(Spoilers) The thread where CALIFORNIA LOOOOVE~!

[Gabriel]

Not a bad move if you look at it as a whole.

The Oilers lose a 3rd and Devan Dubnyk, who MacT said that they weren't going to re-sign anyways.

They pick up Hendricks to add some grit to their forward ranks, and he has term on his deal.

They add Ben Scrivens, who is a UFA at the end of the season, but is a local boy and potential 1B or Solid Backup for next season.

If they don't sign Scrivens, it will be a blunder, but I'm sure that MacTavish and the Oilers at least spoke to him about the possibility of a new deal before pulling the trigger on the trade.

[TGWL]

I think both teams could've gotten a little more. LA could have gotten at least a second rounder in my opinion. While it might not seem like a big deal going from a 3rd to 2nd on paper, it's actually a pretty big deal when looking at the draft list. Oilers probably could've gotten more as well. Being UFA's that played a huge role.

If Neither re-signs with their teams I guess it's a complete wash anyway.

[Hewey]

Pens beat the Caps in one damn good back and forth game. Good thing the Pens will have a couple days off, especially with the way the team has been beat up lately. Do look forward to tomorrow's St. Louis/LA game, though.

[Toe]

Our what now? We're $12 million under the current cap, which is projected to rise by $7 million

Oh, nevermind then. I thought they had less room then that.

Bolland is back skating in full gear, and hopefully he will be back in 2 weeks or so. I hope Holland isn't the guy to lose his spot though - I would rather see him stay, move Kadri to the wing, and see one of Orr or McLaren sent down.

[Ruki]

Send both Orr and McLaren down. The only thing they are good for is fighting. Bring up someone who can fight and play.

Ideal line-up (for me, anyways)

JVR-Bozak-Kessel

Lupul-Kadri-Kuli/Clarkson

Holland-Bolland-Kuli/Clarkson

D'Amigo-McClemmant-Ashton

[NobBe Nobbs]

Send both Orr and McLaren down. The only thing they are good for is fighting. Bring up someone who can fight and play.

Not until Carlyle gets fired!

[Toe]

Send both Orr and McLaren down. The only thing they are good for is fighting. Bring up someone who can fight and play.

Ideal line-up (for me, anyways)

JVR-Bozak-Kessel

Lupul-Kadri-Kuli/Clarkson

Holland-Bolland-Kuli/Clarkson

D'Amigo-McClemmant-Ashton

You forgot Mason Raymond.

[Ruki]

Trade him at the deadline for a 2nd round pick (that way we won't miss the 2nd round pick we gave up for Holland).

Play that first line, ideally, 20 minutes, then 15 for the second and third line, and ten for the fourth.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Pointless today featured a final round that included the category "2012/13 NHL Teams". I thought "fucking eh, easy money". They asked 100 people to name any team from last season and among the answers that nobody named: the Rangers, the Flyers, the Capitals, the Oilers, the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs. The question leaping to my mind is "who the fuck were they asking who could name other teams and not some of the biggest in the league".

[Ruki]

Pointless today featured a final round that included the category "2012/13 NHL Teams". I thought "fucking eh, easy money". They asked 100 people to name any team from last season and among the answers that nobody named: the Rangers, the Flyers, the Capitals, the Oilers, the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs. The question leaping to my mind is "who the fuck were they asking who could name other teams and not some of the biggest in the league".

But they were able to name the Panthers and Lightning?!

[caucasianheat]

Yeah, I'm actually really curious which teams people know. Mighty Ducks seems like the obvious answer everyone would submit, except they're not called that.

[Hewey]

Yeah, I'm actually really curious which teams people know. Mighty Ducks seems like the obvious answer everyone would submit, except they're not called that.

Red Wings gotta be the most obvious, I would think.

[caucasianheat]

Martin St. Louis trolling his own GM this hard is amazing. Right now, he's locked in a 4-4 tie with SJ, by which I mean he's scored all four goals for Tampa.

[SeanDMan]

[Gabriel]

I think it's funny that everyone is trying to blame one of the coaches for the incident.

For Bob Hartley, it is not uncommon for a team to start their fourth line (especially on the road), when they want to start the game with good energy. It should also be taken into account that the Flames fourth line has been putting out consistently good shifts of late.

For Tortorella, you've got a banged up team already, and don't want to risk losing any of your star players to some unnecessary shenanigans, so you counter with an equally tough line to start the game.

These decisions make sense.

I don't think anyone can really know what happened unless someone can conclusively tell everybody what was said on the ice by the players themselves.

Sure made for an entertaining game though, and I am happy to see that kind of fight out of the Flames. This is the most effort in a season I have seen out of Calgary since the Cup run in 04. The talent and the results aren't there, but the effort is, and I think that has to earn Bob Hartley the seal of approval moving forward.

[Plubby]

You know, for a fourth line that "didn't go out there to fight" they sure were fucking unlucky to be the only team tagged with an instigator in a ten-man shindig...

Ye gods....

[SeanDMan]

Torterella is handcuffed in that situation. You can definitely blame Hartley though. This isn't like Detroit where you have legitimate players on your fourth line, Calgary threw out Westgarth and McGratton with their two combined points and their inspiring -11 plus minus. The intent was clear: "We know you're tired, we know you're beat up, and we're going to beat you up tonight".

[Gabriel]

I have no doubt that the intent was to crash and bang from the get-go, but McGrattan certainly isn't Jon Scott or Tom Sestito. He's not going to just start throwing punches at a guy who hasn't agreed to fight.

I can't speak for Kevin Westgarth, because I haven't seen enough of him, but McGrattan definitely would not have.

I believe the intent was to crash and bang, and yes, tire out and bruise up the Canucks... but that's not a new strategy. We've seen every team do it at one time or another.

Where I will blame Hartley, is that he should have yelled instructions to his players not to do something stupid. He most definitely should have tried to defuse the situation a little bit, but once he chooses his starting line, who gets put out there against them is out of his hands.

I'm not absolving anyone of any blame. I just think that this is a situation that happens more regularly than people are willing to admit, only this time, it got way out of hand. I don't think you can look at either coach and say "He wanted this to happen", without knowing more about what went on, because like I keep saying, it's not unusual to start a fourth line, especially when they've been your highest energy line. And it's not out of the ordinary to counter with a third or fourth line either.

If we get audio of what was said on the ice, or what Hartley had told his players, then I will call for his job if he instructed them to go out there just to beat up the other line. That's not good hockey. But until then, it's a situation where blame could be had on either side, or maybe the coaches had nothing to do with what happened at the faceoff, or maybe Hartley is a bloodthirsty lunatic.

For now, I think it's ridiculous that people are calling for his head based on a hunch.

[SeanDMan]

I'm not calling for his head, I am just calling him a prick.

[Gabriel]

I'm not calling for his head, I am just calling him a prick.

Oh I definitely didn't mean you, Sean. Just in general, all the message boards are lighting up with people claiming that Bob Hartley's sole intention was to have five of his toughest guys (which isn't true, by the way. Jones and Chris Butler? Really? Shane O'Brien is definitely tougher than both...), five of his toughest guys go out there and mug whichever five guys stepped on the ice for Vancouver.

If that's true, then he should be fired. Anybody should be fired for pulling that kind of shit. But it's much more likely that he put out that line and told them to start the game with energy and get the bumping started. Whatever was said on the ice, and between the two benches before the puck dropped, that's most likely what started the whole thing.

Again, I'm just saying that's most likely. We don't know for sure, and we probably never will. I will admit that it's entirely possible he tried to stage a mugging. But it's also entirely possible that he just put them out there to reward them for recent good play.