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Honestly, without this thread, I wouldn't visit ants at all.

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I was reading it and it was touching at first but was still thinking wtf are you guys talking about and then read about him talking to his mom about proposing to his wife and about his mom meeting her granddaughter....

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Ugly crying at work.

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Actually this is a good idea. All of us get Kessel stitched into our teams' sweaters. Preserves our individuality while uniting us under The Phil.
:thumbsup
It's morning and I was just reading the article in bed. I had to get up and leave so I wouldn't wake my wife with all the sniffing sounds and whimpers I was making. Even worse, I decided to read the article that appeared right after it, which was the one by Cam Ward about his son. I am an absolute wreck.

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hey guys, did you know bobby ryan is from cherry hill, new jersey which is right over the bridge from Philly?

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I read the first sentence and went 'Oh God...'

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I fucking love Player's Tribune. Great piece from Bobby Ryan. Quite a few personal touches in that article to boot. Thanks for sharing, Lockman.

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One of my dream jobs is ghost writing for The Player's Tribune. Gotta be an incredible gig to sit and listen to these stories and then put them in writing.

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How can you not love Matt Cullen feeding his kids cereal out of the Stanley Cup?!

https://twitter.com/keeperofthecup/s...32237196664833

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Love it! And Philip Pritchard is one of my favorite follows on Twitter. What a life that guy has.

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Obviously, would be better if it was Kessel feeding himself ice cream out of the Cup. Clearly.

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Oh yeah, we all know this totally happened. It was dessert after he'd filled it with BBQ sauce.

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Because Dustin Brown's kids drinking chocolate milk out of it is much cuter

http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptu...1.26.18-PM.png

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Avs barely slide in before the arbitration ruling and sign Barrie. 4 years/$22 million.

That's a little high to my liking considering Barrie's skill set, but that's mostly due to my bias for defensemen who can actually, y'know, play defense. But to be honest, that's about the going rate for a highly [offensively] skilled right-handed defenseman who can pot 15 goals and 50-ish points a season (last season he had 49). Sure he needs a solid defensive partner, but there's definitely room for that kind of backend production on the Avs.

What I do like about the deal is that it will take him to age 28. If by that time he hasn't figured out his defensive game, then boom, let him walk. But if he DOES happen to improve defensively and maybe up his offensive production even a little more, this will look like a very good deal for a defenseman in his mid-20s.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

He is sort of like our mascot in here, it is funny. I think if I did get Kessel stitched onto a Whalers or Hawks blank I would pony up the extra few bucks and get XL put on where his number would be.

It is a bitch signing defensemen in an offseason like this where really solid guys are tough to come by, you are almost forced to overpay for them. He is capable of being better defensively but has not done so, hence the 4 year contract rather than locking him up long term I think. Comparatively speaking it is an awful deal for a middle of the road guy IMO - his annual cap hit is only 38 grand less than Duncan Keith and amazingly his cap hit is 2 mil more than Nicklas Hjalmarsson annually - both of whom I believe you would agree are better players.

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in Spidey suits, to boot

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Empty netters blog is no more. That blows.

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Vermette being bought out by Yotes. Anyone need a reliable defensive center?

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Come on back, Vermy.

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This is so bizarre to me...the Yotes just absorbed Datsyuk's contract because they have so much cap space...why are they doing this?

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I read to free up logjam at center but....play him somewhere else for a year that you have left on his deal....In terms of paying actual money, they are only saving like 1.25mil because they pay him 3.75mil to play this year or pay 1.25mil this year and next. I don't get it. I know a new GM but you signed him after trading him because you wanted him back and he liked it there. Couldn't wait a year?

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I'm just mostly perplexed that there's no one they could trade him too instead of putting him on waivers?

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Hard to compare to a guy like Keith because he is already under contract and has been. I mean if Keith hit the open market this season, he'd be fetching at least $8 mil per. And with Nik, well as much as it pains me to say it, teams will always focus on the offensive side of what a player can do (not me, I'd take Nik over Barrie and day). And Barrie's got that. Plus, he's right handed, which is like the NHL equivalent of a unicorn for some reason. In the end, this is just another case of the way the nhl is today, like it or not. It's the going price for a young offensive defenseman, and I think Sakic did a decent job of coming out of it not overpaying.

Or why they didn't buy him out earlier in the FA period? You're right, it is weird.

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Oh I completely agree with you on both counts, I was just pointing out how the lack of solid D men this offseason drove the prices up to absurdity IMO - despite Jordie Benn (not Jamie Benn the center you idiots!) taking a pay cut to stay in Dallas. I think he could have got more than 3.3 mil per season if he hit the market. You are entirely correct about Keith, if he had hit free agency he have teams basically telling him to name his price if they had the cap space, he is that good both defensively and on the blue line. Regarding Nik, completely agree, he is a shut down defenseman who blocks more shots than anyone I have watched in ages but is not that active on offense (averaging about a point every 4 games) but defensively he is among the best in the world - it is amazing to me he is so underpaid. I think 6 cups between the two of them shows that locking them both up long term for relatively cheap annual contracts was a damn solid move by the front office.

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I made a mistake on Niklas Hjalmarsson cap hit, I forgot he got a 600k annual raise when he resigned (5 years) before the 2013-14 season.

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The Gabe's article in the Player's Trib regarding concussions:

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/we-...ons-right-now/

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NHL PR team out to get ya, Matty.

https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/760490530140745728

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One of the worst days of my life.

On that same note, one of my most sought after items is an Adam Foote Jackets sweater.

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honestly forgot the Jackets existed until you just mentioned them

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Will read this when I get time. Pretty excited.