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Warhippy

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Everything posted by Warhippy

  1. Could you imagine the Canucks at 3 or 4 Drafting Byram? Omg a d? Shoulda drafted turcottekrebsdach omg I'm almost ok at this point either way
  2. I've been a Kaapo guy for a while. Size speed skating etc. Almost out producing Laine at the same age on a slightly less star studded team Decent write up of him here https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/kaapo-kakko-catch-jack-hughes-top-2019-nhl-draft-prospect/ Before we get into this piece, I want to point out that in any year where a No. 1-ranked prospect has clearly held that distinction for a prolonged period the stretch run usually brings some second-guessing. It happened to John Tavares with Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene on his heels. It happened to Taylor Hall as Tyler Seguin made a case for the top spot. And almost every time this happens, the long-projected No. 1 pick ends up going first overall. That isn’t always true. Nolan Patrick was 2017’s top prospect as far back as 2015 when he was a point-per-game player as a WHL rookie with the Brandon Wheat Kings. But injuries, along with Nico Hischier’s excellent play from the WJC on did end up dethroning Patrick. And in fact, looking at that draft today, maybe we all should have been talking about fifth-overall pick Elias Pettersson a little more. About four months out from the 2019 NHL Draft, the same talk is beginning to pick up between Jack Hughes and No. 2-ranked Kaapo Kakko. Though Hughes has been dominating his competition, injuries have obstructed some international viewings for scouts. Meantime, Kakko had a great WJC as an underage player and has continued tearing up the Liiga — Finland’s top professional league. In fact, Kakko’s goal-scoring pace right now has him on an historic trajectory. With 16 goals in 35 games, Kakko is tied for 14th in Liiga goal scoring, but he’s played fewer games than most others. His 0.46 goals-per-game pace ranks right up there with the top overall goal scorers in Finland. And historically, Kakko’s goal-scoring rate is currently the best of any under-18 player in the Liiga since 1990, surpassing some notable names from recent seasons. View image on Twitter 52 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy But does Kakko compare to someone like Patrik Laine or Jesse Puljujarvi? “He’s not Laine where Laine is kind of a one-trick pony,” Sportsnet draft guru Sam Cosentino said on the FAN 650’s The Playbook. “I look at Puljujarvi and he’s still trying to find his way. But I think (Mikko) Rantanen is a good target in that…he might be a guy who’s a little more like Kaapo Kakko. “And maybe the comparison is fair to put him in the same boat as Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who did all these same things last year playing in the men’s league. He gets drafted third, Montreal takes a bit of heat over it, and then the next thing you know he’s turned out to be a really big piece for them.” Citing these stats and comparing Kakko to some solid young Finnish NHLers is one thing, but getting to the podium and saying his name before Jack Hughes’ is called in June is another. Because although Hughes missed a few games at the WJC and the entire Five Nations tournament due to injury, he’s still wrecking the competition. Hughes has 78 points in 43 games for the USNTDP this season, which follows a similarly dominant performance last year. With 1.89 points per game for the under-18 team last season and a 1.93 pace this season, Hughes is on track to finish with the two best seasons by this measure in USNTDP history. Auston Matthews’ season before his draft year still ranks No. 1 with 1.95 points per game. All told, Hughes is currently just 15 points shy of tying Clayton Keller’s all-time record for points in a USNTDP career. Taking Kakko over Hughes would take some guts. Kakko has more size (six-foot-two, 190 pounds vs. five-foot-10, 168 pounds) and the fact he’s already playing against fully grown men could be a factor when someone has to make a decision at No. 1. And as Cosentino notes, the results of the draft lottery could go a long way in shaping this unfolding storyline. “I think the other thing is if you’re looking at Jack Hughes, is he going to be able to step in and play in the NHL right away? And depending on who is picking where, that might be a prerequisite to the player they take. And Kakko would likely be a more ready player to do that than Hughes simply because of his size. And the fact he’s played against men in a pro league all year long would give a slight edge over Hughes, who’s played against USHL and NCAA competition.” 32 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy Another determining factor for a team picking atop the draft is position. Hughes would immediately fill the coveted centre spot on a depth chart, whereas Kakko is a left-shooting right-winger. A centre went first overall in four of the past six NHL drafts and in the other two it was a defenceman. The last time a winger was taken with the first-overall pick, Edmonton nabbed Nail Yakupov ahead of defenceman Ryan Murray and centre Alex Galchenyuk in 2012 and before that it was Edmonton again choosing Hall over Seguin in 2010. But Cosentino said that just because Kakko plays wing now, it doesn’t preclude him from becoming a centre down the road, if his maturation as a player opens that door. Hughes or Kakko? In the most recent NHL Central Scouting rankings from January, a couple people close to both players were quoted about their thoughts on Hughes and Kakko. Here is what Team USA's WJC general manager John Vanbiesbrouck had to say about Hughes, and what Finnish NHL rookie, and 2019 WJC participant, Henri Jokiharju had to say about his countryman Kakko. Vanbiesbrouck on Hughes: "The way he can create speed through the neutral zone and enter the (offensive) zone at top speed and make decisions at that speed is really something. He has a unique ability to weave in between players and see things that others can't. He has great vision and intelligence, and he's very brave. He's one of the most courageous players I've seen take the puck in between big players and get to the front of the net. He's not afraid." Jokiharju on Kakko: "I think everyone back in Finland believes Kaapo will be the No. 1 pick in the draft. I know there's talk of Hughes all the time because they hype Jack Hughes a little bit more over here. But back in Europe everyone believes Kaapo is going first overall." “I think people are starting to look at Kakko now as maybe being a guy who can be a centreman,” Cosentino said. “And there’s always going to be a bias to that position for sure. “I never like to pigeonhole a player at this young age because oftentimes what happens is they take that next step and they get into the pro ranks and they get underneath the guys in the organization and the organization realizes maybe this guy’s grown, maybe he’s not as smart as we thought he was, maybe he’s more intelligent, maybe his skating is better and so that allows for positional change.” Hughes has long been the favourite to go first overall and, for now, odds are that will still happen. But for the first time, Kakko is making a case for consideration, which will get even stronger with a good finish to the regular season and continued success in the playoffs. It’s not that Hughes is playing his way out of the top slot — on the contrary, his performance has been outstanding this season and he’s clearly an elite playmaker with excellent vision and high-end skating ability. All of this is highly valued at the NHL level. There is no reason today to not believe Hughes will be an NHL star. But Kakko, the latest in a recently excellent run of Finnish NHL prospects, is rising to a level that is hard to ignore and at the very least should lock him into the No. 2 spot.
  3. So you don't think that's an issue at all and you don't care that the possible future PM as speaker of the house knowingly signed off on potentially assisting tax frauds But Trudeau removing someone from a cabinet post it? Hmmm I kinda want answers to both but you think one is acceptable. Fascinating
  4. Everyone whinging about the SNC Lavalin affair which started under the former government but may or may not have been jerry rigged by Trudeau. But nobody seems to want to speak of the KPMG tax account fraud that the Conservatives spoke to KPMG about then completely buried Both are wrong, but only one involves tax dollars being hidden and it just went quiet...absolutely quiet I would like answers on both myself. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/harper-government-partnered-with-industry-group-battling-cra-over-kpmg-case-1.3257994 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cabinet-ministers-met-publicly-with-kpmg-while-firm-s-tax-sham-under-cra-probe-1.3234876 I'd like to know why nobody is hammering that 4 years later but people are panicking because Golden Boy possibly said ease off an investigation.
  5. My favorite part of this kid is he's a late July Birthday. Close to being a 2019 draft pick as much as a 2018 draft pick
  6. At the start of last year Vegas was projected to be a bottom 5 team. Buffalo this year lottery picking team. Oilers...top 10 team. Things don't always work out the way they're supposed to. Again as of RIGHT now we're a team in the playoffs, in 3-4 weeks we might not be at all. I'm far more worried about JB trying to add than I am about him trying to sell
  7. Sorry, but did you forget we're actually IN the playoffs right now? While I don't expect the team to be in the playoffs come April, it means JB is not going to deep 6 the d core for parts at this stage of the game. 4 weeks from now that may change
  8. 1. Decent trade for the leafs, but not nearly enough. 2. That cap hit puts them in further trouble, Gardiner is certainly gone now. That is addition by subtraction and you don't patch holes by creating more 3. With that cap issue it puts further emphasis on the likelihood of Marner/Matthews/Nylander being moved before Marleaus contract is up. Can't afford all of them AND Muzzins cap 4. Muzzin is a decent 2-3-4 but really we've seen what happens when he's not paired with a gifted defensive partner. He's good with a quality defenseman. No question, but we've also seen him struggle with less defensive groupings. His skating is also good, but not great which puts him at a potential disadvantage in the faster skating east. All in all people are worried about what LA got, but LA did quite well in their return if they can retain Durzi and a 1st round pick is a 1st round pick. Finally, no GMJB did not miss out on anything, the worst thing he could do is react and just trade assets for the sake of trading assets. This team is currently IN the playoffs so trading Tanev makes no sense, like at all. Trading Edler makes no sense right now at all. The next 4 weeks will possibly tell a different story but for right now the Canucks missed out on nothing. Will be very VERY interesting to see the Leafs and wunderkind Dubas manage yet more cap and try to retain what they have without giving up more essential assets
  9. I was a big proponent of Ottawa trading EK to Colorado for their 1st back this year. which in hindsight is still laughably insulting for Ottawa but would have been a solid deal. TRading Stone to them for their 1st back might actually not be the worst idea either. Should Colorado be in danger of dropping out of the playoff picture the Col 1st and an addition or two would still be a good return for Ottawa. But losing their first this year...man what a stab to the hearts of Sens fans knowing that Sakic is looking at a 20% chance of walking out of Van with Hughes
  10. Every social democracy on the planet is essentially leading the globe in major indicators. Socialism in its pure literal sense cannot work because it's always just a veil for a dictatorial power grab. People cannot accept that there's form of socialism that not only work but thrive. Venezuela became a dictatorial nation under Chavez.
  11. I was going to say it looks and resembles Cuba for countries taking sides and yes, it kind of looks that way, except this time the US doesn't have a strong leader or quality leadership
  12. Dictatorial grab at power. Socialist ideologies present a transfer of control to the state for the betterment of all. Dictatorial ideologies present a transfer of power to a person regardless of the people. It WAS going to because model of success then one man screwed it up
  13. That's kind of why I am inquiring about his injury, recovery timetable. It would be amazing if his recovery time was say 3-4 months before skating, 5 months for contact. It would essentially give him an additional 2-3 months before the start of the season and sheltered time/minutes in the pre-season before an AHL stint
  14. Back to the actual topic. Has anyone heard word on Juolevi's surgery? I know he's 6 weeks out or more at this point from even skating but is there word on the nature of the injury and the actual surgery/recovery time?
  15. The only disappointment in him is that Jagr was picked 3 spots later which I am absolutely sure all of CDC would have been yelling about back then in their infinite hindsight granted wisdom :p
  16. No question about that at all. But, Tryamkin is a Russian, skates like a Russian forward and is almost 7 feet tall. He'd be one of the better skaters on our team right now.
  17. It's the exact same thing we see from this fan base so regularly regarding our prospects. they don't pay immediate dividends or somehow offend a fan and *BOOM* they go all 5th line for months or even years. Honestly some times I swear it's like these kids go to the posters homes and kick their dogs or something for how far they take things or the narratives they spin. A nearly 7 foot tall defenseman that skates like that is something every team wants. If Sustr could skate half as well as Tryamkin the Bolts never would have traded him. Big men aren't rare in the game, but big men that skate like Tryamkin really are. Which is why Bennings scouting team was so excited about him at the table when they picked him.
  18. You....really don't have a clue what you're talking about do you? You think Boeser is a good skater....that's amusing. He's awkward, like incredibly awkward. He's a better skater than anyone on that list not named Virtanen. His size and skating ability and even his edge work put him in the top 5 on this team. If you'd actually watched him play consistently you'd understand that If you think otherwise then.... lol
  19. Oh I could have snagged some beautiful shots. Daniel Greenwood actually nailed it (amazing photographer/digital artist) with some gems. But by and large Nikon and Sony's new Point and Shoot SLR's dominated my feed today and ALL of the shots were essentially identical. I drove to Anarchist summit and instead took shots of the cathedrals covered in snow behind Osoyoos with the moon lighting them. It was a solid series of shots.
  20. So how'd the lunar eclipse wind up for everyone? I actually intentionally skipped it and instead went driving for a location that the full moon would backlight well. Think I made the right choice. The endless parade of the exact same photos has worn me out.
  21. Mediocre? He would arguably be one of the top 5 skaters on this team. Has a ridiculous reach. Players bounce off of him harder than they do Virtanen and while his skill set isn't where it should be yet, the guy played like 40 games or less and was one of the most dominant forces on the ice But ya...whatever...lol?
  22. Again. Inarguable. When you plan to sextuple the tanker traffic you also increase the odds of an accident
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