Rich

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21064026/nhl-patrik-laine-nearing-teemu-selanne-status-native-finland

Interesting comments from his agent. Apparently there has been no contact for two weeks. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/bombers-draft-choice-cut-by-nfl-wants-money-or-freedom-agent-says-451283713.html So basically they want a lot of money and likely only for the remainder of this year.

Disagree. This pretty much puts a nail in the coffin of his career. Now he just wants to write the final chapter and have his day in court. I doubt it. From everything thing I've seen and read, this is a topic he felt passionately about, and decided to take a stand, I'm betting with eyes wide open. His career is done. And like I said, not everything in life is about money. He made a stand for something he passionately believes in. I have a lot of respect for that. History is full of people who sacrificed where if they didn't, progress wouldn't be made. Life isn't always about coasting through the path of least resistance. It will be near impossible to prove, but yes I believe this is collusion. Especially for a league who gives second chances to wife beaters, drug addicts, and criminals. Who is the real trouble maker?

Look how long people were calling Adams a bum and lazy before he broke out this year I know we need help now, but you need to give these receivers time to figure out the nuances of the game up here.

His actions have started a movement for awareness that has transcended football and into all sports and mainstream news. Not everything is always about money. He did what he did to bring awareness to a cause he believed in. Doing it for 2 games would not have the same effect. Other people picked up his cause only when he got black listed. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for what you believe in Job well done, I'd say. While I doubt he will win, I hope he buries the NFL in his lawsuit. The hypocrisy of giving woman and child abusers a second and third chance, but you can't have someone executing a peaceful protest....

People keep stating this like Hall was on the whiteboard one day and said I'm going to build a defence where my MLB can just chew up a blocker and not have to do anything else really well,. This is mostly based on a few responses from O'Shea who would never through a player under the bus. What the more likely explanation is that the defence has been setup to accommodate Hurl's shortcomings, not the other way around. You can't tell me if we had someone like an Elimimian on the roster he would be asked to do what Hurl does. And even if he was, he would be far more effective than Hurl out there and make more plays. Is that the extreme example of a MLB? Yes. But you get the point. Hurl is asked to do what he is capable of. Nothing more. That is why people complain. They want a better playmaker at MLB.

Green Bay could sure use him now.

http://www.tsn.ca/reports-kaepernick-filing-grievance-against-owners-for-collusion-1.885371

Picks must be in by Friday @ 8 PM

Not so easy to find an owner to buy a team whose average attendance looks like this: 2016/2017 - 11,776 (63% capacity) and dead last in the NHL 2015/2016 - 10,102 (65.6% capacity - no idea why this number is higher) and dead last in the NHL 2014/2015 - 12,594 (67.4% capacity) and dead last in the NHL Prior to this year their attendance ranged anywhere around 15k - 17. So why the sudden drop? In 2014 / 2015 they raised ticket prices by 28%. And consequently saw a ~30% decline in attendance. So even when they were getting decent attendance numbers, it was because they were dumping their product at cheap prices. Carolina is one of those cities where attendance will suck if the team is bad. And they've been bad for a long time. Haven't been a playoff team since 2008/2009. Who wants to buy that?

Trade deadline passes with no trades.

http://www.bardown.com/the-hurricanes-attendance-numbers-on-tuesday-night-were-the-lowest-since-2001-1.881736 Worst attendance for a game that wasn't snowed out since 2001. And only the 2nd game of the season.

Interesting article from Scheifele as he rates his top 5 toughest players he has faced in the NHL. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/mark-scheifele-top-5-nhl/ Interesting read from someone who plays against these guys and his comments on their game. His top 5 toughest players to play against: Karlsson Price Crosby Josi McDavid

Gonna be a real interesting off season for the Jets after this season. Both Trouba and Morrissey are RFAs. Won't be able to sign them both to long term deals and stay under the cap even with signing all the RFA forwards to reasonable short term deals. I'm not convinced we can keep both (even with Enstrom coming off the books). The year after, Laine comes due. Wheeler, Myers and Mason are up. Take away $10M of their collective salary to sign Laine. Assuming Mason is gone. Poolman takes over for Myers. Still going be tough to fit Wheeler in.

Buff also missed practice in the days leading up to the game. So if he is being benched because of poor play and not an injury, and also missing practice, that would be a bigger story.

Hearing on 1290 that he was off fishing yesterday. Still unknown if he is really injured. Not sure this is a big issue with yesterday being a day off for the team.