TrueBlue4ever

Tonight’s key games: SEA @ MIN COL @ Ana

And in the annual NHLPA player poll, and whenever agents are asked, Edmonton ranks just behind Winnipeg and ahead of 30 other cities for “most listed destination on my no-trade list”

The precedent was set two days earlier when Boston’s AJ Greg got one game for a cross check to the face on Montreal’s Mike Hoffman, leaving him with a nasty 18 stitch cut across his chin. Department of player safety is a joke - but with former goon George Parros in charge, the repeat offender thugs get protected and the good players who go over the line once get hammered. And all the post-whistle cheap shots and skirmishes get ignored.

People seem to conveniently forget that CTV and CBC did not want to keep the CFL, unless it was the Grey Cup game. TSN was the only real option.

Sad reality is Winnipeg is a place very few want to play, so draft and develop (and overpay early if you want to lock in long term) is the only way to build the team. On that end Cheveldayoff and the scouts have actually done a good job. Good drafts and got Scheifele, Hellebuyck, Ehlers and Connor on team-friendly contracts compared to their performance. Even Wheeler’s current deal, as a “we owe him a veteran overpay after so many years of value” contract, has not been a bad overpay until the second half of this season, and the salary cap freeze due to the pandemic helped make it worse than it would have been. But think of how many players did not want to sign long term here. Kane, Trouba, Laine, Copp, Hayes, Stastny, now Stanley and Dubois. This team will always play with one hand tied behind its back compared to the Tampa’s, Vegas’s, New York’s, LA’s, Toronto’s and Montreal’s of the world. A shake-up is absolutely needed, but those who want to blow it up and sell all the stars think it will be a quick fix - it won’t. And those same fans will be the first to gripe next year and the year after when we are a bottom feeder (and will be for about 5 years if we go full re-build) and will want to dump their season tickets. In a 32 team league, you don’t go from also-ran to Cup favourite in one summer. As I said before, first move is to figure out a long term extension for Hellebuyck. Everything else flows from what that contract size will be and what else it allows us to do. Second step is to figure out definitively what is happening with Dubois. Figure out your line on the sand on a long term deal dollar value, and if he says no matter what he wants to go to free agency, move him this summer. If he signs here, move Scheifele. If Dubois is gone, you are kind of forced to keep Scheifele, as you will have no top line centre otherwise (barring a centre-for-centre trade). From there, figure out the locker room culture and repair it (if Wheeler is disliked because he’s a hard ass on other players, frankly I say the entitled young’uns are the problem and not a taskmaster captain who sacrificed both testicles blocking shots and expects the same commitment from others - but I am not in the locker room so I don’t know more than any other armchair critic what the real story is).

Winnipeg……where the back-up QB and the 3rd line 8 goals a year centre are more popular than the stars.

Yes, with the Jets struggling we now need to root for other teams to help us make the playoffs. Today’s temporary hate ban goes to the Maple Leafs, who are playing the Predators. So go Leafs! After the game, enjoy your decontamination shower and let the hate flow freely again.

Re-open the “Your Hate Goes Here” thread! Just apply the Sun Tzu philosophy: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. (Source questionable, the phrase has been attributed to many different people)

Winnipeg and Calgary both play Tuesday and Friday. Seattle plays Monday, Thursday, Saturday. Nashville makes up two of its games in hand this week playing today, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Sunday’s key games: COL @ Ari Tor @ NAS

Appleton jumped right in to fight him, actually. Or so the radio broadcast said.

Today’s key games: WPG @ LA SEA @ NAS SJ @ CAL Chi @ MIN Van @ DAL Arizona officially eliminated from playoff contention last night with the loss.

The Staal brothers disagree with you. https://www.wowktv.com/sports/sports-illustrated/424bc1c0/staal-brothers-choose-not-to-wear-panthers-pride-jerseys/ And they have the right to refuse, just like Colin Kaepernick had the right to take a knee, but it is weak to send out a “statement” through the team’s PR guy, citing a nebulous “we support inclusivity but we refuse to wear a symbol of this inclusivity because of “our religious beliefs”, and will take no further questions on this, thank you”. If you have such conviction, stand by it. Explain what in your beliefs specifically makes you reject homosexuality, how the Pride jersey is an endorsement of that specifically, rather than just a symbol of support and inclusion for a marginalized and historically oppressed group regardless of your sexual preferences. And don’t hide behind copy written by/for a PR flunkie who has to deliver your message for you. No further comment does not cut it here.

I got better.

If I were in Congress I would bring an “Eliminating Abortions” bill that would aim to protect the unborn from abortion. To do this I would mandate that all males at the age of twelve must undergo a mandatory vasectomy to avoid accidental pregnancies. Of course since these procedures are reversible, any male could choose to reverse it if they wanted to start a family with their partner, married or common-law. Any male who reversed it was then bound to raise the child for a minimum of two years before putting the child up for adoption, and pay all costs associated with the adoption process. They could also be liable civilly and criminally if they were involved in an ”unwanted” pregnancy because they reversed their vasectomy under fraudulent circumstances, or never got one. As for the 0.2% whose procedures fail through no fault of their own, well that is one tenth the rate of ectopic pregnancies or one fifth the rate of total pregnancies that come as a result of rape, and no one seems too worried about those exceptions, so like a Republican senator once said about a rape victim “if you can’t stop it, you might as well sit back and enjoy it”. Let’s see how fast the religious right change their tune on abortion once the onus is on men to be responsible for the child.

Show of hands - who here watches CFL Wired, and how often?

You think a 24 year old 6’4” Canadian receiver who came close to 1,000 yards last year would not make this roster over Wolitarsky? RIIIIGHT. And One thing Demski is not better at so far is staying healthy. We’ll agree to disagree, but I’m pretty confident if KSB donned blue and gold there’s be a few erection memes on this board. Just because TSN and 3 Down overhype him doesn’t mean you have to lowball his talent to balance the scales.

There you go. Tonight’s key game: Ari @ COL

OMG Namestnikov, that had better not cost us.

Appleton has been noticeable tonight, in a good way. Team has been moving its feet tonight. Good speed game.

1. He put up better last year in his second year than Demskii has in any year of his career. 2. He would easily make our roster. 2nd best Canadian receiver in the game last year behind Gittens while playing on a lousy team. Just more irrational knee-jerk Rider hate talking.

At this point I expect Wheeler to pass on a breakaway….with an open net. Scott Billick would call that a lack of motivation.