smitty55

So I have something to put out to the Leafs fans here. There's no question that while Andersen is a decent goalie, the team is one injury to him away from having no nhl quality goalie to back him up. Considering the shaky standings now for the Leafs if that were to happen I doubt they would make the playoffs. The Sens have no playoff aspirations of course, and a big pile of ufa player contracts, including Craig Anderson that they can play with come the deadline. Sure his play has slipped somewhat over the last two seasons as he's gotten older, but he hasn't had a good team in front of him either for the most part. Saying that, with the team playing a much better structured and defensive style of play this season in his last 5 games his average is .932, best run I've seen him play since last year. Ottawa has Nilsson and now Hogberg on one ways for next year so it makes sense for Ottawa to get the best return they can for him. It wouldn't surprise me that Dorion has already got a call or two about Andy even though it's kind of early in the season yet. There are a few teams in the league with shaky backup goal tending this season. Whenever the subject does come up the Leafs are one of the top teams that could have interest in him, and it makes total sense from a hockey standpoint with any team that has strong playoff expectation. He is no doubt the best UFA goaltender available for rent this season and I don't recall him mentioning retiring yet so I could still see him maybe doing a trade and sign a short extension even. He has a 10 team no trade. So even though his cap hit is 4.75M, interested teams with cap space could afford to trade for him earlier and beat out other contenders without that flexibility like the Leafs. So here's my question? He would be a solid back up for sure for many teams. Would it be worthwhile for the Leafs to jump the gun and trade off a contract to make some room somehow and maybe a pick too.? I'm just speculating but it makes sense from a management standpoint. Cheers

I realize that. I was just pointing out that Ottawa was still able to shut down both of them on different lines and still score. McDavid was -2, Draisaitl was -2 and two D-men were -4. They did a real good job after the shaky start where Andy kept them in the game.

Actually McDavid and Draisaitl were on different lines last night. Also they are 1st in the Pacific division so I guess that strategy isn't working too well for most teams.

Also the Sens have a deserved rep around the league of being a hard working team that doesn't give up or quit like the leafs did against Philly, and that's from their no.1 player. In sports the worst four letter word that can be used for a team or player is quit. So much for the honeymoon with the new coach after all the hype. I still figure they'll make the playoffs but I can't see them going far like usual.

You do realize that the Sens have only one less win than the Leafs with a game in hand. Just sayin...

He sure did but still ended up with zero points and only one assist for 29. Those two quick goals knocked the Oilers off their game and Ottawa stifled their offense for the next two periods and kept the best PP in the league to 1 of 7. A well needed and real feel good win for the Sens.

Chris I wasn't inferring that you were forced by anyone, but you you did feel bad enough the next day after reading your post that you felt you had to apologize and that's fine, you realized and admitted that you may have been over zealous and I respected you for it. Just a guess but I'm thinking perhaps there may have been some alcohol involved hehe. As for the rest I can see how that could get annoying for sure, specially if that's all it is and it's mostly coming from from the same direction. I can't really say as I have little history in this thread until lately so I don't know how many Sens fans have commented on this thread over the seasons. Anyways, for me the Sens Leafs rivalry was the best thing that ever happened for hockey in Ottawa as a fan, even more so than the Habs who we actually beat in our first ever game. Tickets are still always the most expensive of the year, even more than the Habs still, but most fun in the stands is usually for both visiting teams. They are both always special games. Cheers

How was I supposed to know it would rile up leafs fans? All I did was post some facts is all and if that's all it takes to get them riled up well then I guess you just helped make my point.

Like I said Chris I haven't been on this thread much, and I don't expect to. I'm certainly not going to bother looking for posts to provide references for you, I'm sure other folks here could back up my point. As for getting pissed off over a hockey thread, that's a joke. Mind you it wasn't very long back when you blew a fuse getting on someones case to the point you had to apologize the next morning, so I guess you could be the pot and the kettle. Cheers

No doubt about that as far as numbers of leafs fans go here. I'm all for good natured bantering between fans too but from the little amount of times I've spent here it seems to go far past that so I'm not surprised Sens fans don't comment here too much as they just get ganged up on. I grew up a Leafs fan for 37 years and a Hab hater until my home town of Ottawa got an NHL team. Still a Hab hater lol. The one thing I do find amusing is the way many leafs fans still think the leafs are the center of the hockey universe. Considering they haven't made the finals in 52 years, reached the conference finals only once in the last 26 years and in the last 14 years missed the playoffs 10 times and exited in the first round the other 4 years I don't see much to brag about or much reason to pile on other fans, but whatever. Cheers

I don't come to this thread very often but from what I see for the most part this isn't a hockey thread it's a Leafs thread. Cheers

Exactly. In his hockey history as a gm as he moved up the ranks he has now hired 3 head coaches, all Sheldon Keefe. It's already worked twice for him so it makes sense. No doubt it better shake them up good, but it's still the same players and the same cap constraints that Dubas has caused. Cheers

Here's another stat. The Sens have won their last six games after losing one. That's a sign of a good team. Meanwhile TO has lost 6 in a row. Pretty sure the Sens record is top ten in the league this month. Anders Nilsson has been stellar in net and DJ Smith has them playing hard and focused. Pageau is the top goal scorer in November, 9 in 9 games, tied with McDavid.

My understanding is that the show is pretaped so they have it ready to play whenever the differing games are finished the first period. There is no doubt sportsnet watched the show before it aired and approved it to be played, which leaves me to believe that it was a Rogers decision to can Cherry after they caved in to the online pressure. Cheers

Incredible work, the precision, quality and visual appeal are astounding. You sir are a master of your art.

Actually it's 3 losses in a row for the leafs. Things aren't looking all that well in the center of the universe. But it's not just TO. Boston is L4, Buffalo L6, Preds L3, Golden Knights and Ducks at L4. Doesn't surprise me over all, there's usually a settling in period over the first quarter of the season. some surprising teams though. Keeps things lively, that's what I like. It gets even more interesting. I just looked at the standings and if the Sens were to win those two games in hand to reach 20 they would have as many wins at 9 that the Leafs have now. I listen to lots of the Ottawa sports radio station and fans are getting concerned about the team finishing far too high in the standings, 27th now. I went on tsn and watched a couple segments of overdrive just to see what going on there and boy most players, Dubas and Babs are taking it good from all four of the guys. Things like "how come players come here and don't play as well as they did before, not just Barrie. Hey Babs many it's your systems that aren't working well, not that the guys need to work harder and better. Craig Button goes back 65 games where the same defensive problems have been there for the Leafs. Dubas has no previous experience as a GM, and he's never negotiated contracts before so he has no knowledge to base decisions on" Anyway, it was all like that. Check it out folks. Cheers

Hard to get a cabin for just a few days sometimes. Most lodges try and rent for the week. Good luck.

Leafs are 4-4-2 in their last 10. 10 points Sens are 6-4-0 in their last 10. 12 points If you go by expectations Sens are doing far better this year. Dubas has really put them in a bad spot this year with no cap space. Plus he did the Sens a huge favour by taking Ceci and now having to try and stick up for Cody to cover his ass for a bad trade. Pageau, a real good third line center leads the league in +/- at 19, almost twice as much as "superstar" Mathews at 10 who has 2 more games and 11 more points Just sayin...

It's only offensive to the easily offended. I say to them grow a backbone and get over it. By FAR most of the comments I've seen on social media totally support him, one petition had over 60K signatures. Tons of the comments are also about dropping sportsnet from their tv packages and switching their phone packages from Rogers. Rogers is likely going to take a big hit financially and it looks good on them for succumbing to all the lefty hypocrites.

There are several aviation based hydraulic fluids that are specified for cold weather operation but you need to know if the seals are compatible. But a good synthetic like from Amsoil would likely solve your issue with cold temps. Cheers

Both those players made it through waivers, not one team was interested.

So it took until 11PM before the meat reached 165°. Then I double wrapped it in heavy foil and poured in a cup of apple cider and sealed it real well. By 3AM the temp probe went through the meat like soft butter and read 205° just like the guys on smoking meat forums had said, the meat will tell you when it's ready. So I sealed it back up and put it in the downstairs fridge along with the crockpot full of beans. So along with a batch of scalloped potatoes that was last night's dinner. Even cold the meat easily shredded, it was hard to actually hard to get a clean slice it was so tender. OMG the flavour was incredible, never had pork like that before. Even the gel inside the foil had so much flavour I couldn't stop sticking my finger in it to taste and even smeared some on my meat. Wifey couldn't stop commenting on how fabulous the meal was and I agree. As a bonus, yesterday I made up a somewhat complicated 14 ingredient mustard sauce that I found perusing the forums and looked so intriguing I printed out the recipe. It's a real old recipe handed down by a grandmother in NC. Only 25 minutes of cooking gives almost 2 cups of the sauce. It was so different and went really well with the pork. I was impressed for sure but next time might cut back on the cider vinegar some. The author also uses it as a coleslaw dressing so I will try that too. Here's the recipe. 3/4 cup yellow mustard 1/4 cup lite brown sugar 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp white pepper 1/2 tsp hot sauce (personal preference, I use Texas Pete's) 3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 TBS molasses 1 TBS mustard powder (fresh ground from mustard seeds is best) 1 TBS unsalted butter 1/4 cup fine minced onion ( I use yellow) 2 cloves finely minced garlic (about 2 tsp) 1 TBS neutral flavored cooking oil (I use vegetable) 1 tsp liquid smoke Directions Sautee the onion and garlic in the 1 TBS cooking oil until the onion is translucent and drain excess oil off (I put the sauteed mix a dish lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil) Measure the liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, butter and hot sauce and set aside... Add all remaining ingredients to a sauce pan (including sauteed onion and garlic) and simmer on med heat for 15 minutes...DO NOT BOIL... Add the liquid smoke, butter Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce and simmer an additional 10 minutes... Cool completely then put sauce in an airtight container and refrigerate over night... I'd suggest experimenting a little with the liquid smoke and hot sauce quantities to match your personal preference and as always Quality in = quality out... I use all name brand ingredients... Cheers

7 hours in the smoker, building up a nice bark. 1 hour in oven, temp still only 140° at best. It will be a late night. The whole house smells like smoke now.

So I found some pink #1 curing salt at Cabelas. Then I checked the due date on those pork shoulders and it was getting close so I put one in the freezer and decided to just smoke the other one without the week long cure it would need. Yesterday I took all the skin and fat off to start. Mixed up a cup of 4 different mustards to smear the roast with. Then I mixed up almost 2 cups of spice rub, including brown sugar, salt and pepper, garlic and onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, lots of smoked paprika and a few tablespoons of Blackened Saskatchewan Rub, a Traeger mix I picked up while at Cabelas. It sure smelled good, and I completely covered the roast with it. Wrapped in foil overnight in the fridge and it's in the smoker today. There's no way I'll be able to get it up to temp in my Big Chief, so it will go in the oven to finish. Once it hits 165° I'll wrap it in foil and then return to the oven till it hits around 200°or so, the temp needed for pulled pork. Definitely looking forward to trying this, got a batch of baked beans on the go as well.

So one of the guys on TSN1200 was in Toronto for the weekend. Went out to a restaurant Saturday night. One big tv on the wall and it's the Raptors game on, no volume, not the leafs game. Later he goes to a bar with some big screens and small. All the big screens were carrying the Raptors game volume up and the small screens had the leafs game with no sound. It wasn't that long ago a bar in TO wouldn't dream of playing basketball over hockey. Goes to show what a championship season will do to a city's fan base. Cheers