Anybodyhome

This. Florida tried to come out physical and it worked.... for about 12 minutes. During a first period play in front of the net, when Sam Bennett got behind Vegas goalie Hill and cross-checked him from behind and the first scrum of the game occurred, which included Hill throwing a blocker punch, it took a couple minutes, but Vegas decided they weren't going to get pushed around. That being said, Bruce Cassidy (Vegas coach) is a dick; Cheapshot Tkachuk and Bennett were the asshats everyone expected them to be and Bob is human.

Fug Florida.

Has Vegas always had a hurricane siren to start their games?

Would you say that if it was Boston or NY? No? Fug 'em all. I don't have to be loyal to anyone but the team I support.

I'll stick with these UFAs if the Canes want to "get heavier." Ryan Donato, Pierre Engvall, Ivan Barbashev, Michael Bunting, Jonathan Drioun, Tyler Bertuzzi....

Marner is currently making nearly $2M more than Aho. Talk about a cap buster. The Canes would have to extend Aho by $2-3M AAV just to keep him. Can you honestly see the Canes paying Marner and Aho $11M each or more? I don't think so. Especially after Waddell's comments hinting at wanting to sign Aho for another 8 years. Doesn't make sense.

Vegas might be the most physical team in the West. They're probably right on par with Florida, and I would expect each team will try to establish that physical presence, especially on home ice. Should be interesting to see how far the refs let things go before the league office tells them to shut it down. But, I guarantee, if the series goes to 2-2, there may not be any let down.

Let's look at Aho's playoff production over the past 5 seasons: I tend to agree with the sentiment that he'll obviously help the team get to 100 points and make the playoffs year in and year out, but will he make the impact that gets this team to a Cup final? The reality is Aho puts up nearly a point per game during the season (.90 to be exact). He's better in the playoffs at a .92. But that's a deceiving statistic because it's more than the point total. It's the impact he has on the game. If I'm an opposing coach, I worry about Aho in a couple scenarios: PK- his ability to get away and get a short-handed opportunity is downright scary. Second, regular season overtime (3-on-3). Another situation where his ability is on full display and he can make you look silly (say hello, Tony DeAngelo). But 5-on-5? I'm not so sure. He'll get his point per game average, may even have a goal and a couple assists, but is he the go-to guy with the game on the line much like (dare I say) Matthew Tkachuk? Or Zibanejad, or Robertson.... Hell, I'd go so far to say that when Necas is on his game, he's more impactful on a game of 5-on-5 than Aho. We'll find out soon enough if Aho is going to get $10M from the Canes after the 23-24 season. Especially if TT, Martinook, Chatty, Skjei, Pesce (also UFAs) and the RFA list of Necas, Drury, Jarvis, Suziki and Rees are all still needing contracts.

He had a few breakdowns, but, that's to be expected. Hell, Slavin got real sloppy in the ECF and was directly responsible for a couple goals. So, I'm not worrying about that. The upside to Chatfield's game in huge and one very important aspect of his game that goes unnoticed (except for Tripp mentioning it) is his speed. Any idea how many icing calls were negated with his speed? It helps him get to the boards quicker and he gets around the back of the net very quickly. He took some huge hits during the playoffs and never wavered. Chatty often talks about how Burns helps him with his game, how, during practice, he can ask questions and Burns takes the time to work through moves and techniques. Chatty is under contract thru the end of next season, so I think the Canes will likely give him a new deal sometime this year. Pesce and Skjei will also be UFAs at the end of next season, and the Canes need to think about half of their starting defensive starters this coming season.

After dispatching the Islanders, I thought if the Canes got to the final it was always going to be Dallas out of the West. I didn't pay any attention to the Vegas team who was the 4th best in the league this season behind Boston, Carolina, NJ. They finished with 111 points or something. Would have been good for us because Dallas is good, but the Canes always created matchup problems for them.

I think at the very least, a 5-minute update, perhaps tagged onto the end of a newer episode ("And now an update from the Florida parking lot shooter... etc."), even if it's just to let people know a trial date is coming or a plea deal was reached. It doesn't require an entire episode worth of production that way. But this one was good, really enjoyed it!

Canes numbers as of today: PROJECTED CAP HIT : $59,376,917 PROJECTED LTIR USED : $0 PROJECTED CAP SPACE : $24,123,083 CURRENT CAP SPACE : $24,123,083 DEADLINE CAP SPACE : $112,172,336 TODAY'S CAP HIT : $59,376,917 ROSTER SIZE: 17/23 CONTRACTS: 28/50 RESERVE LIST: 52/90 INJURIES: 1 (Svech) Andersen: Last salary $4.5M. If the Canes want to keep him, they'll need to pony up $5M, at least. Or, do you keep Raanta for $3M? Staal: He's been on a $6M salary for 10 years now. Think he'll stay another year or 2 for the same? Stastny & Stepan: Rees, Suzuki and Ponomarev are all under contract. Do these 3 get first look at replacing the 2 vets? Coghlan & LaJoie: Both RFA's; and neither, in my mind, have shown me they can break into the top 6 blue line. Coghlan was at $762k, LaJoie at $750k. DeHaan & Ghostisbehere: DeHaan made $850k and Ghost was at $4.5M. Ghost is a tough call. He's a 40 point per year player, but he's getting paid like a top 4 blue-liner. But, if the Canes let him go, either DeHaan or LaJoie are now a necessary keep as the only left-handed d-men on the roster. LW UFA's with some grit, will drop the gloves if need be and who pique my interest: Conor Sheary, Tyler Motte, Ryan Donato, Michael Bunting

Sorry, when was the incident again? And is there any word on a trial date? When you're putting these episodes together, does someone have the responsibility of tracking the progress and making any updates or adding content?

I'll help you out. Do you want to replace him to a) save money, b) get a "better" defenseman, c) more offense? Saving money? Nope. The bottom salary is $750k, so that doesn't work. "Better" defenseman? Oh, sure, those are always available, just open your checkbook. More offense? Chatfield had the highest point total of any bottom pair d-man in the league. And, he's under contract for through next season. His contract may be more of an issue after next season if he has another very good season like he did this year.

I think there are a couple interchangeable pieces there. Put Necas on Aho's wing and make Jarvis 2C or leave both Jarvy and Necas on the wings and find a 2C (seen PLD mentioned, but...) on the market.

Unfortunate ending of a young man's life for no reason. Mr. Hughes possessed no serious threat, could barely walk and did nothing to provoke the shooter. The shooter, on the other hand, made his mind up on the opposite side of the parking lot when he pulled the weapon out, strode across the lot, then aggressively walked up on the victim and shot him. Here's to a 2nd degree murder conviction, hopefully.

Necas is a front-office favorite and he's not going anywhere after having a career season. With 71 points this season, it far eclipsed his previous best of 41 points. Unless someone offers up a top 4 D-man and a top-6 center for him, he'll be a Cane next season. There aren't many 71-point centers out there making $3M a year. Andersen on a 1-year deal with Kochetkov as a backup has a little risk involved as the Canes will likely have to play him in stretches when (not if) Andersen gets hurt once or twice during the season. Staal coming back will save some money as the Canes won't have to sign a grind-line center off the FA market, which could easily cost them another $1 - $2M a year. Stall has been sitting on a $6M salary for 10 years now. I dare you to find me a checking line center with face-off percentage, PK responsibility, 35 points a year, and could wear the C for less than $6M. 4 centers next season: Aho, Necas, Staal, Kotkaniemi.

I read "I, Tina" when it was first published in 1986 and, as aware I was of her music, the book really showed the dark side of her life with Ike. As much of a music geek I am, her strength and remarkable fortitude gave me even more reason to respect, admire and appreciate everything she did. My wife and I attended the 2021 Rock Hall Induction in Cleveland when she was inducted alongside Carole King, the Go-Gos, Jay Z, Foo Fighters and others. Tina had been ill for some time and she did not attend the ceremony, but did a video from her Switzerland home. This is Christina Aguilera singing "River Deep, Mountain High"

Both of these guys will call their own shots and nobody will begrudge either of them. Staal is only 34, but he looks like a player considering retirement. Ya think? He was the 4th overall pick in 2016 and has 7 years in the league playing like a 6th round pick. Stastny is like Fast and Staal- he gets to make his own call. I think he may retire. Stepan will be replaced. Can't pay him any less and, believe it or not, he was making $7M+ just a few years ago. Ghost will be back next year barring a stupid amount of money he asks for. Coghlan and DeHaan are replaceable. LaJoie has shown me little to be excited about. Rather underwhelming. Fortunately, the 3 blue lines are signed, so adding depth isn't difficult.

Aho is not ready for the C. His emotions over-rode his skill set and put him in a lot of bad situations, not to mention an offensive drought during the Florida series. Here's where the focus is, as of today:

I don't think so. Go about it with the mentality that removing Tkachuk from the equation ensures a better outcome and Vegas will triumph. Just take out Cheap-Shot Chuck.

The purpose of the hit was to take Slavin out. A D-man playing the puck from behind the net is of little concern to anyone and, let's get real here, not many players line someone up for a shot like that behind the net. So, yes, in that regard, it was intentional, it was meant to injure and there's no explaining it away as "playoff hockey."

Keith Jones is a POS. Can't wait to see him at PNC next season where the Canes routinely kick Philly's a$$. I'll have few words for him if I see him.

I spoke about this at length following the NJ series. RBA changed up the lines to create better defensive matchups against NJ's speed. It worked perfectly from a defensive perspective. But, almost accidentally, it also created offense (goals) because NJ couldn't match them or just weren't ready for them. Why did RBA find it necessary to run those same lines against a Florida team that has nowhere near the speed or offensive depth of NJ? I have no clue. I would have thought RBA goes back to the lines he used against the Isles. Face it, you've got 3 lines out there who were put together for defensive purposes and they're now having to work overtime to score goals... with little to no success.

There have been 4 teams to come back from an 0-3 deficit. Matter of fact the Kings won 4 straight to win the 2014 WCF and ended up winning the Cup. Regardless, that's not part of this discussion. But, I'm not sure what this discussion is about since it's been had after each of the last 3 games now. Look, there's a lot to be said for each of the team's performance, but rehashing it and turning it into arguments every other day get none of us anywhere. I'm already looking toward next season and what the roster will look like. There are some very good opportunities out there when it comes to building the forwards and making them collectively better than they've been this year. That's what I'm looking forward to. Just like the team, we gotta move on and look for the next game.