LTS

C'mon, it worked for the Bruins last night.

You guys are not going to be happy.....

USA Hockey rules dictate that in a play like that the player would be assessed a match penalty. A player receiving a match penalty is suspended indefinitely pending a hearing with the appropriate local governing body (within 30 calendar days) to review the incident and decide on an appropriate punishment. Officials not making that call would be the one's to blame. Coaches who coach it and parents who accept it are also part of the problem, but their defense will be that other teams are going to do that, so we have to do it. If the officials make the call, that stops immediately. The 2 and 10 situation adds to the aggressive play policy and accumulating 5 of those in a season leads to a 1 game suspension. However, receiving another 1 after the suspension will result in another suspension.

I think it boils down to this.... Eichel is the "C" because he's Jack, he's $10M, and he's signed the longest on the team. Okposo is an "A" because he's respected by his teammates for what he's gone through, he's a vet, and he's signed the second longest on the team. Bogosian is an "A" because he's a vet, and because they can rotate the "A" to someone else while Bogosian continues to be out injured. By choosing Bogosian they actually get to give other people a shot with the "A". Pominville is gone after this season, no need to name him an "A". Reinhart hasn't signed long-term yet. Not getting an "A".

Ray would have gone on to be one of the most prolific goal scorers in NHL history. Unfortunately in his second game his overconfidence got the better of him and he ended up in a fight. During the fight he received a blow that changed that course of history. After a particularly strong punch to the right frontal lobe, Ray believed the goal was situated to the side of the scorer's area. He would continue to "score" often. Yes, I'm in a strange mood. Yes, it's because hockey started last night and the Sabres begin tonight. It's time. Here come the Buffalo Sabres.

That's a cut your crap suspension. I can live with that.

I'm actually projected that high? How did that happen? Just come knocking when you need a goaltender... I have the best.

MSG is not available using one of those. It's purely a cable/satellite/streaming option.

I'm pretty jacked today. I should be completely out of control tomorrow.

One might say that top teams know how to handle stress in players and as such it might be wise for a team to try those means. After all, the past few years they didn't and ended up last anyway. But yes, I can see how THIS time it would make a difference. The 10 new faces in the lineup last year certainly benefited from the extra day of practice. You're grinding the axe handle at this point.

And so do big hits... legal ones. Fighting is trending out... just like the hits. It's not an abrupt change, but it's changing.

As I said you would... that's fine. Unless it's a fighting sport you will see less "violent and brutal" in sports that feature contact. The increased understanding around head trauma and its long term impacts are going to force that change. Football players retiring (and many more not even starting to play the game). Hockey is less repetitive collision but the dangers are there and the hits like the one Wilson delivered will be removed from the game. What's making this worse is that there was no penalty for checking from behind, charging, or an illegal check to the head. This was straight up a match penalty for deliberately attempting to injure an opponent. This pretty much signals that the hit was deemed 100% unnecessary and was delivered in such a way that it's only intent was to injure the opponent.

The veterans were going to play. It's what will happen because it's the most strategic long-term option. ?

I understand why looking at this screen grab would indicate the oncoming collision. Wilson is a minimum of 1/3 of the ice width away from the puck carrier. This is like skating in from the inside edge of the face-off circle towards a guy on the boards where if he turns you have to hold up from the hit. The standard is no different just because it's the middle of the ice. Here's a few frames later. This is the point where Wilson is no longer lateral to his opponent. I could frame grab a few more shots leading up to this, but Wilson could have taken an approach a few more feet inside the zone and turned and made the same hit cleanly. Instead he took a straight line angle which increases the odds that the player he is trying to hit will be turned away from him (most players are going to turn up the ice towards goal). This is why Tom Wilson is Tom Wilson. At this point he's more worried about hitting the guy than playing defense. This is the point where we will likely continue to disagree as I feel that these kinds of hits are completely unnecessary as they serve only to try and injure and add no defensive value.

Should be entertaining.... or something.

Yea, I mean he could have just elbowed him in the head. What he's supposed to do is establish his position laterally or to the front of the player before hitting him. I don't know if he just made a line change or what the reason was for his approach angle but it was from behind the player. That's all there is to it. You can't hit him there, period. I agree that Sundqvist's motion makes it worse. Even if he hadn't released the puck the hit from Wilson would have been from a blindsiding angle unless Sundqvist turned back towards the blue line more. He didn't and probably would not have and in this case is hypothetical because it didn't happen.

Back on the ice this season... in the best shape I've been in since somewhere during my freshman year of college. Last night we played with 8 players... I felt like i could have skated another game afterward.... that's an awesome feeling.

Wilson's weight should be on his right side. As he makes the hit you would normally transition that from your right to your left to drive the check into the opponent. His elbow isn't relevant to the conversation. His angle is much more relevant. He's not coming from a lateral or forward position to hit, he is coming from a rear angle to make contact. Moreover, every time I watch it, it's not 100% clear his shoulder doesn't make head contact at the time his elbow makes body contact. The bottom line is, that's a hit that easily does not have to be thrown at all and could 100% be avoided. Appears he's getting an in-person hearing for it.

Personally I would prefer something after November if at all possible.

Ask Max Pacioretty how he feels about this assessment. The Tom Wilson hit is extraordinarily borderline. What should get him in trouble is where is point of attack comes from on the hit regardless of the head contact. His angle is from behind the player and as the shot is taken he is pretty much hitting the backside of the shooter's shoulder. The shooter is moving parallel to the blue line and Wilson came from the neutral zone, thus creating the angle from behind. I've defended Wilson hits in the past, but this one should warrant a pretty good suspension. Went and searched... this video should seal it. Look at the overhead at about :13-:14 seconds in.

It has to be said that you are stating your opinion and that others may feel differently. While not tracked accurately, most estimations are that since 2010 there has been a significant uptick in the number of Americans moving out of the country. Certainly those reasons can vary greatly, but it seems that there is at least a trend that would indicate a growing number of people no longer consider this the greatest place to live. For me personally I have many reasons why I would consider moving out of this country. Political atmosphere being but one of them. I think our culture is trending in a very self-destructive path. I'm not sold on our education system. I would very much questions whether this is the best place to live but since I have not lived elsewhere, I cannot say at this point. That said, I've been on the fence for a few years and were I single, I probably would have left.

They are similar, but they are clearly (at least to me) not the same. Curious what Swamp says.. here's what i hear. In Spirit - there is a track that plays a basic progression down from what sounds like A to F over 5 measures with what sounds like a few extra notes faintly thrown in that are on higher strings. In Led Zeppelin - the riff starts on A but the note progression is not quite the same. The chords progression sounds similar up until the 6th measure in Spirit. I'm just testing myself to see how close I come to being accurate. ?

It just had a different feel to me.

There's a significant possibility that I bring the family on a trip through there this year.. but it would have to be summer...