Good Times Grimes

Kent and the Kings Absolutely love Roos' comments about Kent: I can't wait to see what this guy can do if he can stay injury free.

Ahhhh I remember this game very well. To this day, for some weird reason, I can clearly remember just about every aspect of it from the final margin to where I was and who I was with. What a great match.

American Airlines, United, US Airways (now defunct), Delta, etc, etc, etc...all absolutely terrible. Air Canada is by far the best option in North America, IMO.

The Age has been running a series in which it ranks the top 5 wins that each club has had since 1970 (or whenever they came into the league). Today's edition featured the Demons. While we've had more than our fair share of misery, it has made many of the wins seem much sweeter than they would have otherwise. Do you agree with the top 5? Which wins do you think were overlooked? I think I'd squeeze this year's win over the Cats in Geelong into the top 5, as I think that it was a major turning point for our club. Our win over the Crows in the 1998 finals was also an awesome performance.

It'll be very interesting to see how the Western conference pans out over the next couple of months, but my money is on the Avs making the playoffs. On another note, the All Star lineups were announced today. It's going to be a 3v3 format with one team representing each division (4 teams total). Quite a few surprises here: -John Scott (Arizona's enforcer) named as captain of the Pacific after a fan campaign to vote him in. -Jagr captain of the Atlantic despite requesting fans to not vote for him because he would rather have the weekend off to go to the Bahamas. -No Crosby -The Central Division is the strongest by a fair way, IMO. Atlantic Division Central Division F Patrice Bergeron (BOS) F Jamie Benn (DAL) F Jaromir Jagr (FLA)* F Matt Duchene (COL) F Leo Komarov (TOR) F Patrick Kane (CHI)* F Dylan Larkin (DET) F Tyler Seguin (DAL) F Ryan O'Reilly (BUF) F Vladimir Tarasenko (STL) F Steven Stamkos (TBL) F Jonathan Toews (CHI) D Aaron Ekblad (FLA) D Dustin Byfuglien (WPG) D Erik Karlsson (OTT) D Roman Josi (NSH) D P.K. Subban (MTL) D Shea Weber (NSH) G Ben Bishop (TBL) G Devan Dubnyk (MIN) G Roberto Luongo (FLA) G Pekka Rinne (NSH) Metropolitan Division Pacific Division F Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) F Johnny Gaudreau (CGY) F Claude Giroux (PHI) F Taylor Hall (EDM) F Evgeni Malkin (PIT) F Joe Pavelski (SJS) F Alex Ovechkin (WSH)* F Corey Perry (ANA) F Brandon Saad (CBJ) F John Scott (ARI)* F John Tavares (NYI) F Daniel Sedin (VAN) D Justin Faulk (CAR) D Brent Burns (SJS) D Kris Letang (PIT) D Drew Doughty (LAK) D Ryan McDonagh (NYR) D Mark Giordano (CGY) G Braden Holtby (WSH) G John Gibson (ANA) G Cory Schneider (NJD) G Jonathan Quick (LAK) * Fan-elected captain

His future will depend a lot upon how quickly the likes of Hulett, Weideman, King (x2) and Frost come on. I doubt we're going to see much improvement from Dawes, so it'll just be a matter of how long it takes for the youngsters to surpass him.

Why's that? Trengove and Clark were both in moon boots for quite a while after their injuries...

That's too bad. Banff is fantastic, as is Montreal, though I'm not sure how I'd feel about being stuck in the airport. I've found that Air Canada has been much improved in recent years and now quite enjoy flying with them rather than any of the American airlines. Enjoy the UK...I hope your bad luck has run out.

No, but it's a good indication of how well players followed their fitness programs over the break, and it gives them something to think about while they're on holidays.

Before responding, I'm going to say that this will be my last post on Grimes in this topic so as not to hijack the thread. He's not currently in my best 22, but I think that if he can stop overcomplicating things and trying to do too much, he can be a good, solid player for us. I don't think he's ever going to be the star that we all once hoped he would be. But he is capable of becoming a very useful role-player for us if he can get some simplicity into his game.

I know, but it's still good to see him doing well. I really want him to succeed.

Good to see Grimes up there. I hope that he can solidify himself in the best 22 this year.

Are you saying that you'd rather him injure himself in the middle of the season than now? He's still a chance to play round one, whether it be at Casey or the MFC, and he'll still be able to keep his fitness up and his knee rehab up through non weight-baring activities. I'd much rather he had this injury now than in June.

Spot on. The uproar seems to be a bit different this time around. [censored] happens.

What were you doing up in Canada at this time of year, BB? Massive snowstorm in Montreal over New Year's wouldn't have made traveling much fun.

Speaking of toes, BBO, I can't help but notice that you look quite a lot like a big toe with makeup and jewellery.

It's pretty ridiculous to go crazy over a player getting injured in his time off while playing sports. Not long ago there was a photo on here circulating of a bunch of the young boys playing a bit of backyard cricket which everybody here though was fantastic, yet now some of those same people are acting as if Petracca wasn't within his rights to be shooting a basketball around while he was on holidays. Where do you draw the line? Cricket is fine, but basketball is not? Or perhaps basketball would have been okay if he hadn't injured his toe? And cricket would have been a careless activity if someone had broken their finger going for a catch? Everybody needs to calm down. He wasn't out getting a DUI, he didn't threaten anyone with a chopstick, and he didn't go and cause $10k worth of damage to cars. He was being a normal human being enjoying his time off. You can't expect him to sit around in bubble wrap from the time he leaves the club in December and returns in January. Posters complain about players coming back underdone, and then complain about players coming back injured from partaking in physical activities. He should be back running in a maximum of six weeks, which only takes him to mid-February. Still over a month to get his fitness up before round one. Calm down, our season isn't over yet.

Article on Travis Boak today saying that "temptation was outweighed by the sting of failure". This is the mentality we need our players to have when they're on holidays.

It's always a relief when a thread's bumped and I haven't posted in it...

Bad loss for the Avs as the West is very tight with only four points separating last place and a playoff spot, making winning games against the teams around you vital. That being said, Colorado has some very good young players and a solid goalie tandem. I'd be surprised if you didn't make an impact in the playoffs.

Damn autocorrect....

I see Frost in the long-term as a backman, but perhaps the plan is to use him as the 2nd ruck/forward option while players like Weideman, Hulett and the Kings develop. I suspect that one day he will take over Dunn's role in the backline. He looks much more natural down back than he does up forward.

Me too. I think he's got an x-factor that we desperately missed last season. His pace and hardness are both very good.

Another win for Bernier with Reimer out injured. 5-2-2 since his conditioning stint ended, but can he keep it up when Reimer is healthy and there's pressure on him?

He was carrying a leg injury for a fair chunk of 2015, so hopefully that'll all be 100% by the time round one rolls around.