Who is Joel Erskine? Intentional mistake?

I have a love-hate relationship with the Pensblog, as I have explained in the past. I just have a hate-hate relationship with Steinberg. It just bugs me that this guy doesn’t mention hockey even when the Caps are tearing up the league, unless the Redskins are done. Oh well. Whatever keeps the hits coming, I guess.

John Erskine in a Fozzy song? :D

Eh…I still check it out from time to time just for headlines. I like Steinberg.

Other than the Mike Green comments, I don’t think he does it that often. Maybe I just haven’t been reading as much lately. Really, the worst thing he has said about the Caps is his “Paper Champions” rant, which was just in response to Uncle Ted’s gloating. But that topic doesn’t really pertain to this thread, as it is over 2 months old already.

Dan does a great job, but he also has a base he plays to at times.

and during hockey season, it’s Pittsburgh fans who take the bait every single time and click on his stuff a bazillion times and post countless rants in the comments. In a page view count driven world, he’s found his golden ticket for January-April.

The Hershey goalies are doing something like that this year – a price per save and double if it’s a shutout.

And let’s make sure it covers both goalies. No reason to take away from the charity when Varly gets a start.

I’ll do it tonight.

I don’t think it is for the reasons stated above. You’ll hear it anyway, but I don’t think it’s all that valid. Crosby doesn’t have any of the individual awards – to me that points to him having the good fortune to play on better teams and that he by himself has less to do with that.

Eh, no matter what A.O. does, they’re always going to find some way to claim that Crosby is bitter…er…better.

Notice how after Canada stomped Russia in the quarterfinals people stopped talking about the lousy, two-bit, no-talent hacks Crosby had to endure as his linemates?

Mike’s pointing out how pushing a camera in Vancouver, bringing guns to the locker room, shooting yourself at a nightclub with an unlicensed handgun, and buying land to slaughter dogs all are roughly equivalent, except the camera-pusher is white.
I can’t stay here and explain every little thing. Jeez.

It always seems to be about race with Wilbon, even when it isn’t. What’s ironic is this is a guy who grew up in an upper-middle class suburb of Chicago, went to private schools and graduated from Northwestern. I’m sure he’s experienced his share of racism, but it almost seems like he’s trying to gain street cred within the black community by constantly ranting on the subject.

That’s the funny thing about what Ovechkin did. That is tame compared to what football/basketball players do. Since it is hockey, it seems so much worse than it is.

Great post SD. Keep on keeping on.

Pretty sure you can get into the AHL at 19. You can be in the NHL younger if you’re real real good or a crappy team needs you. There are also chances to play in Europe, but I know even less about those.

NCAA you can’t get paid at all. Except for the Canadian Major Junior leagues (OHL, QMJHL, WHL; collectively CHL) the Junior players don’t get paid. In the CHL the players get a stipend but the guys that are drafted and signed pro contracts get significantly more money than the guys that are nobodies. Guys like Tavares were being paid since 16. Guys that go NCAA don’t get paid until in their 20s.

for many, leaving home at an early age & having to bond with strangers in a living arrangement. Much travel & long bus rides. I have always thought the road to hockey professionalism is more arduous than for other sports; the path does not seem as linear as with football/basketball to me.

As the parent of 3 hockey-playing sons, we have spent an inordinate amount of time devoted to the sport compared to when they play baseball, soccer, tennis or basketball. You cannot just go outside to a concrete pad, down to a school gym or out to a field to play. As we all are too aware around here lately, ice rinks are too few and far between. Therefore, we travel a lot, even in house leagues. We’ve stayed in many hotels and eaten hundreds of meals with other parents & the teams. On any Sat. or Sun., we often spend 6 hours or more getting to and from a single game — allowing for travel time each way (often more than an hour), pregame warmup (an hour early), the game itself, a meal (usually have missed a major meal in the process), and travel home. This is in a addition to 2 practices a week.

Lots of time for bonding & rehashing good/bad calls, terrific/horrid plays, etc. All the kids dream of becoming NHLers, but obviously very few will make it. But, the experience has been good and kept them out of trouble — we are with them most of the time. The lessons about teamwork, responsibility, disappointment, etc. have been invaluable (as can be true with any sport). Finally, the volunteers in the sport are the most AMAZING. Without many parents & even those without kids, but who love the sport, the clubs would not exist.

True, but until you hear about the NBA and NFL actually trying to establish minor leagues and the NCAA somehow blocking it I don’t think it’s their fault. They have self-interest, but haven’t even had to act on it. To my knowledge the NFL and NBA have never really tried to establish minor leagues. The NBA has the summer league, but that obviously doesn’t compete with the NCAA. Maybe the NCAA is blocking it behind the scenes, but I have no reason to think that. And you know I’m about as anti-NCAA as anyone so I’m not just giving them the benefit of the doubt.

There are definitely avenues for Europeans to play in North America in both the CHL and NCAA. I think you’re dead on with the market choices aspect. The CHL isn’t for everyone, and NCAA isn’t for everyone. Some guys just need some time to grow and develop their game before turning pro, and the NCAA allows that. I don’t follow the NBA at all so I had no idea they had talked about a minor league and chosen not to do it. I have some friends from LSU and they swear that the NFL will never be able to get a minor league because the NCAA alumni base would revolt. That’s ridiculous IMO.

We’ve done pretty well against Miller this season. I’m less worried.

It certainly did for the D corp. The injury toll among them read: Green (mono and shoulder), Poti (broken foot), Erskine (broken foot), Morrisonn (can’t recall but he was playing hurt). Schultz (was out in the Ranger series). We’re talking over 2/3. No wonder we had no team speed — with 2 guys with broken feet.

In spite of Gonchar playing hurt, I somehow doubt that the Pens had the same amount of injuries on the blue line.

I can’t remember how good of a skater Artyukhin is, but I do know Chara worked summers improving his skating sometimes.

Chara didn’t have rocks for brains and didn’t have an NHL ready skill set immediately. Artyukhin doesn’t have to get physically better, he’s got the tools. He just needs to put it together in his brain, and I don’t see that happening.

Plant him in front of the net and let him score off his hockey haunches.

How do teams attract ad dollars? How do those dollars compare to those that individual earn? I guess that this is related to the luxury box issue and branding issues and visibility opportunities for winning teams like the Caps vs. sad sack organizations like the present Nats who can’t get a name for their stadium.

By the way, I do agree with your overall point in that I prefer great teams and the synergy of the Caps to the Gilbert as savior that the Wizards sold us before this season. Also, I’m enjoying watching the Nats go about building their team brick by frustrating brick.

Totally. Level-headed not bombastic. And rarely jumps to premature conclusions.

Website won’t cut it, I may be away from my desk a lot of the day. I need something I can send to my mobile.

Sure. I’m personally okay with that, because I’m going to be limited in what I can get due to work constraints unless I’m really lucky. I’m looking for a high signal-to-noise ratio in my Twitter feed for the deadline.

We all know about GM speak, though. I don’t believe much of it.

As much as the Nazis?

Gotta replace floaty Ryder somehow.

Nah, I’d say drop him for this year. He’s been sent down to Hershey and my guess is that unless Varly or Theodore get hurt, or there’s a trade, he’ll be there for the rest of the year.

Gotcha. I’m trying to use fantasy football logic on this anyway, and I haven’t used that in a couple years.

Even if it was sarcasm, your point still stands because all Poile seems to want is defensemen, in the draft or otherwise and its beginning to piss me off.

He also turned those first round picks from Scott Stevens into Gonchar, Brendan Witt, Nolan Baumgartner, Miika Elomo and Trevor Halverson.

In other words….BLAH.