Hake Virtanen

Worst team or close to it gets rewarded with a top player……where else other than sports is this the way it works. Why dictate where an 18 year old kid can work? Do the top graduates of Harvard have to work at 7/11? Of course not. These kids should be free agents able to sign where ever they want. The salary cap will dictate where they best fit. Reward good management with being able to sign top talent, and remove this ridiculous “luck factor” in building a team. The NHL (and all othe N.A. Sports leagues) is an anti-trust lawsuit waiting to happen.

OK, so what this trade deadline needs is a little out o’ the box thinking. You know how our defence sucks and we need more cap room? Well let’s clear out two defence men and a whole lot of cap. Let’s trade Quinn Hughes ($7.85m) and Ethan Bear ($1.8m) for Bear Hughes (peanuts). Sure Bear Hughesisn’t a defenseman , but aren’t we proving every game that we don’t really need them. Besides he has great hair. That’s something we need to replace once Boeser is traded. Bear Hughes Center -- shoots R Born May 30 2001 -- Post Falls, ID [21 yrs. ago] Height 6.02 -- Weight 171 [188 cm/78 kg] Drafted by Washington Capitals - round 5 #148 overall 2020 NHL Entry Draft Regular Season Playoffs Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM +/- GP G A Pts PIM 2018-19 Spokane Chiefs WHL 2 2 0 2 0 2 3 0 0 0 2 2019-20 Spokane Chiefs WHL 61 16 31 47 21 9 2020-21 Fargo Force USHL 35 9 15 24 26 3 9 2 1 3 4 2021-22 Spokane Chiefs WHL 64 24 43 67 39 -18 4 0 1 1 8 2022-23 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 47 18 26 44 20 11

Well it’s official, at least according to Wikipedia…….Vancouver welcome your new head coach Rick (Tik) Tocchet. Tocchet (right) in 2014 Born April 9, 1964 (age 58) Scarborough, Ontario, Canada Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) Weight 214 lb (97 kg; 15 st 4 lb) Position Right Wing Shot Right Played for Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins Los Angeles Kings Boston Bruins Washington Capitals Phoenix Coyotes Coached for Tampa Bay Lightning Arizona Coyotes Pittsburgh Penguins Vancouver Canucks National team Canada NHL Draft 121st overall, 1983 Philadelphia Flyers Playing career 1984–2002 Coaching career 2002–present Richard 0Tocchet (/tɔːkət/; born April 9, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player, currently serving as the head coach for the Vancouver Canucks. Playing as a right winger, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Phoenix Coyotes. He was the head coach of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons and the Arizona Coyotes for four seasons. During the 2010 playoffs, he was an analyst on Flyers Postgame Live on Comcast SportsNet.

Well here we are on the cusp of a new year! Out with 22 and in with 23. What will the New Year bring, more mediocrity from the home team? Any improbable run to the playoffs? A big trade to shake things up? More JTM controversy? Who knows, but as fans we can certainly wish for a brighter future. Here are some of mine. fix the defence please, or at least come up with some great nicknames. Chaos Giraffe is awesome, but really don’t we need something for OEL as well? Hughes anyone for god’s sake use the farm better. Why bring in plugs like Stillman and Studnicka when we have similar players earning their dues in Abby. Where is Di Giuseppe, Juulsen, Brisebois, Karlsson, Wolanin. enough talk about the salary cap. Sure it’s a reality, but just like the size of a goal net, it’s an unmovable issue that all teams need to navigate equally. Hockey needs to be an escape from reality for three hours, not a remedial accounting course. Trades please. If we aren’t winning, then the fans need some red meat. OK, enough of blind fandom. In a sense these players work for you (OK, Aquaman cuts the cheques, but it’s your tickets and eyeballs that drive his revenue), so don’t fall in love with players making millions just cause they wear the teams jersey. This is entertainment not real life. Anyone else think that grown adults wearing a $300 team jersey with someone else’s name is a classy look? Just stop. And…..if I had a dime for every time Dan Murphy told his interview subject there was 45 seconds left I would be a rich man. Please mix it up, and oh yeah, get Sat Shaw to tell you who his barber is.