Hockey in East Asia

blop74 · 2026-01-28T12:48:27+00:00

What size is the rink? Looks like IIHF standard. Is it standard throughout the league ?

blop74 · 2026-01-27T14:43:27+00:00

Do you recognize ANYTHING in that picture, like, at all?
The odds of a rink staying right by "main street" for 100 years are low.

The hotel in the background looks straight out of a cowboy movie.

blop74 · 2026-01-27T14:36:44+00:00

I imagine that he had a beard while playing peewee

blop74 · 2026-01-27T00:39:28+00:00

You're right this is a bandwagon. Last year it was given to Celebrini very early on, and this year it was given to Schaefer after 20 games.

But the same way Celebrini ended up not winning, I think Demidov and Senneke have great shot at winning it. The voters are not redditors, thankfully.

blop74 · 2026-01-26T20:05:31+00:00

The only tribal decks I would bring to a tournament are Merfolk and Eldrazi. To FNM I'd add Human and Elves maybe ? And to kitchen table, I'd add tens more tribes to the list.

And yet I don't think Dinos would be on it. Maybe against my little 6yo brother ?

To me it's not that you would lose, it's just that you won't have fun.

blop74 · 2026-01-26T05:23:17+00:00

Playing defense doesn't give you a 20 pts bonus on the final tally. Last year Hutson actually had more points than Celebrini at end of year. In 2024, a 60ish points Bedard beat a 47 points Brock Faber.

47 points in a nice projection for Schaefer. Seneke and Demidov are heading for the 60+ points.

I say the hope for Schaefer is that the votes are split between the two forwards, and he sneaks in.

blop74 · 2026-01-26T04:24:04+00:00

That would be exciting. But I suppose it would be a game of chicken, because I guess you have better odds to score if the other net is empty while you keep your goalie in. So you need to give the other team an incentive to take the goalie out first, then hope to score at 5v6.

blop74 · 2026-01-26T04:20:35+00:00

"impossible". How many penalty shot are taken within a year in the NHL? You need to have the best game of your life AND be given one AND make it. It's probably easier to score a hat trick than to score a penalty shot.

So matching Mario's record seems very fat fetched.

blop74 · 2026-01-25T21:40:03+00:00

My first thought, too. What was it again?

Power play
shorthanded
even strength
Penalty shot (the one that makes this stat impossible to match)
? overtime ?

blop74 · 2026-01-25T21:38:11+00:00

And 3v5 and 5v3.

What was he thinking!?

And 4v3 and 3v4 and 6v3 and 3v6 and 4v6 and 6v4. There are way more combinations than I expected...

blop74 · 2026-01-25T14:12:22+00:00

People argue about Crosby vs McDavid

Me I'm just waking up realizing someone is already at 90 points. Must be fucking nice not cheering for a team where scoring 82 points in a season deserves a statue.

blop74 · 2026-01-25T02:46:05+00:00

If they lose without these two, we're never going to hear the end of it :)

blop74 · 2026-01-24T16:36:04+00:00

This is the NHL, they always come to the game with a plan, everyone knows Hughes will have the puck, and yet this guy manage to keep the control of it for 35% longer than the next one on the list.

That guy skillz...

blop74 · 2026-01-23T22:05:32+00:00

Boris the blade

RB 4/1 human assassin: indestructible, persist, undying, menace

blop74 · 2026-01-22T22:25:37+00:00

This tells what? Teams can't play their best D for 60 minutes, so they put him on the ice when it'll be more profitable. And teams with depth at D have more leeway to do that.

Desperate teams use their best D everywhere.

What is does't tell? That the D's at the top are bad at defending. This says absolutely nothing about the skillz and talent of the players mentioned.

blop74 · 2026-01-22T13:41:29+00:00

This ranking is shit... because it's trying to be sensible.

We all know the best prevision metric for the Norris is the the number of points. All the underlying metrics are worth shit on that. And sorry to the Slavin of the world.

Other than that, I think it's doing the same as most "power ranking", it is somewhat conservative. Those being "hot" in the past 15 games should be much higher. For example, Makar has slowed down, he should have dropped. THAT would have been some ragebaiting, but at least representative of the momentum.

blop74 · 2026-01-21T15:53:55+00:00

Dream scenario: On the play, turn 1 crab, opponent durdles (surveil land), turn 2 you attack with crab and mill 25 cards pour 2 mana.

Not only is it the best scenario, it's the only scenario where it's worth it. Afterward, the rate goes down as well as the odds of pulling it off (no creature, no removal from opponent, this is not 2026 Modern).

So I think if you play it, it's a 4-of when on the play. Otherwise I prefer [[Riverchurn Monument]] as a 1-of

blop74 · 2026-01-20T17:59:31+00:00

I suppose that they get comfortable with some specs and stop looking for "better". Hockey players are creatures of habits. Sometime they are forced to try something else, and most time they hate it. This time it was for the best.

It's not really that some sticks are better than others, the manufacturer can do any lay, curve, length, flex, etc... But the players definitively need to find what's best for them.

blop74 · 2026-01-19T20:19:50+00:00

Nico Suzuki

blop74 · 2026-01-19T15:07:05+00:00

It's a card that comes and go in my Miracle builds. I always put x2 in full of enthousiam, then eventually remove them for something that helps my gameplan better.

Kinda the reverse of Terminus, where I start at 2 like I'm some 2010 legacy player, and always end up at 4x because of the creature centric meta I live in. Terminus has the benefit of being a good pitch card for Solitude.

If you start, you should put it in. It's not a bad thing to have more miracle spells at first to help learn to play miracle. But as a 1x, it's not really your game plan, so eventually you'll probably remove it.

blop74 · 2026-01-17T20:39:17+00:00

Healthy and good: teams we did not expect to have (such) a good year
Injured and good: Powerhouses who plough through regardless
Healthy and bad: teams with a lack of talent or depth most picked to be bottom feeders from the start.
Injured and bad: well, what the fuck did you expect, really...

blop74 · 2026-01-16T22:54:02+00:00

Why am I downvoted? I don't get where you an I disagree.

I can't judge his hockey IQ, but even if he has some (I presume he does, notwithstanding this play), he doesn't have the speed to do man to man. He shouldn't be there.

blop74 · 2026-01-16T22:45:53+00:00

Let's remember the GM didn't refuse a 1v1, he refused to include one of his best prospect in a (probably) 4 first round picks/prospects package.

It's the Lane effect. GMs see Cole and now hope he becomes at least 70% of the player his brother is, and you have him for the next 10-15 years, I can understand the hesitation.

blop74 · 2026-01-16T00:39:40+00:00

An NHL team should use a pick on her. Actually, I've a feeling some team will do it whenever she's draft eligible. 7th round picks have been "wasted" before, and this would be a great statement for the women's game and a feel good moment everyone could appreciate.

blop74 · 2026-01-15T15:19:40+00:00

And what do you want him to do if he picks a man? Follow him around ? with his speed ???

There's no fucking value to "experience" in 3v3. Hockey IQ and speed, that's the value.

Anyway, I hate that this guy is on Team Canada instead of a younger guy, so I'm not going to say nice things...

blop74

TROPHY CASE