Trettioåtta

Did anyone watch Lehner's interview? Pretty much destroys everyone's arguments who said he doesn't take responsibility and only calls out other's mistakes.

Man plays like those make you wonder about the fire Bylsma theory. What on earth was that

Yup Lehner not having a good game. One of the very few times this season.

Zemgus has. Been awful this season

Compared to his brother, he has had a very udner whelming AHL season. I believe scouts still rank him highly, otherwise I would be worried we had the Jared Staal

We're basically using the remainder of the season to assess what talent we have. Similar to pre-season. Might as well get some benefit from this lost season.

Yes it is. Making the playoffs when you haven't for over 5 years is progress. Realistically we aren't going to win the cup the first year we make the playoffs, but making them vs not will be a big start - if only to feel like something has been achieved. This team has not made progress in one year of a rebuild. That is absolutely awful - they are far closer to becoming the new Edmonton than the new Chicago or Pittsburgh. In one less year, Toronto may finish 20 point ahead of us. That is a huge difference.

It's so depressing how far ahead the leafs are after one less year.

There's already a 39 page one ;)

The lightning will take the Leafs place. That's my hope. I wanted it to the be Islanders but they decided they wanted a longer summer break and stopped playing a week ago. Carolina could take the Bruins spot in a perfect world.

Out of interest, how is your career in politics going?

So could I have a yes and no to the following questions: Next year we are in game 7 of the Stanley cup finals. Eichel appears 5 minutes late for the morning stretch. 1) Should he be benched? 2) Do you think the Sabres do bench him? He isn't a dog. He won't think he has got away with it and then be confused when he is in the press box on Sunday. It would show that the team comes above any one player at all times, but that doesn't mean you will avoid doing penance for your crime.

You're arguing a straw man. No one is saying Sam should have not been punished. We are saying the punishment should have been delayed for a game so a) the team/chance of winning are not largely impacted, b) it is not as humiliating for him. You may believe that overly punishing someone for small infractions encourages them to never make them again, but human psychology shows it makes them resentful and less engaged.

I like the fact Doughty is being bullied by a 19 year old. Its hilarious how much Tkachuck is in the guys head

Personally I think focusing on the off ice product whilst the on ice one goes off the rails is a misguided attempt at success. A team of soldiers may beat any NHL roster for professionalism and punctuality, but I don't think they'll be wearing too many rings on their fingers.

I agree. There should be accountability both on the ice and off it. Is Gionta unhappy with Moulson because he is earning $5 million a year to play 4th line minutes? There is something rotten in the vets if they need the culture to change off the ice, but are quite satisfied with the standard they are setting on it.

Or they think the organisation has bigger issues than a player being 5 minutes late to a stretch and see the bizarre attitude of severely punishing small mistakes in the name of bettering the team whilst wilfully ignoring larger ones such as a better coach and an NHL calibre defence.

I assume he didn't misread 10:30 but misremembered it? Seems more logical and if I was explaining what happened I would describe it as misreading a text.

From what of seen of their fans opinions, they seem quite happy with him. He is a physical D, not an offensive one. But he is regularly getting 20+ minutes a night - albeit on an awful team.

Oh yeah, i'd make that trade 10/10. I love ROR and think he is a great player and great for the team. That said, of the players in that trade. Zadorov has missed a few games because he was late to meetings. ROR drove drunk and crashed into a building. ROR has made the worse life choices. Worse than Sam too and no-one has questioned his attitude, despite the fact his choices made him a bad person, not a bad teammate.

Yes, so let him play that game and then bench him the next game.

Agreed. It also doesn't punish the team as much.

He is 21, just got knocked out of the playoff race and has played nearly two seasons for an incompetent coach. He is probably just frustrated.

He turned into a young top 4 defenceman?

Got a few spare million? :p No I don't like it at all. I just struggle to rationalise why they shouldn't get to play with the toy they own. In reality the GM should be able to stand up to the owner in a tactful way. If they are suggesting a poor decision then the GM or scouts should be able to show them tape and point out the parts of the players games that they think are worries and will hold them back and hopefully show evidence of other players from other drafts who had similar flaws and didn't pan out. Waste of resources? Yup, but it shouldn't take too long if the owner is reasonable and their head is not stuck too far up their ass.