The Ditch part deux

^^i took my beating before in the fantasy hockey Tim. No place for this Catfish. sorry pal. i do appreciate you holding a spot for me though.

 

Boooooooooooooooo

 

no boo's. just like fantasy baseball. the one team went something insane like 18-1 on the season. no place for me in that kind of league. i would be in the basement where my catfish ass belongs. no fun for me. same for hockey. you guys know way more than i do about the players and especially the Western Conference players. I would get sauteed and filleted. no thanks.

 

Now im hungry for some blackened Cajun catfish!

 

Humboldt Broncos return to ice 5 months after bus crash...

HUMBOLDT, Saskatchewan (AP) Brayden Camrud and Derek Patter were back on the ice for the Humboldt Broncos on Wednesday night in the team’s first game since 10 teammates and six other people were killed in a bus crash.

Camrud and Patter are the only survivors back with the junior hockey team. In a game televised commercial-free in Canada and the United States, the Broncos faced the Nipawin Hawks, the team they were travelling to face the night of the April crash with a tractor-trailer. The Broncos will board a bus again Friday to head to Nipawin for a rematch.

“In the wake of this tragedy, Humboldt has shown incredible resilience and strength,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a Liberal caucus meeting in Saskatoon. “Canadians were quick to share their love, support, generosity and kindness in a moment when it was so desperately needed. So to the people of Humboldt, know that we are with you. Know that we will continue to support you as you heal.”

Camrud overcame a severe concussion, loss of feeling in one of his arms and neck issues to make it back on the ice Wednesday. He and Patter shared a brief hug after they skated on the ice. They took part in a ceremonial puck drop with other crash survivors, with goalie Jacob Wassermann using a wheelchair to get on the ice.

“I think it’s a step in the healing process for sure,” said survivor Kaleb Dahlgren, who is now playing college hockey in Ontario. “Playing tonight definitely helps heal the wounds but it won’t for sure heal everything. There’s still lots that need to be done.”

The entrance to the Elgar Petersen Arena was lined with pictures of the people who died in the crash. Sixteen hockey sticks adorned with green and yellow ribbons were lined up outside, near a green bench with the words “Always in our hearts. 29 on the fateful ride, 16 souls died.” Late coach Darcy Haugan’s saying of “It’s a great day to be a Bronco, gentlemen.” is inscribed outside the dressing room.

“We’re going to find out what our new normal is after today,” team president Jamie Brockman said. “Hockey is back in Humboldt. We are strong and we are going to survive and we are going to move forward.”

Ryan Straschnitzki, the former Humboldt player paralyzed from the chest down in the crash, decided not to watch the season opener in person and wasn’t even sure he wanted to watch on TV.

“It’s not my team anymore,” Straschnitzki said. “I wish them the best of luck but it’s not my team and it’s going to be hard to watch knowing that I should be out there.” (ProHockeyTalk)

 

Most teams are opening up full camp and / or having media day, today.

Some of the fun things from the Panthers, this morning:

No 3rd, alternate jersey for the season. My speculation: Team will brand everything with 25th anniversary logos, and likely seek to make the money from that before unveiling a 3rd or throwback in coming seasons.

Mike Hoffman settling in, so far. Called his new teammates to discuss wearing #68, since Jagr most recently did it down here. Got their blessing before confirming. He said, "This is a perfect fit, here".

Owen Tippett has been hitting the weights. No idea if his defensive skill game has gotten better, but he's certainly not the twiggy kid that got in some time with the team before the minors, last year. Reports say he's on the ice 30 minutes before the next prospective teammate for each camp day this week (prospects have had a few days before the full squad).

The entire team agrees: Barkov is one of the top three in the game, and they're just trying to keep up.

Some are noting that Mackenzie's photo shoots don't show the "C" anywhere on his jersey. I say that it's just because the team has so many unknowns right now, that everything is being earned, not necessarily because they've taken it away. Likely just a generic jersey, making sure they look good for photo shoots. But there's a TON of competition for that bottom 6...

From Panthers' PR:

"(Derek) MacKenzie says #FlaPanthers could shake up the 4th line to be more productive: "They may change a few things... I did what I could this summer to be as best prepared as I could and try and help that 4th line. If that's what they think is where I need to be, we'll go from there."

"Boughner said he wants more scoring from the 4th line this season."

"Boughner said he looked into analytics this offseason and found his team was spending too much time in the defensive zone. "We want to kill plays quicker and we wan to exit our zone a little better.""

Luongo on Barkov: "He's probably the most complete player I've ever played with."

 

Side note: I am thoroughly ready to spend all my money from this new promotion on 25th anniversary stuff. I've got my budget set for the year - I was already comfortable with it. So better put any new income to good use!

 

8 yrs for Sguin, just under $10M per.

 

Looks like Howes last year playing for the wings vs sabres first year.

 

Hurricane coming, not the hockey team either, CNN reporters get a break from talking about trump.

 

wow sounds like a big raise. good for you. sadly, my boss is too old to promote me and made up some bs in order for me to get promoted and yet some girl got promoted in HR for doing her job she was hired for. i transformed their records program, which failed twice bf under my boss bf i was hired. thanks for nothing (caddyshack voice).

 

what is bf?

 

before

 

Zetterberg looks like he's done, degenerative disc.