"PLUS/MINUS is the NHL's best stat, and the only one I use"
- Craig Button*
MINUS: There hasn't been an NHL transaction for like a month. Hey I know that no one is making me pay attention to the NHL all summer, but come on, throw a guy a bone here!
PLUS: The Leafs coach Mike Babcock publicly suggesting that Morgan Rielly can be turned into an elite player by pairing him with Ron Hainsey. As a guy who's written my fair share of, let's say, non-mainstream views, I have to admire the balls of Babcock to make such an insane statement with a straight face, but all I could think about is the roasting I'd have taken in the comments section if I had suggested something so preposterous.
MINUS: I think people are sleeping on Jack Eichel. He's like the best player no one talks about.
PLUS: This band, the War on Drugs, deserves to be absolutely huge. This is one of the greatest tracks from possibly the album of the decade, so far:
PLUS:Better Call Saul. Just finished season three and it's almost as good as Breaking Bad.
MINUS: The people who don't realize the role of coach is very much like a politician or ambassador, when it comes to public speaking. Because, assuming Babcock is 1% as good of a coach as his reputation suggests, he does not really believe a) Hainsey can make anyone elite or b) that he should be on any team's top-four.
MINUS: I thought we'd come a long way with evaluating players, but still, Nino Niederreitter can't get any respect. Only 7 points less than Tarasenko at 5v5, he scored at a first line rate while providing some of the best defense in town.
He's an elite player. His contract is among the best in the NHL and he is likely a top-ten winger in the NHL.
MINUS: When you win eight weeks in a row of your baseball pool, but gain no ground on the first place team and then Bryce Harper wrecks his knee. Time for the hockey pool.
MINUS: False equivalencies, cowards, racists.
PLUS: Parks and Recreation.
MINUS: The closing of stats.hockey.analysis.com (my favorite hockey site) following the recent closing of Corsica.com.
I now am resorting to using NHL.com, so if anyone wants to help out and tell me about a new and excellent stats site......
PLUS: Not only is the new Arcade Fire an excellent addition to their already pristine catalouge, but the fact it's a #1 record despite the general garbage of the pop culture landscape is a tribute to the record buying public.
I wouldn't call their new record the masterpiece that Reflektor was, but it's great nevertheless.
MINUS: I "pre-ordered" this record, but it turns out that is a pretty stupid thing to do. Amazon delivered it to me four days after it came out, despite my having ordered it a month in advance. I thought the entire point of a pre-order was to get it the day it came out.
PLUS: Still, the day it arrived it was pretty sweet because I got off work early only to find everyone else was at the park, meaning I got to play it a 'I hope Ron doesn't call the police' volume. Good times. Ron is my neighbor, by the way.
PLUS: Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. Just finished and it is one of the best books I've read all year, maybe ever. I highly recommend this to anyone who is literate.
PLUS: Saw Suicide Squad again, this time with my wife. I still can't understand how this movie got bad reviews. 100% of the movie either has Will Smith or Margot Robbie on the screen, and it's fun the whole time. Even after three viewings, it's a good movie.
MINUS: John Wick 2. What a bitter disappointment. One of, if not the most disappointed I've ever been in a sequel.
PLUS: Not even a month until training camp.
MINUS: Weird how everyone is talking about a Draisaitl contract, but not a William Nylander one.
PLUS: I still think the best move of the summer was the Coyotes acquiring Annti Raanta.
MINUS: The worst move of the summer is either signing Patrick Marleau or trading away Marcus Johansson for nothing.
Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»