OffThePost.org

Yeah, very fitting that the Isles played in Montreal last night. I had a game so I missed it but heard the tribute was really nice. Very classy move by the Habs. If it was going to be any away rink, that's where it should have been.

Goals from Parise, Dobson and Nelson (en). Sorokin with his 7th shutout. Parise wasn't kidding when he said he's a second half player. He had 1 goal at the halfway point and now has 15. Dobson quietly got his 11th and Nelson netted his 34th, for his first goal in a few weeks after having been on a tear. The Canadiens can help the Isles very slim playoff hopes by beating the caps today. 13 points back with 8 games to play. Very slim. If the caps win that game and the Isles lose to the Leafs tomorrow, they'll be eliminated in front of the Toronto fans. I'm sure they'd love to see that and give the Isles hell.

Sunday at Leafs, Tuesday vs Panthers, Thursday vs Rangers, Saturday at Sabres, Sunday vs Canes. Then a home/home vs the Caps and then close out the year at home vs the Lightning. I was hoping to hear the new arena for playoffs. Pretty damn sure that's not going to happen this year. Oh well. The last 2 years were a lot of fun. This year, not so much.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Welp, the stir fried dog shit season continues with being officially eliminated from playoff contention at the hands of Tavares and the Leafs.

A spring without playoffs means time for me to get some yard work done and extend my bike rides.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Aatu Räty is in New York after his Euro team got eliminated. Maybe he'll start his NHL career now? He's too young for Bridgeport. Or maybe he's just looking to get a feel for NY.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Anyone considering Brad Lambert in this upcoming draft may be looking at Raty as proof that sometimes your draft year isn't all that, but it doesn't mean you're cooked.

_________________

Raty was assigned to Bridgeport. They have 2 games left in their playoff push. Currently sitting in 6th place by an ass hair, where the "top" 6 teams make the playoffs. I forgot he can join the AHL at 19 after his other team's season ends. Hopefully he gives them a good jolt. I'd love to go see some playoff games in the Bridge.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

3-2 OT loss to the Panthers. Barkov with a hat trick. Isles blew the lead to allow the tie. Oh well.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Rangers come to town with a chance to take over 1st place while the Isles plan their tee times. Because of the way this year has gone, they'll do it.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Glad I didn't get to watch the last game vs the Rangers. 6-3 Ranger win. Kreider with his 51st, Copp with a hat trick to get to 21 on the year, Strome with his 20th. Panarin with 4 assists. Fucking Ryan Reaves scored his 4th. Holy flaming shit balls. Fucking stat padder for the Rangers.

Nelson with his 35th & 36th. The score sheet leads me to believe that Josh Bailey actually shot a puck because he got his 12th. I'd prefer to believe that Dobson shot it off Bailey's ass and in. What time is it? 5 past Varlamov! Oh wait, 6. 17 saves on 23 shots. No idea why he wasn't pulled. Ranger fan friend told me Varlamov was just bad.

Five games left. I hope Nelson can hit 40 goals, because what else is there to hope for?

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

5 games left. Pass the puck to Nelson at every opportunity.

Time for a few guys to show they want to stick with the team. Well, that time was months ago, but since they didn't do it, NOW is the time.

Probably the last 5 games of Chara's career. Correction- these should be the last 5 games of Chara's career, and with Mayfield out, Chara should play them all.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Losing to the fucking Sabres. Awesome.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

5-2 (en) loss to the Hurricanes. Glad I didn't bother watching. This miserable season is almost over!

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

I was in a hotel in northern NY trying to get my computer to connect to the wifi to watch Tuesday's game vs the caps. It wouldn't connect, no matter what I did. So I missed them beating the caps 4-1, with Cizikas scoring a great shorty from his ass.
Caps again tonight, Lightning tomorrow and then it's the off-season.

I am going to try to make it to the Bridgeport Islanders playoff game next week against the Providence Bruins. I get that the teams want the affiliation between NHL & AHL clubs obvious, but it's really boring and annoying to have to say Bridgeport Islanders and Providence Bruins. I still have no idea what a Sound Tiger was, but I liked saying that vs Bridgeport Islanders. And I never liked the use of "Baby" (insert team name).

So yeah. Caps and Lightning, then figuring out how to improve the team. I've got a few ideas but it will be a long off-season, so I'll save them for rainy days between May-Sept.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Saw a stat that Palmieri supposedly leads the league in goals disallowed at 7. Might be true. He's had really shitty luck this year.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

5-1 win over the caps, Varlamov losing the shutout with 41 seconds to go.
Some scary moments in this one. Aho was boarded by Hathaway and hit the top of his head on the boards. Earlier, Aho stepped on Pelech and Pelech seemed to think he was cut badly. Replay showed his sock was cut. I missed some of the game so I don't know if he got stitches or was lucky enough to not be cut.
Isles looked good. Especially on the PP. Where the fuck has that been for the last 4 years?
Game 82 vs Tampa tomorrow.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Hathaway might very well be the dirtiest player in the league. Absolutely the worst place for a headhunter like that to land because you can clearly see the Caps have no issue taking runs at guys. He's a little better at disguising those runs than, say, Raffi Torres, but he's still aiming to hurt people when he's on the forecheck. IMO he's WAY more dangerous than Wilson, who's mellowed out significantly since the whole Rangers debacle.

Yeah, I've always had an issue with the way Hathaway plays. After he ran Aho he went down with him and Martin looked like he was about to kill him. Hathaway held his hands up in defense and looked to be pleading his case that it was an accident. Martin didn't pummel him. He should have. Aho left for concussion screening but returned. But he missed the last game (next night) due to a UBI. Not sure if that's a concussion they realized later on or just soreness with no reason to push it since it was a meaningless game 82. But someone owes Hathaway a knuckle sandwich.

Game 82. I figured they'd lose to the Lightning but blowing a third period 3-1 lead to lose 6-4 (en) was just a painful reminder that the Isles don't play D like they did the last few years. And how good the Lightning are. It was nice to see Chara score in what is almost certainly his last game and get the standing ovation from the crowd that cheered his first NHL game, etc. I wish he'd stayed with them, and/or his return wasn't so late in his career that fans bashed him all year long due to his diminished speed and ability, other than scaring the shit out of people. Very cool of the Lightning players to line up and shake his hand after the game, even though he hasn't officially announced that he's done. The way he was looking around during the timeout, you could tell he's retiring.

All that said, it's going to be a long off-season and I'll be in Ireland with little cell reception for free agency. I didn't realize it started July 13th this year. I was looking forward to knowing who they missed out on before I left. Lou had better figure out how to plug some holes!

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

You can tell how out of touch NY sports writers are about hockey. One suggested the Isles talk to Q. And Tocchet.

I read that Mitch Korn has quit, saying it has nothing to do with Trotz, but he was going to leave anyway for personal reasons. Who knows what's true anymore. There are now stories surfacing that Barzal & Trotz had a screaming match early in the season over the way Barzal needs to play. People then citing Barzal liking a tweet from St. Louis saying if you over structure a great forward you turn him into a good forward. Barzal unliked it after it was reported on. I never saw either of those stories until today, so again, what is true? No clue. There were definitely times that Barzal looked unhappy, but was he unhappy with the system or with his linemates? He was benched now & then for undisciplined penalties or overhandling the puck. Everyone thinks he'd have way higher production under a different coach. I guess we'll find out!

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.