nieder
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Posts posted by nieder
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Reports out there that Silf has been removed from the Ducks roster. Trade incoming?
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Also I know Rakell was injured, but Deslauries was on the ice with 40 seconds left in regulation last night. That is just insane.
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8 minutes ago, gotchabari said:
It's hard to chase goal pairs after they've scored. The assumption is that someone who is scoring can then score with others. Combine that with Rakell going down and the decision to put some puck handlers together on a line (Henrique with Getz and Terry) led to very long offensive zone stretches, which eventually wore down Buffalo's D and allowed us to tie.
Hockey doesn't seem to work in linear fashion where we can simply credit the people on the ice with a goal, there are shifts and actions preceding it, including forcing shaking the lines of the opponent, that can lead to goals minutes later. I think your example here was actually an example of a successful coaching tweak from DE last night.
What I mean is that Henrique isn't working on the Zegras line. He just isn't finishing. Then he gets some time with other players, and suddenly scores. I'm not saying you have to keep those 2 guys paired together, but what the set lines aren't working great. Yet Eakins keeps persisting with them.
Last night was actually the first game where I thought Henrique didn't look like he was skating through concrete.
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I don't get some of the line choices. Zegras and Milano combined for 2 goals against Winnipeg despite not being on the same line, because they were in the middle of line changes when the goals were scored. They were kept on separate lines to start the next game. Why?
Last night, Henrique got a goal off a pass from Silfverberg in the second period. By the 3rd period they were on separate lines again.
Persisting with Henrique playing with Zegras when he hasn't been able to finish anything is ludicrous. Persisting with Grant as a checking center is ludicrous (at least he has been in the press box more lately).
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33 minutes ago, dtsdlaw said:
One thing that crossed my mind, though - as much as Beach should be lionized for his bravery in exposing this scandal, you can't help but wonder if some of the players in that locker room really didn't like Beach very much to begin with, regardless of what rumors were floating around about him. Reading up on stories about him from the time before the assault, he was described in not so glowing personal terms. An apparent top-5 talent that slid to #11 overall in the draft because of maturity issues. Dude was a surly brute in Juniors too, with almost 50 fights and close to 770 total PIMs from ages 16-19. I checked for a comparable thinking, hmmm.... maybe Nick Ritchie? Similar size. Similar skills set. Supposedly similar demeanor. Ritchie had 8 fights and 360 PIMs in the OHL over the same time frame. That's quite a difference, and gives you an idea of just how surly Beach could be on skates. Beach's description of the incident also mentions that he went to Aldrich's condo in the first place because none of his teammates wanted to go to dinner with him (p.27). I'm not trying to tear down Beach or discredit him or victim-shame here at all. I'm just wondering right now why more former teammates aren't rushing out to have his back here, and maybe why others are being so tone deaf in their comments. You'd think more guys would be rushing in to support him, no? Especially if they want to clear their own names and separate themselves from the allegations of abusive comments and behavior towards Beach during the 2010 training camp. This angle just crossed my mind.
It's all speculation of course but certainly possible. It does seem strange that he couldn't find another other teammate that wanted to have dinner with him.
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Just now, Jasoaks said:
true, he did. yeah...that was...off-putting....
Maybe he's not the world's greatest captain like the media has made him out to be for the last decade...
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31 minutes ago, Jasoaks said:
i think thats really interesting to see how this plays out...considering that while there has been a lot of "everyone knew in the locker room" there's been nothing explicitly calling out Kane or Toews (bringing him up as the captain). Beach went out of his way to call out Q. And Kane and Toews have already, recently, come out to say how horrible it is and that they knew nothing of any of this till after the cup was won. While I also share your hatred to Kaner and would not be surprsied at all...I'd have to imagine his name would have been explicitly brought up by now...but, Beach did say the fight has just begun...
USA wouldn't be missing much anyway...he becomes invisible in the Olympics. 9pts in 12 games isn't nothing, but you probably want more from the "greatest american-born NHL player of all-time"
Toews sounded like he was more concerned about people losing their jobs than he was about one of his teammates being sexually assaulted while he was the captain.
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1 hour ago, dtsdlaw said:
On a related note, did anyone else find the media outrage on Wednesday/Thursday over Coach Q being behind the bench for Florida's game against Boston a bit hypocritical? This is the same media that practically slobbered all over Stan Bowman's shoes all summer long when he acquired MAF and Tyler Johnson and when he made the Seth Jones trade and re-signed him to that 8-year deal. They also fawned over Edmonton adding Duncan Keith to their blue line. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I never heard a single word about Bowman needing to step aside until the report was concluded, or whether it was ok for Edmonton to add a key member of their 2010 team to their locker room. I'm not saying they were wrong to question whether Q should have coached on Wednesday, but where TF were these media guys all summer on this?? They're a bit complicit in all of this too IMO. Not a single one of these "Insiders" are willing to jeopardize their sources and connections for the greater good.
It will also be interesting to see what happens now as we near the Olympics, with the "Greatest American-Born NHL Player of All-Time" also being a POS and a likely ringleader of the abuse that occurred in that locker room. What are the chances Kaner makes it to Beijing in February? Does the media cover for him? Or crucify him?
I find it hypocritical that most of the media 'insiders' basically ignored the allegations against Aldrich except a select few reporters. But now that it has come out they are jumping all over it and saying things like 'we stand with you'. Where was this previously? They wanted nothing to do with this until it because the biggest story in the league and they could no longer ignore it.
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14 minutes ago, Gorbachav55 said:
Aksun, you're going on ignore. Despite your protestations, you absolutely are victim-shaming every time you use phrases like "Beach should have done more" and he didn't "man up." It is disgusting and it is victim shaming, and the fact that you can't realize it means we have people in the world who will continue to perpetuate this culture of non-accountability for perpetrators and the power structure that ignores them for their own benefit.
You said above that attackers want to be treated fairly as well. They absolutely should be. That means justice and accountability, often involving some sort of punishment. In order for that to happen, people like Beach need to initiate things like this, even if they're ten years later. The Blackhawks brass need to be held accountable, and that means no longer working in a position where they can sweep incidents like this under a rug for the good of the rest of the organization. That's not "cancel culture." That's accountability and justice.
We should be outraged that things like this happen in the world. And that outrage should manifest in pressure to hold those accountable who had (and have) the opportunity to make sure investigations are conducted and perpetrators removed from situations where they can commit more abusive acts. I have not been sexually or physically abused in my life, but I've educated myself enough to know how awful a crime it is. My last words to you are: please educate yourself. Don't remain ignorant.
Edit: Figured it out.
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7 hours ago, Aksun said:
Because I don't understand it and cannot understand until I go through a similar experience. I can compare embarrassing and shameful experiences of my life all I like, but I've never been where he was and I hope I never will, but that doesn't mean he's a part of some exclusive club members of which are the only ones who are allowed to speak on the subject, right? You and me - we can only imagine, some more vividly, some not.
It's called empathy. It seems like you have none.
5 hours ago, Aksun said:1) I'm not defending neither Weinstein nor Aldrich, they're both bad, and deserve what they got from the authorities. I am, however, amazed at the unequivocal cancel culture directed back at the attackers. Being a victim is basically a real-life superpower nowadays - you can accuse someone of sexual assault, not present concrete proof, such as in the Kyle Beach case, there are no witnesses or materiel evidence to prove his words - there are just words - and then the society proceeds to drown the alleged attacker in an ocean of hate, shame and basically erases them from the public scene.
This is unbelievable. You're upset because people want to 'cancel' sexual abusers? I absolutely love how anybody suffering the consequences of their actions is seen by some as being unfairly 'cancelled'. Much like Gorb, I'm not going to engage on this anymore. Your comments on this are quite honestly, despicable.
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30 minutes ago, Aksun said:
In the TSN interview he says he decided to come out with this after Aldrich was sentenced for a similar crime in Michigan. Shoulda made it public back then when the '10 playoffs were still going. But he made his conscious choice 'to pursue his career' and keep silent about it.
All the fuss raised today is a bit overboard because dude, man up, you made a choice not to speak when it happened and only just now - 11 years later - you bring this up? Nobody forced you to not tell anyone, call the police, write to your congressman etc. etc. - you yourself made that choice, not your mom, not your girlfrend or your coach, you didn't bring that up yourself. Ex-Duck Boynton (42gms 09-10) and a the nice guy Sopel would support you, you knew it all along.
Of course and obviously it does not diminish the severity of the crime (if it can even be proved so far down the road, 11 years ago they might have dug up some hotel lobby videos and whatnot) and the ones responsible to handle such things should be reprimanded for their intentional neglect, but the emotional outcry about it all today is overblown. If you could handle staying silent about it 11 years ago for career profit while damaging yourself inside, you could surely handle not making a soap opera out of it today, just because 'the time is right'.
The person I pity the most in all of this is Gary Bettman. He has to handle all those sneaky
bastardsteam owners and GMs along with their indecisive subordinates all the while trying to maintain a good-looking public image for the league. He's got a lot more of such dirt coming considering the times we find ourselves in. May the Hockey Gods help mr. Bettman to weather this storm.This might be the worst take I've seen on this, on any forum. Wow.
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4 hours ago, dtsdlaw said:
I'm a big fan of Katie Strang's reporting, but this part of her story is just click-bait anonymous quoting. The full report addresses this in detail on p. 52-53 and completely rebuts the idea that "everybody knew."
There is also the section of the report on page 57 about Aldrich assaulting a front office intern:
If "everybody knew" about the allegations of sexual assault during the playoffs, or even just the harassment, why are players and interns continuing to go to bars with this dirt bag after they won the Cup? Answer: I don't think they all knew. At least not during that 3 week window between the alleged assault and them winning the Cup. You would assume that the guys on the roster were pretty dialed in to winning games during that period and were not bar hopping (well, maybe Patrick Kane still was
). Note that Boynton also didn't see the ice during those playoffs until game 4 of the Finals against Philly on June 4th, so he was likely spending more time with the Black Aces than the actual roster players. I'm sure many guys on the active roster found out later too, but not likely during that 3 week window.
It's certainly possible that more than a few players knew that Aldrich was a dirt bag during those playoffs. But certainly not "everybody". And knowing someone is a dirt bag is not the same as knowing someone has sexually assaulted a person. If Boynton and Sopel knew there was an actual assault, and not just inappropriate conduct, they would have done more than just told the skating coach to "pass it on." I don't think they knew about the actual assault either.
And with regard to what Quenneville knew or was told, I think you should read the full report. It makes it pretty clear to me that Jim Gary, the team's counselor with whom John Doe originally discussed the incident, did not believe that an assault had taken place and was not even sure if any physical contact had occurred between Aldrich and John Doe as of that May 23rd meeting. He basically just reported to management that Aldrich had propositioned one of the Black Aces for sex while they were drinking and doing drugs (paraphrasing here, of course). While that action is still not appropriate (and could be subject to civil liability), there is nothing in the report to indicate that Gary informed anyone about an assault allegation. And it's not even clear if Quenneville was told what the nature of the allegation was, since he joined the meeting later and it is clear from the report that management was only interested in insulating the team from outside distractions during their Cup run. Management could have easily downplayed it to Quenneville in that moment and told him that it was an HR matter that they would take care of and that he should just focus on winning hockey games.
Lastly, speaking of Human Resources, taking these allegations to HR so that they can investigate is exactly the proper protocol in these situations. It's not up to the coach to take action against Aldrich here. The allegation here is that an employee, who is assumed to be gay but is not open about their orientation in the workplace, has allegedly made inappropriate sexual advances towards a subordinate during non-working hours and in a non-work environment where drugs and alcohol were being consumed. There are so many potential legal pitfalls tied up in this scenario, that this is exactly why HR should be looped in immediately when these types of allegations arise. In that, the entire management team clearly failed in their professional duties.
https://www.tsn.ca/kyle-beach-john-doe-1.1712468
Based on comments made by players and others in the organisation, Kyle Beach believes everybody knew, just as Boynton and Sopel said. At the very least, there were players that knew and did not care, as they were bullying Beach with comments about his assault.
I think it is bizarre that you dismiss those players, yet believe what Q has to say when he is trying to save his own skin.
QuoteKB: Word spread pretty quick. I do believe that everyone in that locker room knew about it. Because the comments were made in the locker room, they were made on the ice, they were made around the arena with all different people of all different backgrounds – players, staff, media in the presence.
QuoteStan Bowman has quoted Joel Quenneville saying – and this is not a quote, this is my words – saying that the playoffs, the Stanley Cup playoffs and trying to win a Stanley Cup was more important than sexual assault. And I can’t believe that. As a human being, I cannot believe that, and I cannot accept that. I’ve witnessed meetings, right after I reported it to James Gary, that were held in Joel Quenneville’s office. There’s absolutely no way that he can deny knowing it and there’s absolutely no way that Stan Bowman would make up a quote like that, to somebody who served his organization and his team so well.
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7 minutes ago, dtsdlaw said:
And what about the actual players on the team? Seems much more likely that the players themselves would be aware of the misconduct and subsequent bullying by other players than Quenneville would be, no? I assume we should terminate contracts for all of them too? Including the teammates of players on the OTHER TEAM that would have been aware of this incident:
Yes.
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1 hour ago, dtsdlaw said:
Cheveldayoff I get because he was the Assistant GM at the time. But I don't understand why Quenneville should be out too. Coach Q was apparently called into a meeting with team execs less than one hour after the Hawks completed a 4-0 sweep of the Sharks in the WCFs and told about some kind of allegations of inappropriate conduct by "a coach", though the report clearly says that "None of the participants recalled being told about the type of clearly non-consensual sexual conduct that is described by John Doe in his lawsuit or was described during John Doe’s interview with us." It's also not even clear from the report that Coach Q knew the true nature of the allegations. Here is what the report says about his knowledge:
I think it's totally plausible that the Blackhawks management did not reveal to Coach Q the full nature of the complaint against one of his coaches given how focused they were on winning the Cup and where they were in that process. Maybe Quenneville knew more and/or should have done more, but that isn't supported by this report IMO. And even if the allegations were specific and corroborated at that moment and Quennevlille knew the full nature of the charges, it would be one thing if Coach Q was told the allegations and then did nothing to report them up the chain of command (ala Joe Paterno). But that May 23rd meeting had the Team President, Executive VP, General Manager, Assistant General Manager, and the Senior Director of Hockey Administration in it. Outside of the owner, was there anyone higher than those five men that Coach Q could have reported it to? So I just don't see any grounds to hang Quenneville here.
Sorry but I'm not sure how he gets a pass when this stuff happened under his watch. Particularly all of the stuff about players taunting the victim, calling him slurs and making fun of his assault. It's pretty rich that this guy is regarded as some kind of amazing legendary coach when this stuff was happening right under his nose.
You seem to be going out of your way to defend Q here, as if he had no clue even who the accused was?? Let's say you're a head coach. One of your coaches gets accused of inappropriate conduct. You don't ask which coach it is? You don't ask for more details? You think Q just put his head in the sand? Come on, you really think that happened? I know you are smarter than that. Even if that is how it went down, I don't know that him deciding he didn't want to know the details is much better than him knowing and not doing anything about it.
But that May 23rd meeting had the Team President, Executive VP, General Manager, Assistant General Manager, and the Senior Director of Hockey Administration in it. Outside of the owner, was there anyone higher than those five men that Coach Q could have reported it to? So I just don't see any grounds to hang Quenneville here.
So the accusations must be pretty serious, right? If the Team President, Executive VP, General Manager, Assistant General Manager, and the Senior Director of Hockey Administration all had to be in on this meeting? But obviously the allegations were not serious enough for Q to ask who the accused was. Or to ask for more specifics. Not serious enough to make sure the accused was not in a position to do it again to another one of his players. Not serious enough to warrant talking to his player about it either I guess. But serious enough that the top people in the organization had to deal with it. If you believe this from Q, I have a bridge to sell you.
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11 minutes ago, dtsdlaw said:
Stan Bowman OUT as Blackhawks GM. Chicago going to clean house to put this scandal in the rear view mirror as soon as they can. Let's see if the NHL covers for them so they can sweep the rest of it under the rug.
Wow!
Honestly I wonder how Winnipeg can keep Cheveldayoff and Florida can keep Quennville now too. If either were in Anaheim I would want them gone.
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1 hour ago, Gorbachav55 said:
Kariya leaving was probably the worst moment of my pro sports fandom. I know people defend his decision, and criticize the team for the way they handled negotiations, but I was gutted. He was the franchise at that point (obviously before Selanne came back and was magical again). I booed him for years. People started talking about him re-signing with the team at the end of his career; I wanted nothing to do with him. I was against retiring his number for a long time. I eventually came to "Fine, if other people want it, but I'm not going to be supportive."
I'm in a more rational place about it now, but I still have complicated feelings when it comes to Kariya.
Yeah, that sucked.
The fact that we won the Cup 4 years later made me get over it though, lol.
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2 hours ago, hoxxey said:
Grant lost every face-off I saw him take. Cleanly.
He was terrible on the draws. A big part of the reason our PK couldn't get the puck out of the zone. Lose every faceoff.
I know our PK stats look good right now but that's due to good luck/goaltending. The PK has looked atrocious, and Grant has been a big part of that.
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4 hours ago, Gorbachav55 said:
Wow, Brady Tkachuk signs for seven years, $8.2 million per year. That's an awful lot for a guy who's scored at a .65 ppg pace over his three-year career, and hasn't gotten more productive since his rookie season. I know there's still potential there, and we have to take the COVID seasons with a grain of salt, but it seems like Ottawa really has to overpay to keep these guys around. I don't blame them - they had to do this as part of their rebuild (and they can afford to), but it's going to make negotiations with some of their other guys more difficult down the road, assuming they blossom into stars.
For all the flak I give Murray, he's usually handled RFA negotiations really well. It will be interesting to see if it's any different now that Solomon is here.
It does seem like an overpay in the short term.
Brady has been remarkably consistent since entering the league. 0.63, 0.61 and 0.64 points per game in his first 3 seasons. His Corsi and Fenwick numbers are also amazingly consistent over those 3 years. So he's still young, but he hasn't taken any big steps forward in his time in the NHL.
They are banking on him becoming more than a 50 point scorer, which is what he is now. He sort of reminds me of TJ Oshie. He might have one or two seasons that are more productive, but overall he is a consistent 50 point per year guy, every year. I don't think that's enough scoring for $8.2M per year.
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11 minutes ago, dtsdlaw said:
Agree, but Buffalo is almost certainly going to demand the 2022 1st rounder. They need another top pick immediately to give the fans a reason to come back. They're not going to be able to survive THIS for much longer, so I don't think they want to wait for a 2023 1st rounder, especially since Eichel will more than likely be back for the full season in 2022-23 for whatever team gets him. The only way to work around it is going to be to make it conditional. Something like, the 2022 1st is top-2 protected and requires Eichel to play at least 20 games in 2021-22, and if both of those conditions aren't satisfied then it becomes a 2023 1st.
Agreed, the 2023 first or the protected pick in 2022 would be my offer.
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14 minutes ago, Gorbachav55 said:
I have no idea what other teams are offering, but Buffalo is asking for several 1st round talents in exchange for Eichel. Originally, the report was four assets. I'm sure that's come down now, but I imagine two first round assets are the minimum. Buffalo is going to want at least one actual player. I can imagine the Ducks escaping without Drysdale and Zegras included, but without McTavish as well? There has to be some team that can beat that offer. The Ducks don't have any other high level prospects. Kevyn Adams would be run out of town on a rail if he traded Eichel and didn't get one top-of-the-first-round talent.
I think the problem is that there are limited teams still in on Eichel due to cap constraints. Out of the teams left, maybe only Columbus could beat an offer that doesn't include Zegras, Drysdale or McTavish.
Considering the lack of other options for Buffalo I don't think I would offer more than Perreault + Lundestrom + 2023 1st round pick + Kesler.
That's 4x first rounders right there! Lol.
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2 hours ago, DT2008 said:
Remember, they play in one of the oldest arenas in the league.
They've done enough upgrades over the last decade that I don't think you need to worry about the age of the arena. It's just as good as many other NHL arenas I've been to anyway.
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45 minutes ago, dtsdlaw said:
I heard an idea on the Crashing the Pond podcast that McTavish could stay with the Big Club until the WJCs in late December and then he'd go back to Peterborough through the end of 2021-22 after the WJCs, and that actually makes some sense to me. That would keep him around for about 30 games, which burns a year off his ELC but doesn't count as an accrued NHL season for UFA purposes.
I would be fine with this if McTavish is playing well enough. It can't be a bad thing to have him learn from old man Getzlaf while the guy is still here. He could be gone by the time McTavish is ready for a full time gig.
How about:
Comtois - Eichel - Rakell
Henrique - Zegras - Terry
McTavish - Getzlaf - Silfverberg
Jones - Groulx - Whoever
😁😁😁
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1 hour ago, Gorbachav55 said:
Congrats to McTavish, although I don't think he's quite ready. I wouldn't be surprised to see him sent to juniors before the 10-game limit. That said, while he's with the team, he needs to be in the lineup.
I don't think this is their optimal roster, but there's not much they can do with what's in the system. I would have kept Carrick and Volkov up over Grant and Steel. And their defense is suboptimal, but that bird flew when they let Fleury get drafted. This is what I expect to see:
- Henrique - Zegras - Rakell
- Comtois - Getzlaf - Terry
- McTavish - Lundestrom - Silfverberg
- Jones - Groulx - Grant/Deslauriers
I wouldn't change much about this. As I said, I think Carrick or Volkov should be on that 4th line over Grant or Deslauriers, but they're in the AHL. Steel will play if Lundestrom, McTavish, Groulx, or Jones struggle. I've also been against Terry playing with Getzlaf, but I don't know where else he plays in this lineup. If Steel were any good or if they wanted to play McTavish at center, I could see Terry playing alongside those guys and being an asset. But the Ducks are clearly breaking McTavish in like they did with Zegras - on the wing. And I'm okay with that.
- Lindholm - Drysdale
- Fowler - Manson
- Pateryn/Mahura - Shattenkirk
I think this is the best lineup to develop Drysdale, which is the most important thing. It also relegates Shattenkirk to the 3rd pairing, which is good. We know that Fowler-Manson sucks, but who else are we going to pair Fowler with? Any of the other RDs would make that pairing too susceptible to size. I think this unit is going to struggle, though, especially given the lack of defensive help from forwards and the terrible defensive "strategies" that Eakins employs.
And of course Gibson - Stolarz. I'm not nearly as optimistic as dts. I expect the team to be around 75 points unless additions are made or there's an unexpected contribution from a rookie. The team is going to struggle on offense and defense, and special teams look to be bad again, if the preseason is any indication.
I agree with a lot of what you have said.
I would be incredibly surprised if McTavish makes it past his 9 games before going back to Juniors.
I don't think Terry and Getzlaf have shown much chemistry to speak of, but where else do we slot Terry in? Fingers crossed this is the year that Terry really breaks out. I was talking to a buddy of mine here in Edmonton who is a Sabres fan. He is hoping that if Eichel goes to Anaheim that Terry is in the package back the other way. There's a lot of love for this kid around the league because his underlying numbers are great. Now he just has to put it all together and start scoring on a regular basis.
I hope Drysdale stays with Lindholm. The other pairs don't matter all that much IMO. Since we know Fowler and Manson don't really work, I would be fine with Fowler-Shatt and Mahura-Manson as the other pairs.
Pateryn is basically Holzer. He's the 7th d-man that only plays a game every 2 weeks if everyone is healthy.
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). Note that Boynton also didn't see the ice during those playoffs until game 4 of the Finals against Philly on June 4th, so he was likely spending more time with the Black Aces than the actual roster players. I'm sure many guys on the active roster found out later too, but not likely during that 3 week window.
Last Night's Game...
in Anaheim Ducks
Posted
He's back on the roster now, was likely just a glitch as you said.