"PLUS/MINUS is the NHL's best stat, and the only one I use"
- Craig Button*
PLUS: Eugene Melnyk. The NHL needs more people who give straight answers and don't resort to cliches. Watching the reaction to this - i.e John Shannon et. al. - I was stunned how sensitive and petty the NHL's talking heads can be. It's like everyone got sooooooo offended for the poor Senators fans who won't buy cheap playoff tickets.
Everything Melnyk said was true. And, he didn't go out of his way to say he'd move the team (but people are such whiny over-reactors) all he said was that as a last resort, if he couldn't make it work, he'd move the team before he sold it.
Who the hell can blame him for that?
PLUS: I enjoyed the movie Chips. Sue me.
MINUS: I have all but given up on intermissions. The NHL's broadcasters are stuck on an intermission template from the goddamn 80s and it's unwatchable. Dave Poulin, John Shannon, Jeff O'Neil......it's all but unwatchable. The analysis is predictable, there is zero focus on entertainment and everyone is a company yes-man. (By which I mean there is zero chance someone is going to call someone an idiot, or say they made a horrible trade).
The only watchable intermission - in the entire NHL as far as I can tell - is the second intermission of Hockey Night in Canada and that's almost exclusively because of Elliotte Friedman.
PLUS: Malcom Subban getting a 40+ save win against his brother with his family in attendance. In this cynical time, it was heartwarming stuff.
MINUS: Lavar Ball. This guy is grade A 100% entertainment. Sports are entertainment. But jeez, be an interesting personality and everyone just takes a dump on you. This guy is great.
But his interview with American Hero Anderson Cooper was next-level awesome.
PLUS: After reading a whole bunch of year-end music lists, I was at first disappointed that no one seemed to share my passion for the LCD comeback masterpiece American Dream until I realized that every single publication is making an effort to be more inclusive and less centred on one certain type of 'respectable' music.
I have eccentric taste in music, but I still predominantly listen to white-boy rock music. Today's music magazine isn't rock centric the way 99% of them used to be, and they try to avoid the former snobbish devotion to a certain kind of music that was until very recently, the 'right' kind of music if you were a 'serious' music fan.
This is actually a really good thing. Instead of someone just confirming my tastes and reflecting them back to me, they introduce me to music I'd otherwise never hear.
Sure, I consider a person trying to tell me that Lorde made a better album than LCD Soundsystem completely ridiculous, but at the same time, I keep finding out about things like Solange, Sza, or Vince Staples or Kelela.
In the end, I don't need my taste reflected back to me as much as I need new, interesting and fun music shown to me. Still don't think anyone topped the LCD, but I'm fine if that's not the prevailing opinion.
PLUS: As much as I dislike certain things about Spotify and streaming in general, it's very cool to be able to read music lists and instantly hear the albums I'm reading about. In fact, it feels like we're living in the future. Which is, as you know, technically impossible.
PLUS: Atomic Blonde This movie is awesome. And it has an amazing soundtrack. Best movie of the year, as far as I am concerned.
MINUS: Erik Karlsson trade talk. He's 100% not getting traded. I'd bet anything.
MINUS: Rick Tocchet. He is awful.
MINUS: The NHL's complete lack of trades and player movement. The league should recognize trades as essential to the fan experience and make accommodations that would facilitate more transactions.
PLUS: Steve Stamkos' return to glory. I knew Tampa would be good, but I didn't think this good. I also don't think old Steve's glorious comeback is getting near enough play. The guy missed a year and he's essentially still one of the best players in the NHL - arguably the best.
MINUS: Another year another list. I don't care who the top 25 NHL players of all time are. I cared even less last year about the top 100. Every year it's just some made up crap to get people arguing about nonsense. How can you ever begin to know who deserves to go where when you haven't seen most of the players on the list? And worse, if you have seen them, you probably just romanticize the old guys.
I cannot imagine anything more boring that arguing who is better between Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr or Howe. Jeeze what order should we put them in this time?
Can the NHL/ TSN not produce content that is not mind-bendingly inane and boring and recycled?
PLUS: In four years now writing daily NHL blogs, I have written some pretty stupid things. It's the curse of a) writing daily and b) attempting to be entertaining c) the thinking out loud and in public d) offering instant analysis and e) perhaps just being an idiot.
But far and a way the worst, most incredibly wrong I have ever been was when I said that the Flyers won the Braden Schenn deal. Now the third ranked player in a standard Yahoo hockey league, Schenn is tearing it up with my boy and future Robert Mueller star witness Vladimir Tarasenko.
I don't think anyone saw this coming, but I still think I should have at least been able to suspect that Schenn had more to offer. Oh well, lose some, lose some y'know?
PLUS: Check out the rink. Going skating for the first time after I'm done my work.
This pic is from yesterday, after I just applied some slush to the left hand bottom corner to fix a problem area. I have since hit it with some hot water and it looks like glass. I definitely am afraid to get my water bill. Thanks to Uncle Rick, Jamie, Andrew, Crystal and Alex for the help.
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