shrader

It's also pretty clearly the biggest Sabre-related topic right now. I know some may want to start 5 new threads a day, but this is still a very active subject.

I'll take it a step further. We know absolutely nothing about anything in this situation. You've got incredibly guarded words from Housley and random internet speculation. To suggest that Berglund doesn't have a leg to stand on is a bit crazy given that lack of knowledge. And then add on top of everything the fact that we don't have the slightest clue how this grievance process works if he does choose to explore it. The whole thing is incredibly murky.

I like the ones like Jaro Halak where technically they were a Sabre but not really. Best of all? Stephane Beauregard.

The trip plays on a loop in this link. The stick clearly hits the left skate, but it's the upward motion from Skinner that I have a hard time interpreting. The best I can come up with is a shift in balance due to the thigh to thigh contact. To me, the whole think looks like he tried to reach to the puck through Barkov's legs and it all went wrong. That's typically what happens if you try to make a play through anyone's legs. I chalk the whole thing up to bad timing, but the call on the ice fit it perfectly, tripping.

I just got an email from Directv offering the sunday ticket max for the remainder of the season for $102.96. A quick google search tells me the price for the full season was $395.94. Wow, thanks Directv and NFL for such an incredibly discounted rate on your offer of two weeks of games.

Ok, so that's your price tag for a first. That still leaves out the prospect side of the conversation. In a world where a fairly insignificant trade package lands you Jeff Skinner (granted there's a difference between offseason and midseason prices), the pool of available trades is much deeper when you focus on ever arrow in the quiver instead of just one.

I've gotten the "absolutely no" vibe from a few, including you. But fair enough, I'm glad to see what you've said here.

And he was.

And that trade is another reason why we need to pump the brakes a bit on the idea that seems to be prevalent around here that we absolutely cannot trade away any of our picks/prospect right now. There can be deals out there that make sense both short and long term.

It goes a little further back than that though. His walking away from the money was whatever the original suspendable offense was.

Sure, whatever they need to add, it's always going to take some work and luck to find the right piece for the team. It gets a little easier to do that without Berglund's money hitting the cap. Options are available that didn't previously exist.

That is instead replaced with a significant amount of long term cap relief. After next year, it comes down to the difference between O'Reilly and Thompson's contracts, so we'll probably be talking close to $6 million. I'd count that as a significant return. Maybe it's not one they wanted/were counting on, but that's what it is now.

It's kind of interesting that it has to go through waiver in order to terminate the contract. Obviously no one is going to claim him, but it's interesting that they allow for the possibility that one team is cool with violation of contract while another is not. Yeah, I know rules are rules, but it kind of makes me laugh a bit.

I probably left out some words as I typically go for short posts. I was never calling that play a dive. Skinner is a guy who will sell something for the purpose of drawing a penalty. Selling, diving, embellishing, turtling... it all falls under the same umbrella ultimately, things done to draw a penalty. That's a big part of Skinner's game. This particular instance yesterday? I have absolutely no problem with it.

I wouldn't be surprised by that actually. I haven't been in that building in ages, but it was something that would always drive me crazy at BU games. They would never show an anti-BU replay in that building. Goals scored by the opposing team? No replay. It always seemed incredibly stupid to me. Depending on your seats, there were plenty of times where you weren't sure how a goal was cored. Then there's all those times where you'll see the players watching the replay as kind of an instant scouting report. By cutting out those replays, you're actually holding back the team itself sometimes.

I've heard that comment now. I don't buy it completely though. There's no way they didn't know about it right there on the ice immediately. We always see them looking up at the scoreboard to catch replays during stoppages. Now unless they didn't show it again in the arena, there's no way that entire Florida team isn't on the bench staring up at the scoreboard after what they thought was a dirty hit.

The penalty? If his leg/foot made contact with Barkov at any point, it was already after the trip with the stick. I can see how Florida might have viewed it that way initially, but even one single view of the replay, which I'm sure they saw several times at that point, would clear that up.

My thoughts exactly. He didn't offer up an ounce of resistance, knowing that it would gain them a powerplay. I have absolutely no problem with it, but not every player would do that exact same thing (Bogosian is the first to come to mind). Skinner was a willing participant in exactly what went on there, he made the choice to not respond. Miller did not choose to have his head caved in.

Skinner is a diver, so everything he did there with Yandle fits his game perfectly. There really was nothing to see there. It was a guy who draws penalties drawing a penalty, just as you're suggesting.

I say that almost every day.

We saw pretty much the same exact thing a week or two ago against Philly. We may have one of those teams that doesn't get up for matchups against last place teams. They wound up winning it, but they didn't exactly look too great for a while against the Kings either.

I know we don't like to make light of an injury, but that one really should have been the Caruba collision of the game (if it wasn't). Dude ran into a brick wall.

I'd avoid weed for a little while. It may be one of those Minority Report future crimes you're being charged with.

That and it’s pretty tough to fight when someone is beat hugging your head from behind while pinning you against the boards. It was a very awkward/lazy attempt from Yandle in the wind.

Are we officially at the point in this league where players retaliate for textbook tripping penalties?