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This response pretty much confirms Holland's current 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' status.

If the sheet fits... And bigotry doesn't have to be absolute. Liking Lidstrom doesn't mean you're not a bigot for your prejudice against Swedes in general. Bigots aren't noted for their rationality. Unbelievably, your attempt to prove that you aren't biased is so full of implied bigotry that it might as well be one of those hidden-3D-image pictures, where if you squint at it just right you see a bunch of swastikas with thumbs-up emojis. First, "same type of player/team". which we know means "European-style", which we know means soft/weak/gutless/etc. but that you like to hide behind your new code-word, "finesse". Either way it is factually inaccurate. The diversity of nationalities, size, and play style may not be all that everyone wants, but it inarguably exists. It is a hallmark of bigotry to exaggerate the influence of the object of that bigotry. That same point is also evident in your blaming our decline on "finesse". While there isn't sufficient data to make factual assertions, that alone is an indictment of your opinion. That you include that statement in the very same sentence as "first top 10 in forever" shows such ridiculous and willful disregard of the both the success of our strategy, and the well-known cyclical nature of sports, that I defy anyone to read that sentence without imagining a rimshot at the end. And in regards to the whole "finesse" thing, it seems to be widely accepted that the game has been trending toward speed and skill (finesse, one might say), and anecdotal evidence from discussions on hitting, fighting, the disappearance of enforcers, growing sentiment against stay-at-home-defensemen and defensive-specialist-forwards, and a strong movement toward analytics seems to support that conclusion. I'm not even sure you believe your finesse argument. Misusing our players has often been discussed here, and even you have done so; arguing that our grittier and less-skilled players are playing too much, at the expense of our finesse players. Your advocacy for Tippett (whose grittiness is hardly more than a footnote in his scouting report compared to his finesse attributes of skating and shooting) also suggest you are just using the term as a facade. Finally we have the sheer vehemence of your anti-"finesse" rhetoric suggesting an irrational bias. Here saying such a pick would be a waste, previously calling such a pick "non-impact", and the ultimate example of: ...in regards to Pettersson, who you later admitted you had never even heard of. And even though you have since been made aware that every scouting service believes Pettersson has elite potential, you still refuse to believe it. It might have done your argument some good if you had acknowledged his potential, and just said you felt there were better options. Too late for that now though. You can't get better if you don't recognize your faults. I'm doing this for your own good, pal.

He's talking about Pettersson and Ejdsell (and probably any other Swede that's been discussed). Hilariously ironic, really. LW has an obvious anti-Swede (and anti-Euro in general) bias. Strong enough that he completely overlooked the existence of one of this year's top prospects (and still actually believes that prospect isn't any good) solely because he's Swedish. Now he's angry that he was mocked for his bigotry and ignorance, so he's trying to flip the script and act like everyone else is biased. Either that or he really is oblivious to his own bigotry, and genuinely believes that it's the rest of the world that's biased. Either way it's hilarious.

Wait Dallas gets Bishop And Leafs get TWO, not one but TWO, D-men ive totally heard of? WHAT IS HOLLAND DOING??? REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

me: enters forum, LGW: Pizza Pizza Pizza Pizza ... me:

Meh I bet her team chokes in the 2nd round every year too

So begins the great pizza flame war of 2017 If I dip my crazy bread in marinara is it pizza?

Hmmm after further research I found the following supporting argument for your statement. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.

I'm really confused by Randy Carlyle's game plan here. He keeps sending out Kesler to match up against Johansen. But everybody knows that you're supposed to have a dedicated 4th line grinder like Luke Glendening to do that job. I can't imagine what Anaheim's 4th line is doing if not playing against the top opposition line.

I stubbed my toe today THANKS HOLLAND

Thank you. For the love of all the Viking Gods, I've been trying to make this point for 2 years now.

There are no 1 year fixes for this team. It is going to take 2-3 more off seasons of smart moves and developing our young talent to be a good/great team again. The UFA market is juts about dead, the draft takes time, and trades cost you pieces that you want to keep. There is no way the Jets would move Trouba for a package that doesn't include 1 of our top young guys. IMHO we need to move out salary, add picks, draft wisely, and let the youth develop. If we can overachive and find 2-3 NHL claiber players each of the next 2-3 drafts to go with what we have we will be fine. Yes it is going to be the 2020 season before it all plays out, but that is reality.

Can't stand the Ducks. Can't stand the Perds fans. The only thing I care about in this series is this: Which team can beat the Penis?

Its not "Canadians" its all the Italian immigrants in windsor. I myself am Italian Canadian and I think I know a thing or two about pizza. Yes. No way around it, its mandatory now, doubles the tax and the price of the pizza too. And just like trudeau it doesn't add anything good to the pizza. Also I've heard it has turned some people liberal.

well one thing, Blash should be getting a good look at players whilst at the worlds, and young Dylan is having a fine tourny so far.

Same. If he falls to us in the second, I'm all for it.. that seems unlikely though.

If you go back to the 3 Bold Predictions thread, one of my predictions was that Nashville would win the Cup over Washington. The major reason that I thought/think this is because I view this trade in a similar fashion to the Shanny/Coffey/Primeau trade. I believe it is going to go down as the trade that gave Nashville the piece they needed to finally put them over the top. I don't believe Weber is a bad player, and this is in no way an effort to put him down, but I do believe that Subban is the superior player in 2017. I also believe that making a change like this completely changes the dynamic of a team, and I do not believe that if Weber was there over Subban they would still be doing what they are doing this post season. Hockey is not that simplistic, this is not a video game where if you simply take player A out, and put player B is, nothing changes. In my mind, Nashville is the run away winner, and that is not even taking Weber's ridiculous contract into consideration. Montreal got fleeced here.

It's obvious that God hates Shea Weber. As well as he should.

Subban didn't respek da systum

I think the trade was terrible, but not because Shea Weber isn't a good defenseman. Usually people tend to view trades in terms of Player X vs. Player Y, and I get that, but that's not the reason why the trade was so lopsided. It was a bad trade because it showed that Marc Bergevin has a spectacularly poor understanding of which direction the game is trending. His team was already slow, and had trouble keeping the puck out of his own zone. Carey Price gets shelled all the time, and it's a testament to him that he's been so successful at keeping the Canadiens competitive. Montreal needed MORE guys like Subban, not less. They traded puck moving ability, which it at a premium because of the affect it has DEFENSIVELY, for a few more points and few more goals from one player over the other. That's why it's a really bad trade. Well that and the fact that Weber is older and has a horrible contract. But those things are sorta secondary IMO.

Any chance the Russians rigged the draft so that New Jersey picks first?

who would want to pay 10.5M for <60 points a season? Personally I think its one of the worst contracts in the league right now.

Wish we never got rid of Eaves - a true grinder with actual scoring ability