He's talking about the Habs, saying they "feasted on Ottawa."
- PavohnDatsvares

My bad, misread it thinking he was talking about the leafs.

My bad, misread it thinking he was talking about the leafs.
- Trilla

Leafs have had their usual out of the gates fast start. They will fade on the back end of the season and offer up another variation of wimpier playoff exit.

Don't get fooled, Leaf fans are always preaching the gospel of the promised land. You can sometimes be deceived into believing they have actually visited a second round sometime in their recent history.

Like most ice dancing competitors they look to build huge marks on their style points. However when the final scoreboard has been completed they never get past the qualifying entry level round.

No doubt. I was 50/50 on Stutzle versus Byfield for the Kings. Stutzle's skills are already there, as exhibited last night. His IQ and compete show his balls comprise 20% of his body weight. Conversely, you have to close your eyes and imagine a fully-developed Byfield. The risk with that, of course, is you'll get a Kassian versus a Malkin when Byfiled hits his mid-20's and is finished developing. We'll see who is "better" although I'm guessing that when Byfield enters the league at ~20, Stutzle will already have played 100+ games and will likely be better than what we see now.
- Only_A_Ladd

Stutzle WAS expected to be the most NHL, which I always find curious when you have two players who are months apart in age, and one is better than the other, but one has more “potential” than the other. I feel like if you are better than player X now, a good chance you will be in a few years too - any good examples that proved the potential factor accurate?
Things that did/do concern me about Byfield:
- doesn’t elevate his game in Tournaments (this past WJC I thought would be telling for him)
- bigger players can dominant in Jr but loose that advantage in NHL
- he doesn’t seem to play with intensity - he’s good , but feels like he doesn’t have that killer instinct
I Could be eating these words in a few years when he is dominating the NHL, but I feel like I won’t be.

54 seconds left in the game, losing 2-1, and Tkachook and the boys sitting there joking around not even listening to the coach. It's going to be a long season with leadership like that.

As the saying goes, "You can't fake kids' character." The Tkachuk family is an abusive trainwreck.

Everyone may not agree, but I love this kind of game. Obviously not every game, but most games - hard work, development, and loss. Sens need to make good on AT LEAST 1 good solid pick unless Logan Brown, Lassi Thomson blow your socks off

That's the kind of loss I'll take all season long. Blog coming later today.

That's the kind of loss I'll take all season long. Blog coming later today.
- Michael_Stuart

a+

It's amazing how when you put better players on the ice you end up playing better! DJ Smith is a genius!

Stutzle WAS expected to be the most NHL, which I always find curious when you have two players who are months apart in age, and one is better than the other, but one has more “potential” than the other. I feel like if you are better than player X now, a good chance you will be in a few years too - any good examples that proved the potential factor accurate?
Things that did/do concern me about Byfield:
- doesn’t elevate his game in Tournaments (this past WJC I thought would be telling for him)
- bigger players can dominant in Jr but loose that advantage in NHL
- he doesn’t seem to play with intensity - he’s good , but feels like he doesn’t have that killer instinct
I Could be eating these words in a few years when he is dominating the NHL, but I feel like I won’t be.
- CaliNewf

You mean guys that started slow but got better after being drafted high? Barkov, Fiala, Teravainen...

Byfield has been picked apart like crazy. I attribute that to the pandemic and how long everyone had to analyze his game. He's 18, hasn't played an OHL or pro game yet this year, so I don't think giving Stutzle the prize as "better" makes a whole lot of sense. Terrific prospect, though. I wouldn't have minded at all if the Kings picked Stutlze ahead of Byfield.

First of all, congrats on the loss today fellas. You all seem pretty amped up about it

But more importantly, did you see that goal by Matthews in the first???? Yowza. Shades of Mario Lemieux, amirite??

That's the kind of loss I'll take all season long. Blog coming later today.
- Michael_Stuart

Agree

Derek Stepan will be traded soon. It will likely be so he can go back to his family

Stupid if they don't get at least a 3rd or someone of value because that was a dumb trade then

Draft "Power" Rankings (Owen Power)

1. OTT - 5 PTS - 44GR
2. DET - 6 PTS - 44GR
3. LAK - 8 PTS - 46GR
4. SJS - 8 PTS - 47GR
5. CAL - 9 PTS - 46GR
6. NSH - 10 PTS - 45GR
7. BUF - 10 PTS- 46GR

How many of these teams would you say are a safe bet to finish with higher points than Ottawa? I think other than LAK, DET, SJ, and POSSIBLY CAL, I don't think any team has a chance to finish lower than Ottawa