Curt

What exactly do you guys think his next contract is going to be??

You should watch it again. He made a great pass to hit Eichel in stride as he entered the neutral zone, springing the 2 on 1. He doesn’t get credit for Jack’s brilliance, but he did have a direct impact on that play.

Perhaps, perhaps

Big take away from this game: Its a been a trend in the past couple, is the PP on the right track?

Even a good face off guy loses 45/100 times. I don’t put a lot of stock in it, but it can be important situational. Like that situation.

Time for a SHG

Yeah, but who’s counting......oh, nevermind........

Meh. I live closer to Quebec, so I can’t understand them anyway.

North Americans, yes. United States of Americans, no. People from the US are often referred to as Americans. People from Canada are not. These are true facts.

I wasn’t the one who started the convo. Never said he was defensive. I think he is flexible, style wise, not physically.

How many NHL coaches have 13 years of experience and have only been fired twice or less. I bet I could count them on one hand.

He has, at different times, successfully coached teams that excelled both offensively and defensively. He has had teams lead the league in goals against, and finish top 5 a couple times. It’s one of the reasons I think he is maybe the most underrated coach in the league. He seems to be able to work with what he has, instead of doing the square peg/ round hole.

The Tkachuk, and Fitzgerald, and Hayes families are from Massachusetts. They are American, and not just because of where Keith played hockey. I don’t know what old Canadian hockey families you are thinking of. Edit: I like Marchand.

Darn. It is pretty weird that it took so long to decide on surgery.

He doesn’t have size, obviously, but he has grit. That’s part of the reason that I’m a believer in him, despite his size. Additionally, he is 5’9”, but he is pretty thick, low center of gravity. Its a bit of a mitigating factor.

I’m calling BS on a lot of this too. 1) McDavid gets all the calls? That dude gets mugged game in game out. Players consistently get away with ridiculous stuff that should be penalties when going against against star players. There are entire YouTube video compilations of players doing f’ed up stuff to McDavid with no penalty. 2) I could not care any less who is a “good canadian boy” and who isn’t, or what the “the code” is. 3) So, I’m confused. Should everyone be treated equally and the rules enforced consistently? Or should anyone get to punch Tkachuk because he is “a rat” who doesn’t deserve mercy? I say all of this, but I also say that the first hit was definitely questionable. It looks like he did contact the head and I wouldn’t have argued with a penalty there. The second hit was clean as can be from my point of view. I will also agree that the NHL generally does a bad job of enforcing rules with any consistency. Just because Kassian didn’t like the hit, doesn’t mean that you get to attack the guy. My mind can’t be changed about that.

He hit the guy with the puck. How is that taking himself out of position?

JFC. This guy tells the truth about as often as the Iranian government. It’s just incredible and sad.

Isn’t a sucker punch attacking someone who isn’t a willing participant in the fight? Tkachuk was separating the man from the puck. He was going for pucks. It’s not as if he was charging Kassian away from the play. Are we at the point now where players can’t deliver hard checks? Is that suddenly against the unwritten rules of hockey, needing to be suppressed by fists. I thought it was a physical, contact sport?

You asked why he got suspended. It’s because he did something that, not only is a penalty in hockey, but could be considered assault. Sucker punching someone is not part of hockey. The things Matt T did maybe could be a penalty, but they were not, however they definitely were plays made as part of a hockey game. Matt T was trying to play hockey. Kassian started punching him because Matt T was playing hockey too rough for him. Poor Kassian, the big tough guy, sometimes hockey is just too rough for him to handle.

I get it.

Because punching someone like ten times while they cover up and don’t want to fight is against the law. Probably because of that.

I’m sorry that you are sad.

I mean, sure, but what are you trading him for? Picks/prospects? No A defenseman? No A different winger? What’s the point? A Center? Maybe yes?

Actually, Going from 135 to 165 hits would be more like asking a hockey player to add 10-20 points, not 3-4. Big difference.