17to85

That's because it's Regina and the whole place isn't the nicest area around.

Sobeys are everywhere. There's one right down the street from my house so I shop there all the time simply out of convenience.

Nonsense. The highest rated defensemen in the Hall draft year was Gudbranson who is nothing special, the highest rated defensemen in the RNH draft year was Adam Larsson who played in the AHL last year. Yakupov vs. Murray is a more interesting debate however Yakupov was the consensus top player for everyone, and let's not forget that in his rookie year Yakupov led the Oilers in goal scoring and was tied for the league rookie lead in scoring but led rookies in goals. Just because Dallas Eakins is a moron who thought he was dealing with a lazy Russian and torpedoed his confidence doesn't make Yakupov a bad pick. That kid is going to score a lot of goals in his career. I just hope it's actually in Edmonton and he isn't driven away by anti-Russian sentiments. It's not like the Oilers ignored defense either, they got Marincin in the 2nd round the year they took Hall, they took Klefbom in the first round the year they took Nugent-Hopkins, they got Nurse last year, they signed free agent Schultz, they took Musil in the 2nd round the year they drafted RNH. They have drafted a lot of defensemen, in fact defense prospects is the deepest part of the system, but like I said, you're looking at 5 years before defensemen are ready to play in the NHL usually.

Plus Kessler and his NMC wouldn't waive to go to another Canadian city. He wants to play in the states. And yes I do think Kesler has more value than Kane simply because a selke winning centre is more valuable to teams than a scoring winger.

Sobeys bought out Safeway right? Surprises me that they kept the brand around, it's that strong I guess?

and neither of those prospects are really surefire guys. Horvat might top out at a middle 6 guy and nothing more.

The Oilers problem is that they weren't rebuilding for a decade. They only started rebuilding the year they drafted Taylor Hall. They were still selling the farm for magic beans and chasing the big free agents trying to recapture that 2006 magic. Since they drafted Taylor Hall they have been building through the draft and their drafting actually looks good, Hall-RNH-Eberle is a top line that even though they're young can play against the other top lines in the league and hold their own. Tambellini was a complete failure at adding quality NHL depth behind them though so they are on their own. Interestingly enough though, guys like Marincin and Klefbom and Nurse are poised to break into their defense (be 5 years after drafting Marincin next season) so that right there will make the overall team stronger. The key in Edmonton is still patience. They need to add a few key positions to the team but they've essentially done the whole thing through the draft without starting with anything in the system of a high volume of draft picks. It takes time to draft and develop defencemen and depth forwards. Right now if you go look at the Oilers system the NHL team has young skilled forwards and crappy veterans but the farm team is filled with defense prospects and forwards who project into bigger bottom 6 type players. The guys who are ready to play in the bigs first are in the NHL and the rest are still coming along. The Jets situation is a little different, they had some good pieces already in the system they could start with. Having a Bogosian and Enstrom as imperfect as they are is helpful, having Kane in the system and getting Wheeler were good starting pieces. Now it's just waiting for guys like Schiefele and Trouba to be ready for bigger roles and the rest should fall into place. They've been drafting well since they came to Winnipeg just need to wait for the prospects to be ready.

I believe he got hurt in game 5. I'm not saying it's the only reason just thinking that when I look at their D it's not super deep and losing your main shut down guy can have a big impact.

On the other hand the Kings make their living by playing with the puck in their opponents zone and not letting them have it. If you lose some of your ability to take the puck away from them in your own zone then it's hard to score when you're chasing them around the defensive zone right?

are we really sure they have enough talent? Kesler is unhappy and wants out never mind that he's on a downward slope from his peak a few years ago, the Sedins are still there sure but they're getting old and aren't exactly the core guys anyway. Other than that they don't have a real deep roster. Oh sure lots of serviceable players but they really are a one line team.

They're just numbers as I've said many times, no one is trying to say they say anything, you're just making assumptions like you always do. The % of draft picks still in the CFL by team doesn't mean much. That's not an assumption. It's a fact. You're just showing that you don't know the meaning of the word assumption. you're the only one trying to pretend that they do mean a lot here though.... all I see are the numbers (which are the facts here) being presented. I'm not trying to pretend they mean a lot. Re-read the bolded part again, slowly. yeah but who is trying to say the numbers mean a ton? You're the only one attributing that to other people. As usual you like to jump to conclusions and rage about crap that no one is actually saying.

I suspect that the Sharks biggest problem this year was Vlasic getting hurt. I think they have tremendous depth at forward but their D is a little bit weaker overall and they just couldn't overcome the loss of one of their best.

do you know why 5 years is the usual timeline? Because that's how long it takes defense prospects to usually be able to contribute. It gives draft picks 2 years to finish their junior careers then 2 years in the AHL and then contributing in the NHL by the 5th and 6th years. These are 18 year old kids they draft don't forget. 5 years is a very realistic time frame to build from. If you don't have a deep system you can't make a lot of trades, if you aren't a free agent destination you can't look for immediate help there so you have to draft your stars and let them develop and that takes time there is just no way around it.

They're just numbers as I've said many times, no one is trying to say they say anything, you're just making assumptions like you always do. The % of draft picks still in the CFL by team doesn't mean much. That's not an assumption. It's a fact. You're just showing that you don't know the meaning of the word assumption. you're the only one trying to pretend that they do mean a lot here though.... all I see are the numbers (which are the facts here) being presented.

If there's one thing this fanbase is good at it's hating on players for the sake of hating them.

I don't care how many points the Sedins put up, Thornton is a better player if only because of how damned big he is and Marleau has a lot more well rounded game than either of the sisters. Anyone who seriously thinks the Sedins are on the same level is crazy in my opinion.

And that is exactly why the team Winnipeg inherited was complete ****. They never had patience with their young players and sold them for pennies on the dollar. When you are not an attractive free agent destination you have to build up a system that can sustain itself and that takes time.

They're just numbers as I've said many times, no one is trying to say they say anything, you're just making assumptions like you always do.

I keep saying this every time they change a rule for no reason. Sometimes you can change too much.

Except that the stats show Etienne had more yards per game than Kelly did.... Mike isn't trying to pimp Etienne here, simply saying that Kelly was less productive yet people ran Etienne out of town on a rail so why does Kelly as an import survive? Maybe because Kelly in his short time showed more than Etienne did in his 3 years by making 2 or 3 good catches? Etienne has some highlights in his bomber career too.

it'll turn into a sideshow if there's an iffy call in a game. Press will be looking to skewer the poor officials. Those guys have a hard enough job as is, let them avoid the spotlight and scrutiny from the media and public. They should be answerable to the league no one else. Otherwise you get them thinking about having to answer questions to the media after the game before they make any calls.

Except that the stats show Etienne had more yards per game than Kelly did.... Mike isn't trying to pimp Etienne here, simply saying that Kelly was less productive yet people ran Etienne out of town on a rail so why does Kelly as an import survive?

Only if you choose to read more into them than is already there, but that's not a flaw in the numbers only a flaw in the person reading that into them.

It's funny you said that b/c I was taking about this with a friend of mine yesterday. It's basically a lateral move, but it would give both groups a breath of fresh air. Lateral my ass. Thornton and Marleau are way better players than the Sedins.

was that game in Hamilton the one where he kept alternating qbs series to series as well? What a stupid ******* idea that was.