Tom Backyard

Assistant principal of a K-8 public school in New York City. It's interesting to see how many of you are in "technology" related fields.

The frontline and American Experience PBS websites have hundreds of hours of streaming content. Sometimes I wonder why I pay for Netflix, since I spend so much time streaming PBS or TV sports.

Thanks! I was thinking that you'd probably be able to figure that out pretty quickly.

Thanks. Ok, so Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Edmonton are the only three in the history of the draft lottery to finish last place in back to back years. Tampa is the only team to have lost the lottery both years (but still drafted first one year because of restrictions placed on number of slots a team could move up). Can anyone figure out the odds under the current system? Or has anyone seen an article examining this situation?

Just thinking about this, and I am pretty sure there is someone on here with the know how/resources to figure this out... We all know that if we finish in last place, that there is an 80% chance that we don't pick first overall, but considering that last year we finished last overall and ended up losing the lottery and selecting second.... What are the chances that a team who finishes last overall for two consecutive years loses the lottery both years?

I skate shinny there sometimes. It's nice.. They need to get their scoreboard and benches in though. It was supposed to happen last summer, but they didn't come through. Hoping that they get leagues set up for next winter. I live 5 minutes from the rink and Would rather play there than Long Island City.

Eating in midtown is going to be more upscale and a little pricey. Quality meats is a great steakhouse which, while certainly not cheap, Isn't necessarily wallet crushing. Burgers at the Parker Meridian are amazing and people wait in line for them. You could always go to Brother Jimmy's (Southern BBQ) right next to MSG on Eigth Avenue, There's also one on the Upper West Side. It's nothing to write home about, but I have eaten many plates of Brother Jimmy's over the years. Another Bar/pub that is decent for tying one on with your pals is Beer Authority. Food is pretty good, large beer selection and lots of space. I think they also have an outdoor beer patio, but I usually go in the winter before Rangers games so I haven't experienced the patio first hand. It's a few blocks from MSG. There are a few Shake Shacks that you could hit up. Just google it. There is one in Madison Square Park, The Theatre District, and one on Columbus Ave near Central Park in the Upper west side. A wildcard out of the way spot would be Chinese Mirch. It's on 23rd and Lexington. The menu is Chinese/Indian fusion. I like it because there are chiles in almost every dish and unlike most restaurants, they can make a hot pepper eater like myself actually sweat it out. Let me know if you need any other info and I'll try to help out best I can.

Girg, Risto and Pysyk looking ahead of the pack there, and rightfully so. Sam-T looked great along the boards and even had a few good moves to the net. He's 24 though and 4-6 years older than most of the other attendees though. Can't wait to see more of him in Rochester and see how he measures up to a sheet full of professionals. Baptiste is intriguing.

I'm in. Don't click on the player, click on the press room link instead.

'cause I'm not Sylvain Séguin anymore, my name is Dale Hawerchuk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9uF5r4K7OI

I still have my 99 Cherokee. 13 years and 120K and I haven't had to replace anything beyond regular maintenance. The last 25,000 or so have been NYC miles, so I know it's days are numbered. I'm no fool. I love how utilitarian it is. Roll up/down windows, no bells or whistles to go haywire or crap out. It's real hard to find a plain Jane nowadays. The car makers like to load up the base models.

716, I love the Jimmy Finlayson avatar. I have had an appreciation for Laurel and Hardy since I was a kid.

Isles fans staging a walkout midway through the second in protest of their sh*t show of an organization.

Havent ever posted this idea before, but since today is the last day that it's relevant I will now. I always felt that Ryan Miller understood what bringing a Stanley Cup to Buffalo would mean. I think he understood, in a different way than most NHL'ers, that winning a championship in this town would bring immortal legend status. We are dying for a big time trophy, and the guys who make it happen will be Gods in Buffalo, and Miller got that.

Make sure you take route 17 all the way between Charleston and Savannah. It will take a little longer, but you'll see some interesting small southern towns and some great live oak trees draped in Spanish moss by avoiding the 95. Savannah is the sort of place that you would do well with an afternoon, a night and a morning. Charleston is worth two full days/nights in my opinion.

That about sums it up right there.

Woah. Hold on a second. Ceiling isn't that high on this kid. He has played 108 games (and zero complete NHL seasons), and has 45 points in them. Did you see the play he made on Varone's goal tonight? Additionally, He's hurt, as inkman pointed out.

I think it's more likely to compete directly with the Schwan's Super Rink in Minnesota rather than the Harbor Center. Schwan's is currently the largest in North America with 8 rinks. As far as basketball courts and making everyone happy the development group is contributing $8 million toward a 50,000-square-foot space within the armory for the community to build out any way it wishes. So if they want a basketball facility they can have that too.

Pretty excited about this. It's going to do a lot for hockey in NY. It was pretty controversial during the planning phase (it's being built in a decommissioned armory). Local residents wanted retail and basketball facilities. People from greater NY saw the potential of a National Ice Center. I spoke with a couple of City Council members about this project, and reminded them of the success of the Ice Hockey in Harlem program has had in exposing kids to hockey who would never have had the chance to play, or even been introduced to the game. Hopefully this works out on an even larger scale. I'd love to see kids from the Bronx playing in the NHL in 20 years.

Sweet. Does this mean we're the Super Bowl Champions now?

Absolutely. If they can get one it says something about the trajectory of this team.

I am ok with being wrong!

I hear her backstage warming up.

Well, they're 2-0 now. As much as I want to believe they aren't as good as they seem to be, their record continues to prove me wrong time and time again. The problem is, the Patriots don't need to be Super Bowl Legend material to win the AFC East and get into the playoffs.

Barclay's Center is the highest grossing arena in the United States. Nets games are usually full and concerts are highly attended. The place sits in the heart of NYC and is accessible by almost every subway and the LIRR. In its first year, Barclay's is beating the pants off of MSG. The developer, Bruce Ratner didn't build that place to be a basketball arena, or a hockey arena. It's meant to be a world class entertainment venue. Their business model is to fill that place on as many nights as possible, whether it's Barbara Streisand or the Islanders doesn't matter. Th hockey community in NYC is really excited about hockey in Brooklyn. The isles devils game next weekend has great buzz right now, and I don't know anyone who's a fan of the game who won't be attending. As far as naming rights, Barclays dos retail, corporate, Investment banking and personal wealth management. They may not do retail banking in the US, but they have attached their name to the highest grossing arena sits right smack in the center of the nation's finance capital. It makes sense. The scoreboard, seating arrangement, and sight lines seem screwy for now, but they are supposed to reconfigure the floor of the arena before the Isles make the final move there in 2015.