TrueBlueGED

Sinus infections. Hello fall! I'm very ready to put 90 degrees and dry in the rear view mirror, but man were those couple months great for my sinuses. I love fall, it's my favorite season...but I could have done without the brewing sinus infection on day one.

I thought for sure the pictures of Ruff would include his mugshot after being arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon.

Short memories are why I just sit back and laugh at the day to day hoopla. Candidates have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, the polls reflect such things, and everybody freaks out about every peak and valley. This stuff all has a tendency to wash out. Through it all, even with the two most disliked candidates of the modern era, this looks an awful lot like...every other normal election--short term fluctuations, post-convention narrowing of the front runner's lead, but ultimately, relative stability. The fundamentals of the economy, presidential approval, and party incumbency predicted a very close election, and that's exactly what we have.

Today, we are all Finns. Except MODO. Pretty sure it'd break the universe if he pretended to be Finnish for a day.

I've heard nothing but terrific things about season one, but this is the first truly positive thing I've heard about season two. Was told it really went downhill.

Yes indeed. I just think his line will be harder to defend once he improves his play off the puck...and secondarily, between injuries and special circumstances, he is going to have to play with puck-dominant players from time to time--I'd like him to be able to do so without it dragging down his individual play.

This is precisely what I see in his game. At least at this point in his career, the line has to flow through him. People point to him floating and not moving his feet, and I get that, but my interpretation isn't that he's lazy, it's that he really doesn't know what to do without the puck for lengthy periods of time; it doesn't come naturally to him, in any event. My hope and expectation is that he improves that aspect of his game quite a bit over the next couple of years, but until then, his line has to be built around him.

I remain more bummed about losing out on Babcock than McDavid. Don't get me wrong, in a vacuum I'd rather have McDavid, of course...but we only ever had a 20% chance. I really thought we were getting Babcock., and Babcock + Eichel is every bit as championship caliber as McDavid + insert coach here.

Nobody should hate you for speaking the truth. Granted I didn't watch today's game, but that's been the case all tournament, so I have no reason to question your point. The McDavid-Eichel comparisons were always folly anyway; Matthews-Eichel is much more interesting to me. I think one thing that makes the comparison difficult (especially in a tournament like this), is they are very very different players. Myself and others were quite critical of Eichel's off-puck play last season--he's simply not good without the puck, and simply looks awkward if he goes long stretches in the offensive zone without it on his stick. This makes it difficult for him when he's playing with other puck-dominant players, as is the case here--players like Gaudreau and McDavid (who are better) are flying around doing their thing, and he's just sort of ~there~ if he isn't asserting himself to control the puck, which he hasn't. 3putt made a great observation on how he's really been looking to defer; so his best talents are being underutilized and the weakest part of his game is getting highlighted. Matthews, on the other hand, seems to me to be much more effective without the puck than Eichel is. He can play on McDavid's wing because of this, and more generally, he appears to be a better fit on this team. He's also noticeably better with the puck in tight areas than Eichel is (Flagg if you mention stick length I swear to God...), which helps when you're playing all-star teams that don't give a ton of space. Overall I think he's the more versatile player right now, so he's shining.

If there's one weakness in his offensive game it's his shot. Hands are beyond amazing, but he's sort of a one trick pony with goal scoring because he can't really snipe it. I'd imagine it won't be a weakness for all too long, of course, but it is right now.

Madness. Also, McDavid going end to end and splitting the defensemen was unreal. First thing that came to mind was (with apologies to those who hate cross-sport references) a young Mike Vick running between two Vikings defenders who had taken the correct angles, but he just outran it. McDavid, similarly, just broke geometry.

I don't know if I'm more bummed I'm missing it, or that Matthews is playing well again. I'm unbelievably bitter Toronto won the lottery :lol:

My guess is most players, off the record, would admit they'd rather Kessel had been there than any of a handful of guys.

You'd think I called Reinhart small or something :angel:

You said McDaniels is a better option than a re-tread, and I was simply pointing out the logical flaw in that argument.

Myers > Karlsson > Getzlaf is my true all-timer. I said Hodgson's contract was fine because even if he didn't get better he was already a #2 center, and that's what they get paid. I was half right, anyway...his contract was in fact in line with what second line centers got paid. I said the Leino signing was fine because even if he flamed out at center, he was a top-6 winger. I wanted to draft Nichushkin over Risto. In my defense, it wasn't because I disliked Risto...I just loved Nichushkin. Aaannnddd Grigorenko. Oh, Mikhail, how you disappointed.

Because he hasn't won a Stanley Cup. At least, that seems like the type of reasoning Torts would employ.

Sir, McDaniels is a re-tread.

He's pretty meh. Don't think he'd have made my team. Though it's Jack Johnson who is the real turd.

That's amazing. I salute you, Josh Pauls.

Well, this should tell you about how much I was paying attention after it became 3-1 :lol:

Yea, I mean, even the best US team is a pretty big dog against Canada's best...but they'd have a better shot, and at least could beat the other teams. Team USA now has 1 goal scored in the past 4 international best-on-best tournament games. Think that speaks for itself.

Phil Kessel ‏@PKessel81 24m24 minutes ago Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did not know that. He should be our coach.

Me. You. Liger. Eleven. Pick one.