sweep the leg

I think Vancouver did really well in the Kesler trade. I'm not sure he'll ever be the same player again that he was a few years ago. Rumour has it he wasn't well liked by his teammates or office staff either. I'm not sure when he dropped the Pens from his last, but I'm glad he didn't end up there. The rumoured ask was way too high.

What are the precursors for people who end up arguing with strangers on the internet everyday?

There is no evidence to support that statement. Mike Shanahan. Won a bunch of games & two Super Bowls with great players. Then he gets saddled with a terrible Redskins team with an injured starting qb and he looks like a bum. He won a bunch of games with pretty average teams in Denver too, unless you really like Brian Griese, Steve Beuerlein and Jake Plummer. He was also at the forefront of reinventing the run game in modern football with zone blocking, which you see everywhere now, including on our team. They had solid teams around those average qbs. Regardless, we agree that he is a good coach. This is why I used his time with the Redskins to show what terrible players can do to a good coach. edit: For those who might interpret this as me comparing Burke to Shanahan, I assure you I'm not.

That one. To offer that much to move up 5 spots there better be a pretty big prize at the end. To me, Ekblad isn't that prize. But the Nucks have different needs than the Jets. That offer's a lot stronger. I think the issue with Eklad is that there isn't another dman in this draft who's nearly as good as him. That's why there might be a bidding war to get him.

There is no evidence to support that statement. Mike Shanahan. Won a bunch of games & two Super Bowls with great players. Then he gets saddled with a terrible Redskins team with an injured starting qb and he looks like a bum.

Which Vancouver offer are you talking about? The only one I remember from this thread was Tanev + #6, which is only ridiculous for how short that would come up in getting them the pick.

This is all sorts of stupid. You're putting the entire blame on Burke so you can justify your online fellating of Mack over the past several years. A 3-15 record tells a story of bad coaching and little talent. They don't have to be mutually exclusive.

ahh yes, leaving out the games played because of the lockout to try and make it seem like Yakupov accomplished less than he did in his rookie season... How do I know he had a down year? His shooting percentage fell off the map, if you watched him play at all you could see he lost his confidence where as in his first year his confidence was growing and he was playing better as the year went on. When you consider that the entire Oilers team had their confidence broken it makes sense right? Again who else are there excuses for? RNH? Well go look at the numbers, Kanes best year is 57 points, RNH has a best year of 56 points playing a much tougher position in a year that was widely regarded as a year he struggled in. Stop over rating Kane compared to #1 picks. Yak's rookie year S% of 21% wasn't sustainable. His S% last year was low, but it's more reasonable that his rookie season. It would be very high risk/high reward trading for him. I'd trade Kane for RNH without hesitation. Much more valuable position & has a higher ceiling IMO.

I'd definitely take him if you could get him for a one year deal. He's big and good defensively, but at this stage of his career he's more likely a 4th liner. He'll come cheap b/c of his injuries & off ice issues. I think he might end up back in Pittsburgh. They need size & some grit & he's friends with the top players on the team.

A 3-15 records says he's being honest about their being very little talent on that team.

Kuale listed as our 5th mlb? Weird...

Pens hire Mike Johnston from the Portland Winterhawks. I heard lots of rumours about Ron Wilson, so this hire makes me very happy.

Kane might have potential to be a franchise player, but nothing he's done to date puts him in that category yet. A career high 57 points after five years in the league does not make anybody a franchise player, unless the definition has changed dramatically. IMO franchise players are guys like Crosby, Malkin, Giroux, Tavares, Getzlaf, etc. Disregard if that's not what you meant. Your last line could be intrepreted either way.

You've spent a lot of time with him personally to know this for a "fact"? Or is this just stuff you've read online?

What I've seen is that the media will still be allowed in the room after games, just not after practices. It's also the same practice followed by 7 (counting Esks) of 9 teams in the league. http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/06/22/eyes-and-ears-get-blinders-and-earmuffs-the-eskimos-locker-room-is-closed/ "This doesn’t mean that access to players and coaches has been fully revoked. We’ll get our interviews on field after practices and I assume that the locker-room will be open post-games. And I know that six other teams in the league already employ this practice..." IMO, this is such a big deal b/c of the Esks recent history. Reed & Hervey have been media disasters, & apparently Jones has blown off both rights holders & half-time & post game interviews. He's also coming in with a bad rep after blowing the media off at the Grey Cup two years ago. He's showing potential to be a Mike Kelly level media disaster.

If it was 2011 they would be. Their best days are in the rearview mirror now.

I would end up either in a fight or blacked out when I drank too much rye. I wouldn't pass out, I just had to have my evening retold to me the following day. Haven't had a sip of it in probably 15 years.

Cornish

Doug Brown didn't quit on his team though.

Had some with my girlfriend's (wife now) uncle. I didn't want to look like a ***** in front of her family so I drank it, and it took everything in me to keep a straight face when I swallowed it. I don't remember what kind it was, but it was awful. I'm almost exclusively a beer drinker. If I'm feeling fancy I'll have a vodka paralyzer or caesar.

I'm not saying success or failure as a whole. I'm just saying as far as the class of rookie imports goes, it's pretty underwhelming. One thing I will say, this is the CFL - a lot of you tend to forget that. Sorry guys, I love the sport, and I love our game, and I love our league. But for the upteenth time, we are not a MAJOR league. We are not viewed that way. I won't call us a 'bush' league, not by a long shot, but we are not the answer to anyones prayers. My point? Mike, the best imports aren't here yet my friend. They're with Henoc, chasing their 'dreams' in the NFL. I think our import talent was fine. I also think come late August/September when the NFL cuts start you'll find more players coming that we can 'upgrade' with. That's just a CFL fact, not bias, not an 'opinion', but fact. Except all those guys who were cut in August the last 3 years are looking for work. It's not as concrete as you present it in terms of how and when guys come north. Besides, how often do we see guys actually step in in September and make an impact? Someone help me out here because I don't remember many. Greg Carr. He's about the only one I can think of.

Mark Chipman hosted a fundraiser for Bowman. That's a pretty good ally to have.

There were several big receivers in camp this year auditioning for that wr spot. Kelly was just better than all of them. Remember how many people thought Urrutia was the next Chris Matthews?

Kings announced they won't buy him out.

Defensive end too. We don't have an import backup defensive end. Those are two of the easiest positions to fill. And we whiffed hard on both. To their credit though, they did an unreal job with the level of talent in the secondary. I liked what I saw from Fraser. I thought he got decent pressure in both games. He played tackle, but he doesn't seem like he's too big to play de.