happened a couple years before he got here. All of that is sunk at this point. Sure it sucks for us the fans, but if Botterill seriously believes something needs to be done to make this organization better, he needs to do exactly that. Screw the fans. Turning those picks into Dustin Penner will do that to you.

Sometimes being a huge nerd leads to a really cool avatar.

Sorry, it wasn't a comment about you.

Are we catching onto all of this just now? It's kind of interesting to see how some posters are given the troll label while others aren't. I realize that others want something completely different, but this is all I want at this point, entertaining hockey. It has to start somewhere. Hey, leave me out of this.

Is it a conversation though if it's just two people yelling at a wall? There are people who do want to listen, but usually it's the extremes who are the most vocal. I wish we could pinpoint the exact moment where being disagreed with became such an affront. Disagreement is healthy, it makes things interesting. Take it and learn from it instead of acting like someone just shot your puppy. Sadly I think we're a long way from people realizing that.

And typically the teams that are taking on the cap hits are from guys who they don't actually have to pay. So for that, you're either retaining salary in a deal or you've got a LTIR or retired guy. We don't have any candidates for the latter right now... well, at least until Bogosian plays a few more games.

I want to back this up for a second as I try to keep up in my mind with the bodies in/out so far. Am I missing something with this list, potential AHL guys in parentheses? Forwards out: O'Reilly Pouliot Nolan (I kind of want to put him in parentheses) (Fasching) Forwards in: Sheary Bergland Sobotka (Thompson) Defense out: Gorges Antipin Defense in: Dahlin Hunwick I kind of want to list Mittlestadt as an addition as well, but I'll leave that out. It also leads to possibly adding someone like Guhle. Anyway, I'm just trying to sort this out from a pure body count point of view. And then there are the goalies, but I'd say that one is much more clear so I won't bother to list it.

but when you do, you drink dos equis?

I'd be curious to see exactly how he wound up at UCONN. Some of their higher rated guys have been players who were originally recruited somewhere else but then failed to meet admission standards. I can't find anything to suggest that he was committed to another school though. It's possible that he was a big recruit just as they were making the jump to hockey east. This is the feeling I have right now. Start him out in the AHL and then maybe he winds up being an early full time recall, sort of like what happened with Pominville years ago (ignore the age difference).

Are you my brother? Pretty much everything you say matches up with him perfectly. He never brought a tin foil Stanley Cup to any playoff games though, so I'm guessing you're not.

I don't mean to pick on you, but this line is a perfect example of how things go off the rails around here. You're saying Thompson is either a hall of famer or a bust. We overvalue just about everything, which ultimately leads to disappointment.

Not only is it not asterisked out in anyway, but they also include much more of the quote than you typically get to see. I wish we'd see that more in these reports. There's still plenty of context lost in the whole thing, but it feels like Torts words aren't getting the total hatchet job that you usually see in online reporting.

A friend from college recently had his first baby. I was looking through amazon for a gift yesterday and the first thing that popped up was a BU football onsie. They shut that program down in 1997. I really want to buy that one though. My friend would laugh his ass off. The mother wouldn't get it though, which completely kills the gift.

Just start calling it bounceyball. That usually gets them worked up.

No it’s not the offer sheet alone, it’s also the timing. He stuck around in Russia while the rest of the league returned from the lockout. The whole thing was odd. On a side note, I really wish that Colorado hadn’t matched it and then Calgary would have lost him anyway to waivers.

Not to many in the NHL take it to the point of a hold out though. I can understand why someone might have some red flags for him. Hold out may not be the proper term for that whole fiasco coming out of the lockout, but it was definitely unique.