Colorado Rockies 1976

I’m not anti-Hynes, but man every so often I’d like to see something other than that “passive anger” expression that seems to be engraved on his face. Refs missed an obvious “too many men” call early...for once, lose your fvcking sh!t, even if it won’t necessarily make any great difference. Would be a nice switch.

Awesome intro video. To quote mfitz: “I got a Bobblehead.” Of course Bettman’s mancrush team gets the calls and non-calls...duh. Sweet goals by Bratt and MoJo. fvck the refs. Dammit KK. Remind me again why Ferris Mueller has only one goal. God I love that classic Devils goal horn. Congrats on your 900th game Travis. That is all.

This would truly be nuts: https://nesn.com/2019/02/mlb-rumors-padres-not-ruling-out-signing-bryce-harper-after-manny-machado-deal/

Gotta give the Padres some credit here...they really made one hell of a splash. They just gotta hope a lot of kids in their farm pan out...they're clearly hoping for some cost-controlled young talent to help balance out that contract. Guessing Harper will be signing pretty quickly now. On one hand, it's not like the Mets were ever dipping their toes into this kind of FA waters, so it's not like they even pretended to dabble (like the whole Vlad Guerrero mess many years ago). Doesn't make the fvcking Wilpons (especially Baseball Man Jeffy) any easier to take. Probably looking at a two-year window of potential relevance, because after that, at least two of the Mets' current starting pitchers will be elsewhere.

Will be there with my daughter tonight...at least they've been pretty good at home, so we've seen our fair share of wins at the Rock. Rough as this season has been overall, I wouldn't trade this year's memories of going to this many games in one season with my daughter for anything. It's been an absolute blast. LGD! Do for it Puddy man! Do it for Puddy!

Late second-rounder...think it was 58th overall.

Was their final five that they won: https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/FLA/2018_games.html A 15-3-1 run got them into contention, but my point at the time was that it's just too hard to keep winning at that kind of pace as the season winds down...some were acting like Florida was never going to slow up. And ultimately the Panthers couldn't keep up that insane pace, and simply didn't have enough margin for error. Like I posted, that 5-5-1 cooldown was enough to derail their potential Cinderella run, even when they went on that streak at they very end. It was really Florida stumbling just enough that allowed the Devils to not have to worry as much about Columbus and Philly. Columbus actually slowed up a little at the end too...that's what allowed the Devils to have a shot to pass them in the standings (they went 1-1-2 in their final four). At any rate, it was a crazy finish to that season for sure. OK, apologies to Tri, no more from me on this.

And Florida never would've made it close if they didn't go on their crazy run. What happened last season happened. Your "what if" never came to pass, so the only timeline that matters is the one we witnessed. Like I kept saying at the time, the Panthers were going to cool off eventually, and that's what happened. A 5-5-1 "cool off" period cost them dearly. To their credit, they did pull out of it to win their final five games, but the Devils did what they needed to do to finish things off. You had the Devils definitively missing the playoffs countless times last season, when they never even surrendered their berth...I'm not saying that I ever felt like they had it all the way, just that I thought the "It's all going to sh!t, we're not making it!" reaction that you and some others had was a bit much. The Devils went 10-3-1 down the stretch, and clearly decided not to kill themselves for that final game...so more like 10-2-1, really. What got that run going was a VERY tough six-game road trip that saw them go 4-2 (EVERYONE on here was nervous about that one going in, me included). Included in that was a 7-0-1 burst, so yeah, they did play very well when they absolutely had to. And the Devils had clinched, so their last game didn't mean anything (though they could've finished higher up in the standings with a point or more in that game). They DIDN'T need help to get in. Florida was out by three points prior to their final game, which they won to pull to within one point of the Devils. Their final game was meaningless. Anyhoo, will post back on topic before Tri (rightly) smacks my hand...

They weren't ever out of it, but there were definitely some hysterics who insisted that Florida was going to blow by them and leave them fully in the dust. Never happened.

And on another note, though I've never been a fan of the whole Tim Tebow thing, I gotta give him some credit for going further than I ever thought he could. He actually slashed .348/.368/.478 over his last 95 PA at Bingo last season, before getting hurt. He did have a BABIP of .476, and an awful K-to-BB ratio (27 to 3), so it's hard to think he wouldn't be horribly overmatched if he ever got a chance to face big-league arms as a major-leaguer. But the guy is actually somehow going to start next year in AAA...I had him flaming out in AA, if he was even lucky to get THAT far. So even if he struggles at AAA and that's where his journey ends, I'll give him some kudos. In a situation that screamed "What a fvcking joke!", Tebow did his very best not to become one.

Or maybe some of Hynes' players don't realize that "That was putrid! Do it again!" doesn't actually mean "Do it again, just as putrid!!!" ? That he's really saying "That was putrid! Do better!" Maybe that's been the problem this whole season...

Wonder how often he uses that during games...

The Blues also have ROR having a career year, a hot Tarasenko, and of course, this year's "Insanely Red-hot Goalie From Out of Nowhere Story" in Jordan Binnington...guy is 12-1-1 in his last 14 games with a .944 save%. He's been a quantum leap and then some over what the Blues were getting from their other netminders (Jake Allen was at .901 in his 38 GP, and Chad Johnson was at .884 in 10 GP).

Biggest offender on that front for me is the Avs retiring Ray Bourque's #77. He played all of 94 regular season games with them. And it's not like the Avs had never ever won a Cup before he was dealt there...they had won one just five years prior. And of course, the Rangers suddenly deciding that Jean Ratelle was worthy well over THIRTY YEARS after his playing days had ended...that one was a complete joke. I know these guys never see it this way, and I don't blame them, but if I'm Ratelle there's a part of me that wonders "Why NOW?!" I bet about half the crowd there for his ceremony (if that much) even knew who he was, or had distinct memories of him playing. He hadn't suited up for the Rangers since 1975.

My wife always cracks up when that woman in the Whammyburger yaks up her lunch...heh heh... The woman working behind the counter with the big fake smile helping De-fens with his "breakfast" is Michelle Pfieffer's sister.

They really did an amazing job of making LA look like this oppressively hot hell hole too. The cast and crew said you could still feel a lot of tension in the air from the LA riots.

I could talk about that movie for hours...it's one of the very best I've ever seen, and has a ton of layers to it.

I'm a huge movie buff and I never realized how great 1993 was for movies...that's a hell of a list.

It's Selanne. Guy put up 457 goals and 531 assists for 988 points in 966 GP with that organization (over two tenures)...and that includes a couple of sharp decline years at the end. Poor Jeff Friesen never had a chance, coming over to the Ducks in that Selanne-to-SJ trade.

It says all that? If you wrote it in English I'd fvcking understand it... I'm going home! Clear a path!

Off-topic, but now that I see Dano mentions, I've reached the point where I think the Devils gotta consider replacing him next season...I loved the guy as a player and he'll always be the one of the ultimate lunchpail guys, but he is getting harder and harder to take...he just doesn't seem to be getting any smoother or more comfortable, and he's had the job for a while now...and of course, we know that he's not exactly blessed with a great voice to begin with. Just feels like it's time for this experiment to end.

Rough weekend for Mac...gave up nine goals in 2 games over the weekend with Bingo. Season save% there down to .906. Not worried about him...he largely looked good up here, and he's on one of the worst teams in the AHL.

Looking like Harper will wind up with the Phillies...with all of the false starts we've had with "Harper is about to sign..." news, I'll believe it when I see it, but it does look like that's where he'll end up...and supposedly, it's for MORE than what the Nats offered. If that's the case, then the players need to STFU and stop whining about not getting more money. Especially when exactly none of them have ever offered to give money back when they completely suck, or become complacent. Like I've said previously, I tend to side with the players on these matters, but the quotes I've read really make them sound like entitled spoiled brats. They're STILL going to get a hell of a lot of money...just stop asking for what isn't being made available to you. For once, it looks like some owners and GMs are actually daring to learn from past mistakes, after having been burned enough times...and we've seen many of them. After the easy part's over (the signing of the deal after the negotation's done, the post conference lovefest, the backpage splashes and all of the adulation and fan enthusiasm), we've seen what can happen. Subpar performance, and in that case, sometimes it's not really subpar performance, as much as it is a guy was signed to a dollar figure he couldn't possibly live up to. Or inability to make more moves, due to that player taking up to much of the budget. Injuries. Or a few years into the deal, due to either the player or the team struggling, the pressure and the contract suddenly becoming too much for the player. A couple of small market-type dollar signings: SS Adeiny Hechavaria to a minor league deal, with an invite to spring training (he's played in a fair number of games, but he's an awful bat...a career slash of .254/.290/.345, OPS of .635, and an OPS+ of 75...he's basically a low average singles hitter who doesn't walk), and Rule 5 pick Kyle Dowdy, who's basically had an undistinguished minor league career...decent control and Ks, but gives up a lot of hits...had a 1.484 WHIP in AA and AAA combined. Apparently he's seen an uptick in velocity as of late, but not like Rule 5 guys usually do much...they're Rule 5 guys for a reason.

Palms with his 200th point as a Devil tonight (now has 201 in 283 GP as a Devil), needs 10 more to reach 300 for his career. Zajac closing in on 500 points as well (needs five more). Also, next game for Zajac will be his 900th regular season game in the NHL.

Who knows, but man it’s gotta feel great to suddenly have two quick wins under his belt. He must feel like a new man.