kipwinger

It's just us hippies trying to compromise. For years puritanical christian weirdos and their enablers have done their level best to de-sex public spaces. Sex is a sinful (unless done in a church sanctioned manner) and nude bodies are shameful and should be hidden from view. Hockey Canada agrees. Keep your gross bodies covered up at all times and nobody will ever have to deal with the discomfort of being sexually aroused occasionally. I'd imagine the Staal brothers will be fully supportive of this endeavor.

So the girls, and trans kids, have to do it too? Sounds pretty fair to me.

You must not have daughters. Girls, including middle and high school girls, are routinely told exactly which kinds of underwear they're allowed to wear, and when they must be worn, in order to participate in school/sport. These types of morality policing have existed in women's athletic spaces for years, all done in the name of "modesty" or "purity". Telling a young lady what kind of underwear she must wear in the name of modesty is not much different than telling young boys what undergarments they must wear in the name of inclusivity. Or (as I'd prefer it) you'd let men and women choose for themselves what to wear and when. I just find the selective outrage humorous because similar s*** has been happening in sports for years and nobody cared.

Organizations have been policing bodies, in particular women's bodies, for a long long time. I'm not sure why anyone would be outraged about this but have no problem when schools/teams/employers/etc. require women to cover up or wear bras or whatever.

I don't think he'll score 150 points, I was talking about McDavid and his obvious lack of accomplishments given that he's supposedly sooooooo good. I think Bedard will probably score like Kucherov or Pastrnak scores, more or less.

Here's what will happen with Bedard. He'll score a zillion points (but get scored on constantly as well), get signed to a massive contract, that contract will put the Hawks in cap hell, and they'll never sniff a cup. Same as McDavid and Hughes before him. I know this will sound absolutely crazy to the kids but an 85-90 point center who plays correctly is better, and cheaper, than a 150 point player that is only effective in the offensive zone.

I wasn't able to catch last night's game, could only follow the gamecast online. How did the Ras-Compher-Perron line look? On the score sheet it seems like they dominated but was that because they genuinely looked like a great line or because Chicago is just that bad? I could see that being a pretty solid matchup line in theory.

We were on the cusp of the playoffs last season and we got better in every single area of the game via UFA/Trades. Plus we have younger players taking meaningful steps forward (Raymond, Ras, Seider, Berggren). Plus we have blue chip prospects knocking on the door and more coming behind them. Plus we have excellent cap structure. The only people not seeing it for what it really is are those folks that think WHERE a guy was drafted matters more than what they've done since. This is going to be a really good team this year and I don't mind going out on a limb and saying we're going to beat the Floridas, Tampas, Bostons, and Torontos just as often as they're going to beat us.

Here’s my bold prediction for this season. Edvinsson will have better defensive metrics and will out score Seider at even strength if they both play more than 50 games.

Edvinsson is going to be sooooo good. He’s dominating tonight

So far tonight I’m liking Sprong, Kostin, and Kasper

I'm not sure whether he's a major league shop wrecker but he's fought a lot of the tougher dudes in the league and done pretty well.

Three goals in three games for Sandin Pellikka.

Excited to see Klim Kostin tonight. Training camp doesn't really allow super physical guys to show off their true talents because they don't want to hurt their teammates. This will be the first chance he gets to really impress management and the coaching staff. Look for him to be a wrecking ball tonight.

Agreed, there is no deterrent effect from having a fighter. Even back in the old days guys like Brian Marchment, Ulf Samuelsson, Claude Lemieux, etc. had no problem hitting guys dirty and then dealing with the consequences later. If fighting was a deterrent then having McCarty, Shanny, and Kocur on the roster should have ensured that Kris Draper wouldn't get his face rearranged. Alas, it did not.

In that case I think Ras, Kostin, and Fischer are all pretty good at hitting and/or fighting. But I'd also say that Fabbri, Copp, Perron, and Compher are all underrated in that regard. Veleno too seemed to get more physical toward the end of last year. I'm probably an outlier on this, but I think just having bigger, more athletic, guys tends to increase the physical wear and tear on the other team. Sodorblom isn't the "toughest" guy on earth but I guarantee getting run into the boards by him hurts worse than if Marchand did it. Or Brendan Galligher. Or Lemieux. Or many other guys who are noted for their "toughness". In terms of pure, all around, toughness though I'd say Kostin is our main attraction. People are going to be pleasantly surprised by him. I watched almost all of Edmonton's playoff games last year and he was a force. Reminded me a lot of Tom Wilson. Big, strong, fast, mean, can hit, can fight, and loves to do so. He was a monster.

What's tough? Fighting? Hitting? Blocking shots? Does toughness mean that you make the other team fight like h*ll for every single loose puck and in every single board battle? I'm not sure. I think our team a year ago failed at almost all of these, and was therefore not very "tough". But I thought Seattle was a pretty tough team a year ago. Florida too. I think this year's team should be better at all of the above as well.

Slavin is one of the best defensemen in the league right now. What don't you like about him?

I’d smash.

Yep

Speaking of ghosts, Gostisbehere looked really awesome as well. I think our offense is going to be substantially better.

He looked good tonight, created a lot of chances. I could see it.

Danielson with another great defensive play and scoring chance.

To no one’s surprise I think Raymond and Debrincat are too weak on the boards to be on the same line. This game just reinforces that.

When he fills out he’s gonna be a horse. Reminds me a lot of Pierre Luc Dubois.