Eleven

Steve Levy in between periods: "It's really cold here! It's 41 degrees!" Shut up, Steve.

Isn't that the dude at the heart of Rastafarianism?

Tried to wash his hair w/ Gatorade during warmups...

They probably would make great novelty sweaters for each team. The one of the few nights a year when the NHL is plastered across screens in every sports bar in the US is not the time for it. This is one of the reasons why this league is in fifth place in the US. Some dude in Tulsa watching the NHL for the first time thinks he's watching the equivalent of Youngstown State vs. South Dakota A&M. They couldn't even get the fight on right.

Oh, all this special ***** comes from NYC/Tronna. Make no mistake about it. They look like Div II football teams.

Is Bettman terminally stupid? He's got a game on ABC in every sports bar in the country, ready to recruit new fans, and they're dressed up like they're in Roller Hockey International in 1996.

Every year.

But probably not the intelligence.

This is informative. When I watch anything on too high of a resolution TV, like at my sister's house (think MTV Cribs--their electronic situation is beyond comprehension), it seems like a stage play to me. The actors, or hockey players, or whatever, stand out too much against the background. And it all seems kind of fake. I'm much more comfortable watching on a "normal" HDTV or my iPad or whatever. It very well could be that my perception is conditioned a certain way and that I can't see things the same way that young ones are seeing, but when I watch on a 4K or a 3D, it's just too sharp. I can tell that the set is a set. Like on a stage. If I'm watching normal HDTV, the set is what it should be.

I feel like Towelie when he doesn't "know what's goin' on, man." I've felt the need for an "ignore thread" feature for a while now, and if I can invoke every commercial during COVID: "Now, more than ever, we face difficult times. And we need a feature for Eleven to ignore meme threads...."

And that's for the NHL team to decide as soon as he's drafted, IMO.

I like this format because it's similar to what I grew up with. Also, think of how much better the Sabres would have fared with first round matchups against the Habs in 2010 and again in 2011.

I don't understand why it's the NHL's job to protect the CHL at all, but I could deal with your proposal as a step in the right direction.

This stupid rule protects the CHL at the expense of NHL teams toward the bottom of the standings, at the expense of the AHL, and at the expense of the players drafted towards the top. At least amend it so it only applies to the player's first season after the draft.

I heard about ten or twelve seconds before serious buffering issues--but you sounded good.

Oh I very much agree. But buyers near the trade deadline usually aren't teams with top ten picks. When draft picks are the currency, this is the expected return. I don't think any team would have given two #1s, for example. A 1, 2, and 3 is a pretty decent haul, and chances are the Blues will hit on one or the other of the Rags/Leaves picks. (Or they can package them and move up.) Meanwhile, a whole lot of us are wondering whether the last pick in the 2019 first round will sign here--coincidentally, also from a trade involving the Blues.

It works out to only about $1.3 M in actual dollars if my math is right. This gives Saint Louis three (and potentially 4 if they move another guy) first round picks in a very deep draft. I think it was a very shrewd move by the Blues--in fact, by all three teams. The Leaves got creative with limited cap space, the Wild sold an expiring asset, and Saint Louis may not have to go through a lengthy rebuild with all the picks it's received recently. EDIT: Also, we're talking about the Blues--a team that traded and re-signed Tkachuk about seventeen times--so it's not inconceivable that they'll leave the captaincy vacant and get O'Reilly back over the summer.

Because Minnesota has an unused asset (the cap space) that expires at the end of the season and wanted to get something for it.

But in 2023, there should be no reason. There really shouldn't. This system is obsolete and stupid and there is a way to get RSNs paid without all the blackouts.

I think you missed my point entirely.

And Saint Louis is showing everyone how to pivot quickly, too.

This is -- wow. Damn. At 25% salary, too.

Well, yeah, because they didn't play that season.

I do wonder what Mr. Sonnelitter Jr., or perhaps more likely his scions, are up to now.

The story that isn't: Johnson has not made a decision. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-ryan-johnson-plan-to-discuss-future-when-college-season-ends/article_48f3cd50-ac8c-11ed-b286-b73fe9f198c5.html “I really like the Sabres, and I really like Buffalo,” Johnson explained. “It's crazy that this year is going really fast. Just gonna have to wait and see, too. And obviously, just focus where I am right now. That opportunity will be great when it comes. “I think Buffalo, they do have great opportunities, and it's an excellent place to play. So, I don't think that will be a problem. It just going to be my decision and talking to their general manager to get their view.” Either Lysowski didn't ask hard questions, or he didn't get answers to them, because this is the non-news Sabres story of the year.