Jimmy Pop

In football it makes no sense at all to retire numbers. The rosters are far too big. Taking a number out of circulation makes much more sense. Should you need #85 for a practice squad guy or even a preseason game, I don't see the big deal. Doesn't diminish what that player meant to the big Blue.

Can't compare Vegas next year to Jets in 2011. We're all talking in the other thread how bad the Thrashers were - but they were still an NHL team prior to Wpg! Wheeler, Little, Ladd, Byfuglien, Enstrom - at least we had some skilled guys who'd played together before Wpg. No way Vegas gets more than a couple guys of that caliber - and if they do, it'll take time to build chemistry. Then again, with the 3 point games, Vegas will probably be within 10-15 pts of the last playoff spot next year.

either/or. 31st team in the league. Nickname will be remembered as Vegas Vagabonds if they move to Quebec City in 5 years.

Wow, thanks for that. Seeing it down year by year really highlights how incompetent they were. No wonder Bogo and Kane were rushed when you look at '04 thru '07 draft,

Just call them the 31's and give them Scheifele's draft day sweater for their jersey. Done!

Heck they already proved this 2 years ago by bringing in Stempniak and Tlusty and those extra dmen.

None of this logo / name stuff makes much sense to me... Why was "Knights" an issue in the first place? Is London, ON in some way threatened by a Vegas team with the same name? Maybe they should call themselves Londoncanada, ON so as not to benefit from any mistaken London, UK references. Why is "Golden Knights" an issue? It's not as if there aren't many Tigers, Eagles, Giants, Cardinals etc etc etc

think for a second what this current roster plus OEL would look like?! He would have been a perrrrrrrrfect fit.... smooth skating Swede who would have been Tobias Funke's heir apparent.

...which only further illustrates how well Chevy has done. Also - is he / was he not working with a lot of the same scouting staff from ATL? 'Cuz if so, I wonder how much blame Waddel deserves for the Thrashers mess. What impresses me most of our first rounders is only Laine was a top 5 pick. It's not as though we've been drafting from Edm's position before this past draft. Lowry and Copp have certainly been good value for where they were chosen. Chevy gets some heat from the keyboard warriors for the lone playoff appearance and 0 postseason wins - but considering how young and talented we are, and considering we haven't really had to sit through much of a tanked season - I like what he's done. Next few years will be fascinating. By this time next season they just simply have to have a better record, too much talent not to. Chevy is safe, but I start to wonder how much leash Maurice will have if this season ends with us hovering around .500 and not gaining much traction Ws/Ls wise.

Off topic, but after a L a few games back I'm listening to the postgame show on 1290, usual litany of nutjobs calling in.... One guy, who was dead serious, was claiming ATL's prospects were just as highly regarded as what we have now. I'm thinking to myself... we had Patrice Cormier, and what else exactly? Burmistrov and Postma? Anthony Stewart? That's either the ultimate troll job or the guy's literally off his meds. From memory alone, I remember "our" prospect pool from ATL being a pile of hot garbage.

The 5 losses in a row all but sunk them this season. It's crazy how 5 of 82 games can make all the difference, but it does. Given we're a lot healthier now, and Trouba's back - which is so underrated around these parts IMO - I think we're more likely to see some 4 or 5 game W streaks as oppose to losing streaks. But we'll have to wait until they prove it obvs. Using Ducky's math above, a 29-20-8 type finish may get us in. That doesn't seem overly far-fetched. 29 / 57 is barely over .500 - just need a lot of loser points!

He passes the eye test, that's for sure. Just does everything the right way. One hell of a skater, hard in on the forecheck and seems to be a good PK guy. I have no idea what his offensive side tops out at during his career, but to me he's already a lock bottom 6 guy. Remember when we all were just in love with the GST line?! Oh, how things have changed. In a good way.

When the mainstream media says ho hum another underachieving Jets team.... I say ho hum, another outlet (hello, Rogers) that watches maybe 5 of our games every season. The article ended with the key for 2016, IMO. Goaltending. Helle's getting his chance now finally - much to the delight of fellow fans like myself who grew tired of Pavelec's "I'm not good now, and not getting any better either". Now it's up to him. Take the reins and own the job. Worth noting, in his last 10 starts he's had 8 games at .920 sv% or above and only 2 below. I think Maurice and the staff's decision to run him as much as they are is easily one of the better coaching decisions since 2011. Expectations? Yeah, I got 'em. Frankly, I think when healthy, we're a consistent tender away from a playoff berth. This year may be tough, we're in the hole now - behind in PTS and ahead in GP. Not a recipe for success. But I just can't be sour on this team....way to many good things coming down the pipleine. ...I still dream of potential line combos come next year or the year after. We've already got some elite talent. Just add a Roslovic here and a Lemieux there - and we're scary good. Need one more solid D to compliment the group, eventually.

"You suck Messier!"

No, he means 50 (ish). Little missed the end of last season, too and has played all of 1/2 period this season.

Ahhh **** me - I better not be a bad omen!! Honestly, I must have been thinking of Arnold Palmer.

Golden Showers Golden Bears (RIP, Jack) GOLDBLACKS

I said dollar wise it's fair. It's the term that's the problem. Give Burns Buff's contract and it's done when he's 36. That's more palatable. And you're right, it is desperate. That was my point - - I think they looked at the upcoming crop of FAs and went, **** OUR guy is really the only notable star out there.

Hey, that's fair. And I love the conversation...hope my wording wasn't too poor. Only really meant, to me Little should be an auto-protect. But I see your point. I guess the natural progression of this is, what do y'all think Little is worth on his next deal? 30 yrs old. 600+ NHL games. Per 82, he's a lock for 20 goals & 50+ points. 4 years, $20M. Too much?

I wonder if the Sharks were worried he'd be the only fish in the FA pond this summer? Partially explains the term.... dollar wise it seems pretty fair.

Yep. I meant that potentially they look at a trade involving him.

Wow. Brent Burns got PAID.

The possibility of moves around the trade deadline throws all this speculation out the window - Lawless seems to think Chevy likely makes a couple at least. Our roster could look vastly different in a few short months; did Trouba really have a change of heart or is he dealt? does the emergence of Morrissey make either Toby or Myers expendable? Stafford - well, he should surely be dealt, IMO. Given our roster right now, Helle, our top 4 D and Scheifele, Wheeler and Little are absolute, slam dunk protected players. Bryan Little belongs nowhere near this conversation. Between Lowry, Perreault, Armia, Copp etc I'm torn. I'd lean towards Armia at the moment as I think he's got the best potential upside of the group. Lowry is a TNSE darling and I'd be a bold move to leave him unprotected. Matty P is a logical one to protect, perhaps some would say slam dunk as I did above with Little. Perreault likes Wpg, just got a new deal too. I just don't know about his role on this team moving forward,,,, The C/wing flexibility is nice, but we seem to be grooming guys like Petan and Copp for that. 85's style fits ours I think - but big concern of course is can he stay healthy? Played 70+ games once in his career - I need to see that consistently. And while Little may be 30 next year, Perreault is 29 in January.

And the Philly faithful's reaction is to be expected:

Our oline being a big strength of this team.... Those words still just don't sound right. Here's one for you: where does this oline rank among the Bombers of past?