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Scapegoating? The guy has 0 goals. 0. He has been awful. It doesn't matter who the coach is. 0+0 =0, 0 x 0= 0 . He is just another one of the issues. You can blame the system all you want, yea it's not good I agree but his job is to score 15-20 goals a year. He's on pace for...well.....................................0

Yes it is called the all star game, and the game itself is just that, a game played with all-stars. The NHL has turned the all star game into a weekend of festivities for the fans, and I'm sure the players get a kick out of it as well. It would be one thing if the celebs were playing in the actual all star game, but if they have a separate game on a separate day, who cares. You dont like it, dont watch it. I dont care for it, and I dont watch it, but with that being said why would I care if someone else gets a kick out of it and wants to watch. To be upset about something extra that nobody is forcing you to watch makes zero sense to me. Sounds to me Frank like you just don't like change. You want things to be exactly like they were in the 80's/90's.

Literally every player has gotten worse under Blashill. Sheahan is just an easy target. When your powerplay goes from 2nd in the league to the bottom, and all your players offensive numbers decrease dramatically, it's probably a systemic issue. Sheahan's definitely not playing well, but the level of scapegoating around here is pretty intense.

I'm actually surprised the Tavares to Toronto media run hasn't started yet.

I AM KEN HOLLAND

And yet the world loves rockstars like Keith Richards, Ozzy and Jimmy Page, haha.

I kind of think the celebrity game is kind of a good idea. The all star game is all about getting publicity for the league and just to have fun so this fits that for me. I can think of a few actors and musicians I think it would be funny to see play. As for the Bieber hate, I kind of feel for him since he's been famous since 13 and under such scrutiny and public ridicule since that point. I couldn't imagine dealing with paparazzi and the world's crazy celebrity obsessed culture through all those development years and not making a few mistakes under the pressure.

Let's see for how long

As a player I'd rather have almost a week of than being part of such a nonsense. Especially now that celebrities are allowed in, if it's for the fans allow some fans in instead of celebrities.

If you watch the video, it comes off so much worse in the pic. He barely did anything to him other then lightly hit him and hold him there for a couple seconds. You cant really see Justin's face but it appears they were both laughing about it.

Are we really on this false narrative still? I thought we are past this by now.

I forgive Pronger for every douchebag thing he's ever done

It always makes me laugh when I see how much grown adults hate Justin Bieber. Like people genuinely loathe a 22 year old kid for basically no reason at all. Sure he's douchey, but so is basically every celebrity. Fair play to Bieber for getting out there and trying. Kid's a hockey fan, clearly. It's maybe the only thing that all of us have in common with someone like him and people DESPISE him for it. I genuinely hope I don't end up being some miserable, 50 year old cynic, sitting around hating on kids one day. It's also reassuring to see that Chris Pronger hasn't changed as a result of his injuries. Despite all adversity he's still willing to run much smaller players into the boards from behind. Kudos Pronger, still a class act.

I don't understand how anyone can be upset with a celebrity game. If you dont like it, just dont watch it. If anything it brings more eyeballs to the product which is nothing but a good thing. Personally I couldn't care less, so I don't watch. John Scott was voted in because fans thought it would be funny to vote in a s***ty player, it had nothing to do with respect or admiration for Scott. The NHL trying to keep him out of the game had nothing to do with him and everything to do with them not liking the fact that fans exploited their system. With that being said, the NHL should have went with it rather then come off looking like jackasses, but at least they embarrassed it come game day. Actually led to a pretty cool storyline throughout the game.

Definitely a little bit of a stretch but he did say he's open to talking extension this summer and added that he likes the direction that the organization is heading. It's not impossible for him to leave the NYI but it seems highly unlikely imo.

Ekblad signed an eight year extension last off season, and there's no way the islanders are going to get rid of Tavares. Not sure on the KHL guys but shattenkirk this off season remains a possibility.. I'd love to have him.

Ah! A picture to behold!

Probably more excited for a change than actual Blashill. The players on the other hand legit wanted Blashill. Specifically the younger ones he coached in the AHL.

Maybe the "introductory stats class" is needed to actually understand it. Even though it seems "Under the Bridge" is playing in here, I'll answer. Yzerman 10/10. He was a prototypical captain. Yes, he also had some of the best lieutenants ever assembled to help during the cup runs, but the guy embodied leadership. Playing injured, after that crazy surgery that realigned his leg bone, the 2OT goal, carrying the franchise on his back during his earlier years, reinventing his game to win championships instead of individual awards, what more can you say? Lidstrom 8.5/10. He was one of Stevie's top lieutenants, but with the C led by example. A Conn Smythe, showing up to practice the day after losing a ******** to a spear by Patrick Sharp, being an unparalleled stabilizing force on the blue line... He didn't do what Stevie did, but was a damn good captain. Hank 7.5/10. He had nowhere near the supporting cast Stevie and Nick did. Conn Smythe in a playoff run. "The Shift" during the 2008 finals. The years of not having high draft picks caught up to the team during his watch, and some questionable signings (Cleary) didn't help, but you can't blame the guy for things beyond his control. Plus as others mentioned, he has been a warrior in regards to dealing with injuries.

It was time for Babcock to move on, but I questioned whether Blashill was enough of a new voice and if he had the chops to make it in the NHL. I was ok giving him a chance but it's clearly not working. Sent from my LGLS676 using Tapatalk

I did. Don't mind admitting that Blashill wasn't the answer, and that I was wrong about that. But I don't think Babs was right for the team any longer either. All of the s*** people get pissed at Blashill for (constant line juggling, over reliance on mediocre veterans, conservative systems, etc.) Babcock did too. He just got more out of the players while doing it. The problem wasn't getting rid of Babcock, the problem (admittedly in hindsight) was that they got a less good version of Babcock to replace him with. Both guys are completely mismatched for the personnel this team has. Also, the notion that Babcock is the "most dominant coach in the league" is absurd. Joel Quenneville is second all time in wins and has 3 Stanley Cups. When it comes to winning NHL hockey games, and Championships, no active coach is as successful as Quenneville. Period.

Yzerman >> Lidstrom=Zetterberg

100% agree. To win a championship in any of the major team sports, you essentially need an entire sequence of events/instances to go a certain way. Whether it is your goalie playing well, team staying healthy, top guys scoring, bottom 6 contributing, a health dynamic in the locker room, to even smaller things like that puck the goalie didnt see hitting the tip of his skate opposed to going in the net, or that puck taking 2 bounces and going in giving your team a GWG and all these things need to happen ALOT in order to win those 16 playoff games. My point is, all the stars need to align. I will give Toews credit, he was given a role on the Blackhawks and no doubt he does his role very well. The misconception is that Towes is THE reason why the Blackhawks have won 3 Stanley Cups. Towes has played his role, but without Kane scoring, Keith and Seabrook scoring/defending, Niemi and Crawford shutting the door in some key instances, the coaching staff coming up with the right plways, pucks going the teams way etc. Chicago doesn't win anything. Please don't confuse this as me saying they are just lucky or as Towes being a bad player as that is not at all what I am saying, what I am saying is that a championship is won by a collection of things. People forget this is a team game, not an individual sport. Unfortunately fans/media love to put it all on one person. When a team wins they give a player all the credit, when a team loses they love to give that one player all the blame. Towes is one of many key pieces to the Chicago dynasty, he isn't the entire dynasty. Lets not confuse him with guys like Yzerman, Messier, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby etc.

Example # whatever of Toews being overrated.....saw a clip on TSN regarding top 100 players of all time (note: remaining 67 yet to be announced at the time of me writing this). They suggested that we know there are 6 current players on the list and we assume 4 are obvious (Crosby, Ovechkin, Jagr and Toews)....who might the other 2 be? Really? I don't have a big issue with talking about him being one of the 6 current players, but not talking about him because he's so obvious one of them? Really?

For me it feels like Social Justice Warriors have entered the NHL when every team contributes to the all-star game. Clearly Nielsen has no business being picked, it's ridiculous. If anyone it should be Mantha or Athanasiou. Being fair in my mind, no one should have been picked, and not all teams should send a player. For that reason I'm not watching this so called event. For reference, I did watch anything Larkin-related in the all-star event last year, with good reason, he did very much belong and I was intrigued to see what his excitement would translate to.