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NHL 2020 - The Quest for the Cup!


Dolfan in NYC

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Also, it’s looking like the Olympics in 2022 is looking realistic. An estimation on some of the contenders rosters are fascinating.

 

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Canadians looking like typical Canadians with no real weakness. I imagine Doughty doesn’t end up making the team as more players pass him by (I’m biased but I’d take Parayko over him), and the only thing that at presence even resembles a hole is goaltender, we’re there isn’t a current elite goaltender to really call on. Also, they would be nuts not to put up a Couturier-O’Reilly-Stone 4th line to terrorize basically everyone.

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Pretty easily the best American team ever imo. The forward talent is very good with some outstanding players in there, and the defense is close enough I can say it rivals the Canadians. I also think they have, by far, the best goalie situation. Hellebuyck, Gibson, and Bishop would start for the Canadians if they were available. 
 

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The Russians to me lag behind a bit. Admittedly I’m not super confident on some of the KHL names, but it feels like the drop off between, say, the top 6 forwards and the rest is pretty stark, especially with Kutznesov potentially being banned from the cocaine incident. The defense is actually one of the weaker in the tournament.

 

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Hot damn the Swedes have came to play. The forward talent isn’t quite up with the previous teams, but that defense is legit. Also they are very good down the middle, which is important.

 

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Honestly the Finns kinda became that team that looked underwhelming but played up in tournaments like this for a while. But this is probably the most talent the Finns have had in a long while. Barlow, Aho, Laine, and Ratanen is a fantastic forward core, with Heiskanen leading the defense. These team also looks dangerous.

 

the Czechs, Germans, and Swiss also have solid rosters, to the point were I think this would be the most competitive Olympics ever. I do think Russia lags behind the other major 4 now, but who knows.

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I really do hope the NHL bites the bullet and lets the players do the Olympic thing. it's really the only meaningful best vs best we are ever likely to get again. The players aren't going to take another world cup seriously, and the world championships... are what they are.

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RE: The Olympics stuff

Quote

Moving over to the collective bargaining agreement, is it true NHL players could return to the Olympics?
Kaplan: There is language in the CBA memorandum of understanding that says NHL players can go to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and 2026 Olympics in Milan (pending IOC approval), and I cannot understate what a massive win this is for the players, and also what a total surprise this is.

I'll put it this way: If you talk to NHL players and ask them what their two biggest gripes with the league are, nine times out of 10 you'll get one of these two answers: escrow and Olympic participation.

I've also sat in on pretty much every Gary Bettman and Bill Daly media scrum over the past three years -- at GM meetings, board of governors meetings, Stanley Cup playoffs, All-Star Games, etc. -- and when asked about the Olympics, they have maintained a hard-line stance that the NHL had no regrets about skipping Pyeongchang in 2018, and they gave no hints that the landscape could change anytime soon. Bettman and Daly asserted that it didn't behoove the NHL to pause its season for the Olympics and risk players getting injured in non-NHL competition. They also said the cost of insurance and lack of marketing benefits just didn't make it worth it for the NHL.

So for them to reverse course -- in the middle of a global pandemic, no less -- feels stunning. What it came down to is this: The players and the league reentered CBA negotiations during the pandemic, and in any negotiation, there's give and take. The league was unwilling to do an entire overhaul of its financial structure, meaning escrow wouldn't go away completely (though there are some improvements for players), but NHL was willing to budge on the Olympics as a sweetener.

My personal take: All along, while NHL leaders said they didn't see the benefit of going to the Olympics, they knew that was a narrow view. Broadly, the sport needs visibility. China is a market the NHL has been trying to cultivate for some time, so the fact the next Games are in Beijing makes sense for the league. So that's why they were willing to budge.

One additional note: This Olympic participation is not part of a larger international calendar of events in the new CBA. While that's something the NHL had been after for a while in relation to Olympic participation, the sides just didn't have enough time to hammer it out. Expect the conversations to continue on this issue following the players' vote.

 

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Devils have hired Lindy Ruff as coach

They also removed the interim tag from GM Tom Fitzgerald

Since Ruff was working as an assistant with the Rangers - the Rangers have replaced him with Gord Murphy which is such a great hockey name

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A handful of players are opting out of returning. I'm only half keeping track but I know Mike Green did in Edmonton. That means we traded a 4th round pick for literally 2 games of Mike Green. This guy is going to be stumping people in bar trivia for decades to come.

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I like that it took all of like 3 hours before the "I SAW (Insert Player Name Here) OUT AND ABOUT TOWN NOT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND NOT WEARING A MASK!!!! social media posts started

 

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22 hours ago, Death From Above said:

A handful of players are opting out of returning. I'm only half keeping track but I know Mike Green did in Edmonton. That means we traded a 4th round pick for literally 2 games of Mike Green. This guy is going to be stumping people in bar trivia for decades to come.

I'd like to thank you guys for taking both Ken Holland AND Mike Green off our hands.

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  • 2 weeks later...
6 minutes ago, Mister TV said:

Not surprised that a league with teams named Wild, Avalanche, Golden Knights and Predators would go with the dumbest name possible. 

Hey look at this bad take.

 

Give me something memorable and fun instead of taking something generic that makes them as forgettable as Panthers and Senators. It’s a fun name, a cool logo, and some kick ass jerseys imo.

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42 minutes ago, The Man Known as Dan said:

Hey look at this bad take.

 

Give me something memorable and fun instead of taking something generic that makes them as forgettable as Panthers and Senators. It’s a fun name, a cool logo, and some kick ass jerseys imo.

Panthers is a totally generic name but that doesn't excuse a team from naming themselves something dumb and gimmicky like Kraken. One of the other names being tossed around was Sockeyes which is unique and a thousand times better than Kraken.

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13 minutes ago, Mister TV said:

Panthers is a totally generic name but that doesn't excuse a team from naming themselves something dumb and gimmicky like Kraken. One of the other names being tossed around was Sockeyes which is unique and a thousand times better than Kraken.

The Sockeyes would have immediately turned them into the most forgettable team in the league. That minute. The Kraken brings on all sorts of fun naming conventions, and you want them be named after fish who are most famous as being easy pray for bears.

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3 hours ago, ChesterCopperpot said:

Seattle Kraken it is

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That jersey is boss, and everyone here is sleeping on how they worked the Space Needle into the anchor. My buddy Pat (a Seahawks fan) popped like a monkey when I pointed it out to him.

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I'm pro-Kraken and love the jersey (interested in seeing the road whites, which I don't think have been released yet). I feel like the logo is a first draft though. I feel like more could have been done with the tentacle or even something simple like a border going around the whole thing. All in all, though, Seattle and Vegas have done a great job of making their own unique colour schemes, but keeping the jerseys classic "hockey" looking. You just know that there is some early design that has tentacles as shoulder yokes.

Edited by elizium
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1 hour ago, elizium said:

I'm pro-Kraken and love the jersey (interested in seeing the road whites, which I don't think have been released yet). I feel like the logo is a first draft though. I feel like more could have been done with the tentacle or even something simple like a border going around the whole thing. All in all, though, Seattle and Vegas have done a great job of making their own unique colour schemes, but keeping the jerseys classic "hockey" looking. You just know that there is some early design that has tentacles as shoulder yokes.

Both are great. I'm getting an Argos double-blue vibe from the color scheme... oddly appropriate given the nautical scheme for each team.

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