kipwinger

Can someone explain to me why really good players aren't lining up to take pay cuts to play with McDavid and Draisaitl? Like, remember when every player in the NBA would have taken a pay cut to play for the dynasty Bulls? Scottie Pippen made half his worth for his entire career because Michael Jordan was THE MAN. If McDavid and Draisailt and Hymen and Nugent Hopkins and Kane and Nurse can't convince a bunch of dope players to join them on the cheap then what kind of stars even are they?

Yeah it was a sweet goal, Danielson is for real.

I think it's important not to get too carried away with expectations for very young players. The fact that Raymond made the team at 19 and scored like he did is insanely uncommon (league wide). Players do a lot of growing in their early twenties. Look at Rasmussen breaking out at 24 years old. Look at guys like Nyquist, Tatar, Franzen, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Kronwall not even making the team until they were the age Seider is right now (or older). Patience with development is almost always a virtue, which tends to be balanced out by the practical necessity to improve the team, sell tickets, etc. Expecting Raymond to take steps forward is fair. Expecting him to be a 70(ish) point player with Compher as a center, Fabbri as his other winger, and 2nd powerplay unit time is probably not. He clearly has the tools to get there (57 pts as a 19 year old has me confident), but I don't think this is some make or break year in terms of what Lucas Raymond is going to be. He needs to play correctly, continue to develop his body, and he'll get there when it matters.

Xhekaj bodies Reaves pretty good last night so maybe you're right. Reaves is a super tough dude, but the kid is clearly in his league.

Another day, another powerplay goal for Axel Sandin Pellikka. I'm beginning to notice a trend. Edit: Anton Johansson with a goal as well. Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper know how to draft...really...really...really...well.

I could have sworn everyone (since always) says that you need "elite talent" and "lottery luck" blah blah blah to win a Cup. I think the league should just award the Cup to Edmonton preemptively this year. I mean, they've got McJesus right? How could they possibly suck?

Xhekaj is legit. Very strong dude. Reaves is a better fighter, but not for long. Xhekaj can play too. He's pretty easy to like.

First game, first goal

Great game between Montreal and Toronto. TO’s defense is suspect.

Danielson bust?

Anybody know how to find out whether Nate Danielson is making his season debut tonight with Brandon? Edit: Nevermind, Danielson will be centering the 3rd line tonight.

Montreal takes a 3-0 lead over Toronto...but wait...the league steps in a overturns one goal and then the officials give Toronto three powerplays in a row in the 2nd period and now Toronto leads 3-2. Conspiracy? Anglo-Canadian bias?

Nice tilt between Ryan Reeves and Arber Xhekaj. The kid gave a solid account of himself.

Wait, are you under the impression that I don't think ALL religious people are violent, brain dead, hate- mongers? You're sadly mistaken. Muslims and Jews are killing each other in Israel RIGHT NOW because all of those religious people are violent, brain dead, hate-mongers too. The idea that religious people are peaceful is absolutely f*cking laughable.

Because their faith isn't peaceful. Everyone is allowed by law to have whatever beliefs they choose. That's their right (and one I fully support). But they have no right to be shielded from public scrutiny for having those beliefs. Especially when one of their central beliefs is "anyone who doesn't think the same things as me is evil and should/will burn in hell for eternity". Also, public figures making public stands against the status quo are A) absolutely polarizing (that's the whole point), and B) absolutely fair game for public scrutiny. Colin Kaepernick's actions (for example) were totally polarizing, and he was/is 100% justifiably scrutinized for it. Yet for some reason the very same people that want to see Kaepernick's feet held over the fire seem to think any criticism of Reimer, Provorov, or Staal is unfair. All of those dudes could have "gone along to get along". They chose to do something that they knew to be polarizing, in a public forum, and now they're going to have to deal with the fall out. But it's totally naive to think they didn't know that their decisions were going to create public discord...that was the whole point.

This Christian excuse is so transparent and flimsy. According to Christianity Jesus was brutally murdered in order to prove his love and compassion for sinners. Yet dudes like Reimer and Staal can't be bothered to wear a f*cking colored shirt in an effort to follow his example. They're so phony its unbelievable. And it's amazing how many half-assed Christian follow THEIR lead and not HIS because their bigotry trumps their faith on this issue...every...single...time.

It wasn't polarizing until a vocal minority of players polarized it. There are roughly 800 players in the NHL and you can only name about five of them who are against participating in Pride Night. 99.9999999999% of players, managers, etc. were perfectly fine with Pride Night last season. This includes the countless other Christian players (Michael Rasmussen for example) who had no problem wearing rainbow colors one night a year. Roughly five players had a problem with it because they're bigots, but instead of just saying "I don't like g*ys" they make it about their religion (which prohibits THEM from sinning, not others). The most egregious example is Eric Staal, who wore pride jerseys in Montreal, THEN claimed he would hasn't ever worn the jersey and would never do it because he's a Christian. This is demonstrably false and is the reason why people like me think he's just a bigot hiding behind his religion like a cowardly little weasel. Reimer is another example, he's a Jehovah's Witness and they're famously pacifists. So much so that they refused to fight in World War II, objecting to the military on moral grounds. Yet for some reason Reimer isn't opposed to Military Appreciation Night based on his religion. Wonder why that is? It's almost like the religious aspect is just a convenient excuse to sh*t on homosexuals.

And if a player opts out because they're bigoted, is it reasonable for the media to comment on that?

Sure, I've said about all I need to on how Christians find the visible light spectrum really scary and possibly sexually tempting. I do have a question to help me understand your point, do you think that promotional nights should exist but that players should be able to opt out? Or should ALL promotional nights go away?

This is all beside the point, for two main reasons. Nobody is asking James Reimer or anyone to be homosexual. They're asking guys like him to be kind, not to sin. Remember that whole "hate the sin love the sinner" thing? If Christianity or any other religion says you shouldn't be g*y...then don't. But I don't recall any religion prohibiting people from wearing rainbow shirts. If he thinks they should be welcomed, then welcome them. Nobody thinks he now has to go suck d*ck because he wore a shirt. Also, as I've already said he's perfectly happy ignoring his religion when it suits him. Secondly, in a democracy that respects individual liberties you don't have to play nice to get treated as an equal citizen. You literally don't have to do anything at all...supposedly. You're born with certain civil liberties which are inalienable (can't be given or taken away). Unfortunately for LGBTQ people that hasn't been the case. Every citizen is entitled to certain liberties whether they're good, bad, male, female, ***, straight, or anything else and you shouldn't have to go hat in hand to Christian weirdos to get equal treatment when those liberties are protected by the constitution. Nobody is asking anyone not to be Christian. Christianity prohibits CHRISTIANS from sinning, not everyone else. So my suggestion to guys like Reimer and Provorov is...to...avoid...sinning. Two things that Christianity specifically doesn't preach, A) it's a Christian's job to force God's law on anyone else but themselves, B) wearing specific shirts is a sin to be avoided.

The ESPN play by play guys are terrible. There are a few things I like about their overall broadcast though, like cutting to an ex-official to explain controversial calls and no-calls. I also like that they have the officials mic'd up.

He looks physically overmatched to me so far. And his shot is pretty good but not elite by NHL standards. He's got a lot of growing to do. Also, Pittsburgh looks old and slow. They're trash.

Tampa's forwards looked good tonight, their defense was sh*t.

I DO NOT LIKE this baby talk hockey speak that seems to be infecting NHL announcers. "Ooooh he's a beauty, look at his flo, can't put a bucky over that flo" They should genuinely be ashamed.

Imagine having to face off against Sidney Crosby in your first NHL game at 18 years old. #Nerves