Follow @james_tanner123 Since +/- is the NHL's worst stat, I thought it would make sense to appropriate it and make it useful as we review the best and worst of the past week in the NHL.
MINUS: To the Coyotes who's game last night against the Bruins was pathetic. The worst of the year. To just give you an idea of this putrid game, the Coyotes got the game's first four shots, they came out flying and aggressive. But then, one minute into the game, there's a lazy turn over (by their best player) the Bruins make two passes and Dubnyk lets in a goal so bad you almost wish they had started Smith.
This is then followed up with a Bruins disallowed goal that I think should have counted, if I'm being objective. The Coyotes player pushed the Bruins player into the net and the puck trickled in. It seems that disallowing the goal rewarded the Coyotes for knocking the net off. This was followed up by a shot off the post.
So, the Brunis had the unusual circumstance of having one shot, but the potential for a 3-0 lead, less than two minutes in. Thinking about this game makes me want to puke, you don't mind if we move on?
MINUS: To anyone trying to drum up a rivalry between Jake Eichel and Connor McDavid and try to make it seem like there is a chance either will go first overall next year. There isn't. There is no guarantee that McDavid will have the better career, but there is no way anyone would have the balls to have the first pick and pass on McDavid. It will never happen in a million years and its phony and disingenuous to pretend it could. Nothing is worse than a GD phony.
If someone has the top pick and would prefer Eichel, they'll trade down. The idea someone would pass on McDavid is dumb. It will never happen in a million years.
MINUS: The people who cover the Coyotes and talk about them on TV and keep acting like Maloney dropped the hammer on the team this week. Let's be real clear: he traded a guy who was a healthy scratch 7 times, waived another guy who is frequently a healthy scratch, demoted a defenseman who already cleared waivers and brought up two players to play fourth line and 6th dman.
This team isn't losing because of the bottom of the lineup, and changing the bottom of the lineup does nothing. How about healthy scratching Erat or just cutting him from the lineup? Or Boedker, or anyone who actually matters?
All these people talk about his "compete level" and "identity." It's BS. You want a better team? Get more talented players. This team loses because Shane Doan and Antoine Vermette are not first line players. They lose because Martin Erat should not be in the NHL. They lose because two of their most offensively creative players (Reider and Gagner) don't start most powerplays, and because the coach doesn't mix it up after losses.
I mean, you're a third of the way through the schedule, you're team sucks, maybe try Yandle and OEL together at even strength? There's a number of changes that could be made that go beyond the bottom of the roster and it's frustrating as hell to watch the team put a band-aid on a knife wound.
PLUS: To the Toronto Blue Jays and their acquisition of Josh Donaldson. What do you even say? This is the baseball equivalent of your favorite team trading for Cladue Giroux. I also like the Jays getting the extremely talented Michael Saunders and now I can't wait for spring.
MINUS: Fake Nationalism. I don't care where a player is from. I don't care that the Blue Jays traded Brett Laurie. I don't like things better when they are Canadian and I certainly am not going to start caring about tennis just because all of a sudden there are two popular high ranked Canadian tennis players. Why is everyone talking to me about tennis anyways? Why should I care about tennis just because some guy who was born within the same arbitrary borders that I was is now good at it?
For the record, don't tell Don Cherry, but my favorite NHL player of all time is Swedish, my favorite authors, bands, actor and basketball player are American and my favorite baseball player is Puerto Rican.
PLUS: To Anyone voting for Zemgus Girgensons for the All Star game. Either his home country of Latvia is stuffing the ballot boxes, or people are subverting the idiotic practices of having fans select the All-Star teams and having All-Star games in the first place.
I have already voted nine times for him and I think it's hilarious.
PLUS: To anyone who still buys CDs and knows the importance of having the physical copies of things. Like Don said about fighting in hockey last night on Coaches Corner: You either get it or you don't, no point in explaining.
MINUS: To the Leafs and anyone who thinks last nights game was good. Sure, they won. They also allowed 44 shots, several goal-posts and looked very much like the team that famously couldn't hold a 3 goal lead in game seven of the Playoffs. This team was up 4-0 and deserved to lose. That isn't good.
PLUS: To P.M Dawn, the greatest and most under-appreciated artist of the 90's. Some people call him the R&B Kurt Cobain.
MINUS: Dave Nonis. He deserves to be fired for giving Stephane Robidas a 3 year contract, which looks worse by the hour. He also deserves to be fired for the Clarkson contract, the Bozak contract, his horrible track record of asset management (Colborne, Joe) and for employing a coach who flatly refuses to solve his secondary scoring woes by splitting up his two best wingers, a strategy that everyone in the world knows is best.
Shanahan should name himself, Kyle Dubas or Mark Hunter the team's new GM and it should happen today.
MINUS: To anyone ragging on Jon Bernier over the most recent over-blown joke of a controversy in Toronto. People are getting bent out of shape over the fact that Bernier, in an interview, appeared not to know who Nelson Mandela was. Now, I agree it's pathetic for a grown person to not know this, but maybe we ought to get a grip here.
Twitter exploded with people ripping and criticizing Bernier. I for one am just sick of people jumping on board and mass-shaming any person who makes an error. Sure, Bernier needs to know who Nelson Mandela is, but this shouldn't be a big deal. I was hilariously mocked for my stance on Twitter, where I said that people shouldn't rip people for minor mistakes.
"You think this is minor," was the response I got. And yes, I do think it's minor and I think it's a joke that people have to go crazy every time someone does or says something stupid. No one gives a crap about anything important like child poverty or the environment, but god-forbid an athlete is ignorant about world history.
I just think people need to dial it back a bit and choose their fights better.
MINUS: People who keep asking the question "where is Don Maloney going to get the money to sign Antoine Vermette?" Don Maloney is not going to re-sign Antoine Vermette, he is going to trade him. Let's not pretend this is even an option.
MINUS: To the idiot who designed the standard keyboard with the Caps Lock button directly above the Shift key. That has to be the most ubiquitous design flaw in the world. A close second would be having the Live button on my TV remote directly above the FF button. This leads to be constantly ruining tape-delayed sports events by accidentally going live when I just want to skip over a commercial.
PLUS:This
Thanks for reading.