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Older re-re-re-tread with no history of real success.

#NoJacquesForBuffalo I so don't want this.

Maybe Babcock will be available after this game.

What a ridiculous bunch of criteria to have for your next coach. No wonder we're a bunch of losers.

I think a lot of this would be mitigated if we simply knew whether it was the other hip or not.

6 months means he'll be available in October (assuming all goes well). When did he come back this past season?

If they go deep, it likely will change the way GM's think of how they approach their rosters.

I found some interesting Twitter activity on this I put in the coaches thread.

So, this is interesting. Same fundamental problems in Nashville and it looks like the natives are getting restless. Some are even saying Housley ought to come back. What if we did a coaching swap with Nashville?

So, Nashville is going to have to do some re-tooling. Their system and ours are very, very similar and it's pretty clear, without some changes, that system is less than ideal for the playoffs. I think Laviolette is safe for next season (unless his contract is up, I don't know), but I bet he cycles through some assistants.

Whoever is directing this Carolina game sucks. I am posting in the Playoffs thread, right?

Goodness, Nashville is so Buffalo like.

I have a feeling we're going to see lots of shots of the Star's bench tonight.

I hate ROR for what he's done to threads around here.

Carolina's jerseys are nearly the inverse of Washington's.

Where's the explanation?

They break to a commercial after that?

Prediction time: do we get four 7 game series for the first round? The Caps/Canes series is too close to call, IMHO. That goes to game 7. Dallas and Nashville? Depends on which Nashville team we get tonight. I don't want to make a prediction until after the first 10 minutes.

That's part of the Sabrespace 2019 Recruitment and Inclusiveness Program. All is normal.

I think the answer is in this: SECTION 7 – RESTRAINING FOULS NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE OFFICIAL RULES 2018-2019 A “pick” is the action of a player who checks an opponent who is not in possession of the puck and is unaware of the impending check/hit. A player who is aware of an impending hit, not deemed to be a legal “battle for the puck,” may not be interfered with by a player or goalkeeper delivering a “pick.” A player delivering a “pick” is one who moves into an opponent’s path without initially having body position, thereby taking him out of the play. When this is done, an interference penalty shall be assessed. So, this would have been a legal "battle for the puck" .

PA's point is that if the Shark who was hit did not touch the puck he, technically, is not in possession and that the hit, technically, is interference. It definitely is a gray area because while the video shows the player moving his stick over the puck, he doesn't appear to touch it before being hit. Technically, it should have been a penalty, but the gray area is whether he could have possessed or controlled the puck before being hit. He certainly could have and he was most likely intending to until he noticed McNabb bearing down on him. As I pointed out, there were weird gray-area calls about possession and off-sides throughout the season where a player "with" the puck entered the zone although they hadn't touched it, one leg was on one side of the line, etc. etc. You can also call goalie possession of the puck and whistles to stop play a pretty gray area, too.