Ray_Cathode

I’m not arguing that, he gets less than million in Russia so his financial break even point is probably less than a million eight - that does grant us plenty of room. And there are quality of life bonuses here - unless you are a big fan of the ballet - though I suppose dealing with a new language can be a headache.

Taught that as a minor hockey coach, no point forechecking if nobody follows. Most pucks are coughed up from players who are contested.

Income only taxable at 13% in Russia - 53% in Canada. Unless he gets almost twice as much here - guaranteed - he's worse off.

I agree. There are a lot of great defenders picked up in the second round, from Larry Robinson through Duncan Keith and Shea Weber, to the present day. It's just way harder to tell what you've got with D men - you don't know if they can think like NHL forwards until they play NHL forwards.

When Stan Smyl used to play one of the best places for his linemates to be was just following Smyl. Following the trail of Smyl hits, littered with busted plays and broken defenders, was a plethora of loose pucks and open ice. I get the feeling that Podzolzin is going to leave a similar battleship sized wake.

Or the limit of his effectiveness at this level of play.

Interesting. Is there a source for this, cuz this is concerning if those preceding games represented his play as a healthy player.

There is no confirmation, that I am aware of, that he was playing with a torn meniscus until they shut him down. Why they would play a guy for 17 games with a torn meniscus is beyond me - which is why my caveat - if true playing with that injury.

We are transitioning to a younger team, in order to do that profitably we must translate older players into values - the only time to trade a player profitably is when he is healthy. Our schedules in the past few years have been the worst in the league - this year, at least until March we have a favorable schedule. There is a far greater chance of injury to weary players. For the first time in years Tanev has a chance to stay reasonably healthy for a couple of good reasons - he will be playing fewer games at the end of three games in four nights (or worse four in six). Last year we were playing three in four 10 times, 4 in 6 seven times. No other team was even close. For instance, Montreal had no four in six and only four three in four. Secondly, we have much more depth on D this year in terms of quality players that can play against the other team's best players and at the most critical times defensively - this will also leave Tanev less vulnerable to injury. Him having long stretches without injury will make him more trade-able, and that is a situation we have to take advantage of. We have some younger players that are pushing for playing time - hopefully, one of those will be a healthy Juolevi or Rafferty (who showed well in two appearances last season). At the end of the season, we may also have Tryamkin available - even Rathbone or Woo. Relying on the fragile Tanev during the toughest, most physical and demanding time of year is a fool's mission - he should be long gone by then, and we should have replaced him with a guy who is not Mr. Glass.

Getting turnstyled repeatedly is not a team issue. I actually watched and rewatched those games - I bought the TV season pass for Utica to watch our young guys play. Jasek and Big Mac were good, so was Gaudette for the short while he was down there. Gadjovich and Lind really didn't play much, Palmu hardly at all, and Dahlin definitely liked the outside track. Juolevi looked great on the attack, but awful in his own end - during the time he was wracking up that huge minus, other defenders with more defensive responsibility were plusses - so it was not a 'team' thing. Sautner and Brisbois were what we say here - steady but unspectacular. Biega looked like Bobby Orr in the few games he was down. My hope is that Juolevi's deficiencies were primarily physical in nature or simply a natural period of adjustment - but we won't know til we see him play again this year.

What I really like about this pick is Benning's role in it. There were very good players that could have been of more immediate help available when we picked. Benning's contract was a burning fuse, but he took the player available with the highest ceiling - that takes integrity to do the right thing in trying circumstances. I have enormous respect for that. I think we got a huge 'not for two years' bonus - we were willing to wait, and that gave us the chance to get what may turn out to be a very special player at 10.

Yes, Juolevi still has unfinished work in Utica - he has to prove that his defensive deficiencies were injury related, not part of his game. As good as he was going forward, he was visibly awful in his own end. He has little to prove when he has the puck or when on the PP - he is a very good puck distributor. Totally agree on the trainers keeping close tabs on his health - he really teased with his last year in Finland - now we need to see him (and keep him) healthy here.

Add Rafferty to your list.

Learn to focus and set goals. The mind is focused by feeding questions to your sub-conscious. Hammering at a problem and then letting your sub-conscious mind eat away at it while you sleep is common among problem solvers. Don't be surprised to awake with an answer or have it come to you as your day begins and you reengage the problem - the solution is not manna from heaven it is an answer from you sub-conscious doing what your questions and failed attempts ordered it to do. A good book to pick up for this kind of thinking is by Betsy Speicher - "The Whys Way to Success and Happiness". Learn to spreadsheet if you don't know - it can be your estimating form, your planning form, your budgeting form, even your accounting 'books' - at least when you start. You don't have to incorporate to start - you can start as a proprietorship or a partnership. There is not much point in incorporating until there is sufficient business activity to support it. It costs money to incorporate and to have an accountant start your books, and it costs more to pay annual incorporation fees (say 300 bucks a year) and a corporate tax return (up to a thousand dollars a year). Don't do that till you have to, but when you do, consult an accountant. Many types of business earn what's called 'passive' income for tax purposes and incorporation does not lower your taxes if that is your mode of business. In BC, this website - https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/business/managing-a-business/starting-a-business will be a big help in getting you doing the right things from a regulatory perspective - everything from choosing and registering a name for your business - a good thing to do BEFORE you open a bank account or write a name on your truck - to getting onside with government agencies! Make sure you have a name you can use - you will be able to choose a name and get it checked for no conflicts - have several possibilities ready - I think you can make several searches for the same ten bucks or so. It will also get you set up with GST - your first 30 grand per year is probably still exempt till you achieve it for the first time in a business year - then you have to register/collect/remit. That same website will get you set up with WCB for yourself (if you are doing something where you could get injured, or for employees - if you hire them). Also, it will show you how to register with Rev Can if you have employees or pay yourself an actual wage on which you deduct tax, CPP and UIC - the Canada Revenue Agency also has a convenient calculator you can use to deduct and remit the proper amounts. It is here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-businesses/payroll-deductions-online-calculator.html Well, that's a starter that will keep you busy for a day. Good luck! I love hearing that people succeed, or at least they try. Respect.

I think Hoglander needs another year in a pro league, and maybe another after that in the AHL - but maybe not, it can be easier for forwards (especially wingers) than for D or centres.

Sure did. I was 54 years old, had educated myself through three professions trying to improve my life (accountant, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Programmer, Analyst, Web Developer) when it dawned on me that it wasn't what I was doing that was the problem, it was the frustration of doing it for someone who did have a clue about the value of what I was doing - or at least, I felt so - from his point of view, he probably just thought I was an arrogant jerk, and he was probably right). I got so frustrated with my boss that I argued enough to get fired - not on purpose, just from pent up frustration. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Walked out of my old boss's office over to a friend's place that was starting a new business. We cut a deal, I'd make use of everything I'd ever learned, learn internet marketing and he'd handle the technical end. Fifteen years we were able to retire. But that's getting boring now, time to start a new business. Our last business was something interesting, my next one will be doing something fun. I think those are the best of reasons - interest and fun - making (and I mean 'making') money is the best fun there is - about on a par with playing hockey - which I am too old for now. Good friends and good relationships are a byproduct of loving what you do - doing what you love helps to make you a better person. The only thing I would have done differently, was do it was sooner in my life - probably before I got married (less stress because of the financial risks involved - that I worried about more because of my wife and kids). If you are younger, it is easier to bounce back after a failure - I was at an age where I didn't think I could afford one. Some businessmen are very smart, some ridiculously hard working, most are very focused, they all set realistic goals (well, realistic for them - a few people are like Gates, Jobs, Musk, Bezos, and the like) and work toward them. You have to know what you want so that you get pointed in the right direction most of the time, you have to be able to solve problems that most people don't care to think about, you have to dig into your own resources when the money runs out, you may have to do without when you have to meet a payroll. You will probably have to organize other people and show them, patently, how to do their jobs - then you will have to listen patiently later when they tell you how critical they are to the business and need more money. You will have to decide who earned more money and who hasn't - and that can be a difficult message to convey. You will be frustrated by arbitrary rules, and clueless people trying to stop you - no matter how innocuous what you are attempting to do is. There are herds of people in the world that hate the idea that anyone else is happy and/or having success - they will be more than willing to claim that whatever you make is 'taken' from someone else - they don't seem to understand what the word 'make' means. There will be all kinds of people who want you to feel guilty - just don't - just think on what it is that people who want you to feel unearned guilt might want - it is not pretty. Mostly learn to reason, to think, to analyze, to measure, to compute, to evaluate, to weigh, to judge things and people. Read Kipling's poem, "If".

How can I guy play 81 games and just have three hits? I mean, even by accident you'd have to bump into a few guys, just cuz it's a small surface to have a bunch of big guys skating fast on it, going in unpredictable directions - jeez, it'd be a full time job to stay out of the way... huh, I guess it was a full time job to stay out of the way. I guess Loui refined his game, back in Boston he used to hit ten times that many - until the year before they traded him - guess they saw the paint drying on the wall - untouched by Loui.

Are we sending him there to depress all the kids? Louie "See kids, this is what you have to look forward to after becoming too damn lazy to check anyone.. er, I mean, retire... yeah, that's it, retire..."

We have a much improved schedule this year compared to last, last was objectively the worst in the NHL last year. This year we have a much improved schedule till March. Weariness, in my opinion, is one of the leading factors in injuries. Hopefully, with a better schedule and a better team around them, Tanev, Sutter and Baertschi can stay healthy till the trading deadline - enabling us to get decent trades for them - and bring back players such as Gaudette and Goldobin from the minors (if we demote them) or bring back an improving prospect such as Jasek, MacEwan or Julolevi. Tryamkin should also be available after the Russian season, and perhaps Rathbone or Woo when their seasons are done. Should be another interesting year. Love to see a healthy year out of Tanev and strong play - if we get that we might be able to spring a late first to fill our commitment to Tampa - salvaging our own pick in 2020 or 2021.

Wasn't Tchaikovsky a Russian? Talk about whimsy: "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies', 'Swan Lake', 1812 Overture, 'The Nutcracker'? Or Rimsky Korsakov, "Scheherazade"? Their composers, at least, had a touch of whimsy, and Russia loved its musical geniuses.Or Borodin, who had his Notturno for Strings ripped off to provide music for a whimsical Broadway play, "Kismet". Or, as per the Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff: "In America you play 'Hide and Go Seek', in Russia you play, "Hide and stay hidden."

About the only contribution the Russians have made since communism are things that go bang.

Oh, he has great hockey sense moving forward - the problem is that his demonstrated defensive skills in the AHL were far from strong - adjusting to a new level? Injury? Don’t know. I hope it is something fixable. Two extremely strong left side D could be great.

Was he not part of an academic cheating scandal at Harvard, and I can't recall the Canucks giving him an offer?

Getting very lean leading the team on the run.

Yeah, Brackett seems to find value at every level - but we can only sign 50. There are lot of pretty talented guys we did not sign after they finished junior or college - we always seem to be short of spaces under 50 - and then they find those gems like Tanev, MacEwen, Rafferty, and so on that are amateur free agents. No rock unturned, I guess.