Hockey

[oldcrank]

Re:

I'm hoping for Winnepeg and Washington to win their series but Washington overall for Ovechkin alone.

Pretty much my feelings as well. Vegas is a pretty good story too,
but it is always nice to have a Canadian based team in the final.

Because Ovi might not get another shot at an Olympic Gold, I'd
really like to see Super8 lift Lord Stanley's Cup at least once.

I also love the tradition in ice-hockey that all members of the
winning team get a day with the Trophy in the off-season, in
most cases with family, friends and fans in their home town...
so if Washington wins maybe we will see Putin posing with the
Ovi and the Cup somewhere in Moscow. :surprised:

 

[the delgados]

Re: Re:

I'm hoping for Winnepeg and Washington to win their series but Washington overall for Ovechkin alone.

Pretty much my feelings as well. Vegas is a pretty good story too,
but it is always nice to have a Canadian based team in the final.

Because Ovi might not get another shot at an Olympic Gold, I'd
really like to see Super8 lift Lord Stanley's Cup at least once.

I also love the tradition in ice-hockey that all members of the
winning team get a day with the Trophy in the off-season, in
most cases with family, friends and fans in their home town...
so if Washington wins maybe we will see Putin posing with the
Ovi and the Cup somewhere in Moscow. :surprised:

After dealing with the Jets, the only thing grandpa Ovi will be lifting is an oxygen tank and perhaps a bottle of Russia's finest.
Eddie O probably agrees. It will be a crime if he is not brought back to MC the Jets victory parade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A7zPShC2A8

 

[oldcrank]

Ya, ya, but wouldn't it be nice for Mr. Putin to have
a Stanley Cup ring to go with his Super Bowl ring?

 

[Koronin]

Ya, ya, but wouldn't it be nice for Mr. Putin to have
a Stanley Cup ring to go with his Super Bowl ring?

? Malkin is Russian and has already won the Cup a few times.

 

[the delgados]

Ya, ya, but wouldn't it be nice for Mr. Putin to have
a Stanley Cup ring to go with his Super Bowl ring?

? Malkin is Russian and has already won the Cup a few times.

Thank you, Koronin.
You're the best. The city of Winnipeg will lose their collective stool if the Jets win the cup. The Russian Penguins had their time. Now it's time for the Winnipeg Jets.
p.s. I must be missing something, because I don't get the Super Bowl reference. I'm guessing it has something to do with Trump, Kraft and Putin.

 

[Sciocco]

Ya, ya, but wouldn't it be nice for Mr. Putin to have
a Stanley Cup ring to go with his Super Bowl ring?

? Malkin is Russian and has already won the Cup a few times.

Thank you, Koronin.
You're the best. The city of Winnipeg will lose their collective stool if the Jets win the cup. The Russian Penguins had their time. Now it's time for the Winnipeg Jets.
p.s. I must be missing something, because I don't get the Super Bowl reference. I'm guessing it has something to do with Trump, Kraft and Putin.

I agree, hopefully Shittsburgh is done.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/patriots-robert-kraft-vladimir-putin-stole-my-super-bowl-ring/

 

[python]

sweden is the world champion 2nd time in a row !! i won substantial bets.

gotta say, the swiss are an amazing team. their progress is phenomenal.

 

[joe_papp]

Is there a sport more beautiful than ice hockey (as realized at the NHL level)? I don't think so.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Is there a sport more beautiful than ice hockey (as realized at the NHL level)? I don't think so.

Depends on which team you're rooting for, no?

 

[the delgados]

Is there a sport more beautiful than ice hockey (as realized at the NHL level)? I don't think so.

Ken Dryden -- hall of fame goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens and all round awesome guy -- put it succinctly when saying hockey is ballet on ice.
That sentiment has become way more noticeable in recent years since thuggery has pretty much gone the way of the dodo.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ken Dryden -- hall of fame goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens and all round awesome guy -- put it succinctly when saying hockey is ballet on ice.
That sentiment has become way more noticeable in recent years since thuggery has pretty much gone the way of the dodo.

...and one day later Tom Wilson reminds us all that he is Tom Wilson, and DoPS' weakness leads to a farce of the kind not usually seen without John Tortorella on one of the benches.

 

[the delgados]

...and one day later Tom Wilson reminds us all that he is Tom Wilson, and DoPS' weakness leads to a farce of the kind not usually seen without John Tortorella on one of the benches.

True that. "Torts" and Wilson are relics, which is why the Rangers took the unprecedented step to demand the resignation of former enforcer and current DoPS George Parros.
Quite the contrast from the days when players got tired of beating each other up and jumped into the stands to beat the schit out of fans in attendance.
I think Mike Milbury received a 5-minute major for removing the shoe of a fan in row 5 and proceeded to beat him over the head in a game in the mid-70's.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Would prefer for the Canadiens to do a bit better, your mileage may differ.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Ah well, the better beards always win.

 

[joe_papp]

Kind of an anti-climatic Cup finale, but pretty cool to have been able to watch hockey into July. I'm even +$50 still after 5 mos. of betting on NHL games via FanDuel lol (legal in my state [PA])!

 

[the delgados]

The way the cup final played out was to be expected. It's amazing how one position player can pretty much carry a team so far; Price is sublime. And good for you for the plus rankings on the betting market. Don't spend it all in one place.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Kind of an anti-climatic Cup finale, but pretty cool to have been able to watch hockey into July. I'm even +$50 still after 5 mos. of betting on NHL games via FanDuel lol (legal in my state [PA])!

It's funny you found it necessary to stipulate that whatever it is you're doing is legal in PA. Speaking of PA...

Whatever happened to Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and Mario Lemieux? I don't follow hockey as closely as I used to, but I did back when Jagr still played for the Penguins.

 

[Koronin]

It's funny you found it necessary to stipulate that whatever it is you're doing is legal in PA. Speaking of PA...

Whatever happened to Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and Mario Lemieux? I don't follow hockey as closely as I used to, but I did back when Jagr still played for the Penguins.

Jagr is still playing, but I don't remember where at the moment.

Crosby has started having injury issues (same for Malkin). Lemieux is fully retired, but owns the Penguins so he's around the team a lot. Right now the Pens biggest issue is they are getting old. They are still good, but age is catching up with them.


As for the Cup, I had really hoped the Canadiens could find some way to pull of the upset and win the finals.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Jagr is still playing, but I don't remember where at the moment.

Crosby has started having injury issues (same for Malkin). Lemieux is fully retired, but owns the Penguins so he's around the team a lot. Right now the Pens biggest issue is they are getting old. They are still good, but age is catching up with them.


As for the Cup, I had really hoped the Canadiens could find some way to pull of the upset and win the finals.

Right now the Penguins' biggest issue is they mortgaged the future for the president with Trader Jim at the helm. He threw the kitchen sink at putting together that back to back Cup-winning team, but just like he did at the Canes he stayed on too long throwing picks and prospects out the door to try to get another Cup run, and fixating on certain players that he just has to have and letting other GMs fleece him for them. Yes, he fixed a lot of his mistakes, but he also had to fix those because he made mistakes. Now the Pens are in this difficult halfway house where they've brought in a GM with a mandater to rebuild the team... but only when Crosby, Malkin and Letang are done. They've had a few seasons of endless injuries (seriously, the mess the defence was in early season was just unbelievable, everybody going down simultaneously) but the pipeline is pretty much empty because of trading all the draft capital and prospects for win-now help. I mean, they got a round 1 gifted to them in a deep draft last year, and the SCF hadn't even been played when Trader Jim had got rid of it in order to bring back a guy that he drafted and traded away for win-now help a few years earlier.

The big question now is going to be if there's any closing of the loophole around the cap shenanigans Tampa were pulling. Kucherov having the whole season out only to re-emerge on day 1 of the playoffs fully fit was a gamble, but before the season all the talk was about the complete cap crunch they were in, and how they were going to have to do some cap gymnastics and maybe mortgage off picks and prospects to get people to bail them out like Toronto with Patrick Marleau a few years back. They passed Tyler Johnson through waivers pre-season... twice, and they hadn't signed most of their RFAs until very late in the pre-season period because they were struggling. Then out of nowhere, oh yea, Kucherov has to have surgery and will be out for the regular season, and of course no salary cap applies during the playoffs, so suddenly they had a bunch of open cap space from putting Kucherov on LTIR and could sign all their RFAs. Everybody and their mother knew NK would be right as rain ready for the playoffs, and they were probably holding him out when fit late in the season because it would be easier that way and while sitting probably their best player for most of the season wasn't ideal, the depth and quality the Lightning have meant they were always likely to make the playoffs anyway, and then they could back themselves.

 

[Koronin]

Right now the Penguins' biggest issue is they mortgaged the future for the president with Trader Jim at the helm. He threw the kitchen sink at putting together that back to back Cup-winning team, but just like he did at the Canes he stayed on too long throwing picks and prospects out the door to try to get another Cup run, and fixating on certain players that he just has to have and letting other GMs fleece him for them. Yes, he fixed a lot of his mistakes, but he also had to fix those because he made mistakes. Now the Pens are in this difficult halfway house where they've brought in a GM with a mandater to rebuild the team... but only when Crosby, Malkin and Letang are done. They've had a few seasons of endless injuries (seriously, the mess the defence was in early season was just unbelievable, everybody going down simultaneously) but the pipeline is pretty much empty because of trading all the draft capital and prospects for win-now help. I mean, they got a round 1 gifted to them in a deep draft last year, and the SCF hadn't even been played when Trader Jim had got rid of it in order to bring back a guy that he drafted and traded away for win-now help a few years earlier.

The big question now is going to be if there's any closing of the loophole around the cap shenanigans Tampa were pulling. Kucherov having the whole season out only to re-emerge on day 1 of the playoffs fully fit was a gamble, but before the season all the talk was about the complete cap crunch they were in, and how they were going to have to do some cap gymnastics and maybe mortgage off picks and prospects to get people to bail them out like Toronto with Patrick Marleau a few years back. They passed Tyler Johnson through waivers pre-season... twice, and they hadn't signed most of their RFAs until very late in the pre-season period because they were struggling. Then out of nowhere, oh yea, Kucherov has to have surgery and will be out for the regular season, and of course no salary cap applies during the playoffs, so suddenly they had a bunch of open cap space from putting Kucherov on LTIR and could sign all their RFAs. Everybody and their mother knew NK would be right as rain ready for the playoffs, and they were probably holding him out when fit late in the season because it would be easier that way and while sitting probably their best player for most of the season wasn't ideal, the depth and quality the Lightning have meant they were always likely to make the playoffs anyway, and then they could back themselves.

There have also been some trades the Pens have done recently that make zero sense (you mentioned one of them). The fans aren't happy. There have been some big player personnel mistakes of some that should have been traded and others that maybe shouldn't have been. We have an old team and some issues that have been going on for awhile.

Yeah, the cap loophole Tampa is using needs closed.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

There have also been some trades the Pens have done recently that make zero sense (you mentioned one of them). The fans aren't happy. There have been some big player personnel mistakes of some that should have been traded and others that maybe shouldn't have been. We have an old team and some issues that have been going on for awhile.

Yeah, the cap loophole Tampa is using needs closed.

Kappy was one of the Pens' best players this season in fairness, and in hindsight they should have gone with Toronto's first request for a prospect in that trade, which was Derrick Pouliot. The real problem was Sullivan's intransigence vs. Rutherford's fixations. Zucker-Crosby was a really good combo in early 2020, and Guentzel-Malkin-Rust was a destructive force. But Sullivan never tried Zucker with Crosby once all season, when it was clear he wasn't meshing well with Malkin and once Malkin and Kapanen got going together, Zucker was the spare part on that line.

 

[Koronin]

Kappy was one of the Pens' best players this season in fairness, and in hindsight they should have gone with Toronto's first request for a prospect in that trade, which was Derrick Pouliot. The real problem was Sullivan's intransigence vs. Rutherford's fixations. Zucker-Crosby was a really good combo in early 2020, and Guentzel-Malkin-Rust was a destructive force. But Sullivan never tried Zucker with Crosby once all season, when it was clear he wasn't meshing well with Malkin and once Malkin and Kapanen got going together, Zucker was the spare part on that line.

We have issues that need fixed. Right now it appears that includes coaching and front office.

 

[the delgados]

It's funny you found it necessary to stipulate that whatever it is you're doing is legal in PA. Speaking of PA...

Whatever happened to Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and Mario Lemieux? I don't follow hockey as closely as I used to, but I did back when Jagr still played for the Penguins.

Please excuse me for a moment. I'm waiting for the corns to start popping in the trusty old microwave. Meantime I'm gonna heat myself up some butter, add a bit of salty stuff and get all comfy before asking questions.

Ok, here goes a series of questions that may be asked from one of them there dim-wits up there in the peanut gallery. For that I apologize in advance.

1) I got the impression the Joe Papp was shilling for a a gambling company when he responded to my post. Nothing wrong with that, I thought; a guy's gonna go what he feels he's gotta do. As long as no one's knees are being broken, all's good. Please correct met if I'm wrong.

2) Then TR drops in with what I would call a cryptic bombshell. What the hell does Joe Papp's gambling activities have to do with Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby? What ties do any one of them have to gambling rings?

Just askin', is all. Seems there might be more to this story than we know.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I don't think Papp's gambling activities have much to do with Lemieux and Crosby, it's just commenting on the fact Papp draws attention to being in Pennsylvania. Papp is from western Pennsylvania and IIRC is a Penguins fan. Obviously the Penguins have something of a global following, what with the cool logo, the enduring popularity of penguins in general, the popularity and success of Lemieux and Jagr back in the day and the legendary antics of emergency goaltender Jean-Claude van Damme. The only link I can potentially think of would be how the team was bankrupt and potentially leaving town, and then after the lockout, having already had the 1st overall pick in 2003 (Marc-André Fleury) and the 2nd overall pick in 2004 (Evgeni Malkin) they then won the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes" and many people think it was rigged to give the Pens a new dynasty and keep them in Pittsburgh.

Which has kind of worked, since although Steel City is very much a football town, the Pens are now waaaay above the Pirates in popularity in the city.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I don't think Papp's gambling activities have much to do with Lemieux and Crosby, it's just commenting on the fact Papp draws attention to being in Pennsylvania. Papp is from western Pennsylvania and IIRC is a Penguins fan. Obviously the Penguins have something of a global following, what with the cool logo, the enduring popularity of penguins in general, the popularity and success of Lemieux and Jagr back in the day and the legendary antics of emergency goaltender Jean-Claude van Damme. The only link I can potentially think of would be how the team was bankrupt and potentially leaving town, and then after the lockout, having already had the 1st overall pick in 2003 (Marc-André Fleury) and the 2nd overall pick in 2004 (Evgeni Malkin) they then won the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes" and many people think it was rigged to give the Pens a new dynasty and keep them in Pittsburgh.

Which has kind of worked, since although Steel City is very much a football town, the Pens are now waaaay above the Pirates in popularity in the city.

Yes, that is what I had in mind - Joe Papp had mentioned PA, so that made me think of the Pens. Once thinking of the Pens I remembered all the players that had been (or still are) involved with the Pens, the gambling is just kind of a side issue.

I'm glad Koronin had clarified that Jagr, Crosby, and Lemieux are all still alive and (mostly) well, though, I can see where intertwining a post about players with gambling might be cause for some concern.