pi2000

That doesn't speak well for the competition does it?

I raced competitively in my age group for a few years after moving to California. Did many sprints and halfs, only 1 full IM. Anybody can do it. You'd be surprised how long you can go with proper nutrition and hydration. The hardest part isn't the race itself.. it's the discipline to get your workout in every single day while training. It needs to be the highest priority thing in your life for the better part of a full year. I'd recommend doing at least one full marathon and a tough century in the months leading up to the race. And an open water swim of race dist (2.4mi) if you can find one. For swim training I joined up with a Masters group at a local pool. 90min workouts, in the water at 6am... did wonders for my swimming, still sucked at it tho. For running, its absolutely imperative that you get properly fitted for running shoes or you will be miserable. For me, I quit triathlon after the IM. I was starting a family and it just seemed like a really really selfish endeavour at that time... and it is, your whole day is planned around your training, eating, sleeping, etc. I started playing hockey again after that because I missed the locker room atmosphere you only get from a team sport.

Yahoo has a new type of fantasy football league called Best Ball. It's the same as a normal fantasy draft but after the draft is over, gou are done. No adding or dropping players and no need to set "starters". They just count your beat scoring players on your roster for your weekly score. Might be a good option for those who don't have time to manage a roster throughout the season, like myself!

I don't know enough about Dach to comment. I'm OK with the Cozens pick, but was hoping for Caufield at that spot. He's special, has unique talents. I've watched a lot of video on him and he's a bullish power forward with great skating ability, but he needs to work on utilizing his teammates more, specifically in the neutral zone and zone entries, where he seems to skate right into guys at times with the puck on his stick. He plays with blinders on, he'll need to fix that to be effective against bigger stronger more physical opponents in the national league. I give him two years of junior before giving him an extended look in the Queen City. Love his attitude and drive, could blossom into a terrific top 6 presence if they're patient with his development.

I second the motion to use Yahoo this season.

Can someone explain to me why he'll make better decisions if he gets fewer minutes? I've played my entire life and never once have I seen a player get better by playing less.

I recall an interview with him asking about his off-season plans and his response was to the effect that he's not a fan of spending time in the gym... that his affectiveness as a hockey play comes from his hands, not his physical fitness.

Here's a few posts from the earlier in the season where I did a breakdown of some goals against.... spoiler alert: Risto's lack of awareness is a recurring theme.

Lazy. He doesn't appear to have much interest in fitness. 25 years ago, no big deal. Today, major concern.

I picked Jokiharu. I see some Brian Campbell in him. UPL is intriguing, but goalies are unpredictable, and hip issues already? Huge red flag. Unfortunately, Mittlestadt's nicotine fueled marathon Fortnite sessions will be his undoing. I had high hopes for him when he was drafted, see a lot of Phil Kessel in him, minus the wrist shot. Cozens vision and awareness are a concern. Very good prospect tho, plus skater, but low ceiling. He was a safe pick.

O'Reilly syndrome.... highly contagious. Who's next? Reinhart? Hutton?

What's wrong with Brodie, he's a stud. Yeah he has 1 year left before UFA, but he's great.

Yeah anything less than 30 would be a disappointment...

That's great, but what is a reasonable goal total for him to live up to his contract?

Theoretically, what happens if there simply isn't enough cap room league wide to sign all these RFAs? Those are some young studs who wont come cheap.

My source says no.

Thanks! That's encouraging to hear that guys are still playing with new hips into their 60s. He said I'm probably 5-10 years from a hip replacement. I'm having a hard time getting over that, I'll be 47 next month. We also discussed arthroscopy to repair the labrum and trim some bone spurs, but his thoughts were that won't help much, said to just back off high impact stuff and stop hockey. Don't really have any pain doing other stuff like cycling and golf. I was leaning towards hanging up the skates anyway for other reasons. If I get the itch to play to again I'll look into options.

Doctor said I need to give up hockey due to deteriorating hip. I'm actually OK with it to be honest. Too many little injuries here and there was getting close to giving it up anyway. Would rather be pain free on the golf course.

If that's the case, he should be fired. Immediately.

Both Mittlestadt and Thompson should've spent the majority of the season in Roch.... IMO they would've developed better down there. They fact they both stayed up in BUF flies in the face of what JBOT has been preaching about development and having a strong farm club. Those two showed really good chemistry in dev camp and the prospects tournament. Why not let them grow together and build confidence while ironing out their game in Roch? I don't get the reasoning there. And the excuse that there wasn't anybody else to take those spots is pure bunk.

Unless he shows massive all around improvement in camp, Mitts needs to start the season in Roch. He's better off playing top minutes in Roch than 3rd line minutes in BUF.

4 or 10

On the contrary I find it quite telling that young Auston opted for a short 5 year deal instead of committing long term to the Leafs. One thing is for certain, he IS committed... committed to $$$$ Also, if he was committed to the city of Toronto, he would've taken a lesser AAV for a longer term which would've allowed the Leafs to fit Marner under the cap this offseason. But alas, Auston's actions only confirm the idea that he does not care about long term team success.

Correct. However, TRpm needs to be considered within the context of the team.... eg, a TRpm of 0 on a top team is much better than a TRpm of 0 on a bottom team. I still haven't figured out how to normalize TRpm based on team performance. Anyway, here's the bottom 10... PIT Evgeni Malkin -31.50 WPG Patrik Laine -28.02 PIT Phil Kessel -26.49 BUF Rasmus Ristolainen -23.04 VAN Erik Gudbranson -22.21 CAR Warren Foegele -21.30 SJS Justin Braun -20.11 LAK Drew Doughty -19.81 CBJ Zach Werenski -19.25 LAK Ilya Kovalchuk -19.24

Money does not change people, it unmasks them.