PerreaultForever

and that's what world leaders should do? troll other world leaders? I'll just let you ponder for yourself what the normalization of a lot of this is doing.

Seems bigger where I live. There's a patriotism around here I've never seen before, and I'm pretty old.

In Canada it does. This was symbolically huge.

If I'm Ottawa I'm trading Brady Tkachuk now while his value is sky high. After you watch how USA he was and how emotional it seems pretty obvious that he will leave as a free agent same way his brother did and go play for an American team. They are dreaming if they think they can keep him happy in Ottawa.

They tinkered with that once before but I think if you have a "Europe" team made up of all those countries you pretty much throw Finland into the loser seat and maybe Sweden too. Czechs plus Slovaks with some star Germans etc. would be a very good team. If you want a real equal competition maybe you could have Scandinavia with Sweden and Finland as one team but they are also kind of rivals so probably doesn't work. I think no matter how you work it it'll still end up Canada U.S.

Most of Canada viewed this as a battle of good vs. evil there's no denying that.

That was a great hockey game. Binnington showed he's a money goalie after all. Stuck it to Boston in the Stanley Cup finals and stuck it to their fans again tonight. Marchand piggybacking Konecny really did make me laugh. That might be the biggest international win for Canada since '72. I hope we see this again.

That's part of the problem with tanking isn't it? You are left inserting these young guys into an empty void rather than a strong culture. They come in and are given the leadership role and they've gone through life always being the star and the diva even and only the ones with extremely solid character can navigate that properly. The rest have to grow up first. I still believe it might have gone better if we'd named ROR captain instead of Eichel and had him as the cultural center but you can't change the past. Team did not learn the lesson as there's still a lack of veteran leadership and it's unlikely to change until these guys age into it.

To the second paragraph that's simply what I was wondering. Was it an apology? It was oblique enough I'm not sure and yes, I suppose you'd have to ask Lorne Michaels or maybe Miley Cyrus. To the first, it's the failure to recognize you don't have it any more. Paul singing Beatles stuff there was like Jerry Rice trying to play football well past the end of his career. Just sad to watch. Being there or being involved sure, but as the end musical guest no. Keith Richards was there. He just asked about a scarf for his appearance. Maybe Paul Simon should have just opened the show in a turkey costume. Paul? You know what would have been great? If Paul made up a little ditty honoring Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci) that made reference to being stoned like a Koala Bear. Remember that one? You know the show should have probably opened with Chevy Chase falling out of his wheelchair, but some people know when they are too old for something as he'd probably not be able to get back up. Let's just agree to disagree on this.

I think it's really simple to understand. He's gotten injured blocking shots and playing defensive D and so he doesn't want to do that the way he needs to to be successful with his skillset. I'd love to see what happens to him in a trade to Philly the first time he doesn't block a shot he should for Torts. Mind you, we have a habit of breaking promising D men and we'd probably see Torts fix him eventually like he did with Risto.

In terms of team structure long term it's too much money on similar guys. Byram is going to want to be paid like a top pairing D man. That puts a lot of money on 3 offensive D men. You only need 2. I'd rather they spent the money on adding that defensive partner(s) or a top 6 forward. Again I hated the Mitts for Byram trade. It's not that I thought Mitts was all that, but it was a positional mistake imo. Strength down center is an important thing and we don't have it. So I'm not about subtracting but rather about adding the actual team needs.

There was a stretch last year where that was true but since injury(s) he has never been the same and has not had that impact.

RFAs and other players in the first half of their careers generally do not have NTC clauses. It's only the older guys who have earned them or demanded them as a condition of signing. Those are the guys you should be able to trade for if you are willing to make solid offers. I don't follow what you're saying on spending to the cap. If you are spending less than the other guy chances are you will have less. You shoot yourself in the foot before you even start.

But we've already got Power for PP2. How many of the same guy do you need? I do not believe you want more than 2 of these offensively skilled D men. Two is what you want. One of Byram or Power should be traded.

Seriously? I "lack the objectivity" ? I would think anyone who thinks that McCartney performance was good would be lacking in objectivity. You do understand what the word means don't you? As for the Sinead song that's what I'm asking. SNL banned her and she had repercussions from it. So does this performance say they were wrong or right that's what I was wondering. I know the history. I saw it when it aired. I mean it's not like they had someone roll around on the ground singing "With A Little Help From My Friends". Now that was SNL history.

Not ALL the time, but there have been lazy moments from pretty much every star player we've had over the last 13 plus years. In hindsight can you blame them? They all had why bother moments I think. Thompson's had some this year. Cozens might be having one the whole season.

Oh no it was awful, as was Paul Simon opening. I get the nostalgia but sometimes you need to recognize when it's over. It's long past over. What I found weird was Miley Cyrus singing a Sinead O'Connor song. Wasn't O'Connor banned from SNL for ripping up the picture of the pope? So was that a oops sorry to her memory or something? Seemed like an odd choice.

I'm disappointed we traded for him. He's like Dahlin-lite. Sometimes looks similar, but also kind of something missing. As I've said before he just wasn't what we needed. We already have what he brings in Power.

Thursday should be a heck of a hockey game. Pity the goaltending isn't even as that might be the deciding factor. Otherwise it should be something to see. Watching Bennett and Marchand as linemates is so weird after last year's playoff punch but that's hockey.

I would suggest it was also by being surrounded by leaders like Stone and a strong culture valuing hard work. The bar was raised and he realized (as a more mature individual) that he had to elevate to it. Being the golden boy or diva wasn't going to cut it there.

This can't be true. It would mean every single possible piece had a NTC with Buffalo on it. The problem is the will and the courage to make the big moves needed. First off, spending to the cap. Not doing that when all your competition is doing that is an instant kick in the teeth to fans. The second is getting the players. It can be done. Adams has a massive amount of trade capital in picks and prospects. The problem is he wants to win trades and he has to be willing to overpay to get what he needs for a while and then when we make the playoffs we can get back to winning trades. You can get what you need if you really want it. Make them the offer they can't refuse.

Canada not having an elite goalie is the big difference in this thing and may very well be the deciding factor. I'm just glad it's a real and meaningful tournament and not just an all star showcase.

We do this repeatedly and will likely do it again. We never take the leap or step forward at the critical moment because we wait for our development prospects rather than going out and getting players we need. I mean I think every single poster here said we need a top 6 winger and/or a 2C and a defensive partner for Power and everyone here has said it for a long time. It's obvious. Many of us have also said we are too soft and Ruff said he wanted a "guy who could chuck 'em" and we didn't address that either even though he said he wanted it so clearly Adams does not do what his coach wants. The problem is that by the time enough prospects develop (even if you have the right kind of players in the system) somebody else will lose their love or want out or just get unaffordable and so it goes forever step forward step back and forever on the outside.

what? I thought the USA won?

Not saying it's right or wrong but it's obvious the Swedish coach doesn't trust him. Prefers the veteran. I've been thinking about this 3,2,1 pt system though and I kind of like it. Rewarding regulation wins over OT wins could perhaps give you a more accurate point total on the season. A little less reliance on having a big 3 for OT and more reliance on actually winning games 5 on 5.