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Buckle up...

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Walking down David Bolland memory lane. :lorraine

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Bednar hiring is official. Good amount of success in the minors, including Calder Cup last year. After everything that's gone on, I'm just excited to see what he can do with this team.

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I wish I knew who that was. A younger team though so maybe this hire will work out. He can't have as big of an ego as Roy so that should help.

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I'm just learning about him now. But yeah, sometimes young coach + young team works out. His track record indicates he knows what he's doing, so we'll see if that can translate to NHL success.

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Saw that, it was a great read. It is completely true that people from all across the country (even many who know squat about the NHL) recognize and comment on a whaler shirt or hat. Growing up in CT they were literally the only team we had to cheer for here and during the 1980's they were constantly improving after their debut season where they made the playoffs - winning a first round series in 1986 and then winning the Adams division the following season sparked a lot of hopes here. Then out of the blue they dumped Mike Liut, Ulf Samuelson, Sylvain Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Dave Tippett, Joel Quenneville, Dean Evason, Kevin Dineen and Ron Francis (among lesser known players) in less than two years and they went down into the crapper and attendance waned. Then by the mid 1990's it was pretty apparent they would not be staying in CT despite efforts by fans. It sucked for many of us who had to pick new teams - admittedly made slightly easier to take for those of us in southwest area because the Yankees had won their first World Series in almost 20 years.

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why the hell would the panthers trade lawson crouse in a salary dump?

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Because ARI isn't in to handing out favors. You want to dump salary? Pay the piper! Steep price to pay though... Crouse should be good.

Good on the Coyotes, who have actually on a couple occasions now used their cap space as a bargaining chip to land young prospects. And when you've got the talent pool they have, you can afford to let go of a 2nd and 3rd pick here and there.

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Hawks had to move Teuvo to shed Bickell's garbage contract.

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Excellent, boner-inducing PT article on the 5 toughest defensemen Logan Couture faces. He makes some killer insights:

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/log...3&kwp_1=404658

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The avs hire reminds me of the Dallas Eakins experiment in Edmonton. Hopefully goes better.

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God, I love Duncan Keith. People talk about being mesmerized by Patty Kane, and rightfully so, but I always am by #2.

I watch a lot of hockey, like way too much hockey, and I'd argue Keith as the best defenseman in the league with anyone. As great as Doughty, Karlsson, Weber, etc. are, I'd take Keith over every one of them in a heartbeat. Plays the position as perfect as anyone in the league.

He can close out time and space so fast, it's unreal to watch. Keith doesn't play a 2-on-1 like anyone else. Most guys just play their angles and take away the pass at the last second, while Keith makes the skaters think they have options, until BOOM, no pass or shot ever got off, and all the sudden Keith is in their space, taking away the puck, and throwing a tape-to-tape pass to the opposite blue line transitioning the play the other way and now it's a 3-on-2 for the Hawks before anyone even really realizes what happened.

He's not going to appear on the highlight reel with a Big Buff or Doughty type hit, or a Shea Weber slapper at 105 mph, but he does everything so right.

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i guess this'll be another year where Letang doesn't get the credit he deserves :rolleyes


under the radar is fine by me

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I think Letang is a great defenseman, and nothing against him, I just think he falls somewhere around 6-10 (if we're ranking stuff, which I don't necessarily love).

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i was being a little tongue-in-cheek

i do think Letang has caught and surpassed Karlsson in overall game though. and by a decent amount

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Totally understand that opinion, as long as you don't think he passed Duncan Keith. Which would clearly be just 100% wrong.

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:lol:lol

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Me too, buddy. Me too.
As we've talked about before, I agree. Top 3 in the league with Weber and Doughty in my book in terms of overall game. If I were asked to pick one for my team, I'd probably just have to put their names in a hat and pick one. So much goodness.
I know it was tongue in cheek, but the fact that Couture doesn't see a lot of Letang probably goes into this. even so, hard to argue with his picks.
Disagree heartily, although they do play a very similar game.

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except for 6 consecutive games at the highest level and biggest games of the sport ;)

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I knew you'd come back with that :)

Other than that, maybe 2-3 times per season? Notice all his picks were guys in the west who he sees a lot more per season, which is telling.

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over the last 3 seasons, with similar time on ice minutes (Karlsson averages about 1:00 more than Letang each season):

Letang +13
Karlsson -11

Letang 0.80 points/gm
Karlsson 0.90 points/gm

Letang 2.16 hits/gm at even strength
Karlsson 1.35 hit/gm at even strength

Letang 1.17 giveaways/gm
Karlsson 1.58 giveaways/gm

add those numbers along side the eye test for each guy, and i'll take Letang 8 days a week

edit: oh, and forgot to mention the 2 Stanley Cup rings for Letang ;)

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i know i know...

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:lol nice job grabbing all those stats.

All well and good. And I like Letang plenty. I just don't think he has surpassed Karlsson in overall game. They are both in the top 10 d-men in the league, which pretty much makes this conversation nothing more than an exercise in preference.

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plus who can resist that French-Canadian accent? so dreamy

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Dont forgot that perfect head of hair.... and smoking hot wife.

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http://fabwags.com/wp-content/upload...s-letang-1.jpg

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I just went from 6 to midnight without even looking at the right side of that photo.

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:lol:lol

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They really did a great job with this site, I find it far more interesting than any other sports site even though I know a lot of it is ghost written. I figured it would flop after a few months but the sheer number of contributors they have gotten is great. I remember when Jeter first announced the idea and my first reaction was 'Oh lord, do you really have to be front and center for everything?' And I am a Yankees fan - who is admittedly eating his words. :lol

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Yeah, Jeter hit a gold mine with this idea. Obviously, a lot of it is ghost written, but they do a good enough job to get the personal voice through in the various articles. So like when a Pavelski or Cam Ward writes an article, you can tell that it's their thoughts--not necessarily their words, but you know what I mean...

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Agreed, he did strike gold. As for the ghost writing I believe that they likely tape an interview with the athlete and then do their best to take what they have on tape and transcribe it all as best they can and then attribute the entire article to the athlete.

This one by Matt Cullen is a little older but is damn good and pretty witty when he mentions Kessel: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/201...ns-hockey-dad/

Also, I do not have a link but I read some articles by Joel Ward and Jonathan Quick that were damn good.

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is ESPN going to air the exhibition games?

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Well this will be the first time since the lockout year I won't be going to a game. $140 a ticket for cheap seats vs the Devils for the last game at JLA, I'm not paying that. I hesitated and they were gone which is a good thing. I'm sure stubhub they won't be any cheaper being the last game and the game against the Hawks was like $115 per ticket for shit seats. I understand it's the last game at JLA but $140 to see them play a non playoff team when they could very well be non playoff team themselves is not worth it for me. Good for the people where it's worth it for them but this team doesn't deserve my money. I saw them play the Rangers in 2015 for a total of $145 for 2 tickets. Give me a break Wings. You've gotten worse and your prices go up....

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and it's not going to change either, bud

went through the same thing with Consol Energy Center. the new arena priced out A LOT of die hard, blue collar fans.

now, the Pens have been contenders since moving there so that helps a little bit but Igloo-Consol is very similar to the JLA-Little Caeser's situation.

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Yeah I know. I mean I looked at some other games but I don't give a fuck about the Sabres or some of the "cheaper" games. Even for ok seats for a game against BUF in December, over Christmas break, it was like close to $90 a ticket after fees. I'll suck it up and pay around that next year for a game just to see the new arena but I can't see myself going to much with those prices. Wings are mediocre at best right now and I can get a better view at home, buy a 6 pack of beer for less than one at a game, get a whole pizza for the price of a few slices, and as soon as the game is over turn off the tv and go to bed instead of sitting in traffic and then after that a 45 minute ride home for me. Crazy to think that 10 years ago I paid under $50 a ticket for upper bowl center ice like half way up or so, so pretty good seats. Those seats are close to $100 now.

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i'll just buy a pair of tickets for the 01/14/17 game against the Pens

that way we'll get our money's worth by watching the best team in the world play. all you have to do is buy me a million Hot-n-Readys which would run you approx $50 and i'll take care of the rest :D

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I checked out that game and there weren't many left for those either. Plus the last time they played each other...yeesh The other best team (imo) is Tampa and I've seen them play the Wings a few times so it's like...eh. I don't care about any of the other teams from the West outside of Chicago. I feel old because just easier to sit at home. I have such little free time with work and a kid, it's just easier to crawl into bed and watch tv. I've got a Disney World trip in April to save for anyways so it's all good.

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Read an article on ESPN the other day and for once I agree entirely. The gist of what the author was saying was that the WCH could make a very competitive team out of guys who were not selected to represent their nations. When you look at the names of guys who are not competing I do not believe it is a stretch to think they'd be able to play with most nations: Jones/Elliot in net, Seabrook, Subban, Klingberg, Faulk, Shattenkirk, Giordano on D. Lucic, Perry, Williams, Hall, Simmonds, Kessel, Neal, Johansen, Johnson and others would make a solid top 9 on O. You really could make a damn good all snubs team.

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I haven't decided how much to care about the WCH. I'm partly stoked, partly seems like just a glorified pre-season all start exhibition thing.
All I know is that the "who owns hockey?" commercials on Canadian tv and radio got old quick.

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Yeah I'm happy that we'll be getting pretty good hockey in September but I don't have the same feeling I had in 96 or 04 with this thing. To me it seems like they are trying too hard with this one.

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The whole "Team North America" thing is obviously there to get more NHL players on the center stage, meaning more people (hopefully) watching. It's kinda silly.

But hey, hockey is hockey. I'll be watching when I can.

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WCH is such a waste IMO

keep these guys fresh for the season that actually matters. this tournament doesn't matter.

Penguins played 106 games last season. These guys should be resting/recovering/preparing for another NHL marathon. i hate that all these Penguins are playing in the WCH

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But it sells jerseys in the NHL.com store, h2p!!!!!

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the "Team North America" (barf) sweaters are the ugliest things i've ever seen

well, besides the Islanders sweaters from the 90's

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Saw this a few weeks ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2mJvv3pCl4

So many NHL teams on that list. lol

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WCH feels more like an extended All-Star weekend than an international tournament that actually matters.

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Sup bros and broette. Been double dipping in the world of full time student and full time employee, plus the kiddo, so my Ants time has been sparse lately.

Backread a bit, you guys are crazy, the World Cup of Hockey will be dope as fuck. Who cares if it's not important or isn't taken all that seriously amongst the participants. It's an international tournament with all our favorite players, plus an extra month of hockey. I greatly look forward to it.

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Fixed for ya.

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/08/31/...rsary-jerseys/

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yikes, talk about lazy

and this coming from a guy who actually likes most of the Flyers' sweaters over the years

but that's just extra mehhh

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The tournament may very well feature great hockey that's fun to watch. But as h2p said, this is a lot of hockey for the players on contending teams, especially the players that reached the Final. It's only been about 2.5 months since Game 6 of the SCF, and instead of resting and getting ready for another grinding season, Sidney Crosby and Joe Pavelski are suiting up for this manufactured tournament. I'd rather see those two compete again next spring than be exhausted by the time the playoffs roll around.

Yuck. Very Flyers of them. And their regular sweaters are actually pretty good.

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Yeah those are ugly.

Speaking of jerseys, Wings announced the new guys numbers and some number changes. Vanek will be 62, I get it's just the mirror of 26 but that's gonna look weird.

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Sounds busy, brutha. Hang in there!

I think the WC love/hate is a classic case of head vs heart when it comes to hockey fans. Our hearts agree with you: "WOOHOO MORE HOCKEY!" - especially showcasing some of the best players in the world. Our heads, however, look at the potential problems with injury, fatigue, etc. and how it will affect our teams.

Me, I'm more on the side of the heart. It's a great way to watch our favorite players in a different environment. And as for fatigue... meh. I mean, what do I know? I'm not a professional or a team doctor. But these guys are pros and it's not a super long tournament. I think most of them will be fine come the spring.

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Blake Wheeler gets the C in WPG. My captain prediction streak comes to an end! (I predicted Schiefle)

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/08/31/...r-new-captain/

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Just saw those flyers jerseys :lol :lol :lol

Good god those are fucking awful. And agree with H2P I normally like their jerseys.

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Horrendous as usual.

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No Zetterberg or Kronwall for Sweden at WC. Here's hoping they are hurt enough at the end of the season to go on LTIR and "retire." More so for Zetterberg because of the cap recapture penalty, Kronwall can retire for real and it won't hurt. BUT I doubt he'd want to walk away from the $$. Time to move on. Not saying blow it up because I think going young the Wings aren't bad enough to be picking top 5 but let the kids play.

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Think the Wings will keep The Streak alive this year?

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yep, let the kids play

Bylsma and Johnston refused to play young blood and it cost them their jobs

Sullivan walks in and trusts the young legs and well, we all know what happened :D

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Man, September is the worst. NHL is almost here, but not yet.

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The way it's starting....no. But happy neither Z or Kronner are going to the WC and SHOULD be ready to go at the start of the year. They got in last year while most guys playing pretty shitty so they could still do it. Pretty much everyone can play better than last year. Nyquist, Tatar and Abdelkader go back to their 14 & 15 #'s that will be huge, Mrazek has a better 2nd half and Nielsen and Vanek help out...they might be ok. There is enough skill to do it, they just need to perform. Starting to feel better that they signed Nielsen because if Hank can't go, could be a good signing.

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At least you know if they can play. And it's weird that Blashill who coached the kids, isn't getting the kids on the roster and when they are there, aren't just letting them play. I wonder if it's him or if it's management telling him. Maybe both.... The streak is great but the kids need a chance to actually play regular minutes. Last year they seemed so quick to pull the plug when a line was struggling instead of letting them work it out. Like I said, kinda hope Zetterberg and Kronwall are banged up enough at the end of the year to go on LTIR. Frees up the roster and cap space and Zetterberg isn't playing 4 more years past this. They won't be bad enough to pick top 5 but you need to get rid of some of this dying weight like Zetterberg, Kronwall and Ericsson.

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yea the only way to work out some kinks for a line is on the ice. no way around that. and it's amazing how many coaches refuse to let guys play through struggles.

but you really think Zetterberg is dead weight already? is that solely because of his play or his play combined with his salary?

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I said dying because he's not quite dead yet. But staying healthy, dipping numbers and salary all add up. 2015 he had a rough second half and thought his injuries the year before had slowed him and he ran out of gas and thought a full offseason to recover and get in shape would help but it didn't. We'll see how this year goes but would like to get his cap hit off the books sooner rather than later. I'm not one of those fans yelling "Should never have signed him to that 12 year deal!" You got the reigning playoff MVP for a cap hit just over $6mil and there was no cap recapture penalty back then. He would have cost 8.5mil per probably without those last few years at a low salary. Damn you Ken Holland for not knowing the new rules of the CBA 4 years before it was signed!

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maybe they just need better octopodes. feed them some Hot-n-Readys or something

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The Rangers signing Chris Drury.....to be assistant GM. Maybe he'll tell them "Don't sign 2nd line centers for 7mil a year."

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I love Chris Drury so much.

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Frederik Andersen pulled from a game after colliding with a teammate. That could suck for the Leafs.

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me too! me too!

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Chris Drury is someone who I only moderately enjoy. Don't love the guy necessarily, I mean he's no Kessel certainly, but I'm fine with him.

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Drury stinks, very glad he's there with the Rangers to screw them over more.

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You are everything that is wrong with humanity.

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Aka a Flyers fan.

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Why? Because I don't suck up to a mid-level forward who worked well in a Lindy Ruff system that bore zero Stanley Cups, and which allowed him to sign a massively overpaid contract by the Rangers, in which once again, bore zero Stanley Cups?

No thanks.

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Suck up? Oh Matt, you crack me up every day.

You conveniently leave out the Stanley Cup he DID win in Colorado. And yes, I fully expect you to comment on the star power of that team and probably how he rode their coat tails all the way through.

I'm really sorry Chris played his ass off every shift of his entire career but didn't win enough Stanley Cups for you. That really is the true measure of success.

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Even if he rode coattails, he scored some big goals along the way.

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My coworker has just informed me that some Czech jewelry store made a Jaromir Jagr calendar for 2017:

http://www.klenotyaurum.cz/kalendar,...#2031500271841

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/2...-hockey-world/

A fun read. I know we were all losing our heads for those 30 minutes.

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:lol:lol will be ordering a few dozen for Christmas gifts. was hoping for more skin though

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:Prays that I'm on hailtopitt's list...

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i'm actually efforting on an Adam Foote calendar for you

Jagr will be a backup plan

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Sorry it took so long to reply, I just needed to compose myself.

I thank you for your well placed efforts.

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:lol:lol

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That calendar is glorious

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If the Caps win the Cup next year, I'll build custom Kessel calendars and send you all one

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Awesome, but still not worth it.

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I mean, it's not like that's a promise I'll ever have to make good on anyway

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Yeah, I mean, we know the caps will never win. ;)

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So you're saying I could have 2017 Foote/Jagr calendar, then a 2018 Phil calendar???

GO CAPS!!!!!!!

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Now I know what it's like to hope for something that will never happen.

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http://deadspin.com/john-tortorella-...t-s-1786323192

I hope the whole team sits for the anthem. Not for any political reasons, which I don't want to touch with a ten-foot pole in this thread, but just to mess with Torts.

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No way are any of you going to top my 1980's Whalers calendar! Mike Liut, Kevin Dineen, Sylvain Turgeon, Ron Francis, Ray Ferarro, Ulf Sameulson, Joel Quenneville, etc, etc! :)

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I thought the same thing when I read this. :lol

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Torts would lose his shit like against Calgary a few years ago.

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I'm hoping for at least one classic Torts melt during the World Cup.

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Highly likely.

I won't offer my personal feelings on the kneeling during anthem thing, as politics suck a lot, but I will offer my distaste for John Tortorella. Fuck him.

Go USA.

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Guy in my FB feed I went to HS with who used to bash Torts every chance he had when he was the NYR coach posted an image with his comments regarding the anthem sitting and said "Gotta love Torts".

No, no you dont, Torts is a giant d-bag, and so are you, you freaking hypocrite.

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Sweden's defense is straight magic. Fucking hell.

No one is going to score on them. Straight shutout the entire tournament.

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When does this shit start?

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12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT

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Matty, I was watching Duncan Keith highlights today, and came across this gem -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uc3mfNo7Y8

Dude is unreal. Just watching him skate and receive that pass made me get all warm inside.