IPv6Freely

Weird, Andersen gave up his awesome CN Tower Bauer Ultrasonic for Lefevre.

Huh, now they're all Canadian companies. That's a quick changeover and seems unnecessarily complex. But, I guess understandable they have to get all the sponsors in.

That's... not what waterboarding is. You wet it, wring it out, and put it over your face. They're cooling towels, often worn either for their cooling properties (around the neck for example) or over the face when its dusty. It's great to breathe through, and the way it keeps you cool is a nice extra bonus. I wear one while backpacking too. Try doing that with a wash cloth. Wet it, wring it out, and then breathe through it. You can see how nice it actually is even compared to a typical cloth mask.

So, this is what things are going to look and sound like. To be honest, it's not too bad. First thing I noticed watching the game on NHL.tv is the big Stanley Cup at centre ice instead of the Leafs logo which obviously makes sense. The second thing I noticed is that the advertisements on the boards are all US companies. It looks kind of strange.

The Bauer base layer definitely have grip in that area, I assume the other brands do too.

That’s one reason I had JR do my conversion. Knowing new holes were likely going to need to be drilled, I wanted to know for sure it was going to be done right.

They play better when behind than with a lead, where they sit back and try to hang onto it despite having terrible defence, which means blown leads are common. There’s zero killer instinct. And they definitely fold easily. Down by one goal, you’ll see them playing their best. Down by two goals, the game is over. Toronto should absolutely win this series, but Columbus has proven they can stifle high flying teams (before getting pummeled by hard working teams). That’s really the only thing about them that scares me, yet it’s more than enough to win.

Let’s goooooo

Eddie Shack

Smart plan, this isn’t going to be ending any time soon.

Regis Philbin

Definitely an interesting strategy.

Scroll up 🙂

I've been invited to a pickup on sunday. It's definitely still not safe to be playing hockey in the US at this point, but I have a tournament Aug 8-9 and probably should get some reps in. I'm kind of shocked they haven't canceled it, really. I'm going to try to wear a mask on the ice (I've been told by other goalies that the Mission cooling gaiter, after you wet it, isn't too bad to breathe through) so we'll see how that goes. It arrived yesterday and I tried it at home and I think it may be doable.

Nope, haven't seen anything on that yet. Kind of surprising, considering how hockey starved we've been.

Agreed with the overrated bit. People are definitely still stuck on how good he used to be. I wonder if the Penguins are doing the same thing as the Leafs - loading up all their good players on the opposite practice squad of the starting goalie and just absolutely lighting them up so they're game-ready, rather than allowing them to just float through the "pre-season" and then getting shelled in the playoffs. Theres a video of Andersen getting LIT UP at a practice, like he can't stop anything. I... hope thats a reverse psychology thing, and not just him being absolute trash. Maybe Murray is in a similar boat. Just trying to shell him so he's ready to go.

I agree with you. This should be an awesome series.

Oh, how I hope that catches on.

I'm not a huge fan of the logo. Like the name though, but I feel like they could have done way better on the logo. The S is clearly a nod to the history, but it also would be way better as a shoulder logo. The colors are... fine, I guess. I hated the Vegas color scheme when it was unveiled too, and now it's actually one of my favorites. So who knows.

This is the only sweep I'm predicting. People keep taking about the "Price Factor", but let's be honest, he hasn't been all that great in at least a couple seasons. I'm glad to see Max Domi playing though.

The Rangers have Panarin and Zibanejad, but that's about all that makes them dangerous. (Though, that may be enough). I'm going to lean Hurricanes though.

This is probably the most irrelevant series of the play-in. I could not care less at all what so ever. The only thing I find interesting is the two veteran coaches going head to head. I'll go Islanders because I think they are better at digging in and forechecking.

Blue Jackets win if they work hard, grind, forecheck, and have at least one game stolen by their no-name goalies. Basically, if Tortorella out-coaches Keefe. Also, if Frederik Andersen plays October/Game 7 hockey. Otherwise, Leafs win as long as either of the top two lines break out. I think Keefe being willing to mix things up, unlike his predecessor, can help.

This is one of the more intriguing matchups to me. The Blackhawks have absolutely no business being here, but with their playoff experience they might be able to pull it off. I would prefer Edmonton to win, but because Edmonton is Edmonton, I think this one is ripe for an upset.

Predators have declined significantly, but still have playoff experience to lean on. I'll lean them, by a slight margin.