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The Islanders losing this series benefits the Wings, so, go Canes!

Love it. Mrazek stole that game for them. They looked very tired as a team, but you have to find a way to win in the playoffs. Can definitely afford to lose Sunday now and hopefully catch that home ice fire again. That place is going to be LOUD next week.

Who ya got? I say Islanders.

I was really pleased with DeKeyser in that final stretch. He played hard minutes, he put up points (with no power play time), and he seemed to gel with Hronek. I actually have DeKeyser-Hronek down as my preferred top pairing for the beginning of next season. As I've said, if he's playing like that all of the time, his contract isn't a problem. Even when he's not 100% on his game, we don't really have someone who can adequately fill his shutdown role. Abby...oof. He's a bottom-six roleplayer who can be a serviceable top-six complementary winger when there aren't any better options. He's slowing down. He's dealt with some significant injuries in recent seasons. He can't produce offense on his own. Right now, I like DeKeyser way more than I like Abby. But then, I'd pretty much given up on DeKeyser before he went on that nice run to close out the season. So maybe Abby surprises me next season.

Where did I say that? I have no issues with the site administrators. The ability to have differing viewpoints and discuss them without one side trying to silence the other because they don't like what they're hearing is exactly what is missing in too many places. We can disagree on things here and debate them. That's a good thing. I am very well aware of what the rules of the board are. Nobody's perfect and I think we can all say that we've broken a rule or 2 along the way (including you). It happens. And there are times when things that happen in the hockey world spill over into the social and political world. It's life. I dont think there's anything wrong with discussions that involve those things when they are hockey related. We can't just close off the rest of the world and pretend like life exists only on a 200 x 85 sheet of ice. The hockey world is bigger than that. And so should be the discussions when appropriate.

By worshipping the many-faced God and becoming a faceless man (team).

Considering the chance of him being picked 6th is 0, I'd make that bet.

I like the Canes chances in this series but had a feeling they’d lose this game handily. Any way this goes, solid start.

0-0 game 1 with under 7 to go. Dude Mrazek is dialed in!

Yeah his 1 whole point is super impressive. Almost as much as his lack of development in his draft year. I would bet he has a better chance of being picked by the wings in the second round than the 6th overall.

I can't watch this series. The Hurricanes jersey is too hideous to look at. I was hoping Washington would beat this monstrosity so that I wouldn't have to stare at it anymore. Please bust out the Whalers jerseys the rest of the way. On top of that, the Islanders have that stupid SUV in the background. I thought they were done playing in this crappy building and moved back to Nassau (as sad as that sounds).

Shhhhh or kickazz will call u old!

Kickazz regularly goes out of his way to take shots at you and Hockeymom. It's sad. Ignore the trash. Personally I think Yzerman will be different. But I also think his approach will be similar to Hollands, because re-builders tend to all behave in the same manner. If anyone cared to notice, the moment the streak ended Holland started making good moves again. I attribute this 100% to ownership. Its as if Holland knew his team was bad but was forced to act like a contender bc of ownership, and made minor half hearted moves like Cole and Zidlicky to appease the powers that be. Moment the streak ended he started stealing good draft picks. Holland is probably a legendary manager who will end up underrated because of politics and fan perception. That said I am excited for a fresh pair of Yzerman eyes on the team.

That statement wasnt directed at him. Or anyone in particular. Some people are expecting a drastic change with Yzerman. I don't see it. Some were calling for Holland to be fired and replaced with Yzerman for a long time now, expecting him to be some kind of Anti-Holland messianic figure. I dont think he will be. But since hes a hero to the fans he'll get much less hate than Holland did and fans will be a lot more patient with him I think. Yzerman has that advantage stepping into that role that Holland didn't have.

That's a good thing!

I agree that we need to give Yzerman some time. He's not going to turn this team around over night. However, I disagree that it's such a mess as you say... I discussed this a bit in another thread, but here goes again... NTC/NMC don't really effect team's as much as some people believe they do. It rarely prevents players from being traded, it just gives the player a say in where they get traded. We do not have 9 NTC/NMC. We currently have 7. Kronwall's and Vanek's are done. They are UFA's this offseason, and neither are likely to be re-signed. Even if Kronwall gets another one year contract (I hope he doesn't), and even if he's given a NTC (I don't think he would), it wouldn't effect us at all long-term. Another 2 come off the books after next season, in Ericsson and Daley. You can also remove Abdelkader and Helm from that list, because both of their NTC's become void after next season if the Red Wings don't make the playoffs (we won't), and / or if they are not in the top 9 forwards in ice time (they won't be). So now, all of a sudden, we only have 3 NTC/NMC going into the 2020 season. What a coincidence, that's the season we should be starting to turn the corner to be competitive... Green's NTC becomes a M-NTC leading up the trade deadline in his final season (February 2020), in which he would have to submit a 10 team no-trade list. Easily tradable... DeKeyser's NTC becomes a M-NTC leading up the trade deadline in his second to final season (January 2021), in which he would have to submit a 10 team no-trade list. Easily tradable... Nielsen has a M-NTC now until the end of his contract (2022) in which he would have to submit a 10 team no-trade list. Easily tradeable. Long story short, we're not in nearly as bad shape as some people think we are. I actually think we're in pretty good shape going forward.