mouse

You got a better solution? The answer isn't coming in free agency, so short of a lottery miracle that nets us McDavid or Eichel, we're gonna be rebuilding. Also, IMO part of the reason for that is we refused to go into full rebuild mode while we still had Marty. I get why we tried with him, but we can't have the same attitude again with Cory.

And considering Lou was building around Kovalchuk, who left, you could make a case that the past couple years have been just as fluky as the cup run. Not trying to sidetrack this into a Kovalchuk debate, just saying if you're going to call our recent success a fluke, our recent failure has been just as fluky. Look, I think Lou made some huge mistakes (picking Matteau especially), and I'm hoping to God he sells at the deadline, and I wouldn't be crushed if he retired in the spring, but he's earned as much respect as anyone in his franchise, and it's ridiculous how some people here speak about him. Then again, some people here also sh!t on Marty and Nieds, so I guess it should be expected.

This is nowhere near the worst Devils team, and your high standard is a direct result of Lou being one of the greatest execs of all time. It's gotten ugly, and he's certainly somewhat to blame. He certainly may have hung on too long. But show a little respect for the man who built this franchise into something special.

I used to hate Rosen and Michaletti for being homers and was grateful to Doc and Chico (mostly Doc) for being realistic. I also loved their willingness to spend time talking about players from other teams we didn't get to see as often. I sometimes learned whom to watch from the broadcast. Now we're as bad as or worse than the Rags team.

I ended up getting Red Bulls season tix over Devils, something I never would have seen happening when I didn't have enough cash for STH and assumed I'd get them some day. There were various reasons I went that route, but a big one was how cool Red Bulls were about reselling tickets, which matters to me since I can't make every game. I know as well as anyone that RBNY have a ton of issues, and I may not end up renewing, but they got that one right, so I was willing to take the plunge, something I currently won't do with the Devils. I get wanting to control the value of tickets, but the product on the ice affects that as much as heavy handed tactics, so being heavy handed while the product is sh!t is just insulting.

That's the thing. IF I'm at a bar with only the big 3, I'll drink Goose, because I like the taste. I also have no problem with the BA changing the definition of craft so Sam could stay, because as a St. Arnold employee said on a tour I went on, "we want them." Hell, I'd have no problem with a bunch of craft brewers forming a stronger coalition to strengthen their distribution, production, even lobbying power. It's a business, even if it's also a passion. InBev, however, is playing dirty. So are the others. They're trying to take over the shelf and tap space from the real brewers out there. The stores I go to never have all the variety I want, so much as at this point, there will always be craft brewers, if we, as consumers want access to their products, we don't want the macro companies getting more shelf space, an issue I'm seeing now, as Goose and Blue Point are still being shelved with the craft stuff. Throw in the fact that bars can save money without alienating consumers who don't like piss weather by selling Goose, Blue Point, Elysian, even Blue Moon, and it gets a lot tougher to get the best, most interesting beers without going to craft bars. Don't get me wrong, those are great bars, but when I just want a good sports bar to watch a Devils game in, I'd prefer to have some beer choices.

Can we mention that he left Charlie's mom for the Icelandic chick? How bad must that have been for chemistry. I mean, maybe Charlie's mom left him beforehand because he wasn't good enough, but that's the best case scenario.

I don't but that Lindros was that much better than Forsberg. IMO Foraberg also makes them a perennial contender, especially with 15 mil to supplement. At some point, giving up a star, solid role players, and draft picks or money is too much. I'd much rather be Quebec/Colorado and compile assets. I know they got lucky that Roy and Montreal fell out, and compiling asses is easy when you have Forsberg and Sakic, so not exactly the Devils situation, but I don't know that anyone short of Gretzky is worth that kind of hall.

Remember, the Flyers lost the Lindros deal. I think that deal permanently devalued blockbusters. I don't know that you need a Forsberg like talent (even though they didn't know what they had) to land that generational pick anymore. That said, I don't mortgage the future for 1 player. Look how long it took the Isles to start winning with JT. You need to build gradually and bring in a lot of good pieces. Even Crosby and Malkin couldn't win without Fleury, Staal, Orpik, etc. Personally, I prefer the TLOA scenario.

Thanks

I'm moving in a couple weeks, and thinking about getting Apple tv rather than cable, because honestly all I watch is Netflix and sports. If I'm in market, can I still get Devils games?

Also, unless you're elite, great sticks aren't worth it. They snap just as fast. I get their use if you have a good shot, but how many kids have a good enough shot for the stick to make a difference? For that matter, how many PLAYERS? When I played, we had like 5 guys on the whole team whose performance actually improved with expensive sticks. It's all about comfort, but a lot of sticks are half hype.

He was special. We should be grateful we got to watch him for 20 years. Nothing changes that.

I'm excited. I think the gimmick's gonna be fun. Wouldn't object to them doing qualifying for 2020, but for a rush job, I think it'll be a good tournament.

If no one deserves to go, and Schneider may be close, but he doesn't deserve it either, Elias has more than earned a make up year for the ones he got screwed.

This stuff evens out. Elias got screwed when he was in his prime because of this rule, now he gets on past his prime because of it.

I'm not trading a pick. Who knows of we'll be any good in Kessel's prime? We need to rebuild our forward core through the draft, not keep acting like we're 1 player away from relevance.

My cousin got a hold of Heady Topper, nd let me share some. Imo, it's worth the hype. While I prefer a citrusy IPA, this one just had so much going on. In a good way. I waited a couple minutes between sips, and I was tasting different flavors for at least a minute. I'm not that refined either, so there were a ton of strong flavors. If I drive up to Montreal for WWC this summer, I may stop in Vermont on the way home to stock up.

I caught the tail end of Olbermann and Patrick, but Scott and Eisen were the first Sportscenter team I really watched. They're still the gold standard to me. Loved Stu's ability to balance the fun catch phrase stuff with a ridiculous a,out of knowledge. Aside from that, he's one of those guys I never met, but felt like I knew, and really liked. Doc's the same way. Losing him hurts in a different way than most celebrities. Especially since he's so young. RIP to a great one.

I miss LD

With the right team, he was a great success. With the wrong team, he was a huge failure, as he failed imo to develop young talent. The past couple years, we've been crap. I would have liked to see Lars sink or swim, rather than ever seeing Sal or Harrold. Maybe some of that falls on Lou refusing to say die, but I see a coach like Lemaire making more progress with a sh!t team than DeBo did, progress that maybe makes us a little better this year, though no one could get much out of this core of forwards. In DeBo's defense, I don't see Lemaire taking the 2012 team to the finals. It just seemed like DeBo did everything right during that run.

I like my ex fiancée more than this thread.

The problem with tanking is you have to lose players we want locked up long term to lose enough games. Even if we got rid of Elias, Jagr, Zids, and Clowe and Ryder by some miracle, Cam, Greene, Henrique, and especially Schneider are going to win you some games. And Pittsburgh had to suck for years and add a ton of pieces before they won, so you can't unload the good players, then start from scratch with McDavid, unless you want to be like the Isles, wasting Tavares' prime. This isn't basketball, where 1 guy can change a franchise. Look how well Pitt did when Crosby had the concussion issues. Much as I'd kill to have a once in a lifetime talent at forward, there's no real fix. Which doesn't mean I'm pleased with this team.

Picked up dogfish beer thousand today. I liked it. Not the most easy drinking lager, but good flavor, and with an abv of 10, I wasn't really expecting an easy drinker. Didn't get one with the album in it, which is too bad, since I love GBV. If anyone knows a place in the Essex county area that has some of the 6 packs with the album, I'd love to pick one up.

Eh, we lost 2 guys. Kovalchuk was fluky. Parise was somewhat predictable, but we had a chance to keep him, and trading him costs us the cup run. We got beat on both players, but I still don't see a better alternative. The pressure is on to draft better moving forward, which, based on the young d looks like it might be happening. Hopefully Boucher and Matteau pan out.