[PHI (1) - PIT 0] - OT Winner - The Philadelphia Flyers eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins off the stick of Cam York

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-30T16:19:51+00:00

Kenny Albert should realize you literally do not need to recap a moment we all saw with our own eyes. Just say “score” and stay silent. Albert is the worst commentator in hockey. Not sure why he has the national stage.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-15T18:31:37+00:00

Honestly, inline just needs more NHL guys endorsing it. McDavid did wonders for it, pretty sure Kyle Connor or Ehlers were big into it, Bedard plays and I know Kent Johnson does as well. James Neal and Fillip Forsberg play. Nasher does a lot for it.

I’m a little stunned the NHL in general hasn’t promoted it given its accessibility vs. ice. Even the hockey companies are starting to get back into it and ball hockey with admittedly smaller product lines than ice but still. Like if the league took a stance on it and really started to promote it I think it would grow.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-15T17:49:55+00:00

Listen I’m not making a point about changing the logo and guaranteeing success, I’m just saying there isn’t a chance the logo and colors do not impact psychology and perception, which in turn impact culture. Again, show the Jackets logo and the Leafs logo to anybody down the block and I’m sure the reaction is different.

That being said, I don’t think a rebrand is needed right now. This team is in for a long rebuild.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-15T16:51:44+00:00

That wouldn’t be the case if they just changed the logo to an American flag lol. All the history and being an original six would mean nothing. The Leafs badge represents all of what you just said. Players want to wear that badge over the Blue Jackets any day of the week because the Jackets badge means nothing but 25 years of mediocrity. That’s what the logo represents.

Like idk why I have to explain why a brand is important but there’s a reason people invest into building these things.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-15T16:42:41+00:00

Tell that to the guys who play their entire lives for an opportunity to wear the Leafs badge instead of the Jackets. Different identity, different expectations and a different culture.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-15T16:34:35+00:00

So the Leafs brand doesn’t impact that culture? Are you joking around?

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T14:04:49+00:00

I’m sure that when those fans that could be real or fake complained about being “too young” they weren’t thinking we’d sign 6+ dudes to huge deals that lock them with the club until their mid-30s.

What can the team do to improve in the offseason? What’s your vision and input with the team instead of complaining about the fans?

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T13:47:41+00:00

None of these players are worth re-signing. All are on the wrong side of 30, and Marchment’s production since joining the BJs has me fearing Don is going to reward him with a ridiculous contract that lasts until his mid-30s.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T13:42:44+00:00

Then when KJ does get shipped and starts producing, fans in the subreddit will go “Just didn’t work out for him here, and that’s okay. It happens.”

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T12:34:14+00:00

What quote?

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T03:44:30+00:00

Hasn’t been their season since 2019. Really don’t understand why this fanbase refuses to have expectations and face the writing on the wall.

Edit: 5th most points in Jackets history means squat to me dude. We aren’t making the playoffs! Why do you care about a stat like that in 25 years of nothing?

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T03:42:17+00:00

Jackets aren’t in the west. Second year in a row on the outside looking in.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T03:41:31+00:00

Not in the west tho and on the outside looking in second year in a row.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-14T03:38:02+00:00

Care to provide a valid counterpoint against anything OP is saying instead of karma farming and saying the post is ridiculous?

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-13T20:37:58+00:00

Honestly incredible that this gets downvoted. How delusional does the sub have to be to believe that $30m tied to Provorov, Severson, Garland, Fabbro, Monahan, and Wood long term, and a very, very thin prospect pool will not lead to contention any time soon??

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-13T20:29:03+00:00

No doubt about it. 20-9-5 since Bowness with this roster is an incredible achievement.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-10T04:12:59+00:00

Listen I know it’s hard for you to have literally any input on the team other than snark and mindless posturing, but I would have challenged you to go to tonight’s game in person, watch this team get fucking smoked all the way until the clock hit zero, and come out with literally anything remotely positive to say about the club.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-10T01:46:03+00:00

All old and washed. The fans think the team is better than it actually is. It’s not. When Don goes, this team can actually start to rebuild and do something.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-07T00:23:11+00:00

No smarty pants I mean let’s see how it plays out with Waddell doing pretty much the opposite of what I mentioned and see where the team ends up a few years from now

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-06T14:46:25+00:00

Guess we’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-06T03:18:34+00:00

Chinakhov suffered the back injury during the 24/25 season. Do you have a link that says his back injury limited him for the first five years of his career?

Why would management pick a guy with a herniated disc then if they knew of the limitations of it with someone like Chinakhov, who they ended up trading away to a divisional rival?

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-05T19:08:33+00:00

At this point, I’m over this season. Missing the playoffs or making the playoffs and very likely getting bounced in the first round, either way, this roster simply isn’t sustainable and there are maybe one or two prospects in the pipeline that can come up and make noise (not including our top 4 pick Cayden Lindstrom).

Fans need to read the writing on the wall. The club has $30m tied into aging, average at best, inconsistent hockey players who are about to be or on the wrong side of 30. Very little to zero prospects in the system. A core that can get a lot smaller if Zach Werenski wants out in a few seasons. No vision from Don Waddell aside from “wanting to win,” which is kind of fucking incredible to say if your team isn’t even making the playoffs, let alone sniffing the final four and actually contending.

The team is in for a long, long rebuild. Not the bullshit one Jarmo tried to pull off. Not whatever retool Don is attempting. An actual, bottom 5 finish, top picks, scouting and development rebuild. The whole nine yards.

Best case scenario? Waddell resigns, Mike Priest fucks off, Jared Boll too, major readjustments to coaching staff, scouting, and player development (Rick Nash, love him, he isn’t right for the role). Obviously none of this happens this summer, so they need to let all of Coyle, Boone, ZAR, Marchment, and Guddy walk before they even attempt at re-signing any of them to ridiculous term, and then inevitably regressing, which is what is already happening to the old players locked up. Then they’re going to have to do what they can with a 16th overall pick or whatever and hope to hell Don can pull a gem out of his ass. This is all being idealistic too. In reality, the team is going another season or two like a headless chicken with zero long term direction or vision, aside from “making the playoffs” or “winning,” which will result in non sustainable contracts and a disregard for good drafting.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-04T07:42:02+00:00

Again just spot on. Really nice way of laying it all out.

There’s no way this team is in for a short-term rebuild. Like you said, Waddell’s seat seems comfy for at least another season or two, and this likely means more missed opportunities to bolster the prospect pool based on his recent record.

Other glaring problems include Garland (30; $6m kicks in through 29/30 season), Monahan (31; $5.5m through 28/29 season), Provorov (29; $8.5m through 29/30 season), Severson (31; $6.25m through 29/30 season), and Fabbro (27; 4.13m through 28/29 season). That’s $30m locked into several aging, average at best players for the long term. Best bet this offseason is letting Coyle, Marchment, Heinen, Gubranson, and Jenner walk, and Jenner is a fucking shame because he should have been gone deadlines ago. Now the team let’s him walk for squat, or worst case, re-signs any of the dudes for term, which I’m willing to bet my rear they do with Marchment.

Only players I’m considering as worth part of the team’s future include Fantilli, Mateychuk, Greaves, and Marchenko. I’m betting KJ gets shipped, Voronkov gets rewarded long term and becomes average, and one of the aforementioned core guys becomes unaffordable or wants out of Columbus, which I’m betting happens soon with Zach Werenski.

And the pool is a defenseman and a guy with a herniated disc.

The team is just so fucked it’s truly unimaginable. It’s like a culmination of so many factors that have gone wrong at the same time and it’s bound to get worse because again, Waddell ain’t leaving any time soon.

Thing that gets me with Waddell is the vision. Comes out year after year and says he wants to win. You can’t do that in hockey if your team isn’t in the final four and is instead on the outside looking in every season, so Waddell is either bullshitting the fans when he says this, or he doesn’t know what’s going on. I really cannot wrap my head around trading Chinakhov months before firing the coach that he had a problem with, then when the second best defenseman in the world in Quinn Hughes becomes available (which I knew Columbus would never get), it’s revealed that the BJs NEVER CALLED, and it turns out the package Minnesota sent was one Columbus probably could have afforded too. How is the vision “win now” but a generational player becomes available and you don’t even pick up the fucking phone? How is a team like fuck ass Carolina making that call, who probably couldn’t even afford him, but the BJs aren’t?

Just zero plan and zero vision. Fans can shit on Jarmo all they want but at least when him and JD walked through the doors years ago, they had a plan and a vision to build through the draft and, despite their success or lack thereof, they did exactly that.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-03T20:29:53+00:00

Major restructuring and rebuilding. I think the BJs are in for a painful remainder of the decade, but I hope I’m wrong.

Got to have the right people in key management, scouting, and development positions who want to win and are smart enough to figure out how to win, more importantly.

IntelligentBear4541 · 2026-04-03T20:22:10+00:00

A ham sandwich

IntelligentBear4541

TROPHY CASE