Rich

No surprises: F John Albert D Julien Brouillette** G Connor Hellebuyck F Carl Klingberg** F JC Lipon ** Pending Waivers

No.

Football seems to go in cycles as the game changes with different players and new schemes. Throw in the Ottawa expansion draft to really jumble things up and offences need time to adjust. The higher scoring offences will come back eventually.

Hanks nickname of Banks comes from the Saskatchewan fan base when he shunned them to sign in Calgary for more money. Why else would Rider fans hate him if they were the ones who cut him?

The tweet was in the first post of this thread: "O'Shea puts blame on Hajrullahu on blocked punt. Tell him he has to get rid of it quickly on low snap." He was mad because a reporter was putting words in his mouth and presumingly something he didn't do and he wouldn't do publicly. And it wasn't his biggest complaint of the game. It was what he said on air in the post game show. He can't complain about the officiating, he won't throw his players under the bus. So he complained about a reporter from CJOB putting words in his mouth. I'm pretty sure this is the least of his worries behind closed doors....

Edmonton pick!

Elliot isn't the QB you think he is. He isn't even 2nd on their depth chart. He wasn't put in for the series when Hank was forced to sit out for an injury.

Turnover on downs by SK. Edmonton runs it in for a TD. Good start to this game.

3rd and 1 and Ottawa runs out of shotgun? They deserve to lose this game.

Easy solution. Go to the game live.

If you want to win, you play the best player you can at every position. Lirim is a better punter. It is rare a punter gets hurt on blocked punt. So rare it is not worth putting in an inferior kicker and taking away the extra roster flexibility.

So if he goes ahead and says what you want ... "This next game is critical and not just another game" ... and then he loses, then what do you want him to say? He won't paint himself into a corner like that. I want my coaches to be in the business of winning football games not entertainment and not pandering to the media. It doesn't really matter what he says or does, the media here have proven they will fill their columns with drivel either way.

If that was the case Liram would have won the punting duties out of TC Not necessarily. Lirim was a rookie and sometimes if you give kickers too much to do both areas suffer. At the TC practise I was at, I thought Lirim out kicked Renaud. I think they wanted to ease Lirim in, letting him get comfortable and good at kicking while keeping some vet experience in the kicking game. When Renaud got hurt, Lirim was given the opportunity to take over both jobs. If Renaud was the better punter, he would be back by now.

Haven't seen the official stats between the two, but just watching them punt, I do believe Lirim has the stronger leg and het gets much better hang time on his punts.

I think they've been waiting to see if another team's punter goes down this season to trade (and also to backup for the Bombers in case of injury). If no biters, my bet is he is let go in the off season.

Well, last week was a tough one, I know I went 1 - 3. Jesse W. James and saskbluefan tied for the lead with 36 wins, Cam P and kelownabomberfan right behind in 2nd with 35 wins. Things are very tight going down the stretch. See the current leaderboard here: http://morningbigblue.com/community/index.php?app=pickems&do=leaderboard&pid=5&wid=60 Be sure to get your picks in for this week before game time tonight: http://morningbigblue.com/community/index.php?app=pickems&do=games&pid=5&wid=61

It is definitely possible. And if they do, then the Jets will struggle mightily this year. They've both worked themselves into pretty prominent roles in the lineup. I'm hoping Maurice's influence on the team last year and during the off season offset any chance at the dreaded sophomore slump. I would be more worried about the fact that Maurice is pretty much the definition of an average at best coach and that the better performance last year was simply new coach syndrome. His record is definitely nothing to write home about, just above .500, has missed the playoffs more then he has made them. Just like the attitude he has brought in compared to what the Jets have had with Noel. You can see the difference in the press conferences and the way he runs camp. The experience he has coaching though is what I think this team needs compared to Noel. No doubt the Jets are still very tough to make the playoffs this year, and id I were a betting man, I would bet against it. However, hoping that with the younger talent he has here, he can replicate some of his earlier successes in Carolina.

It is definitely possible. And if they do, then the Jets will struggle mightily this year. They've both worked themselves into pretty prominent roles in the lineup. I'm hoping Maurice's influence on the team last year and during the off season offset any chance at the dreaded sophomore slump.

I don't think Petan and Morrisey make it. Kane-Scheif-Wheeler Buff-Little-Ladd Lowry-Perrault-Frolik Galiardi-Slater-Thorburn Enstrom - Bogosian Stuart - Trouba Clitsome / Pardy / Ellerby / Postma Problem with those bottom 4 is only Postma shoots right. But they will likely try to keep those 8 for depth.

Threads don't get closed for football discussion. They get closed when people move away from that and start throwing insults back and forth.

Most jr. teams operate on shoestring budgets so having those star players to market around certainly is something worthwhile. To be perfectly honest I think the biggest change isn't with kids being more ready for the NHL at younger ages than they used to be so much as young players are cheaper options in a cap world than a veteran. Used to be that you never even thought of bringing young players up unless they were truly exceptional talents but now with veterans being more expensive younger players are an option to save cap space. It is also a balancing act for those younger players. you don't want to bring them up too early. If you are paying for their development in the NHL, and they aren't getting regular minutes or are not regularly in your lineup then you are waisting those cheap years. It really depends on where a team is in their development cycle.

The argument is for the time, scouting, and development that the junior teams invest into these players. Not saying its right. It should really be what is best for the players. But I can understand why the junior teams, after investing in them, want the payoff of what they bring to their teams in terms of success, marketing, attendance, ticket sales etc.

After giving Thorburn the contract they just did, you have to figure he is pencilled into the 4th line as well. Not a fan of the length of that contract.

Willy was throwing but not practicing. Brohm was taking first team reps and at this point look like he will be starting this weekend.

Seriously, people need to grow up. This site really needs to get back to football discussion. Leave the pissing matches at the door. Thread closed