Canada would lose once MacKinnon got distracted lecturing the Chinese players on all the carbs they eat
I feel like there's a third option that's most likely and it's one where they pull the team captains aside and tell them not to embarrass China too much.
right, but I feel like 15-0 you can handle. if these teams go full steam for 60 minutes they could really run it up.
right, but the talent disparity is akin to Bama playing a DII school. Even running FB dive every play, they'd still put up 60+ points. The problem is, that there is no full back dive in hockey. Passing the puck around the offensive zone for 30+ seconds is just as embarrassing as putting the puck in the net every shot.
likely. A kid I coached was one of the captains for the Taiwan National team. He was a 3rd line player on our Club hockey team. I can't imagine the Chinese National team is that much better. Under no circumstances should china be icing a hockey team in this tournament.
Yeah, you wonder why they'd even want to. Hockey isn't a sport where you can fast track player development. Realistically they'd need 15-20 years to start seeing teams that would only get embarrassed instead of annihilated.
A buddy of mine made the Lebanese national team, when it was based out of Montreal. It was made up of Canadian and American Lebanese guys that never played at any half decent level of hockey. They played in some ME tourney ( maybe in Saudi? ) and he couldn’t believe countries over there had a tourney. In 50C weather.
Good deal but any system that says hes a top pairing defenseman needs to be reassessed. I swear this site basically says all the good players are bad and midlevel players are actually great.
The fan base would probably riot because many still believe kotkaniemi will end up a 1c, but realistically... if they let him walk, collect the picks, and replace him with someone like Dvorak- I think the canes just did Montreal a huge favor
tbf that graphic only says his time on ice is that of a top pairing. Not necessarily the this play is.
not sure how the fan base feels but I think most are on board with letting him walk. one thing I am absolutely sure is that if mtl matches, the fans won’t be patient at all with him and that is a disaster waiting to happen. Mtl fans are notorious for being very hard on guys who make too much money for what they bring.
right now, KK looks like a middle 6 center who has a 40ish point ceiling who is very good defensively. I don't know if a late 1st and 3rd is a good return, but if they can get dvorak, it probably ends up close to a wash talent wise.
I agree with this but you got to factor in the 12.2 millions for 2 years. That’s a big overpay for a guy that is rumored to want out of mtl anyway.
It is an overpay. The issue is that there are too many people in and outside of the org who still think KK is a former #3 overall pick with Barkov potential. Hard to let that PR hit walk out the door.
I am now convinced that the Blackhawks and Evander Kane have a bet on who can have the worst off season of all time.
My thoughts - Kind of on the fence w this one. He's been really bad the last two years. If he can get healthy, it's a decent deal. If he cant, yuck. I assume the blues feel good about his medicals, but the way theyve botched Tarasenko's it doesnt give me a lot of confidence. That said - I was expecting much higher AAV after the Jones and Nurse deals. This feels like a win.
Somehow they found a way to make a weirder situation then when Patrick Kane won the cup. Imagine if the US scored during that delay
Friedman Quick Thursday evening blog: The NHL and NHLPA have finalized COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-22 season. The biggest news is a mechanism for teams to suspend unvaccinated players who are “unable to participate in club activities.” This includes situations where a player cannot travel because of local, provincial/state and/or federal regulations “upon return.” Such individuals would “forfeit the equivalent of one day’s pay for each day” they are precluded from participating. It’s a major development considering the Canada/U.S. border and different rules/approaches across the NHL’s North American landscape. General managers were warned about this possibility at their virtual meeting in July and began informing players about the possibility. There are exceptions — unvaccinated status based upon medical reasons; a conflict with “sincerely held religious beliefs;” establishment “on the basis of a balance of the probabilities,” COVID-19 “arised out of the course of employment as a hockey player;” or quarantine because of being a high-risk close contact. If a fully vaccinated player is confirmed with a positive COVID test, his condition “shall be treated as a hockey-related injury for all purposes” under the CBA. Unvaccinated players who are not exempted for the above reasons will not be paid if his team establishes, “on the basis of a balance of the probabilities, that the player failed to comply with the terms of this protocol in a manner that was reasonably related to his contraction of COVID-19 and/or any resulting or related illness.” Other notable points of emphasis: • Any player who wishes to opt-out of the 2021-22 season because they are unvaccinated or fully vaccinated “but can establish that an immediate family member with whom he shares a household is at substantially heightened risk of severe illness by contracting COVID-19” can opt-out by Oct. 1. The team in question will then have 30 days to decide if the player’s contract will be “tolled” (basically rolling it over to 2022-23) or if this season would be removed from the agreement. Anyone opting out would not be able to play in another league or the Olympics. • Any person whose job, role, position or access entails or entitles them to have personal interactions (within 12 feet) of club hockey operations personnel (including players) must be fully vaccinated. • Fully vaccinated players shall be subject to PCR testing at least every 72 hours. That guideline could change depending on how things progress. Unvaccinated players will be tested daily. • There are stiff rules for unvaccinated players. On the road, they cannot enter “internal venues” other than the team hotel, practice facility, or game arena. They are not allowed to use the hotel gym, pool, sauna, steam room or other shared facilities. They are not allowed to have teammates, team staff or visitors inside their hotel room, with the exception of fully-vaccinated family. They are not allowed to leave the hotel to eat (or purchase food) or use any restaurants/bars (in or out of the hotel) that are open to the public. They can’t pick up food except where the restaurant provides curbside pickup (or similar service) that does not require entrance to the main restaurant.