Iron Crotch

Colin Wilson is out hurt. That puts Cody Hodgson back into the Preds lineup. :angry: The Filip Forsberg - Ryan Johansen - James Neal lines is ridiculously good.

The Ryan Johansen pickup moved Cody Hodgson to the Nashville bench. Calle Jarnkrok who had been at center moved into CoHo's wing spot. :) BTW - Johansen scored on his first shot as a Pred.

We'll play well and lose. Because that's what we do. ;)

http://www.tsn.ca/button-s-post-world-juniors-mock-draft-1.418389

I haven't seen too many... actually, any... hockey analysts who think Puljujarvi is better than Matthews.

Seth Jones is young and has a ton of potential, but he was the Preds 5th best defenseman and hasn't been playing well this year (he gets too "cute" with the puck and is a turnover machine). The four guys ahead of him (Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Matty Ekholm, Ryan Ellis) are all signed long term. Seth is still on his rookie contract so he is due for a big pay raise. Good trade both ways. 3 of 4 Preds centers are on the wrong side of 30 (Fisher, Ribero, Goose) and they are injury-prone. With so much strength on the wing it is almost criminal for the Preds not to have a true scoring center. They now have that.

They can have Mike Weber. :angel:

Without outing what I do for a living, I'll just say that I'm closer to the above firearm statistical discussion than most... Some of these stats are a few years old, but regardless it paints a relatively accurate picture... Compared to other industrialized countries, violence and firearm death rates in the United States are disproportionately high. Of the approximately 50 upper- and middle-income countries with available data, an estimated 115,000 firearm deaths occur annually and the U.S. contributes about 30,000. Among industrialized nations, the U.S. firearm-related death rate is more than twice that of the next highest country. The firearm death rate in the U.S. (14.24 per 100,000) is eight times the average rate of its economic counterparts. We are also the most armed nation by far with an estimate 270 million privately owned guns. There is a clear correlation between firearm ownership rates and gun-related deaths (at both the country and state levels). To the point where it is almost preposterous to try to argue that more guns in society makes us all safer, but I'll leave that discussion alone. Personally, I think the national debate on this issue should be steered away from citing deaths per year, which is the worst possible outcome from a gunshot, to number of shootings per year. Over 100,000 people are shot every year in this country. There is credible evidence that medical advances, better first responder techniques, faster response times, etc. eat into the death figures causing them to be relatively stable year-over-year. Yet, the number of shootings per year shows a steady upward trend. The medical costs of the 100,000+ people shot each year is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions. A large percentage of purchases happen without background checks because they are private person-to-person sales. There is no mandatory reporting of stolen firearms in most states. The mental health records that were supposed to be included in all background checks are not in fact included in most states. There is no licensing requirement in most states. There is no mandatory record keeping of purchases in most states. No limits on mass purchases of ammo or guns - or at the very least tracking of these purchases. No ballistic fingerprinting or microstamping. And, no safe handling requirements in most states. All very fixable in my opinion. I lean Libertarian on many economic issues. But, even the most ardent Libertarian can concede regulatory allowances for issues of public safety. Personally, I think the "gun debate" is a public safety issue and I think there is common ground that doesn't infringe on any "law abiding" person's rights (despite the incessant fear-mongering from the NRA). Pretty rare that I make a post like this, so I'm one and one on this issue.

He is so ###### bad. Last night I was cursing out loud every time he got the puck in the scoring zone (was at the Preds - Jets game)... because I knew he would just cough it up. The Preds third line is terrible and Hodgson is a big reason for that.

At my age, I don't like to read about anything "sagging." :(

I'm all about adding a two-way left side defenseman. So, I'd be very happy with Chychrun. Obviously Matthews is the guy if we luck into the 1st overall pick. The other guys would be just fine too. I thought Tkachuk looked good at the WJC.

O'Reilly deserves the All-Star spot. With only 3 defensemen per division, it's tough for Risto with guys like Karlsson and Subban in the division.

Predictably, the NRA has spun this as "Obama is trying to take your guns from you," which will inevitably result in a run on sales of both firearms and ammunition (as happens after every highly publicized mass shooting) by the paranoid masses of ammosexuals. The NRA is very clearly the lobbying arm for the manufacturers and these fear tactics always help their sales. So, in a capitalistic sense, I think the NRA is doing exactly what it is supposed to do in order to protect the profits of its handlers. That folks in my state and elsewhere don't recognize that the NRA is about industry profits more than anything is what bothers me most. BTW - even (one of) the most conservative Supreme Court judge, Antonin Scalia, admits that there is much room for regulation within the 2nd Amendment (DC v. Heller, 2008).

Anyone coming down here for the All-Star game?

Excellent point. I feel like I've been watching a different team that what people on this board are seeing. Ryan O'Reilly is tied for 25th in the league in scoring, leads all NHL forwards in ice time, is 4th in faceoff percentage and is our pretty much our best player (with a nod to Risto). Why in the world would folks want to move him to wing? From my vantage point ROR is one of the top two-way centers in the game. Maybe Samson slots in as a third line center down the road... but to me he looks fine on the wing for the time being.

You do make a good point. The ability to "hit" on some late round picks (2nd and later) is what can create sustained success for an organization. Any one of us on this board could have figured out the draft Samson or Jack. It is the picks beyond the first round that IMHO can solidify Murray as a top-tier GM. David Poille down here in Nashville has made a career out of hitting on late round picks. Some of the current top scorers in the game that were later round picks: Jamie Benn (5th), Johnny Gaudreau (4th), Joe Pavelski (7th), John Klingberg (5th), Mike Cammalleri (2nd), Mike Hoffman (5th), Patrice Bergeron (2nd), etc.

Trade Kane, move O'Reilly to wing... what is going on in this thread? :D From my perspective I don't see any major issues with our forwards at the moment that would warrant an expensive and potentially risky trade for a guy like Drouin. I like the young core group. They just need time to grow with each other. It'll take a while IMHO. If we're going to make a bold move, personally I'd rather see us target a two-way left-shot defenseman.

The worst bands ever. I can't stop laughing at the second band.

:D

Years ago I witnessed a fatal car accident from close range. I was the first person on the scene and came upon a kid who was in just awful shape (I'll spare the gory details), bleeding profusely. Sadly, I remember thinking at the time "I'm not trained in what to do in such a situation and if I help and do something wrong I will get sued." Awful as it sounds, the fear of getting sued kept me from directly helping the girl (I did call 911, etc.).

The title should be "spoiled sorority girl concocts frivolous money grab attempt"

Not super-athletic, but smart and tough. He was very good in college at Stanford as I recall (I watch far more college football than pro).

He is light brown. Very playful gentle giant of a dog. I think I might want a Newfoundland someday. :)

Maybe this is stupid, but Carpenter can make long field goals but can't make short extra points. And, we carry two kickers. Why can't Gay kick the extra points? I get the whole "holder for two kickers, limited practice time, etc." argument... but I don't see how Gay could be any worse at extra points than Carpenter. Anyway, fun game.

Same old Fitz! It was fools gold for the Jets to think he could get them into the playoffs. Gotta admit... that was a pretty entertaining game.