Jersey presents an enticing blend of big-city life, top-six minutes, and precious little media pressure. Of course, Chicago does too, as long as you stay away from women.

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I'd favor the Hawks and Preds as the 2 best in the west.

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Has it down to 2 option about an hour ago. Chicago vs Rangers.

Looks like Tampa's waiting til the trade deadline to move Bishop.

Stars pick up a goalie and have a healthy team (no Seguin last playoffs), hard to bet against them repping in the SCF out of the West.

Stars signed their AHL guy, but still have Lehtonen and Niemi for the foreseeable fuutre, unless they have a team that they can dump one off to. I don't see how this improves them defensively, especially for the playoffs, since their defense and goaltending went down the shitter in this past postseason.

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Not a mult.

Seguin-less Stars went to 7 games against a Blues team that took out the Blackhawks the round before. They aren't that far from making the SCF. No way to say for certain, but if Seguin's healthy last season, Stars likely get by St Louis. But lose to the Sharks, as the Sharks were playing on another level defensively.

The Vesey hype is too much. He's nothing special and will most likely suck in the NHL.

Hm, Rangers got him. Sucks for Buffalo; they gave up a third-round pick for negotiating rights. Yay, more overrating the Rangers.

Hawks need to make a play for Jiri Hudler now.

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reports are Hudler wants money over chance to win and Vancouver is offering the money.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Man, I'm not sure this bum-ass roster breaks 180 goals this year.

Toews: 25
Kane: 40
Panarin: 25
Hossa: 12
Schmaltz: 15
Anisimov: 15
Panik: 10
Keith: 8
Seabrook: 10
Campbell: 5
Tootoo, Rasmussen, Desjardins, et al.: one or two here and there
Kruger: 0

It's gonna be "bounce a puck off some dude's ass and pray" hockey like we're the Phoenix Coyotes. Awesome.

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Just go hunt down Steeger from whatever Euro country he is in and bring him back for the 10th time.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

They'll be [Wanny] foine [/Wanny]

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Not a mult.

Anisimov is going to have a great season.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Welp, Stars got Hudler. Seems Dallas is a team players want to play for. Jason Spezza demanded a trade there.

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Are we still indulging the fiction that players want to play for the Chicago Blackhawks?

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I can't imagine it is all that appealing to put in a ton of effort, play for Q, get no pay and hours after sipping beers out of the cup get traded to some shitshow team. That seems to be reality for everyone outside of the core 6.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Right...who wants a Cup on their resume and the nice bump it provides to their next contract?

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Cold weather + hardass coach/captain + high pressure to perform + taxes = wah wah me no want. Why deal with all that shit when you can play for Anaheim (Vermette) or Dallas (Hudler) and enjoy life largely unencumbered by responsibilities to your job and residence? I don't think guys care that much about championships. 29 teams a year don't win one.

Campbell came back because his wife's from here. If his wife were from Fuckington, Ontario, the everyone-wants-to-come-here Hawks would have gotten derped by every single UFA on the market.

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Blackhawks are a premier destination. It's like we purposely choose to forget Panarin and Kempny (let's see if he's good).

Plus any player the Hawks have wanted to retain has stayed.

Scabs like Hudler and Vermette probably love playing in anonymity. Not much of a surprise when it feels like 95% of the Canadians have the 7 Canadian teams on their do not trade list.

Pretty much those guys want nothing to do with Canada other than have their summer cottage to race jet skis, vacuum coke and fuck teenagers.

I'm sure the Hawks wanted to keep Saad, but his family pushed him into asking for too much money. Same deal with Shaw, I'm willing to believe. Teuvo, well, the choice was losing him to Las Vegas for nothing or losing him so as to unload the Bickell hit.


No kidding. They shouldn't be allowed to represent Canada in international play if they're unwilling to work/live there.

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Jesus, CH. Step away from the ledge. This team will complete and is very good.

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No, you're wrong. This forward group is shit. Shut down Kane and Panarin and the rest of these guys can't do dick. They're strong on the blue line and in goal, but ultimately, the puck's gotta get in the net, and we don't have the guys who can put it in unless we're just fixin' to bank garbage goals off Brandon Mashinter's ass all year. The Hawks are punting offense at too many forward positions between Toews (arguably the league's worst #1C on offense at this point), Anisimov (not out to finish, just set up and screen for his wings), Kruger, Hossa, and whoever else is on the lower-line wings.

Even if the Hawks make it out of the wild cards (Dallas, Nashville, and St. Louis are better, Winnipeg is better pending Trouba signing or a bomb-ass trade return), they're gonna suck ass to watch all winter because all they'll be able to do is force offensive-end faceoffs and cycle.

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Seabrook hasn't been horrible as the obsessed Committed Indian clowns have made him out to be. But with 8 years at 6.8M cap hit kicking in this year I'm going to need an in shape Seabs.

CH already in mid-season form.

Jets and Hawks head-to-head:

Nikolaj Ehlers > Richard Panik
Mark Scheifele > Jonathan Toews
Blake Wheeler > Marian Hossa

Patrik Laine < Artemi Panarin
Bryan Little > Artem Anisimov
Drew Stafford < Patrick Kane

Dustin Byfuglien < Duncan Keith
Jacob Trouba = Brent Seabrook
Tyler Myers < Niklas Hjalmarsson
Tobias Enstrom < Brian Campbell

Connor Hellebuyck < Corey Crawford (for now)
Michael Hutchinson > Scott Darling

Bottom sixes and third pairs are too up in the air for now, but whoa, the Hawks really might not be as good as the Jets. Whatever, God knows it's their time.

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...and the preseason hasn't even started, but he's right: it's on "on-paper" league. I mean, how do you think the juggernaut that is the Defending Stanley Cup Champion Blues are gonna do...oh, wait...

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Not a mult.

Do you have a constructive rebuttal to the problems I see in the roster or are you just gonna shitpost?

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THEY. HAVEN'T. EVEN. LACED. UP. THE. SKATES. YET. FOR. THIS. SEASON!

Shitposting is the only rebuttal that is valid at this point.

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Not a mult.

I'm not as pessimistic as CH but I feel like the window of "These Guys Can Win Every Year" is closed. Now they are just a good team that will have to get hot in the playoffs.

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I kind of do too. Hopefully this will motivate them during the season as well.