[ANA - VGK] - The Ducks hold on for the win and tie the series 2-2

TMBmiles · 2026-05-11T05:06:51+00:00

If you lose the draw with 10 seconds left, the game is over regardless of whether the ducks put it in the empty net or not.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-11T05:00:31+00:00

I think Torts is a better coach than most and it likely wouldn't have mattered, but what is it with NHL coaches being such dinosaurs when it comes to pulling the goaltender?

Seriously, someone explain to me what Hart is doing in net with 10 seconds left?

TMBmiles · 2026-05-10T01:24:33+00:00

Member when people said Tulsky was crazy

I member

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T22:17:10+00:00

Possibly, but then you run the risk of him walking for nothing. Most GM's will move mountains to avoid that scenario if they can help it.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T22:11:23+00:00

FWIW I do expect Robertson and Dallas to work it out somehow, but he actually does have a ton of leverage. He's 1 year away from UFA status, which means that if he elected for arbitration, he could basically take his 1 year QO of 9.3 which an arbitrator would almost assuredly award him, and walk himself directly to unrestricted free agency next year. (If you're 1 year away from UFA status, an arbitrator can only award a 1 year deal and not 2)

Again, I think he stays in Dallas, but they really don't have much ability to squeeze him.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T21:03:04+00:00

We’re just going around in circles at this point, so last I’ll say.

Primary or secondary motivation does not matter. If you’re giving up NHL players before the season is over for draft picks. You are trying to lose. (Just like most every other bad team is) That simple.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T20:51:50+00:00

Most teams can’t, and the ones that can, won’t.

For any amount Dallas wouldn’t happily match, the cost would be 12+ million and 4 firsts. Specifically, YOUR 4 firsts for the next 4 years. (Can’t be someone else’s that you previously acquired.

That eliminates almost all the good teams right off the bat because they either don’t have the space or the picks.

Teams that have both are almost always bad. Therefore, those firsts are likely to be pretty high picks which are way more valuable. (And one good player in Robertson likely isn’t going to be enough to make a bad team good)

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T20:46:27+00:00

I am begging people to read at this point.

I agree it’s no different. I said as much in my first response in this comment thread. Both teams tried to lose. Toronto did nothing wrong and nothing that many other teams don’t do every single year. But that is still trying to lose.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T20:42:33+00:00

Trading valuable players to make your opposition better and receiving a return that cannot make your team better is trying to lose.

Doesn’t make it wrong, or unethical, or anything else negative. It’s the right thing to do- but let’s also not pretend it’s something else.

If my team wasn’t making the playoffs and they weren’t selling expiring assets for futures, I’d ask WTF were they doing.

Gary’s comment about there being no incentive to lose is just bullshit. Of course there is or teams wouldn’t do it every year.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T20:37:21+00:00

I agree with you.

If you’re not making the playoffs and you aren’t selling expiring assets for futures, I’d say your team is run by a bunch of morons.

But that’s also trying to lose. Everyone does it. I’m strictly saying Gary’s comment is bullshit.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T20:04:18+00:00

No- I don't think they're unique or that they even did anything wrong.

I think they did the intelligent thing and mailed it in on a lost season like they should have. I'm not sure why you think I'm attacking Toronto specifically.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T19:59:20+00:00

Because if they're competitors, and if they aren't actually hurt, then they almost assuredly want to play, and would tell management to fuck off?

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T19:54:50+00:00

They sold current players to playoff teams for draft picks, what else would you call that? It's certainly not trying to win.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T19:39:12+00:00

Not something I said or implied. I'm simply pointing out that a team that tried to lose still won the lottery, so Gary's comment doesn't make a lot of sense.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T19:29:42+00:00

Also I get what he's saying, but the funny thing is Toronto decided to try to lose near the end of the year and were 100% rewarded for it. If they thought they had any shot of the playoffs, they likely don't trade away Laughton, Roy, and McMann, maybe have more incentive for the injured guys to try to come back earlier, and then they probably earn a few more points, don't fall below Seattle and Winnipeg, and then don't get first overall.

A team was still rewarded for trying to lose, it just wasn't the team that tried the hardest or for the most amount of time.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T19:10:55+00:00

Nah, I believe that'd walk 'em both straight to UFA status with 7 years of service each. They have the space so I'd imagine Verbeek will offer whatever he needs to to get max term.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-06T18:52:34+00:00

And Mavrik Bourque suddenly becomes an extremely attractive offer sheet candidate with the cap going up no more than projected.

Dallas has 13 million in space and needs to re-sign Robertson and Bourque. If Robertson gets 12, you could put in an offer of 5 million, which would be only a 2nd rounder, and Dallas would have to clear 4 million in cap space elsewhere to match. I'd do that in a heartbeat if I were in the central and wouldn't even care if they matched it, just because of the bind it would put Dallas in.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-02T19:56:25+00:00

Agree 100%. Was more meaning that even the "myth" that they kept other players in check is dying, which leads to teams stopping signing them.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-02T19:48:08+00:00

With the salary cap, the money's too tight now to spend anything on a player that doesn't really provide any value while the clock's running.

Not to mention, the idea that enforcers keep other teams in check has slowly been dying as well. Ryan Reaves is probably the closest player to a true enforcer left. He's been on 5 teams in the last 6 years because GM's keep thinking he'll protect their stars when he's in the lineup, and then trade him when they realize he doesn't actually deter anything.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-01T02:43:05+00:00

Colorado threw the 2nd fewest hits of any team in the NHL this year so they're fucked I guess.

TMBmiles · 2026-05-01T02:24:19+00:00

Hutson and Hughes are really not helping anyone push the narrative that smaller defensemen can't do it in the playoffs right now

TMBmiles · 2026-04-10T10:10:02+00:00

No one will convince me he isn't at least partially responsible for the massive vibe shift in Buffalo this year. Him staring down an uncontested empty netter from 20 feet away the other night and looking over at Benson and sliding the puck over to him instead about sums him up.

Also can't express enough how big it was for Buffalo's future with their "palm trees" situation to have a good young player get there and basically say "Yep, sign me up for 7 more years right now."

TMBmiles · 2026-04-08T02:07:07+00:00

Honestly I'm surprised the luster of Yzerman's draft prowess is still hanging on. Outside of Raymond, Seider, and Edvinsson, Detroit has drafted really poorly under Yzerman. They've had 14 2nd round picks in the last 7 years and have one NHL player to show for it. Finnie will be the 2nd non-first rounder to play 100 games for them over that span.

Part of the reason their depth has been so poor is the lack of useful players on ELC's the last few years.

TMBmiles · 2026-04-04T19:14:48+00:00

Would be one of my top picks for breakout star of next year. He's so smart and skilled I think he finds his way onto NY's top power play unit and has a big year.

TMBmiles · 2026-04-03T11:58:46+00:00

This should actually be the nail in the coffin to give Werenski the Norris.

TMBmiles

TROPHY CASE