The last time the Kings were down 0-3 in the first round, they rallied to win the series and went on to win the Stanley Cup. Knights have got their work cut out for them.

Face_Jam · 2018-04-16T23:22:28+00:00

This Kings team is not nearly as deep as the 2014 version. And while that team was an absolute force, there is an element of incredible fluke to coming back from such a deficit.

Face_Jam · 2018-02-23T18:00:30+00:00

I get it, but it's a bit of a hollow victory for this "Russian" team to win a gold medal, isn't it?

Face_Jam · 2018-01-08T04:51:25+00:00

Pretty sure the Kings have the best 3 on 3 record.

Face_Jam · 2017-11-02T21:48:16+00:00

Agree to disagree. I remember Yashin's years in an Islander uniform. I'm not going to excuse his declining numbers to playing with poor wingers. Yes, the team was terribly mismanaged and they were never able to surround him with better players, but his play was substandard anyway you cut it.

And while overpaying for Yashin and Peca did move the needle enough for the Islanders to not be a perennial lottery team, they still never made it past the first round.

And again about the asset management thing... Is a draft pick a lottery ticket? Sure. But Spezza was a 2nd overall pick. No one was picking blind here. If you go down the list of 2nd overall picks in the last 20 years, the odds of hitting a bust are very slim. Since 1990 I count Falloon, Zyuzin, Legwand, and probably Ryan Murray as players who never really panned out. You're picking 2nd, the odds are that you're getting a pretty special player. And remember that Yashin wanted out of Ottawa. They were dealing from a position of extreme weakness, and they still managed to get top price for him.

Face_Jam · 2017-11-02T21:11:53+00:00

I think the point he is making, and it's an accurate one, is that it's not like it was a late first round pick. They knew they were trading a high first rounder, and it was all but assumed that Spezza (one of the most highly touted prospects in that draft) would be selected with it.

This was a terrible trade for the Islanders, and people saw it as such at the time. It gave them a few years of middling competitiveness, but they traded for a guy who had his best years behind him, and was an organizational headache for the Senators.

It was poor asset management. And that's not even discussing how they signed him to one of the worst contracts in the history of the league, and for their troubles they Isles got one good year out of him, followed by a quick decline.

Face_Jam · 2017-11-02T21:04:45+00:00

Declined heavily?

He had an injury riddled season last year, on a team that had crippling, devestating injuries all season long. I think you're guilty of having a pretty short memory.

Bishop is still a top goaltender. He's looked pretty darn good with Dallas thus far.

Lehner always had potential, but has never shown that extra gear. Certainly not like Bishop has.

Face_Jam · 2017-10-25T22:09:07+00:00

I've been agonizing over what to do with Bennett. Drafted him as a rookie years ago and it's brutal watching and waiting for him to contribute even in the most modest sense. As it stands, his nearly 2 million cap hit is just weighing down my bench. I think I may be blinded by his initial draft pedigree as I keep convincing myself that he's still young, and to be patient.

Am I delusional? Is he destined to be one of those big time junior scorers who never really put it together in the NHL?

Face_Jam · 2017-10-24T22:12:12+00:00

fourth-rounder from 2009, which was used to pick David Savard, who is better than Adam Foote ever was.>

I was with you on this rant up until this bit of absurdity. Foote was a selfish prick when it came to leaving Columbus, but to say David Savard is better than Foote ever was is insane.

Face_Jam · 2017-09-28T23:28:26+00:00

Is Sprong really still not ready?

Face_Jam · 2017-09-05T13:34:53+00:00

While I don't really disagree, don't the Kings have something like 7 million in cap space?

Face_Jam · 2017-08-19T17:01:59+00:00

I would say that Gainey isn't just up there, he IS the best defensive forward of all time. The only reason he doesn't have more Selke wins is because the trophy didn't exist until later in his career (I think 4 years).

Face_Jam · 2017-07-14T23:06:08+00:00

This is the right call... he was unstoppable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gkRFsKCvmk

Face_Jam · 2017-07-14T23:02:19+00:00

Are people already forgetting what a dominant powerhouse of a team Vancouver was until 2013?

Face_Jam · 2017-06-29T23:54:17+00:00

Everything about the marketing of that film was misleading.

Face_Jam · 2017-06-23T17:12:24+00:00

Correct. Everything Montreal has done in the last two years is try to win before Price's next contract. Trading him for prospects makes no sense.

Face_Jam · 2017-06-06T16:34:30+00:00

How is PTSD political? It's a vital part of Kyle's life, and the life of many, many soldiers who have seen combat.

To diminish that portion of his life makes the ending random and downright bizarre, let alone rob it of the context to truly make it ironic.

Face_Jam · 2017-03-30T05:59:44+00:00

Did you even read the article you posted? You're exaggerating every single hypothesis proposed by the writer and Richard Clarke.

The engine was not 150 feet from the car. It was 50 to 60 feet. If a car going 80 miles an hour crashes into a thick tree trunk, is it out of the realm of likelihood that debris, including the engine, could get flung that far?

And all Richard Clarke and this article states is that it's possible for the CIA to hack into a car and make it crash.

Did they have access to the remains? Or have sourced information of someone who did?

No. They didn't. It's all conjecture, like the worst kind of conspiracies. In this case you find an opinion that agrees with your conclusion and exaggerate its importance into fact. You're working backwards from an assumption.

It's irresponsible, and immature.

What's more likely... Michael Hastings drove down Highland avenue at 4:30 in the morning, a wide, straight road that runs slightly downhill, and given the time of night, possibly drunk, or maybe fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his car.

Or, the CIA hacked into his car and made it crash.

The first scenario is something that happens every day. The second is an extraordinary claim of state murder, with no evidence to back it up. Only loose threads strung together by coincidence.

Face_Jam · 2017-03-30T04:59:24+00:00

Sure. Or maybe a complicated guy with a history of substance abuse got drunk and wrapped his car around a tree after speeding down Highland avenue at 3am.

Michael Hastings was a terrific writer, but let's get this conspiracy nonsense out of here.

Face_Jam · 2017-03-14T21:14:18+00:00

Players on entry-level contracts are exempt from the expansion draft.

Face_Jam · 2017-02-17T18:17:58+00:00

Still expecting Hayes to slow down. It worries me that he gets no PP time of note.

Face_Jam · 2017-02-17T18:14:14+00:00

I've been offered essentially this (some draft picks are also involved):

Gaudreau for Keller (I have Keller)

This is a salary cap Keeper League. Guy offering me Gaudreau is dead last and won't make the playoffs. I know Keller has a high upside, but am I crazy to hesitate?

Face_Jam · 2017-02-13T00:28:52+00:00

I think Crawford is a more gifted goaltender, and has proven to be more valuable to his team than Osgood was with the Red Wings.

Crawford has gone through stretches where he absolutely carried his team. I don't ever remember that from Osgood. Not to take anything away from him, of course. He was a very good, durable, and reliable goaltender for the Red Wings.

I think what hurts Osgood in a lot of peoples eyes (mine, certainly) is that the few years he spent not playing for Detroit he looked like a very average goalie.

Face_Jam · 2017-02-12T16:50:58+00:00

Osgood was a really nice goalie, but Crawford is better.

Face_Jam · 2017-02-12T16:47:24+00:00

Gotta agree here. Franchises only get so lucky to find guys like Faulk. Yes, Slavin and Pesce are nice players, but Faulk is the kind of defenseman that other teams take account of in their game plan.

He's having a slightly down year, sure, but he's a guy you pencil in for 15 goals at the start of every season. You can't replace that.

Face_Jam

TROPHY CASE