.... send her to Philly .... 2-0 Flyers over les 'abs early in the second.  [But,but, but the Canadiens are outshooting them by a little bit.... unlike lots of their games.]

... maybe sit tight ........ only one goal down at end of the second.  

Have the millions $$ spoiled the “broth”? Here’s one of the good guys in the game who cares.
youtu.be/62q7D5l2hrc?si=syCkQ7YGXD7DMiyV

If "there's ways" and Bowness has "dealt with it before," then why'd he wait so long this particular time?

I usually try to take a KISS view of it all.*  You either have the horses or you don't.   If you don't have the horses, management is responsible. If you have 'em, but they underperform, the coach is responsible.

His hockeydb.com stats show quite an interesting (?) change in results .... first couple of decades as a head coach his winning percentage is a c*** hair under .333 .... his last 5ish years it's about .600.   Maybe he learned something in the 15 years in-between spent assistant/associate coaching. 

* at least until Skip fills in all the "business stuff" that can get in the way.  

He explained your query,, all good when things were going well until a couple weeks ago. He told them things were gonna get hard,, & they folded.  Everything I've heard about Bones (I call him Bones even tho he doesn't know me from Adam) is that he's a popular coach... maybe nice guys finish,,, ah, you know. 

IF he could see what was coming, then why didn't he do something to get them on a different course? [Inquiring minds want to know!  ]

Werenski probably knows more about it than do I: 

Defenseman Zach Werenski disagreed with Bowness’ assessment that the players don’t care or don’t hate to lose, but also knew that the late-season collapse left everyone angry.

“I have a ton of respect for him. He loves us as players, and we love him as a coach,” Werenski said. “We need to learn how to win, and he can help us with that. He’s been around a long time and knows what it takes. We haven’t done it enough — it’s clear. But saying we don’t care or don’t hate to lose, I think that’s wrong.”

It was an interesting postgame presser, that's for certain. One thing I love about old-school coaches like Bones and Torts is that they sugarcoat NOTHING - although I daresay Torts in that situation would be 1) much more profane and 2) much more entertaining.

One thing that's increasingly clear, however, is that the graybeard coaches do seem to have greater difficulty communicating with the younger players - a situation we see unfold in many walks of life these days.

On an unrelated hockey subject, it does seem curious that the playoff schedule hasn't been announced yet - everything is pretty much locked in. Steve Conroy, who's a terrific hockey beat reporter for the Boston Herald and very active on X, posted yesterday that it's likely because Boston, Philadelphia and the networks are scrambling because the Celtics, Sixers, Bruins and Flyers are all in the playoffs, both cities use the same arenas, and the networks don't want to schedule hockey against basketball - for obvious reasons.

I love the start of playoff season! It's high stakes, high action hockey just about every night.

Jackie loves it, too. She might love it even more given that she gets paid.

I dunno ... a) personally I don't find a string of vulgarities  particularly entertaining... time and place? b) I think the generational divide (?) has been around long before these days ... maybe "like for-e-ver." c) Apparently it's no problem for  Bowness [i.e. "there's ways."].

Jackie gets paid ... any possibility there's a typo in there?  

The possibility of scheduling conflicts reminds me of back in my days coaching high school.  I was in class late morning one day and the principal called on the intercom to inquire/advise that, "Winkler is here with their soccer team. What's that about?"   It was a playoff game to decide who'd go to the provincial tournament.... 'cept the "co-ordinator" had only informed one school ... and it wasn't ours!  But, no need to panic.... checked on availability of a bus and we traveled to Winkler that Saturday .... won the qualifier, but noticeably less success at the provincials  ... though we were competitive.  

fcol, did you watch the whole Bones vid?, , after he calmed down he did say the players care. That’s the second one, Mr. O ,,, pay attention, as I'm sure you were wont to say to many à student back in yer school teaching daze

I only watched 'til it switched to the player [Jenner?].  Bowness is talking out of both sides of his mouth.   IF the "players care," why  wasn't it evident on the ice?  Or can you/we/he have it both ways?

He acknowledges the players can play better..... hence my question: Why didn't the coach inspire (?) them to play up to their potential?    Isn't that one of his prime responsibilities?  ...especially when he "saw it coming" ... i.e. "... things are gonna get harder."  IF he "has ways" to rectify things why didn't he do it during the last six (?) weeks rather than wait 'til "...if I'm back."?

It happens,, players mail it in sometimes, but usually not for 2 weeks. Unless we’ve been around the team for months I’m thinking our opinions are dust in the wind. All I know is that Bowness is a respected coach and players like him. I’m also wondering about the Captain of the team - he’s the one who is usually the good example with a fierce never-quit attitude.

It got me recalling Cheevers > Cherry*: "Roses are red; violets are blue. They got seven; we got two."

Shouldn't have a whole team mail it in, IMNSHumbleO. 

I'm reminded of a friend of mine with the U. of M. Bisons.   Back then games were Fri. evening / Sat. aft. affairs.  [Some of?] the players liked to "socialize" on Friday nites ... maybe even into Sat.  Somebody asked my friend about how it affected him for Sat. aft.  He replied something to the effect that: "Ah, Kirk, or MacK, or somebody will come through ... I don't have to be the main guy every game."

* a.k.a. DC/MD.

In case you missed it, Columbus has re-upped Bowness for next season.

Well, at least it's not another case of the "Kiss of Death"*: Public speculation about the coach's short term status >>> GM/president/owner publicly declares that coach is an excellent coach; we have complete confidence in his ability; we're not even thinking of replacing him;  we're on the verge of offering him a contract extension; yada, yada, yada >>> reasonably safe bet that he'll be sacked within a week.  

* even noticed by my lovely and talented assistant .... a non-sports fan of the first order.

Never knew about these,, maybe just in the States….

beckett.com/news/1965-66-coca-...ey-cards/

New(s)  to me too.   Heck, I recognized the whole list ..... 'cept for 1.5 of 'em.   1 = Mike McMahon.   .5 = Bob Dillabough. 

Without zooming-in, those pics of Gilles Tremblay and Gilles Tremblay look pretty much as I recall Doug Harvey's Bee Hive pic.

quote:

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Originally posted by Owen

I dunno ... a) personally I don't find a string of vulgarities  particularly entertaining... time and place? b) I think the generational divide (?) has been around long before these days ... maybe "like for-e-ver." c) Apparently it's no problem for  Bowness [i.e. "there's ways."].

Jackie gets paid ... any possibility there's a typo in there?  

 

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Your mind is a swamp. The Divine Ms. J has been happily (I assume) married for many and many a year. And meantime, I am old, fat, and in no position to offer the lass a better station in life. I'm just a sucker for pretty blue-eyed brunettes (even though my eye is first drawn to redheads and strawberry blondes).

Pretty blue-eyed brunettes are quite rare, at least in my corner of the You Knighted Stakes. I had the good fortune to date one once. She broke my heart. Or, more accurately, was on the verge of doing so before she pulled the plug and moved on.  It's all good. We stay in touch, lo these many years later. She knew it wouldn'ta worked long before I did.

Being a sucker for pretty blue-eyed brunettes will do that to you.

And far more importantly, I get that there are Western Conference seedings to be determined tonight. But why in hell don't we have first-round timeslots and networks? Even the NBA does a better job than this...

Hold. The. Phones.  Riders release Ajou Ajou.  [I recall Chuck and Banjolink mentioning him.]   https://www.cjme.com/2026/04/16/riders-release-ajou-ajou-violated-cfls-gender-based-violence-and-harassment-policy/

Surely more pulchritude and less swamp is a good thing.  As for pretty blue-eyed brunettes / redheads / strawberry blondes ... you had me at "pretty."   Keep up the good work.  

quote:

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Originally posted by Owen

Hold. The. Phones.  Riders release Ajou Ajou.  [I recall Chuck and Banjolink mentioning him.]   https://www.cjme.com/2026/04/16/riders-release-ajou-ajou-violated-cfls-gender-based-violence-and-harassment-policy/

Surely more pulchritude and less swamp is a good thing.  As for pretty blue-eyed brunettes / redheads / strawberry blondes ... you had me at "pretty."   Keep up the good work.  

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Well thank you kindly. My current rationalization is that admiring the attributes of pretty young women does not, in and of itself, make me a dirty old man. As long as I do nothing but admire.

And let me add that although I recognize that hockey players are not exactly angels - at least, most of 'em - the more egregious hockey player extra-legal activities pale incomparison to football players. Could be wrong, but I never heard of an NHL player sentenced to serious prison time for murder.

And by the way, I am the first to acknowledge the dominance of Canadian hockey players on the world stage. The CFL? Pfffffttt. Castoffs from reasonably good US college football, and not much better than that.

And while we're on the subject, WTF is that 55 yard line thing all about?

55 ,, 6 digits beyond 49, as in the 49th parallel. Much wider field also, and bigger end zone until recently, if I’ve got my facts straight.
I’m a sucker for blue-eyed blondes - I left one in 1971 and never quite recovered, but lucky for her,,, she avoided my chaotic life.
As for Ajou, getting smashed during a Grey Cup victory celebration is one thing, but it doesn’t have to include groping and petting, not that I would know what that’s like…. The big African from Brooks better do some time at the meat packing plant there to realize how lucky he’s got it & not to screw it up.
Joe Theismann,  Warren Moon, Joe Kapp, Jeff Garcia, Cameron Wake, Doug Flutie, and others were NFL regulars & even star players. All plied their trade in the humble Canadian Football League.

but furthermore, what continues to amaze me is the prowess of the Finland National Hockey Team (Teemu Selanne, anyone?) , à country of ~8 million people. (sorry, as per Mrs. Lindsay, for some reason I can’t get rid of the accent agu’s over the “à” s).
To wit…. fb.watch/GxhM2WPn7Y/?fs=e

‘

Yep, they're always competitive.

Has me recalling shooting the breeze with an American coach at the 1993 World Youth Baseball Championships [incidentally won by Canada].  I asked him how many teams of this/that caliber could the US come up with?  He quickly replied "ten" and the paused/thought for a couple of seconds and added, "Nah... we could get ten like this from California."

Maybe similar dynamics/numbers (?) in curling??  An awful lot of v-e-r-y good Canadian curlers don't get to represent us internationally. I suspect that that isn't the case in most other countries.... though they seem to win their share of the championships.

Ok, now this is ridiculous,, I wonder if Ai is the culprit ,,,, the only Canadian team, Ottawa, is playing this afternoon - is CBC , the nation’s so-called elite broadcaster carrying it? NO ! Whatever happened to the long-established Hockey Night in Canada ? I guess Sportsnet and ESPN have run roughshod over our revered CBC. tsk, tsk

Onto a tangent* I suppose but I usta hold CBC in pretty high regard, however things changed with their 24/7 coverage of Covid which excluded ['cept maybe for some ridicule] anything that didn't support their editorial bent.   And Hannomansing being rude to anybody that disagreed with him on Cross-Country Check-Up sealed the deal.   But, but, but, it's not a hard divorce .... still have CBC radio on from 7:45 to 9:00 or sometimes 9:30ish in the a.m. and again from 10:45 to 11:06 while I hit the sack Jack.  

* I know, I know ... comin' from me that's hard to believe.     

[Go 'abs, Go!   Go Yankees, Go!]

quote:

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Originally posted by eagleisland

quote:

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Originally posted by Owen

Surely more pulchritude and less swamp is a good thing.  As for pretty blue-eyed brunettes / redheads / strawberry blondes ... you had me at "pretty."   Keep up the good work.  

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Well thank you kindly. My current rationalization is that admiring the attributes of pretty young women does not, in and of itself, make me a dirty old man. As long as I do nothing but admire.

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Well, I looked at the very pretty blue-eyed brunette ... and married her.

When I was at teacher's college, I was sitting in the cafeteria with three attractive married women. A guy came through the door and they were instantly saying stuff like, "What a hunk!", "I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers!", and stuff like that. When I said, "But you're married," the most attractive one (the hottest!) replied, "Just 'cause you're on a diet, doesn't mean you can't look at the menu!" Good advice.