Anybodyhome

Yeah, I'm not back for sure, just lurking during the off-season. Can't post anything someone may disagree with without it being taken as some personal attack. Anyway, yeah, Nikishin will be on the 2nd pair with Burns. RBA's exit presser really sounded like Burns will move down to the 2nd line. Slavin-Chatty Nikishin-Burns Ghost-Walker Morrow

Stop taking it as some personal affront. I don't care about UNC, Duke or State. I'm simply stating that Dean Smith did not tolerate nor want a "superstar" on his team. He believed in team play and that nobody is above the team. The Canes will not attract a 100-point scorer because RBA doesn't short shift lines to keep Aho on the ice, like we've seen the Oilers do with Draisaitl and McJesus- both with around 30 minutes in regulation time. It's one reason Aho may never see a 100-point season, because he won't get the ice-time to do it.

Dean Smith frequently benched players when he thought their egos were taking over the game. And all of the stars you mentioned showed out much better in the NBA than their college careers might have indicated And John Wooden.

RBA is the Dean Smith of hockey. A lot of wins, a lot of trips to the post season, but little to show for it at the end of the day relative to the W-L record. And, not unlike Dean Smith, RBA won't have a superstar on this team. The closest he got was Necas, then Rantanen, and neither wanted to be here. Dean Smith preached the team approach, and even Michael Jordan averaged almost 18 ppg in Smith's system. Mitch Marner is not the answer. Ehlers or Brock Boeser might be the better fit. And find a replacement for Orlov who has some offense (Provorov, Gavrikov, Ryan Lindgren or even Aaron Eckblad).

And you'll have your chance to be just as disrespectful as you think they are in Boston on Monday.

Without going full Tinderbox, I'll just say the US pretty much deserves it.

Nope. Slavin is a great d-man, don't get me wrong, but with hockey douches like Kreider, Trocheck, Fox, the Tkafukoff brothers, and JT Miller..... I'm not pulling for Canada, either, so there ya go.

Finland gave the US everything they could handle for 40 minutes. But, the Fins are a severely depleted team missing their best defensemen, and can only hold on for so long. The Fins PP is a 5-forward set- no D-men. First time I've seen that. One of the announcers said there are only 11 Finnish D-men in the entire NHL, and the best 3 are all injured and not playing. And the first goal of the game goes to.... you guessed it, a fill-in Finnish D-man with 1 goal to his name this NHL season.

Yeah, I noticed, too. He looked very much like he has since coming to Carolina.

Can't pull for the US with the Tkafuk brothers on the team.

Most Scratch Your Head and WTF Are You Doing? #52

United States has the roster stacked top to bottom, including goalie. Canada's biggest weakness is at the goalie position. I was gonna ride the underdog Finland the whole way...

Chatfield is my sweater (jersey).

MVP: Aho Most Improved: Chatfield Best Line: Robinson - Aho - Jarvis OPOY: Jarvis DPOY: Slavin (Chatty close second)

Not the first time I've heard Marner's name come up, and, as we've read over the past few days, if Carolina doesn't get a long-term deal done before the TDL, Rantanen will likely be on the move again. Marner isn't a goal scorer, he's more of an assist guy (16G, 55A), so does he make Aho, Jarvis, Svech better goal scorers? The Canes may come out of this with egg on their face with Necas having success in Colorado (4G, 5A in 8 games) while Rantanen struggles to adjust and a deal not looking very promising at this point.

Sorry to hear that. No harm intended. Get well soon.

Be surprised. Vejmelka got embarrassed twice since he opened his mouth.

Don't know if those words have ever escaped my lips. And I'll be 69 in a couple weeks...lol

You wanted a 100- point goal scorer.

3 stars right now are Aho, Jarvis, Chatty.

Pretty clear head shot on Blake. Not sure how the refs missed it since Blake's noggin was about the only thing Kerfoot hit.

Trade Orlov and #52. They are the biggest offensive threats Carolina has to worry about. Each of them has a goal and assist for Utah

PP entry is an issue again. Necas and his speed made entry easy. Why is there no net front on the PP?