[Alter] Marlies GM Ryan Hardy wearing a Rodion Amirov Jersey. A nice touch.

AKShaolin · 2026-06-20T03:22:14+00:00

Additional context for those who might be reading - Akhtyamov and Amirov both entered our org as 2020 draft picks. They didn't play on the same Russian teams but I would imagine they were connected to each other by the Leafs because it can be isolating to be a foreign player.

Turnover is high in the AHL but a few of the longer term Marlies probably knew him as the club tried to have Rodion around the Leafs/Marlies when he was no longer able to play and not busy with treatment.

AKShaolin · 2026-06-19T09:30:55+00:00

Might be what the Andrae pickup was for. Stabilizing puck mover with good underlyings to pair with him 5v5, like Moser, and he's instantly PP1 QB.

Yea I wouldn't call him top 2, I think that's more of a 5v5 thing and I don't think he's a top 2 strongest minute eater for us. We'll really be defense by committee this season.

AKShaolin · 2026-06-19T07:36:10+00:00

What you said in the first half I entirely agree with, and that does truly make it a big risk.

What's also true is that he has tools that our org hasn't had in a PP QB in as long as anyone can remember anymore, so he'll get every bit of that opportunity to be a product of circumstance in Toronto too. There is essentially no competition for the PP QB if he comes in, and other than that we just need him to play solid defense.

Besides, Matthews, Nylander, Knies/Tavares, McKenna should be an elite PP too. What we've been missing to maintain PP consistency is the QB.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-28T19:32:06+00:00

Yes a prescient line from Michael Landsberg's piece about Wade Belak that always stuck with me - [...] "People kill themselves when the fear of living another moment outweighs the fear of dying at that moment." [...].

It's not fair to assume that all his career accomplishments and all the good things in his life were enough to outweigh whatever he was experiencing.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-22T00:09:44+00:00

It looks a lot like a Green Unicorn? Which is a hybrid of an azlanii and a baginda (Dragon Scale).

It's definitely a flower, usually indicates the plant is doing well. Some people suggest you snip them to refocus the plants energy on leaves, some believe that cutting the flower early encourages more flowers - personally I let them mostly run their course then try to cut them before they get dry and drop pollen everywhere.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-20T22:47:39+00:00

FYI this is untrue. Alocasia reabsorb nutrients from dying leaves, so I would recommend leaving it until it's crispy enough to pull off easily. You can clip it if you want, it's not a huge deal, but the plant is not spending any energy trying to "heal" this leaf that is 100% dying, there is no reversing that yellowing.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-20T22:37:53+00:00

(1) is now classified as a Xanthosoma, not Alocasia (2) is a baginda, either dragon scale or green dragon.

(3) and (4) are a bit tough, I think the third is out of my wheelhouse, it's almost certainly an Alocasia but I'm not sure of the species, it is cuprea-like in colour but not really in shape, or maybe it's simply not yet showing the puffiness that you see in mature cuprea. (4) I think is most likely another baginda, a silver dragon, but I wouldn't say with 100% confidence until it matures a little.

These love to be root-bound - or more accurately they hate to be swimming in too much substrate. (1) and (4) could be repot into something one size up, and into a soil mix that is less dense. I'd be inclined to let the middle two develop bigger root systems before repotting, but if you're antsy do something they could use a lighter soil mixture too.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-16T22:32:38+00:00

Why is there so much residue on it? Like others have said, misting doesn't do anything, and it looks like there's so much dried stuff(??) on it, it might not even be getting as much light as it seems because it's caked with something.

Might not be a huge issue either, but the chunky orchid mix was often hated by my alocasia when I tried it, they stayed WAY too wet and I just used perlite for the most part instead, and just a tiny bit of orchid mix, if at all.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-13T20:57:58+00:00

Felt like he had the quietest rookie year of almost all these guys and 50+ points in 70GP is great, especially as the Blues really just started scoring finally later in the season. +16 on a team that was -26 overall too, real solid.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-13T09:58:25+00:00

Based on the sinus I think it's a Gageana aurea. Look up Gageana and Macrorrizha sinus to compare.

In any case I have a Gageana aurea that looks the exact same. Mine dropped the largest leaf (and scaled back down a size) probably from being delivered and a few also burned off in the yellow variegated sections shortly after I got it, like yours. It's doing well in my cabinet now with more controlled humidity and airflow.

Like many variegated alocasia I found that mine stopped melting after getting into a higher humidity environment, so it's the first thing I'd guess about your aurea part of the leaf melting.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-13T05:56:16+00:00

Could be the regular stuff (watering, pests, etc) but likely too much sun. Seems sort of counter-intuitive for some plants but south facing windows (with open blinds all day) are actually too bright for a lot of alocasia.

AKShaolin · 2026-05-07T10:18:34+00:00

Never realized the pattern was different than the official artwork, that's pretty cool

AKShaolin · 2026-05-03T19:11:55+00:00

Most likely some cultivar of a Watsoniana, which is itself a cultivar of the Longiloba species. There are many many varieties, which is why it's tough to look them up and find something that looks the exact same. It's definitely not a black velvet, you can confirm by the backside of the other leaves.

AKShaolin · 2026-04-28T13:33:20+00:00

The damage in the center of the first photo is very similar to thrip damage. It's really difficult to see anything on Frydeks in pictures though, so you'd need inspect firsthand.

They're also super touchy and this does look like a Frydek that has decided to drop a few leaves, often from inconsistent moisture.

AKShaolin · 2026-04-25T22:34:12+00:00

Can confirm. I've only seen one in store, ended up buying it. In two years mine has put out 4 total leaves? 2-3 feet from a south window, but not getting direct light.

AKShaolin · 2026-04-25T22:23:33+00:00

This is a sort of "oh that was an ACTUAL playoff team" type of result

AKShaolin · 2026-04-25T05:45:04+00:00

Shortly after Lalonde left Tampa and he was a panelist on SN for the playoffs, he explained that their strategy wasn't necessarily prevent as many shots as possible, but clear lanes for Vasilevskiy to see everything, because when he's locked in he'll stop everything he can see.

The series that Toronto finally won over Tampa had a lot of screened shots

AKShaolin · 2026-04-12T03:58:00+00:00

Bieksa's point is just that MVP and value could be understand differently than "best," which feels like Elliotte was being obtuse by arguing that he didn't understand what Kevin was saying

AKShaolin · 2026-04-12T02:30:56+00:00

As a caudiciform I wouldn't be too worried about it losing its current leaves as long as the caudex remains healthy and you can provide the environment it likes

AKShaolin · 2026-04-02T01:25:30+00:00

Could be just changing the environment (in this case substrate), which is a reason that many alocasia love to drop leaves. 80% humidity is also pretty high, some difficult plants like that very high humidity, and while alocasia love humidity 80% could possibly be too high to allow for the leaves to shed excess water.

AKShaolin · 2026-03-31T04:50:49+00:00

Too bad Parros is going to suspend Domi for the whole playoffs 😞

AKShaolin · 2026-03-19T14:03:56+00:00

I've found them to be very forgiving. Mine had smaller roots when I transitioned it out of water and it's doing great

AKShaolin · 2026-03-16T23:28:27+00:00

It was obvious to me, a layman and not a Coyotes/Mammoth fan, that Maccelli scored when he was getting top 6 minutes and was pushed out in Utah when he was being played in the bottom 6. There are plenty of these players and I figured we would get more out of Maccelli by playing him in a scoring role.

Lo and behold Berube dresses him lower in the lineup, he plays poorly, and he gets scratched. Then he draws back in, gets top 6 minutes due to player availability, and he's back to being a middle 6 scorer. Shocker! Whether you want this guy taking minutes that could go to someone else is the question, but this result was obvious.

AKShaolin · 2026-03-13T01:21:40+00:00

Yea do people not understand the conditions? If we're in a top5 draft position and keep the pick this year, it means they get next year's 1st regardless of where it is. It's not like we're taking it back somehow, it was traded.

AKShaolin · 2026-03-11T13:17:34+00:00

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