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thrashermaxey · 6 years ago

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Ramblings: Prospects on the bubble (Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis) and more (Sep 24)

The Fantasy Guide has been updated each of the last five consecutive days, with Sunday seeing two updates (I’m not marking inter-day updates in the date box, FYI).

Sunday I scrambled a morning Guide update because Ottawa cut Drake Batherson and Logan Brown. Just like that, it changes the way I see the year unfolding for the Sens roster. I still believe Batherson will be an NHLer by the end of the season, but obviously I needed to roll back the projected games (I had him for 62 and dropped him to 52 for now…perhaps lower as I see more from Chlapik). The big thing is the status of Filip Chlapik still being there. I wrestled with having a projection for him back in July and decided to give the nod to Batherson. But Chlapik is now in the Guide, and he has a pedigree of producing points. With the lack of depth at center, he could be one to watch although this team won’t be scoring a lot of goals so his short-term ceiling is limited.

I’m starting to develop an Atkinson-like man crush on St. Louis prospect Sammy Blais. I first took him seriously back in May when analyzing his situation, his numbers, what the organization says about him, for the Fantasy Prospects Report. I thought he had excellent sleeper potential, between scoring 26 goals as an AHL rookie in 2016-17 and then nearly a point-per-game there in 2017-18. I call him “Mike Hoffman” in terms of upside. But then the Blues went out and added a pile of proven NHL players and I shifted Blais off my radar for this year. But man, the guy keeps showing up on the score sheet and while I know it’s only preseason, it has to be making an impression on Coach Mike Yeo. Two more goals on Sunday for Blais, who keeps exceeding expectations and on a faster timeline. Just like Hoffman.

Blais played with Robert Thomas on Sunday and the two had chemistry – Thomas had three assists. I already have him penciled in for the nine-game trial and if he impresses and knocks a regular out of the lineup with his play, he’s in for the duration. With Robby Fabbri struggling with injuries again, Blais is starting to look even better.

As for Fabbri – his injury is not related to his knee, but rather conditioning. His back injury cropped up because he hasn’t played in over a year. Looks like easing him back into game action will take a while, and his already risky fantasy draft status is becoming even riskier.

Chicago is down to 16 forwards, so likely looking at three more camp cuts. Still battling: Alexandre Fortin, Andreas Martinsen and Victor Ejdsell – my picks for the final cuts – as well as Dylan Sikura, Matt Highmore, Dominik Kahun and David Kampf, who I think will make the team. One player who is turning heads in camp is Dominik Kahun, a Czech/German late-bloomer who was never drafted but was signed by Chicago after posting nearly a point-per-game in the German League and tallying five points in seven games for Team Germany in the Olympics. He probably won’t have a big, lasting fantasy impact this year, but he could be a Joonas Donskoi type who gets 35 points in his rookie season (I have him for 26). His linemates were Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews in Sunday’s practice, so you know that Coach John Quenneville is taking his bid for a roster spot seriously.

Since I am on the topic of Chicago, fantasy owners are keeping a close eye on the defensemen situation. With both Connor Murphy and Gustav Forsling out with injuries, the team is looking at nine defensemen left in camp for the seven spots. You can count Erik Gustafsson as a shoe-in and frankly I think he is a nice little dark horse in deeper fantasy leagues. But what keeper owners are watching for is what happens to Henri Jokiharju and Adam Boqvist. With regards to Boqvist, I have been saying since May that this year’s draft class was heavy in talented defensemen and lighter in terms of forwards. And I was surprised when NHL teams picked forwards over defensemen anyway, reaching for forwards higher in the draft and letting good defensemen slip. So my attitude when it comes to blueliners from the 2018 class has been to boost their value-rating, but drop the forwards down a bit. Boqvist was drafted eighth overall, but in terms of future fantasy upside he’s probably Top 5. He’s been turning heads and in terms of pure talent he is an NHL player. But he’s so small that I still struggle to see him on Chicago this year. He can wait a year.

While Boqvist was drafted eighth overall this summer, Jokiharju was selected a year ago at 29th overall. He proceeded to embarrass the WHL with ridiculous numbers for a defenseman (71 points in 63 games, fifth among WHL rearguards). Jokiharju is making things difficult for Chicago to send him back there, and the fact that he has nothing more to learn at the junior level also plays in his favor. I’m thinking Joki makes the squad for at least the nine-game trial.

Mike Green is suffering from exhaustion caused by a virus, but is apparently over the worst of it. He’ll spend a few days battling the rest of it off and then another few days regaining his strength and conditioning. Still, it’s a better prognosis than what it looked like on Friday, so I am guessing he misses just the first two or three games of the season. That still means that Detroit will start with two rookie defensemen this year and then send one back after Green returns. The candidates – Dennis Cholowski, Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts, Libor Sulak and Vili Saarijarvi. The player who turned heads last season in the AHL is Hronek. The player turning heads in training camp right now is Cholowski. So those are my two picks, with the two of them battling it out in the first few games of the season for the right to stay with the team upon Green’s return. I tend to think that, based on his pro season last year, Hronek ends up winning out. But Cholowski was taken 20th overall in 2016, 33 spots before Hronek, and has a higher ceiling.

In the game last night, Cholowski saw 21:45 to Hronek at 19:45 for ice time. More importantly, Cholowski saw 5:00 of PP time and Hronek 2:46. So you can see where Coach Jeff Blashill is leaning. I’m starting to want to slide Cholowski into the sneaky dark horse category, so Sammy Blais better move over and make room.

The Red Wings had the following line combinations in yesterday’s preseason tilt:

Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha

Michael Rasmussen – Andreas Athanasiou – Filip Zadina

You can get all the preseason stats and preseason line combos in the Frozen Tools section. If you haven’t seen the new-look Frozen Tools, go there now and get lost in the rabbit hole. The player profiles are getting ridiculous with how helpful they are for fantasy – now that they have Rob Vollman’s Player Usage Charts in the ‘advanced’ tab.

Filip Zadina had an assist and is starting to win me over in terms of sticking with the team. Joe Veleno had an assist as well and while he is impressing, I think he gets sent back down for one more year. Rasmussen I’m 50-50 on, still.

So far, no good. Mikko Koskinen gave up three goals on just 19 shots in his preseason debut – big deal it’s only preseason. But Sunday’s five-goal dud (21 shots) has me raising an eyebrow. Let’s give it one more game, but as a Cam Talbot owner I’m satisfied that his job is safe.

A good article here in the Athletic. It tells of the Columbus PP woes last year and how they were dead last with the man advantage in mid-December. After that, they were 11th. The reason was just from moving Alexander Wennberg to net-front, and taking Cam Atkinson from net-front to half-wall. With the team not trading Artemi Panarin (only my opinion), they could surprise this year in terms of the offense.

Don’t forget to put in your team/register at Dobbernomics.

The back story: I really loved the Small World game in 1999, for hockey/baseball/football where I would add players under a salary cap and their value would go up or down based on overall ownership in the game. Your team value would go up (or down) accordingly. I tried to beat my friends in both total team salary value, as well as total fantasy points. I looked around for it a few years ago and discovered that it had been sold to Roto Hog early last decade, and Roto Hog had tried to charge money for it…and so it fizzled and died. I wanted to bring this game back. Michael Hiridjee built the site from the ground up and we ran it the last two years. Each year, however, we barely got it ready in time for the season so we haven’t been able to properly market it. Two years ago, this was because it simply wasn’t ready until the last minute. Last year, it was because of my health and all the things that had to be delayed or pushed to the side as a result. This year? We’re rolling and we’re rolling early. I am eager to get 2000+ teams in there so that player values fluctuate nicely (the more who play and add/drop, the better). It’s a free game and it will always be free. I won’t make the same mistake that Roto Hog/Small World made. What do I get out of it? Besides getting this great game back online, you mean? I guess in the end I grow the Dobber brand and eventually that should help me sell a few more Guides. So if you’re looking for strings that are attached…that’s about it!

I’m doing my first draft of the season as I write this and it’s an interesting one that I would probably enjoy more if the draft moved quicker. Sorry for the plug, but it’s worth mentioning – this is Fantrax “best ball” and they opened up a “Beat Dobber” challenge. So 11 people have challenged me and we choose 20 players. At the end of the season, Fantrax takes the five best forwards, three best D and two best G and counts only those. It was $10 to play (I was comped), with the winner getting $100 and second getting $10. Each pick is on a two-hour clock, so there is no pressure, plus there is a “sleep” timer that runs from midnight to 9am. Problem is, a couple of people don’t check often enough nor put in the auto-draft, so the full two hours ticks by. Fifteen rounds in, it’s been three days. Hits, SHG, SOG and PPPts are categories along with the usual, and I used the Geek Draft Kit to rank the players. I picked third in the snake draft and nabbed Ovechkin. It swung back around to me and goalies were already taken (Vasilevskiy, Hellebuyck and Andersen). So I didn’t have a choice. My strategy is to get Tier 1 goalies if I fear that I won’t get one the next time it comes around to me. So my next two picks I took Sergei Bobrovsky and Braden Holtby. Geek told me that goalies are highly rated commodities so I made sure I got two of the better ones, later grabbing Varlamov as insurance.

With this type of league setup, it is best to take homerun swings in the later rounds and avoid the Band-Aid Boys. My later picks (14 and 15 so far) were Elias Pettersson and Alex DeBrincat. These guys need to crack my Top 5 forwards, so it’s a boom or bust kind of idea. Go for the high upside, forget about just being decent and putting up solid numbers. If they don’t have a shot at beating the best on my team, then I won’t bother. It means taking a Pettersson over a Dadonov, for example.

Announcement: Fantasy Hockey Geek, after over a year of work from three different programmers (good ones, too), can now finally sync with Yahoo. As of Saturday. This was so big that I rushed it to ‘live’ status rather than test it because I thought it would help users. Naturally, there are bugs and we are working on them. But I think more than half the leagues are syncing okay. I have heard about all the bugs, but I would love to hear from you if you synced it with Yahoo and it worked really well. Just trying to gauge the success rate so far. Thanks!

See you next Monday.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-prospects-on-the-bubble-detroit-chicago-st-louis-and-more-sep-24/

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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Simply Not Enough: Five Takeaways from Jets 3, Flyers 2

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Well… they scored. Twice actually.

Not enough.

Nolan Patrick returned to the lineup from his “upper-body injury” for the first time in nine games. That’s a plus.

Not enough.

Brian Elliott had another really good start – that makes five in a row for him.

Not enough.

Much maligned to start the season, the one other thing that has been pretty steady for the Flyers in recent games has been their defense, and they were relatively good again last night.

Not enough.

Hey, they earned a point on the road against a good team in a difficult building in which to play.

Not enough.

But Radko Gudas looks like he’s going to be suspended for slashing someone in the neck – although the referees didn’t give him a game misconduct until after seeing a replay – which isn’t allowed.

ENOUGH! On both fronts.

Yes Flyers fans, this was another frustrating one-goal loss. They seem to be paramount these days. Much in the way one-run losses crippled a last-place Phillies team this past season, they’re starting to plague the last place Flyers a little now too.

And maybe that’s just the sign of a team that’s getting closer and just doesn’t have that killer instinct to put a game away.

Or maybe it’s a sign there isn’t enough talent on the team to get it done.

Either way, things aren’t looking very hot for the Flyers right now, and at some point, someone is going to have to identify where the issue is for a team that has stagnated both in style and philosophy.

But for now… to the takeaways.

1) Drought’s over… sorta

It didn’t take long for the Flyers to snap their goalless streak. All of two-and-a-half minutes actually:

The Flyers scored. http://pic.twitter.com/YwyUkq0nsx

— Chris Jastrzembski (@CFJastrzembski) November 17, 2017

And then they scored again, less than three minutes later:

POWER. PLAY. GOAL. http://pic.twitter.com/Q9OnFd2ot8

— Chris Jastrzembski (@CFJastrzembski) November 17, 2017

But what do you see on those goals? Here’s a clue: it’s something familiar.

That’s right. They were scored by the usual suspects. Jake Voracek and Sean Couturier with Claude Giroux involved in the action.

Voracek’s tally snapped a 158:36 span of hockey without a Flyers goal. They were starting to sneak eerily close to a franchise record for an inability to score, and only came 41 minutes short.

But there’s a more daunting number that still exists:

263:23

That’s how long it’s been since a player – any player, defense included – other than Voracek, Couturier or Giroux scored a goal. That’s more than four games. It’s more than 13 periods.

It’s unacceptable.

Something has to give. Dave Hakstol has to stop waiting for it to happen and he needs to break up his top line. It doesn’t need to be a permanent breakup – just until the offensive flow can start to regenerate through the lineup. But it needs to happen.

But how do you do it? How do you mix and match and keep lines equally responsible defensively as offensively?

Let’s break it down.

2) A new lineup

First thing’s first. There’s a clog at right wing. Voracek is a lefty shot, but doesn’t like playing left wing. He prefers the off wing. Always has, always will.

I remember former Flyers coach Craig Berube telling me once that if Voracek was willing to learn how to play the left side, he would have much more lineup flexibility.

When I asked him why he just didn’t put him over there and force him to learn, he just gave me a glance and said, “I want to keep my job.”

Well, he didn’t keep it much longer after that conversation.

I wasn’t sure if that meant Voracek had former GM Paul Holmgren’s ear, or word came down from above to Berube that Voracek had to play right wing, or what the case was, but Voracek has remained on the right wing since Day One in Philadelphia, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change either under the Ron Hextall/Hakstol regime.

So, who do you move off the top line?

Well, Voracek. Quite simply because you need to plug another right wing there since he has to take a right wing spot in the lineup somewhere.

Conventional wisdom would tell you to put Wayne Simmonds there, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. First of all, Simmonds is in the second longest stretch of his Flyers career without a goal (11 games), so he’s pressing a bit. Not to mention, he’s still likely not completely recovered from a groin injury that has been hounding him for a month.

But most importantly, he changes the way the line is playing.

Simmonds isn’t a playmaker like Voracek. He plays a game too similar to what’s working for Couturier right now – go to the net and make things happen in front.

With two guys like that on the top line, it leaves Giroux as the only creator, and defenses would clamp down on him and force others to create the offense – which they wouldn’t be able to do with any regularity.

No, instead, Giroux and Couturier need another playmaker on the other side.

Enter Travis Konecny.

The young winger has speed to burn, is incredibly creative and is an offensive risk-taker, often forcing defenders to make a quick decision, sometimes one they don’t want to make.

His skating ability will still give Giroux some room to operate on the left side and not clog the middle for Couturier.

Now, Konecny is still prone to defensive lapses – and I know that’s what frustrates Hakstol about him – but playing him with Couturier, who is one of the top five most defensively responsible forwards in the entire NHL, will help cover for those occasional errors in judgment.

He also doesn’t have Voracek’s heaviness with the puck, which could affect puck possession a little bit, but there has to be some trade off to improve the lineup elsewhere.

Now the second line is where things would get really new.

With Patrick back in the lineup (more on him in No. 3 below), I’d love to see a line full of creative types play together, especially if you can coach it in such a way to keep them away from the other team’s top scoring line via a smart deployment strategy. Maybe give them only offensive/neutral zone starts. Maybe make a quick line change if the top unit from the other team is out there against them. Whatever… be smart about their use 5-on-5 and you could end up with something special here.

That combination would be Jordan Weal, Patrick and Voracek.

Again, three different styles, but if you want to instill confidence in Patrick’s game, and get Weal more chances to score, you play them with one of the league’s best assist men.

So where does this drop Simmonds?

Onto a third line I love for grit, puck possession, energy, and reliable defense that you can throw out with confidence against the other team’s top unit without much worry.

This line would be Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton and Simmonds.

Yes, I know I’m breaking up the best fourth line in Flyers history, but again… we’re talking temporarily here.

And yes this diminishes Simmonds scoring opportunities a bit, but it puts him into a role where he doesn’t have to press as much, and can still get to the front of the net. Put this group out there when Shayne Gostisbehere is on the point, or even Ivan Provorov, guys who know how to get the puck to the net, and watch them collect the trash and put it in the bin where it belongs.

Not to mention, Simmonds creates space and Laughton and Raffl are good enough to make things happen with a little room.

Finally, the fourth line, using players that are here mind you and not elsewhere in the organization, would be Dale Weise, Valtteri Filppula and Taylor Leier.

This isn’t a brutal fourth line and actually has a little bit of skill with Filppula and Leier that can take advantage of the fourth line of the opposition.

Ultimately, I’d like to see Mike Vecchione of the Phantoms get a chance here in this spot, but if we’re using what’s on this team right now, this is what I’d go with.

I could also swap Weise with Matt Read and not be disappointed. I don’t want to see any more of Jori Lehtera. I’ve seen enough.

Point is, something needs to change. Because this is one of the most dreadful scoring droughts for 15 of 18 forwards I’ve ever seen.

3) Patty’s back

Patrick returned to the lineup for the first time in almost a month for the Flyers. He did so in his hometown of Winnipeg. He started on the second line, but didn’t play much. just 7:32 of ice time. He didn’t look especially good or noticeably bad. He just existed.

The thing is, he didn’t miss all this time with his “upper body injury” – a.k.a. concussion.

No, he could have played sooner. The Flyers just wanted to work on his game with him. When you hear a 19-year-old player say the things he said, I can assure you he is parroting what his coaches are telling him.

Here’s what he told the Courier-Post’s Dave Isaac before yesterday’s game:

“I think I need to move my feet a little more. I think too much out there. I was thinking instead of moving my feet and making plays. I think I need to contribute a little more offensively and stay good defensively and keep improving on faceoffs. I think those are the main things.”

Yeah… it wasn’t the concussion keeping him off the ice. It was the slow adjustment to the NHL pace.

Patrick will ultimately be just fine. The Flyers are going to baby him a little bit and only use him in certain situations, but it’s good to have the No. 2 overall pick back in the lineup. He just needs to start showing everyone why he was picked there.

4) Steady goaltending?

Those two words are rarely used together in reference to hockey in Philadelphia, but, for a few games at least, Elliott has been really strong for the Flyers.

Brian Elliott coming up big again. http://pic.twitter.com/hrrMvn1VKy

— Chris Jastrzembski (@CFJastrzembski) November 17, 2017

O.K. he didn’t look great in the shootout last night, but most goalies don’t. But in the game, he was excellent again. He made another 31 saves.

In his last five games, he’s allowed just seven goals (1.39 GAA) and has a .954 save percentage. And yet, he has only one win in that stretch.

That’s a tough break. But, he’s keeping his team in every game. He has to with the ineptitude in scoring. I expect he’ll be back in net tomorrow against Calgary, since he was the Flames goalie last year, and probably doesn’t get a game off until next week, when the Flyers play three games in four days around Thanksgiving.

He’s been a recent bright spot for the team while the struggles have been so incredibly noticeable elsewhere.

5) Gudas and the Stripes

Sounds like the name of a bad bar band, no?

O.K. first, here’s the play – which is definitely a penalty and probably deserving of some league discipline, especially with Gudas’ reputation:

Radko Gudas has been given a game misconduct for this play.

What do you think of the call? http://pic.twitter.com/tTL5rQnF6E

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) November 17, 2017

One could argue that it was just the way Gudas came down and landed on the back of Mathieu Perrault’s neck. But, you still need to be in better control of your stick there.

Gudas has dodged suspensions before, and maybe he does again here – especially since the league isn’t as quick to hand out suspensions if there weren’t injuries involved, which is stupid, but hey.

However, I think Gudas gets one here. It may be just a one game suspension, but I think it’s a send-a-message type pf suspension.

Gudas has regressed so far this season after having a very good showing for the Flyers last season. Andrew MacDonald is close to returning, and when he does, it might not be a bad idea to sit Gudas for a game or two to make him remember that he plays precariously close to the edge. When he stays on one side, he’s effective. When he plays on the other side, he’s reckless and ineffective.

But the grander scale issue here is the scoreboard officiating.

Now, full disclosure, I didn’t watch the first part of the game live. I went back and saw it on DVR after the fact, but I didn’t need to see what happened more than once.

The penalty was originally called a slashing minor on Gudas. But then, the in-arena scoreboard showed the replay of the video, the officials looked up and saw it, huddled together and decided to change the call to a slashing major and a game misconduct.

That’s not allowed.

You can not use replay to change a call – and yet these guys did.

They tried to explain to the Flyers that they didn’t, but that was some serious B.S.

Once again, Dave Isaac from the Courier Post was all over it and reached out to a league official (I’m pretty sure I know which one, because there is one who answers emails during games all the time – and he would be the right person to go to).

Here’s what the official told him via email:

“The Situation Room is unable to confirm the exact sequence of events which occurred between the officials on the ice.”

Translation: Yep. They looked at the video.

That’s a disgrace. The league needs to stop protecting these guys from continued abuse of the rule book or finding loopholes in the rules to justify their poor decisions. There have been far more egregious mistakes in the first 19 games of this season than I can remember.

Whether they ultimately got the call right or not is not the point. The point is, allowing this to happen sets a precedent for the future of the game – and a bad precedent at that.

Not only does the NHL need to do something about this, but they need to address it publicly, otherwise they will be continued to be viewed as a flim-flam operation not just by me, but scores of other writers and fans of this sport.

Simply Not Enough: Five Takeaways from Jets 3, Flyers 2 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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alisayangds · 8 years ago

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After yesterday’s post I want to add some comments on why I’m writing For Wings of Love or Wings of Freedom when I also have my Shattered Crown fanfic lurking around.

There are essentially two reasons behind why I’m currently working on Wings instead of SC.

The first is the actual writing time commitment. I like to post a chapter a week because it keeps the story fresh in my mind, and also that of my readers. Also, I like to think that readers enjoy being able to reliably find a new chapter on a regular basis.

The problem with this, is that it also means that for 20+ weeks straight, barring some crazy, unforeseen emergency, I’m also committed to my fanfic.

As far as my Guilty Crown fanfics go, Imperfectly Forged was much, much harder for me to write than Little Heart. With romance I can generally break everything up into story beats, and the outline doesn’t need to be that detailed. As long as I know the order of events and some circumstances I’m generally good to go and the rest is just set dressing. It was very easy to knock out a chapter every week.

Wings will operate in a similar fashion. With a straightforward romance I’m not really trying to surprise anyone with plot twists and alternate agendas. The characters are who they are and from there I try to entertain and make the reader root for the pair that eventually emerges.

But with an action/drama, particularly anything involving multiple moving parts, I need to know to know the grand strategy of everyone involved. Writing squad combat for Imperfectly Forged was incredibly draining, as was keeping in mind the hidden/side story involving Lyrica and the real reason behind Daryl’s training. Shattered Crown is similarly going to have a hidden agenda that the POV characters are not privy too.

Aside from that, I want to incorporate Shu and Ayase as POV characters and more POVs always lengthens a story. They’ll need their own romantic subplot. Daryl and Tsugumi are going to have a subplot too. There’s an overarching story that has nothing to do with the romance.

This means that Shattered Crown will probably be the longest of my three GC stories, and if I write a chapter a week I could be at work on this for as long as a year, some weeks of which might involve me trekking in circles around my living room as I figure out just what the hell is going on because no outline survives entirely intact once drafting begins. It’s a major commitment, and not one I’m sure I can make right now.

Though I could write slower, I dislike doing that because I’ll have to take time to refresh my memory after an extended break.

Now that I think about it, it’s possible that I can take a scheduled period (like a season break in TV) and then return at a specific time to my once a week schedule, but there’s still my second reason.

The second is the research time. Obviously this is a related issue, because it’s time. But this is time that is harder to spend. I do a lot of my writing around breaks at work and then in a stretch of time after I get home. When I’m fanfic writing, I try to do as much of it as I can during lunch/breaks so I can stick to the professional stuff when I get home from work.

(I handle nearly all of the business end of being a writer at home; contracts, expenses, editor requested edits, etc.)

The problem with this setup is that it’s not easy to slide research in during what would be my fanfic writing time, because I’m not in an environment where it’s easy to watch long videos, even on break, so I would have to specifically set aside time to do that on a weekend.

I mention videos, because at some point to complete the Shattered Crown outline I’m going to have to finish rewatching Guilty Crown and jot down all the Da’ath stuff that I need for the fanfic because I don’t want to rely simply on memory. The details were kind of random and confusing when I originally watched it, so coming at it from after a few years without a refresher is not a good idea. And yes, I’m going to be making use of Da’ath, since I thought there was a lot that was never really explained or resolved and Shattered Crown is intended to tie up loose ends.

And I pride myself on doing my research, whether making sure I stick to the anime canon or reading up on military tactics.

Wings is much easier in this regard because I’m basing 90% of the story on a few pages of a single manga chapter and it only takes a few minutes to flip to it. AoT also has a really, really good wiki community for ancillary data, which Guilty Crown lacks, so I can pinpoint episodes or chapters with side material I need without rewatching/rereading the whole series.

I can understand if there’s some disappointment, and I do feel bad about not getting around to SC as soon as I’d like. Shattered Crown is not off the table, but even if I wasn’t working on Wings it hasn’t passed the critical research/outline phase where I can even get started.

#fanfic writing

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wbwest · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/01/06/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-1617/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 1/6/17

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2017, where we’re gonna lose even more celebrities than we did last year! That’s right, kiss Betty White goodbye!

On the movie front, since we last got together, I saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Yeah, it didn’t do much for me. Now, let me back up a bit. I did miss the first 20 minutes because I had double-booked the night. So, I did miss the setup, but my friend caught me up so I’d know who everyone was. There was Hector “Space” Gonzalez, and Trixie Bang Bang, and Gay Karate Man, and He Who Shoots From Canister Vacuum. And they were fighting the evil Sir Capes A Lot, who was building the Death Star. I got all that. Still, something about it just left me empty. I feel like it’s a giant Easter egg of a movie for those hardcore Star Wars fans, but I’m not sure what it offers the casual fan. ***SPOILER ALERT***I mean, it’s just one big suicide mission. It’s impressive how they’ve worked it into the existing tapestry of A New Hope, but it’s not a story that had to be told, especially since no one made it off that beach. Just kinda bummed me out***END SPOILER***. Anyway, every Star Wars fan I know loved it, so I’m happy for them.

I finally watched the Justice League Action special I mentioned in the last post. It was OK. I mean, I loved that a lot of familiar voices were back, like Kevin Conroy and Khary Randolph, but I’m not sure I’m sold on the animation. First thing to remember is that it’s not the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited that we got over 10 years ago. It’s aimed at a younger audience, and the episodes are best described as “bite sized”. In the special, the Trinity team up with Captain Marvel, Swamp Thing, Green Arrow, Plastic Man and John Constantine to fight evil D’Jinn brothers. It was OK. Like, it wasn’t riveting, but it felt like the kind of thing that would be released directly to DVD. Not sure I’m gonna be DVRing it every Saturday morning. What did y’all think?

Since I’ve been a booster of it since the development stage, it’s with heavy heart that I can confirm that Girl Meets World has been canceled by Disney Channel. I was a huge fan of Boy Meets World, as I feel like I basically grew up with Corey, Shawn, and Topanga. Their stories weren’t as zany as the TNBC fare, but they weren’t always heavy, either. Sure, every now and then you’d get an episode about how Shawn’s poor white trash, but those episodes were few and far between. So, that’s kinda what I expected from Girl Meets World. And I’ve gotta say I was disappointed because that show got heavy as FUCK sometimes! Is there a God? Why did Maya’s dad leave? Is Farkle autistic? It’s like every episode just HAD to teach a lesson. Oh, and they reminded us Maya was poor white trash every possible chance they could get.

I loved the legacy aspect of it, but it just didn’t hit on all cylinders like I felt Fuller House did (which, by the way, was just renewed for a 3rd season on Netflix). Sure, Full House was treacly dreck, but then again, so was a lot of Boy Meets World. They were both ensconced in the world of TGIF at one time or another, and had similar ingredients. I just feel like Fuller House came back with nothing to prove, while Girl Meets World seemed like it was fulfilling some mandate from Disney that it had to be educational. It is surprising, however, that it’s not getting a fourth season, as Disney tends to love their 100-episode runs – the point at which the shows become no longer profitable to produce. Sure, Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire only ran two seasons, but later hits like That’s So Raven and Hannah Montana got four seasons.

To be honest, part of me feels like the cancellation stems from star Rowan Blanchard’s tweets last year, where she came out as identifying as queer. Now, Disney is a pretty progressive company, but I’m not sure they knew how to spin that, and the renewal question has been up in the air since then. Still, a lot of folks are discussing the fact that Raven-Symone is a lesbian, yet she has her That’s So Raven reboot coming to Disney Channel, so maybe I’m wrong. Some fans are hoping the show will be picked up by Freeform (formerly ABC Family), where it could tackle more mature themes, but I think it’s done for now. The final 3 episodes air this month.

In TV news, there were a few bait and switch situations this week. First up, it was reported that Will & Grace was definitely coming back for a limited 10-episode run following the success of that voting video they did a few months back. Recurring guest star Leslie Jordan started blabbing that it was a done deal until Debra Messing finally came out and said that nothing had moved past the talking stage at this point. On the one hand, I loved Will & Grace during a tumultuous time in my life, but I’m kinda done with it. I want a Will & Grace reunion about as much as I wanna see a Mad About You reunion (God, that was a horrible finale!). Still, Hollywood’s out of ideas, so I’d say it’s still happening.

Next up, reports came out of The International Consumer Electronics Show that Conan would be moving to a weekly schedule, a la Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It’s been rumored that the show had been having trouble booking high profile guests, and the best ratings came from when Conan would travel and tape on location. By the end of yesterday, however, TBS reported that there were no plans for a format change “at this time”. So, just like with Will & Grace, it’s happening. They’re just upset they couldn’t get in front of it fast enough.

Speaking of cable shows, Archer is finally moving to FXX this season. The original plan was for FXX to be Fox’s cable comedy network, while FX would handle the dramas. However, when FXX launched, it just became the home of The Simpsons until It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia got shuffled over there. The fact that they didn’t move Louie and Archer, however, made it seem like a vote of no confidence for the spinoff network. Archer’s is little long in the tooth these days, and it’s no longer the crown jewel it once was, but I wonder if it’s got the juice to get more eyeballs on FXX. I hope it works because I love Man Seeking Woman and You’re The Worst over there, and they could both use more viewers.

In comic news, DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns confirmed that there would soon be an announcement regarding a new DCTV television show. Now, it’s not clear if this is another Berlantiverse series, a la Arrow/The Flash, or an unconnected show like Gotham. I’m curious if it’s just a confirmation of the Black Lightning show that had already been ordered to pilot by Fox, or if it’s something completely different. Also, it’s being reported that Johns will write some Watchmen comics this summer. This is a terrible idea since so many fanboys treat Watchmen like it’s their Bible, so there’s no way this will be well-received. They tried the Before Watchmen series, which didn’t really catch fire. They just had to go and reintroduce the concept in DC Universe Rebirth #1, so now I guess they’ve gotta do something with it. I’ve never felt Watchmen was “untouchable”, but I have no desire to revisit that world, so this project simply isn’t for me.

In wrestling news, it’s being reported that Diamond Dallas Page and “Ravishing” Rick Rude will be inducted into the 2017 class of the WWE Hall of Fame during Wrestemania weekend. The latter one really means a lot to me. I think Rick Rude was my first favorite wrestler because he was my introduction to the concept of a “ladies man”. The way he would pick a random woman out of the audience, and bring her into the ring. He’d kiss her, she’d pass out, and then he’d gyrate over her. That was a true pimp move right there! Like most wrestlers, he died before his time, so I guess he’s gyrating over angels now.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Supergirl star Melissa Benoist divorced her husband of 21 months, Blake Jenner

Woody Harrelson is in talks to portray Obi-Wan’s mentor in an upcoming Star Wars film

Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey lost to Amanda Nunes in 48 seconds, after training for over a year for her comeback.

A Charmed reboot is in the works at The CW. It’s reported to be set in the 70s, but will have some kind of connection to the original series.

Mariah Carey “lost the plot”, as out British friends might say, when her pre-recorded track messed up on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. She claims they intentionally sabotaged her for ratings, while Dick Clark Productions reports that she didn’t even come to soundcheck.

80’s pop star Richard Marx and wife, former VJ Daisy Fuentes, subdued a crazed passenger on a Korean airline. In other news, how the Hell did Richard Marx land Daisy Fuentes?!

It was revealed that Drew Barrymore’s upcoming Netflix sitcom Santa Clarita Diet is actually a zombie show. Meh. I’ve been over zombies since 2006.

In Arizona, folks reported seeing a winged demon, heralding the beginning of the apocalypse. Yup, 2017 is gonna be swell!

When I first heard about The Mick, starring It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Kaitlin Olsen, a lot of thoughts went through my head: Is Sunny over? Is Fox gonna bury it? Will it even be funny? Luckily, I got my answers pretty quickly. No, Sunny is still going, as they scheduled The Mick around its shooting schedule. Fox didn’t bury it, but instead gave it some prime real estate after one of the last regular season football games of the season. And was it funny? Yeah, it’s funny.

If you haven’t heard of it, Olson stars as MacKenzie “Mickey” Murphy who’s going nowhere in life. She’s got no money, no prospects, and a deadbeat boyfriend. She decides to pay a visit to her wealthy sister to hit her up for a loan when the FBI raids the party, carting her sister off to jail for fraud. Once released, Mickey’s sister and brother in law flee the country, leaving their 3 kids in Mickey’s care. There’s the college bound bitch daughter, there’s the privileged snob teen son, and then there’s the precocious little boy who doesn’t really know what’s going on. Of course Mickey butts heads with the older two, while befriending the maid, Alba. The pilot plays out somewhat predictably, as most of it had been shown in TV spots leading up to the show. It’s the second episode where things really kick into gear. A loan shark comes after Micky, while she and Alba are getting high at a rave. Meanwhile, the kids’ bitchy grandmother has come to take over the house, and grandma doesn’t play!

I thoroughly enjoyed both episodes that aired this week. As I said before, it debuted on Sunday, which I feel is a better night for it. Instead, however, its regular timeslot is Tuesdays at 8:30, following New Girl. It being a Fox show, however, it probably doesn’t have a prayer. After all, I thought Grandfathered would be a sure thing, and now Stamos is back on Fuller House duty. No, I doubt we get a second season of this thing, but I’ll enjoy it while it’s here. That’s why The Mick had the West Week Ever.

#80s #Comics #DC #DVDs #Movies #Race #Star Wars #Television #TNBC #West Week Ever #Wrestling

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thrashermaxey · 7 years ago

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Ramblings: Players on the Block, thoughts on Gourde, Eller and lots more … (Feb 14)

Monday, Tom Collins nailed a pretty solid Top 10 list that covered the 10 hottest names on the block leading up to the NHL’s Trade Deadline on February 26. So I won’t get into those players, but I’ll add a few of my own to that list, in no particular order. Some names I’ve mentioned before…

Jordan Schmaltz – He still hasn’t played since an injury in early January, but he’s a restricted free agent this summer and he’s also no longer exempt from waivers in the fall. The Blues are deep on defense so he is definitely a chip they can play to land a winger. If he goes to a rebuilding team, and of course if he returns to full health soon, then he could contribute to a fantasy squad right away.

J-G Pageau – I think Pageau will go. I also, as I mentioned before, think he’s a fit for the Penguins and is totally GM Jim Rutherford’s M.O. If they acquire him, he’ll be the third-line center which is a huge upgrade in terms of fit and an upgrade to last year’s Nick Bonino. It would also allow Jake Guentzel to go back to the wing in the top six, providing his owners with solid end-of-season production.

Mats Zuccarello – I kind of like the St. Louis Blues for this, or perhaps the Sharks or Stars. Dark Horse team would be the Flames. But I think Zuke goes to a Western team if he gets moved.

Michael Grabner – The Blues are another fit in terms of Grabner’s speed, but also the Flames. However, wherever he goes I believe his production will drop off a cliff. I think the Rangers were the best fit for him in terms of putting points on the board. But in my opinion he’s as good as gone.

Ryan McDonagh – McDonagh is probably the most expensive trade chip in the league and frankly I don’t think the Rangers should trade him. Hell, trade Kevin Shattenkirk before McDonagh! But much like Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson, McDonagh is a free agent after 2018-19 so his name has been mentioned in hockey trade circles.

Tomas Plekanec – There are no shortage of teams in need of Plekanec’s experience, and most NHL GM’s tend to place a lot of value in reputation and historical skill sets. So they’ll overrate the defensive and offensive aspect that he brings to the table based on the Plekanec of two years ago, and as such will overpay.

Josh Leivo – I don’t think the Leafs will trade James van Riemsdyk nor Tyler Bozak, because those two essentially become Toronto’s “rentals”. However, non-roster regulars like Leivo could certainly go. And Leivo has actually asked for a trade. The return would be a low draft pick or the famous “future considerations”. But the Leafs may be hesitant because this could blow up in their faces.

Kasperi Kapanen – I like Toronto’s team as is, though they could use some help and experience on the blue line. If they do nothing (as I would do – because Deadline prices are a rip-off), then that’s great. But if they do add a defenseman, Kapanen and Soshnikov (see below) are the players who could go.

Nikita Soshnikov – Toronto doesn’t want to lose this asset to the KHL, but they also don’t have room for him. His name has been swirling in trade rumors for weeks. On a new team he could be a 40-point guy who piles up the hits.

Kevin Bieksa – Anaheim will probably keep fighting to get into the playoffs, but two weeks is a lot of hockey. If they start to slide in the standings they may look at trading this 36-year-old veteran with an expiring contract for something like a second- or third-round draft pick plus a middling prospect.

Petr Mrazek – Detroit will have to either qualify him at over $4.5 million (uh, no), or let him become unrestricted. Neither is probably acceptable, so perhaps he gets moved at the deadline to a team who wants a backup in need of a fresh start. If Detroit does this, then they may have their eye on signing a pending UFA such as Aaron Dell, Jonathan Bernier or Carter Hutton to co-start with Jimmy Howard next year.

Radim Vrbata – A pending UFA could be had on the cheap, with teams in need of veteran wingers who could score as interested parties. Pittsburgh, for one.

Patrick Maroon – A UFA this summer, Maroon is a big body with decent hands coveted by many teams looking to go deep in the postseason. Perhaps the Oilers could use him to land a couple of promising defense prospects?

Gustav Nyquist – Nyquist, like many Red Wings, was (stupidly) given a no-trade clause. The Wings have to get out of some of these, so why not ask him to waive it? He is signed through 2018-19 and then becomes unrestricted. The Wings could really re-stock the shelves with a couple of picks and/or prospects that they would get in return. He hasn’t turned out to be the star they’d hoped he would become by now.

As usual, as I have since 2006, I’ll be breaking down the trades from a fantasy standpoint as they happen. Talk about putting my constitution and recovery to the test…it will be a big day! It all goes down two Mondays from now – be here!

There was all this talk over the weekend about Soshnikov and how the Leafs ‘had’ to make a move before his AHL conditioning stint was up. But then Monday arrived and nothing happened because…he was put back on IR.

Oh.

Why didn’t I, or anyone else in the media universe, think of that?

If we knew that a player could just be put back on IR again, then there wouldn’t have been any talk of a pending trade. None at all. Because we all know that Loophole Lou Lamoriello would just do that. As Elliotte Friedman said yesterday in his 31 Thoughts: “Soshnikov was running over people in the AHL yesterday”. So Soshnikov is fine, he’s just on the IR now because Loophole Lou is a weasel. Kovalchuk, Mogilny (plus a few that I remember happening in New Jersey but for the life of me can’t remember the player names)…we see Loophole get out of unbreakable predicaments time and time again. He won’t be forced to trade, he won’t be forced over the cap and he won’t be forced to…well, pretty much anything. The Leafs are one team right now that you can never say “The Leafs have to…” because no, they don’t have to. Loophole Lou is on the scene!

David Pastrnak has been demoted. Talk about being a hardass, Bruce Cassidy is really pushing this guy by giving him absolutely no leash and holding him accountable for any miscues. Pastrnak had points in 14 of 16 games. Then he goes pointless and a minus-2 on Saturday against Buffalo and since then he’s played 25:44 total in two games. A Top 30 scorer getting bumped to the checking line to me is ludicrous, but it’s happened a couple of times this season.

David Backes was moved up to the big line and put up two assists. He has five points in his last four games.

With a goal last night, Yanni Gourde now has a seven-game points streak. And points in 10 of his last 11. I was asked on Twitter the other day what his upside was and to be honest, it’s ever-changing in my mind. I was high on him as a prospect, loved the way he worked his way up from being undrafted. Then last year I saw him in a couple of AHL games when they were in town to play the Marlies and I watched specifically him and came away unimpressed. I guess that’s why I’m not a pro scout (nor is anyone who says to me “have you even seen the game?” sorry had to get that dig in there!). So when he started the season, I had his upside at 70 points. But he’s on pace for 62 as a rookie. Does that mean 80 is feasible in several years? I’d often maintained that Gourde was similar to Marchessault in terms of “against all odds” and “just needs a chance”. But while Marchessault never got a chance with Tampa, other than a brief 10-game stint when Tyler Johnson was hurt…Gourde is getting that chance. So the Lightning get to enjoy Gourde’s breakout after missing out on Marchessault’s.

Steven Stamkos had 34 points in 19 games to start the season, which means 30 points in 38 games since.

Since January 6, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 7-6-0, 3.42 GAA and 0.901 SV%. Tampa Bay is the team to beat, in my opinion, but right now they are relying on their depth a lot more while the stars go through a rough patch.

Evander Kane has four points in his last 20 games. So, uh…there goes that career season. That big contract year. With Jack Eichel out, and Eichel has been the primary linemate for nearly all of Kane’s points this year, Kane owners are in trouble.

The Caps blew a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 in OT. I caught the end of this game (I mostly watched the Penguins last night) and it was just so obvious how much of a game-breaker Mark Scheifele is. The tying goal and a beauty setup for the winner. Plus the opening goal. Plus he set up another beauty in overtime that was missed.

With an assist last night, Lars Eller has 14 points in his last 18 games. He has 29 points on the season and his career high is 30. Four of those 14 points are via the power play. He’s seeing secondary PP time this year after not seeing much at all in three prior campaigns. At 28 years old he could be finally showing a bit of the potential that we thought he had when he was 20. Not that he’s going to Bailey or Marchand his way to stardom suddenly in his late 20’s, but on a team in need of depth scoring such as Washington I can see him surprising next year with 50 points. Man, that seems bold just re-reading it. But I’m just not used to seeing a solid 18-game run from him like this.

I mentioned the last time I wrote the Ramblings two weeks ago that Columbus “may” have finally solved their power-play woes. Well they picked up two more PP goals last night, with Zach Werenski assisting on both of them. I can’t stress enough how important the power play is to owners of key Columbus players.

Boone Jenner had an assist, three SOG, six hits and two BLKS last night. In the last six games he has four points, 16 SOG and 20 hits.

Cam Atkinson has six points in eight games since his return from injury. Only one came on the PP though, so again – if the power play really is turning around for this team he is the No.1 beneficiary.

Mat Barzal didn’t get five points last night. I think it might be easier if we just report when he doesn’t do that as opposed to when he does.

In the last 21 games, Travis Konecny has 20 points. He’s playing with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier and the results have been so successful that Jakub Voracek can remain on the second line and get Wayne Simmonds and Nolan Patrick going. That being said, while Voracek continues his hot play (12 points in 10 games) it hasn’t caught on with Patrick, who is pointless in four. Simmonds has seen an improvement though. A closer look reveals that Voracek had seven of those 12 points via the power play. So his spot on the second line at even strength has weakened his production a little.

Jesper Bratt had one point in 10 games before picking up a pair of assists last night.

And now to the game I actually watched. Zach Aston-Reese was moved up to the Sidney Crosby line (Conor Sheary on the other side) and scored his first two NHL goals. I drafted him in one of my keepers last summer and was disappointed in his AHL start. In fact, I was starting to think that I would have to drop him in September. But he’s really come along for Wilkes-Barre with 15 points in 14 games (after starting with 14 in 27). He’s a gritty player who was a little over-zealous early in his pro career with the dumb penalties. Looks like he’s got it figured out, and once again the Penguins may have found yet another rookie to end the season on Crosby’s line!

Speaking of rookies on the Crosby line, last year’s entrant – Jake Guentzel – also scored two. He played with Phil Kessel and Riley Sheahan. What all this means is that Evgeni Malkin is stuck with Bryan Rust and Carl Hagelin…and Dominik Simon is on the fourth line or possibly press box going forward. Though frankly I’d sit Hagelin and play Simon on that line.

I’m going to dig into the Dion Phaneuf – Marian Gaborik trade in the morning with a breakdown. It was a cash deal, strictly about money for Ottawa. But it does have some interesting fantasy implications, particularly for the Senators…

Justin Faulk went into yesterday’s game with four goals on the season and came out of it with seven. It really doesn’t take long for a player to get his overall numbers on track. Faulk will need a couple more games like that, but that’s all it would take to get him back to a 40-point pace.

Jonathan Quick got the hook last night (four goals on 20 shots). Mike Condon got the hook last night (four goals on nine shots). Scott Wedgewood got the hook last night (concussion protocol).

Chicago shut down Jonathan Marchessault but they still couldn’t stop Vegas nor a Vegas comeback. David Perron’s two points gives him 51 in just 50 games. I traded him for two crummy draft picks last summer, believing that even on Vegas his 50-point days were done. Apparently not. The trade may have cost me the win. I made a ton of dumb mistakes last September and I’m starting to believe that I should have been banned from drafting or making moves for at least 60 days after getting discharged from the hospital. I can’t think of a single good thing I did in that time, hockey-wise.

The Blackhawks thought they had something in Jordan Oesterle. Frankly, I did too. He had seven points in six games back in early January and proceeded to get about 23 minutes per game for the next 13 games. But he was pointless despite all the power-play time. And he was minus-9 over the last five games. So that led to his being a healthy scratch last night. These are the windows that bubble players like Oesterle cannot let close.

Tomas Hertl was injured last night and so the Sharks bumped Brent Burns up to play the wing. That’s an interesting turn of events, and worth keeping an eye on.

The Canucks recalled late-bloomer Philip Holm from Utica. The 26-year-old rearguard could have an early Tim Heed-like impact on the score sheet and is one to watch early on. That being said, I don’t think he has any long-term potential though. Only the short-term adrenalin-induced production…

The Habs signed goaltender Charlie Lindgren to a three-year one-way deal. So there’s their backup goalie for the near future and a solid Carey Price fill-in if Price has another injury-filled season.

Everything is still going well for me health-wise, so in March I’ll be stepping things up and appearing here every Monday. Ideally things will remain on track and I can take things even further in April. Until then, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks – to cover Trade Deadline Day!

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/hockey-rankings/ramblings-players-on-the-block-thoughts-on-gourde-eller-and-lots-more-feb-14/

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