Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Wow, nashville just got a gift on that call against Reaves. I know retaliation is usually caught more often than the initial penalty but I think most players would eventually throw an elbow after getting repeatedly crosschecked in the back in a board battle.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Looks like someone found a way for the Caps to win the cup

https://twitter.com/pghguyinva/statu...91418239832065

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

God damn the Preds are playing great hockey this post season.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Good Lord :lol:lol

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Very sorry to hear that. That does make hockey seem less important. I'm 35. Scary to think about going through that. Still, I'm rooting for the Rags to make a series of it.

:lol :lol Fantastic!

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Yeah, thanks man. Yesterday was rough.

That said, I am trying to focus on the good again today. I think if the Rangers win game 3 they could win game 4 and then be right back in it. If they lose game 3, I will probably switch my attention to the West because the Rangers season would be essentially over.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

That tweet may be better than any banner joke we could ever make in this thread.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

I'm one to say I've been on the Murray train, certainly so. But, I'm not sure if Murray is the future. Jarry looks extremely promising, but it's hard to keep Jarry in the AHL and develop him to see if he can outperform Murray. Murray, granted he's a huge reason we won last year, has had at least three injuries in recent memory that have sidelined him for sometime. Granted, you couldn't tell last year when he came back in the playoffs against the rangers, but that aspect makes me nervous. I'm not familiar with the intricate nuances of the upcoming draft for Vegas, but the whole situation makes me uneasy.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Goalies are so valuable in the NHL. Penguins can get serious value for Murray if they trade him. I would keep Fleury in this situation for that reason alone.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

If they trade Murray, they could potentially get back a Top 4 D-man, or at least a Top 4 D-man prospect that could replace Letang, who has his own injuries.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Connor McDavid. So fucking good.

Exactly.

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Holy shit the end of that last shift by Anaheim leading up to the Eaves penalty might be the worst hockey I've ever seen. That was embarrassing.

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Wow, think Anaheim caught a break on that goal, that looked like Silverberg was offsides by about an inch.

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Replace Letang? He's only 30.

They aren't losing Murray. Jim Rutherford has another interesting decision with MAF. I wonder if they will keep him around longer?

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Letang has had a few concussion issues in his career...

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Yeah this. It's either trade MAF assuming he waives the NMC or you trade Murray. Unless they go the route of offering up a package to Vegas to have them not select Murray. It would cost the Pens I'm sure (at least a 1st) and is that worth it to them if for some reason they can't move one by the expansion draft? We'll see
You can't protect 2 goalies. Your only options are 7/3/1 (f/d/g) or 8/1 (any skaters/goalie)

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Okay? So has Sid.

Not saying 58 isnt a bit injury prone but hes not being replaced. Thats nonsense.

You know hes out with a neck injury now right? Not a concussion. I dont think hes had one of those since early 2015 and that one was even minor, only missed a couple weeks.

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hornqvist dead?

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I have a final exam tonight that directly coincides with the hockey game

Couldn't be happier about that

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Letang is injured way too often.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

That sucks Greg. Sorry to hear.

I've been relatively absent from the thread the last two weeks for a similar reason. Two weeks ago I saw an ominous FB post from one of my best friend's older brother's fiance (I know, a little Ferris Bueller). Anyway, it was referencing this friend of mine's younger brother, saying how she'll miss him forever. I did a quick Google search of his name and it pulled up a story about the body of a kid, with his name and his age, found in Belmont Harbor in Chicago. Shook me to my core. 24-year-old kid found dead on Easter Sunday in freakin' Lake Michigan. Immediately started texting other friends asking what they knew, basically saying "This can't be THAT Bryan, can it?" Well...it was. He was one of those little brother's that tagged along to everything we did. Concerts, parties in college, etc. This friend of mine was a friend since freshman year of high school and my college roommate for a year, and I can't tell you how many times I hung out with his little brother tagging along. So sobering to go to that funeral.

Anyway - I flew up to Chicago for that wake/funeral on a Wednesday night. Wake Thursday, funeral Friday. Flew back to Texas on a Sunday. Ran some errands, did laundry, etc. and then had a hockey game that night in my men's league. Wasn't back in Texas for more than 6 hours before I had that game. Middle of the second period a guy came off the ice (came through the door) and as he was walking to his spot on the bench, he just collapsed. Guy literally fell into my arms. Had a full blown cardiac arrest. I had to cut off his jersey, rip off his pads and hold his head back while some of my EMT teammates administered CPR and later hooked up the AED to shock him (three times). His wake was last week.

Between that, some other stuff in my personal life (split up with the girl I was seeing, Blackhawks get swept, some other nonsense, etc.) it's been a rough couple weeks.

Totally agree your sentiment that it just doesn't feel as important. I was thinking about all that's happened in the last couple weeks, and how the Blackhawks failures were really at the bottom of the list of things I cared about. When you compare it to all that other stuff, it just seemed so trivial. I almost felt bad about lumping it in with all the other stuff going on the last couple of weeks, like who cares about pro sports? Real life happens and that's the shit that really matters. Things like the playoffs, the freakin' NFL draft...who cares? Sports are a great escape from reality sometimes, but they need to stay in perspective. At the end of the day, it's just a silly game.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

finally over my wicked hangover from the rangers game. think i had 12 drinks in 4 hours.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Dumo, hagelin, and hornqvist all game time decisions. Not good if theyre out.

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Sorry to both of you. You just think we're pretty young still so when you lose someone you know, it's scary. Real life can really suck sometimes.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Long busy weekend, missed Saturday's game. 2-6. #yikes.

Maybe the penguins ran out of goals?

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Unsure about Horny...

I think Dumo and Hagelin are fine, neither skated the morning before game 2 either.

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Hey Greg, :hug to you, my friend, as well as your fiance and loved ones. I often find myself at a total loss for things to say when someone loses somebody. Like, nothing I could say could possibly make a difference. But I've found out as I've lost some people close to me (father-in-law in particular) that it helped immensely just hearing from people who said they were thinking of us, etc. Hopefully knowing your thread buddies are thinking about you helps even a little during a really crappy time.
What a terrible couple weeks, Chris. Big ol' man hug coming your way too. Perspective is so necessary, especially as we get older. But it sucks when we have to be reminded of it in these ways. Just know that we've got your back and we'll be here. :hug

To everyone in the thread: The great thing about hockey is exactly what others have said: it's trivial. It's trivial, and it's constant. Life throws us wicked curve balls, and much of our life is spent dealing with those curve balls and just trying our best to grow from them (and I don't mean that as cynically as it sounds). But we can always go back to the comfort of hockey.

The same could be said for this thread, and it's the primary reason why it's so special. All of us have our own lives, our own things we're dealing with, but we're also all here for each other. The NHL Thread is one constant that all of us have. My father-in-law can pass away, Chris can have a man essentially die in his arms, Greg can lose a friend to cancer, etc. etc., and that's heavy for all of us in our own way. But we've always got each other here for when we just need to "go where everybody knows your [user]name". And that's pretty cool. It's almost better, in a way, that we don't know each other TOO well outside of the thread. It kind of makes things even more comforting when we do come here, you know? I don't know if that makes sense. Anyways, I've kind of moved on from DMB (still like 'em, but definitely not the fanatic I once was), but as long as there's an NHL Thread, I'll keep spending time on Ants. And when Ants goes away, I'm sure we'll all just find a new place to hang out.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

I'll pile on and just say everyone is spot on.

I fucking love the Caps and if they get knocked out it will suck and it will hurt for sure but yeah, life goes on for sure. I mainly mourn the loss of future games because they are so much fun to watch with my son.

I'll miss game 4 because I'll be volunteering at a cancer retreat in the mountains and won't have tv.

Sports used to ruin my life when my teams lost, which was often. That and I planned my life around sports. I don't do either anymore. It doesn't take away from the passion around the teams or the game, it's just all about perspective.

Now. Let's win a fucking game already.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Lockman - sorry to hear the last few weeks have been so tough for you. It's very sobering stuff and hearing your story and Greg's from yesterday definitely puts sports fandom in perspective. Glad you're back.

This is very well said. It is a constant and that is really awesome to have. No matter what happens we can always come in here and make fun of the Capitals (meant only slightly tongue-in-cheek). This past year of my life has been crazy as I've pulled a full career switch (yep, mid-life crisis hit me early) and I've not had nearly as much time for hockey as I did in the past, but still I made time for Ants almost every day. It's because you guys are the shit. Likewise, I've sort of moved on from DMB as well, it's this thread that I come to Ants for. And I like having that. I like having a place where I can have serious hockey conversations with a small group of fans of different (even rival) teams who all know their stuff pretty well. No one treats each other like shit and I like that.

Chris said it right that pro sports are an escape, and while the playoffs are generally a pretty disappointing time of year for me, I still love that I have hockey games on Tuesday nights in the winter to look forward to. And maybe the coolest part about that is that I've got an awesome place to talk about them on Wednesday morning. Thanks guys. Fuck the Pens.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

Doubt this is possible for any team, but what if you had 2 goalies with NMC's?