Iron Crotch

I like Zemgus at center instead of at wing. ...that is all.

Seems evident that the Pegulas don't have a clue how to run a pro sports franchise. That is fine - I probably wouldn't either. But, they are guilty of not surrounding themselves with experienced professionals who know how to win in the NFL. They're desperate for a Bill Polian type to come in and run the show on their behalf, with all decisions about the GM, coaching, scouting, etc. running through that individual. Russ Brandon, Doug Whaley, Jim Monos, Rob Hanrahan, etc... these guys are in no way shape or form qualified to run a top notch NFL football organization. Half of these guys started as media interns and now are somehow making player personnel decisions. It just doesn't make any sense.

He moved training camp to his alma mater... "marketing genius!" The story about how he supposedly told Rex what to say in his interview with the Pegulas is one reason why I'm anti-Brandon.

What most didn't notice about Leggy last year is he was our best penalty killing forward (along with ROR) and was also a good faceoff guy. Not having him and his 1000+ games of NHL experience is a big reason our PK has gone to crap. GMTM could probably have signed Leggy for another year at the league minimum if he wanted to. Instead we get the utterly useless Grant.

Exactly. He is playing really well in Calgary this year. 13-8 with a 2.34 GAA and .920 save %. And, he only makes $1.7 million. GMTM's bias in favor of giant goaltenders is hurting us.

Also, Chad Johnson played really well last year (had a winning record for the Sabres). He's playing great for the Flames now. Letting him walk in favor of Lehner and Nilsson makes little-to-no sense to me. And, trading a 1st rounder for Lehner was moronic.

Not a bad list. I can't throw Ennis in there since he has been hurt most of the year - although if his injury history is your reason to ditch him then that makes sense. I also think Girgs should be our 4th line center instead of playing on the wing. All those other guys can head elsewhere.

Dead last in the conference. This is a mess and personally I blame GMTM as much as coaching. He's done okay assembling forwards, but his defense and goaltending moves stink. Trading a 1st round pick for Lehner while letting goalies just as good (e.g., Johnson) walk still irks me.

Yep, all of the better teams seem to be built around mobile puck moving defensemen these days. GMTM built a team for the way the game was played 10 years ago. We have Risto and McCabe and not much else.

Not a bad win at all... entertaining game. Some goals, some fights, some hits,...

Top half of league in possession. In Nashville he is in charge of the defensemen (led all d-corps in scoring last year) and power play (10th last year; 11th so far this year). Nashville also gave up the fewest shots in the league last year. He was also head coach of the gold medal winning USA world junior team in 2013.

Phil Housley, assistant coach down here in Nashville. Dude is ready.

We were top-5 in the NFL in defense the year before Rex showed up. Why in the hell we hired a defensively-oriented head coach (who subsequently made the defense far worse) I'll never quite understand. But, it's the sort of thing we've grown to expect from this ###### show of a franchise. :angry:

This is well said. I think many around here are guilty of overestimating the amount of talent and skill this team really has. When I look at the speed/skill game most of the top teams play these days, we just don't have those types of players (with some exceptions, of course). We're built for the "heavy" game of 10 years ago with a coach who also wants to play that style. I agree that GMTM has consistently botched his goaltending moves and we only have two defensemen that are well suited to play today's speed/skill game - Risto and McCabe. IMHO, guys like Bogo, Franson, and Gorges can all go.

Been around here for over 10 years and I definitely post less than I used to. Most of my posts are in GDTs now. But, I think that is a function of aging and being busier as much as anything. I think there was always disagreement on the board, but IIRC it was more hockey-related disagreements back in the day (e.g., "Darcy suck" vs. "no he doesn't" type of stuff). I think the board used to be much more hockey focused in general and fewer and fewer threads seem to be hockey-related these days. That said, my opinion is if you don't like OT threads just don't click on them and don't post in them. Seems easy enough. I would like the place to be more focused on hockey during the season though.

We have 8 overtime losses, which is the most in the NHL. Had we won half of those, we'd be one point out of a playoff spot with three games at hand on the Bruins. The NHL got what it wanted with all the teams being bunched in a pack (minus a few really good or really bad teams). Shootouts can be a major determinant of playoffs versus not. And, it is a pretty big deal to keep losing shootouts, especially against divisional opponents. It's to the point where I don't think it is a terrible idea to keep a shootout specialist around as a 12th forward (e.g., a Kotalik type).

Easy to score 5 hole on Lehner.

Shootout. Blech.

Got a point at least. Not bad after going down 2-0. Hope we can get the other point...

Risto is top-10 in NHL defensmen scoring.

Florida used to own us. Not any more, apparently. We've had the better of the play here in the third.

Personally, I think the Isles will move back to Long Island in a couple of years. The Barclay's Center just isn't meant for hockey and the players all still live and practice on Long Island (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/sports/hockey/new-york-islanders-play-in-brooklyn-stay-on-long-island.html?_r=0)

This is a work party of sorts. I figure I see my colleagues enough, I don't need to hang out with them after hours. Sitting at home watching hockey sounds like more fun.