Taro T

Wouldn't say he avoided it like the plague, but he didn't initiate it after returning from injury either.

If he gets out of his KHL deal, sure, sign him. But right now he's at absolute tops the 5th LHD on the depth chart & if Johnson signs, he's 6th at best. That doesn't include the possibility that a AAAA guy they sign this summer won't pass him as well. When the team had no LHD other than Scandella there was a place for him. Adams flipping the D depth over to the left side makes his road to the NHL, barring a trade, rather onerous. And this from somebody that liked the kid.

People that only casually watched thought "playoff hockey" was changing in the 80's. It was, sort of, in the Campbell Conference because except for Calgary everybody tried to beat Edmonton at their own game which was a ludicrously bad strategy. Nobody could out-Edmonton the Eulers. Edmonton came through unscathed 6 times. The 1st time through, they thought they could keep playing their freewheeling style & got crushed by the Aisles. They actually played playoff hockey in the Finals after that. And being fresher & younger, not having had to go through the wars taking place in the Wales, let them win all 5 of those, 4 of them in dominating fashion. Winning playoff hockey doesn't change: take care of your own end, get great goaltending, & stay out of the penalty box. That teams think they can get away from that and still win against a determined opponent willing to do all that is kind of funny.

That, and the additional benefit of these kids seeing Buffalo when the weather's great & they learn there's more to the city than just a really ugly trip from the airport to a dingy hotel. That latter part hasn't mattered yet because the team has been such a train wreck but it could pay dividends down the road.

He screams the antithesis of the Adams guy. He won't slide to 41, but that's the 1st spot the Sabres might consider him IMHO.

Actually, it seems to recall the Eulers - Hawks from the late '80's. Unfortunately for the Eulers, in this one they're the Hawks. The big question becomes can the Avs tighten things down in the next round. If they can, they'll have a huge advantage in having played firewagon hockey this round which doesn't take nearly as much out of one as playing actual playoff-style hockey will. Don't know that it'll be enough of an advantage to win it all, but it surely won't hurt.

Actually, in what is actually a pretty smart move, well shockingly smart actually, as this is the NHL, and they rarely, if ever, make good tweaks to rules / rules interpretations, the league has started to consider a player to not be in control of the puck when crossing the blue line until his stick actually makes contact with the puck inside the offensive zone which gives players that appear to be offside an extra fraction of a second to get back onside. It's a smart move because it cuts down on how many apparent goals end up getting called off. And, really wasn't sure how Koharski would keep his streak intact because on 1st glance, it did look like the play was offside. But leave it to that putz to not understand how the league is interpreting the rules. He didn't know how to interpret them when he was getting paid by the league. It's silly to expect he'd know how to interpret them now that TNT is paying him. PS - Did we get to a new record for use of the word "actually" in a single sentence? 😉

Like it. Ideally he'd sign Fleury for 2 years, Husso for 3, & trade Portillo's rights as part of a package (either directly, or what he'd bring back in return) for the top 4 RHD they need. Presumes that Portillo isn't going to sign in the spring. If he tells Adams he will sign, then skip that last part. Overpay Husso so that he doesn't need a NTC to sign. IF UPL can figure it out, you either have 1 too many goalies in 2-3 years at which point UPL or Husso can be part of a trade package or your tandem becomes Husso & UPL or if he doesn't figure it out you're still likely set at starter until Levi is ready.

Pretty sure even Adams realizes that. Don't hate the idea of Anderson being the backup but would prefer 2 completely new (to us) goalies. Would go a long way towards spending to the floor w/out blocking anyone & without throwing off the salary structure.

True. The absolute studs can make enough from endorsements to give up their day job or have their day job be lax centric and that goes back to at least the Gait brothers. But by far, for the majority of these guys it's a really well paying hobby. What was really crazy was back before the NLL came along, when the MILL started out all the teams were owned by the league but each team had its own independent management. And home field in the playoffs was based on attendance. The team w/ better fan support got to host the game regardless of the relative records between the teams.

For the most part they play once/ week. But there is the odd 2 games in 1 weekend stretch once or twice/ year. But those are scheduled well in advance & arrangements can be made to accommodate those.

The players that don't live in the city they are playing in would still have to miss work on Friday. (And that would include players on the home team's roster.) And w/ the 2nd game in Denver on Sunday night, players would have to take Monday off as well. Again, for most of these guys, they have day jobs. It's 1 thing to ask for a day off a couple of months in advance when the schedule is released & something totally different to get the day off on 1 week's notice.

As soon as Raanta went down the series was over. It might have already been over, but that definitely sealed it.

The ESPN feed showed it about 3 more times in the intermission. Surprised TSN didn't do likewise.

Sorry, no clip. Looked like groin. He made a huge lunge to his right & immediately pulled up lame.

That's exactly what they did the last round. Pretty sure these guys all have day jobs, so getting a day or 2 off mid-week on 1 week's notice isn'really an option for a lot of them.

Am well aware of that. However, as your link demonstrated, ESPN showed a handful of games on the Deuce & some of their other networks. The 2nd Bandits Riptide game was shown on ESPN2 as an example. Thought there might be a possibility that they'd want to show the championship on one of their cable/ satellite networks. Doesn't appear to be the case. Bummer. The picture quality is marginally better on the non-streaming services.

Not sure if game 2 or (if necessary) game 3 might show up on ESPN2, but it looks like the Deuce & ESPNU are showing college baseball this coming Saturday. So, ESPN+ would seem to be the only place to watch game 1 in the States.

Brainwashing?

Halifax finished 3rd in the east & lost in the 1st round to Hamilton. (They call themselves TO, but they play all their games in Hamilton, so ...)

Yeah. Not sure why people want Ristolainen-lite back.

Bandits will be playing the Mammoth for the title. Mammoth are the only team the Bandits have played this year that they haven't beat. Last night Mammoth were down 9-5 at the 1/2 and dominated the 3rd to get back into it. It was 9-8 heading into the 4th. Colorado outscored San Diego 12-3 in the 3rd over the 3 games. Final was 15-13. Game 1 is Saturday June 4 @ 7:30. Game 2 is Saturday June 11 @ 9. Game 3, if necessary, is June 18 @ 7. Games 1 & 3, if played will be in Banditland. Colorado's only championship was back in '06 when they upset the Bandits. Let's go Bandits.

Demands or depends? Demands seems a strange word there, but it was the 1st word of the quotation. Not trying to be pedantic, just trying to understand what Karmanos was hinting at. 🍺

IMHO, it simply becomes a question of whether he can step into a support role and be OK w/ it. His skating was so good in his prime, that don't see it being the determining factor. Especially w/ a very likely future opportunity in either the booth or on an intermission show would he be interested in taking a step towards a coaching path? (Which is what that 2nd pairing mentoring role would be a precursor towards.) Does he want to work for a living or become the next Kevin Weekes? Depending upon what drives him, could see him having a preference, but honestly don't know which would be more appealing. And maybe dipping a toe into that water could help him figure out which career to strive for when his playing days are over.

Term is a bit long, but he would fit the bill. As long as they wouldn't have to give him a full NMC, it could work.