chippa13

Not at all. If you watched any of Gretz's games the last few years of his career then you would understand why it is the Gretzky rule. Refs probably got so used to giving him assists in his early years that they just couldn't break the habit. Well, that goal exemplifies the adage, "They don't ask how, just how many." Congrats to the kid, he now has 1 more NHL goal than I do.

One of those "phantom assists" they've been talking about so much. The definition of a "phantom assist" or, as I like to call it, the Gretzky rule, is when a player is not involved at all in the scoring play yet somehow gets credited with a helper.

Do you know anything? David is getting a better experience practicing every day at the NHL level and at the NHL pace and observing and being around other professional NHL playesr than he would get walking a bunch of kids in the Q. Get real. This is easily the best route for him and when there are injuries (which there will be) he'll be the most ready to step in that he can be. Two different schools of thought. I have always believed that it is better to be playing than to be watching. I also don't believe a prospect should be living in the press box for depth. That is a job for a journeyman or AHL call up. I guess that's why Andy Murray and co. are in the Employee of the St. Louis Blues and you are not. The Q isn't going to help David at this point. His weight and strength training he's doing during practice is worth 10x the experience he would get with another year in the Q. Sure, because guys never get returned to juniors with a diet and exercise regimen to follow.

Do you know anything? David is getting a better experience practicing every day at the NHL level and at the NHL pace and observing and being around other professional NHL playesr than he would get walking a bunch of kids in the Q. Get real. This is easily the best route for him and when there are injuries (which there will be) he'll be the most ready to step in that he can be. Two different schools of thought. I have always believed that it is better to be playing than to be watching. I also don't believe a prospect should be living in the press box for depth. That is a job for a journeyman or AHL call up.

Send him down already. Playing 1 game in 8 is just dicking him around.

Trust me, if he does return to the Q, the Blues won't be sending him there to dangle for a year. He'll have his list of things to focus on and improve, it won't be a season to waste.

He realizes that. Plus, dunno if this has been mentioned, but it is 9 games that he plays in - not the Blues' first 9 games of the season. True, they could drag it out as long as they want so long as he doesn't play 10 games. Actually, they can ship him back to juniors at any time, it is just that once he has played in 10 games, it counts as a season off of his contract. I'm sure he realizes that, I was just putting it out there for some of these kids to understand. He made opening night and now he has to prove he belongs for the long haul. One can always point to Jordan Staal and Patrice Bergeron for inspiration. Both of those guys were expected to just get a taste of NHL life in training camp and then be shipped back to juniors.

Good on him making it past the cut downs. He should feel good about that. But that is just the slight opening of the door. The Blues still have 9 games to decide if he sticks or heads back to junior.

10 isn't a rookie number, he should stick with what he was assigned for the preseason games. It seems to be working so far, don't mess with it.

I read on one of the caps blogs, final rosters have to be turned in by Tuesday Oct 2nd. So he will know by then The team will still have 9 games to play with to decide if he'll be up for the season or if he will get sent back to juniors.

"Lighten up, Francis." I've followed enough training camps over my 36 years to know that junior aged kids seldom get a chance to make the same mistake twice. As I said, power to him if STL keeps him around for a longer look.

Last man back commits a giveaway, welcome back to juniors. It happens...I think what is going on with him is that they want to see how he is going to bounce back. Everyone has a bad game. There's been more upside than down with him, and that's why STL will keep him as long as they can before making the final decision. Power to him if they decide to let him respond to that mistake. Unfortunately, most 19 year olds don't get the luxury of learning from your mistake with the big club.

Last man back commits a giveaway, welcome back to juniors.

e-tailors = electronic (online) retailors You can get clothes tailored online?

It looks like the holes are too far down the shaft to make a viable 2-piece version.

Bergeron is just the new name for the Amonte pattern.

They are out now, both R2 Armor and R2 Armor Control are at my LHS. There is an odd bumpy kind of texture to the shaft.

Just grab a pair of snips and cut off your toe. It might hurt a little but problem solved.

If he uses a short stick he does.

Mods...perhaps we could just pin "It comes out in the Spring" on top of all equipment related threads. Steve...It comes out in the Spring. You're assuming people would bother reading it. Bother reading what? ;)

Most new skaters and even their parents can't analyze their skating until they have skated for a few years. The best solution for young skaters would be to learn to skate on a neutral profile and then look for tendencies after they have conquered the basics of balance and stance.

Contrary to the myth that youth skates do not need to be profiled or radiused, just the opposite is true. I recommend all youths learn to skate with a properly radius and pitched skate. No sense developing bad habits/body stance when you are young, it will haunt you later in life. Youths learn easy, bad habits as well. I can't even count the number of testimonials from parents who noticed drastic improvements after a PROPER radius/pitch was put on their child's skates. I won't even go into proper matching of left/right radius's. The thing is, until you've seen how a kid skates on non-profiled skates, you can't know what the proper profile will be. It would be foolish for parents to be profiling and reprofiling their 7 years olds skates trying to find the right combination. It's better to leave the skates unprofiled until tendencies can be identified.

A 13' radius means you have a flatter blade with more blade contact on the ice. It should provide for more stability and a stronger push off. Your difficulty turning would be because you are turning that much more blade than if you had a lesser radius. It works the same with a car. A small sports car can turn on a dime but a stretch limo takes a huge space to turn. Same principle.

A long stride and stability would call for a flatter profile where sharp turns would call for much more of a rocker to your profile. What you may want to do is have a flatter profile but go with a little deeper sharpening.

So is it safe to assume that the Rbk skates fit more similar to the old Externo line?