frank einstein

I don't think Toffoli would have signed anything he would have offered and Benning knew it, I guess he could have extended an offer as a formality to please the mob. My point really is that most of the criticisms against Benning ignore the power and rights of the players involved. It's not insignificant and need to be respected. Calls to sit veterans to let the youth play for instance. They've served the team well and haven't retired, so bench them? The people who claim to be objective tend to treat the players as objects. Benning doesn't do that, Green doesn't do that and I like that about them. It's a Vancouver trademark since Quinn, But enough, I'm happy for Toffoli and the Canadiens.

I notice all you guys who blame Benning assume the players are pawns, not people. It's called free agency because the player is free to make his own choices. I don't know but it always seemed to me Toffoli never considered Vancouver his dream destination. A player's decision is based on multiple factors, most of which we could never know or guess, but it is his decision, not Benning's

\ I find this compelling not for my father but for Steve Goodman, a great soul who already knew he was dying. If you've never heard of him he wrote The City of New Orleans. Fantastic guitar player too

The Abs (Les Abs in Maillardville)

The Lion is okay, never mind male lions are lazy which he's anything but. The first time i saw clips of him they were describing him as lion-hearted and it fit. I was thinking Podzilla as Godzilla had offensive skill (possessed a laser shot, albeit from his eyes) but won the hearts of the people as a great defender. But yeah, The Lion.

The argumentative defense of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.

Podzilla?

sounds like jake has a stalker

He's a good kid, I would love to see him succeed. If you think all this hate doesn't have an effect on him you're mistaken. Yes, yes, no one cares what anyone says here but come on, this kind of thing is so widespread that of course it does. And you all take turns pushing it farther. The last straw for me was when someone dropped the pretense of characterizing him as having a low "hockey" IQ and just said he has a low IQ. It was like a dam broke. You all seemed so overjoyed. Threads were made. I would be okay if you confined your bile to those threads but you pollute all other threads with gratuitous shots at him. Why? He's a good kid and he's trying. I admire him actually for how he's responded. And yes, he's no just trying, he's succeeding. Green says he's a good player. Benning gave him a contract. He hasn't been traded. None of them have said anything that would support all your fantasies. Does he have to grimace when he makes an effort? would that help? I wonder what would happen if no one said anything negative for the rest of the season. Maybe he would play more consistently at his best, which we all know is pretty damn good.

Looked to me like he unexpectedly moved his leg farther right in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a knee on knee but Hyman reflexively moved the same way. Not sure though, Edler was too gassed to do much that could definitively be called an evasive maneuver if further punishment is being considered.

Virtanen is quietly becoming a decent all-round hockey player right under all your held noses

Larianov compared Podkolzin with Messier not just for his style of play but for his leadership qualities. He might even become a greater leader than Putin. If Putin did call him to stay in Russia, Podkolzin could talk him into coming to Vancouver with him, which would be great for us -- I saw Putin score eight goals in a game once.

Miller Vesey Virtanen line seems to have some chemistry too

Literally?

I still don't understand why no one discusses just a straightforward two points for an overtime/shootout win, no points for a loss. The standings would be cleaned up, simplified, like baseball %. Sure it hurts when the home team loses a "guaranteed" point but win or lose the drama would intensify right to the end and rivalries would increase. I can only think the league must be concerned about it being too harsh for fans, hence the crickets, but I wouldn't complain.

Shouldn't it be sped up too?

Perfectly timed too. No pressure from fans paying for seats

Yeah, too bad they had the big guy bias at the time. He was sure-handed. No one would have scored on him from centre ice

The thing is, you guys say the same thing over and over again. It's lazy. You're predictable and you don't show any effort in your criticisms. Maybe you need to sit out a few games and reset. looks like the quote didn't make it along. It was nothing more than just another Virtanen attack

Podzilla

Yeah I was at that game. I saw him jump Moore but almost immediately a crowd of players and other personnel formed around them. It was obviously serious but without radio commentary we didn't really know. The atmosphere was car-accident grim and after a few I minutes decided to leave rather than wait for blood I half-expected to trickle out between skates. In my opinion Brad May contributed significantly to what happened, acting like a jackass to foment emotions that went way beyond hockey norms

Brutal? He was fine. Not dramatic, decent voice that didn't distract from my own take of the game.

It's not even clear to me Miller's tested positive even once, he's just been near someone who's 50-50 in results. And it's results not symptoms that determine quarantine periods, so I'm optimistic it'll only be a week