#balls in your court

[psilocybinaut]

Well that was a dope glimmer to start the day 🤗

[mymomisdrunkagain]

Adam's Not Feeling Well - Go (1999)

i just love the idea of how his boyfriend, in order to get outta this awk af dinner sitch, he just straight up puts him on blast with this big ol lie. and all he can do is say, "its true."

[discount-walter-white]

Chickenius.

Before someone can get to the opposite end of the "wholesome spectrum, I'm heading them off at the pass. Assuredly someone will inevitably come along and say "Pussius" or "Assius", and they will reblog from before me to do it. Lol.

I am PopTartius.

[groovygrub]

[timblrdrake]

“how long have you been 17” i age when the dancing queen ages.

[aethershroud]

The more and more I think about that final scene from Dark Beginnings, the more and more it's one of my favourite Shadow scenes. Of all time. It's not just "Omg he's imagining a future with Maria wah". I mean that helps, of course. But here's the thing.

We've seen Shadow as a lot of things. He was cocky but cool-headed in Adventure 2. A confused but ultimately well-meaning anti-hero in Shadow. The best character in 06 (like that was hard, admittedly). An absolute asshole in Boom. Vegeta in IDW. The best character in Prime (Nine sucks don't @ me).

But one thing I don't think we've ever seen Shadow as...is vulnerable.

This scene shows that. He'd never dare get this screwed up around others. But here, he's alone. Intrusive thoughts invade his mind. And for the first time in a decade, his expression...softens. His pupils unfocus and dart around. His eye(s) widen. He begins to hyperventilate, and he has to snap himself out of it.

This "lone wolf" mask finally slips, and we see the Shadow from the flashback in episode 2. We see the Shadow who was insecure about himself, who lost the only people in the universe that mattered to him. And despite killing Black Doom, despite reaffirming his true destiny, some wounds just don't heal. They leave scars. But he'd never show those scars to anyone else. We see a Shadow who, deep down, doesn't want to hurt like that again.

In this one scene, we don't just see Edgy Sonic Rival #2, or a knockoff super saiyian, or a design made to sell toys. We see a CHARACTER, flaws and all.

Man, everything about SxSG's marketing has been nothing but impeccable. It's not just that it's remembering things that happened in the 2000's. It's that the wounds from around that time are finally healing. Slowly, but the recovery has started. I can only hope the game itself can stick the landing. Please don't let all this good shit be for nothing...

[hvneymelons]

They shouldn’t have cared for Damian. They’ve barely met a couple of months prior, and their stay was only temporary as was everything else around them. It made no sense why having him in their life felt so normal now. A thing that a week before perhaps they wouldn’t have thought twice about. Or cared enough to want to fix how their last meeting ended. Juno couldn’t deny that they had feelings that prompted them to want the kind of friendship he spoke of. That they too, despite how different Juno was, longed for that fairytale friendship other humans forced themselves to believe in. That Damian clearly believed in, and because he believed it Juno now felt the need to ensure it. Perhaps that was what he meant about giving.  “Just you.” they said after a moment. Juno didn’t really care for very many people. They didn’t want to have to give to anybody else, even if they couldn’t seem to get their brunette friend out of their head whenever they spoke with someone. It was hard enough trying to figure out how to be a good friend to one, they couldn’t imagine having multiple someones to try and please. Then they’d have no time for themselves, and that was definitely not okay with them. “I don’t care for other people, Damian.” they clarified, feeling less compressed by emotions. Juno hadn’t expected the feel so light that they could float but with every comment the rope grew tighter.  Juno wondered if now that they were already in uncomfortable conversations, Damian would feel more inclined to answer their question from the library. He had promised to do so over time and it had only been two days, but still they couldn’t stop thinking on it. They couldn’t focus on themself anymore, and the longer they spoke the deeper Damian went. Juno hadn’t come here for that. “I will not run.” Juno fired back defensively, their gaze turning sharper by the second but they forced themself to look at him. They needed a distraction, Juno could feel themself becoming antsy with the conversation but finding a quick exit seemed like the exact opposite of what to do. “And I will answer the phone, too.” they added on, softer this time around.  Feeling accomplished in their mission, Juno began to walk towards the bedroom door in search of the exit before they stopped in their tracks. “I assume you want to relax now, then.” Juno spoke, dismissing themselves from the premise. They had no other plans for the day, having reserved it for this very moment, but his sister should be arriving soon as well and Juno could not be bothered to entertain meaningless conversations with strangers. “I will leave you to it.”

Sighing, he shakes his head once. “If you ask ahead, the answer’s probably going to be wait ‘til I’m home,” he points out, though there’s a small, amused smile tugging at his lips now. “So, sure. Ask first. And we’ll take it from there.” Damian’s gaze softens at Juno’s confession, the slight falter in their usually unshakable demeanor not lost on him. He shifts his weight slightly, leaning back against the door frame as if anchoring himself for what feels like a fragile moment between them.

He can feel the slight awkwardness hanging in the air, but he doesn’t mind it. In fact, it makes him appreciate Juno’s effort more, recognizing that this is clearly difficult for them. Damian isn’t naive — he knows friendship isn’t a straightforward concept for everyone, especially not for someone like Juno, whose walls are tall, thick, and guarded with all the finesse of a castle’s security measures. Never mind the way they met was through Juno’s incessant stalking, which lends itself to Damian’s theory that this — this isn’t easy for them.

Damian lets out a breath, his lips curling into a soft smile that’s almost apologetic. “You don’t have to be good at it all the time,” he says gently. “Friendship’s not really something you can measure like that.” He shifts his hands into his pockets, rocking a bit on his heels before adding, “I mean, if it were, I’d probably fail a lot of the time too.” He gives a little shrug, attempting to ease some of the tension. “It’s not like there’s a manual for this stuff. And I’m not gonna pretend like I have all the answers,” he tells them honestly, because he doesn’t, despite often wishing he did. “But if you want help, yeah, I can try.”

Damian’s eyes search Juno’s for a moment, gauging whether they’re fully with him or retreating into themselves again. He isn’t sure how much he can push without scaring them off, but he’s also not going to stand there and pretend like he hasn’t noticed the way Juno distances themselves from people — him included. Kind of hard not to notice, when they literally run away from him after broaching a simple topic like friendship. It’s something Damian is starting to accept about them, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to let them disappear entirely.

“You don’t have to figure it out all at once, you know? It’s just — a one step at a time kind of thing.” His voice softens further, a touch of uncertainty creeping in. “And you don’t have to do it alone. I’m here.” He hesitates before adding, “I mean, provided you don’t run away from me every time I try to be.” Damian isn’t sure if he’s pushing too hard, but Juno asked for help — that means something, and it’s not something Damian is going to overlook. He feels the knot of his own insecurity tightening in his chest, that familiar feeling of wondering if he’s saying too much or not enough, but he pushes it aside. Right now, this isn’t about him. It’s about being there, offering what he can. And that, Damian figures, is at least a good place to start.

[duothelingo]

The panic.

I thought Duolingo had got me.

I survived.

It was just a glitch.

[introspectivememories]

"evan, i find you adorable". adorable as in able to be adored. as in capable of being adored. as in i find you worthy of adoration. adorable, from the latin adorare (to worship) to adorabilis (in the sense 'worthy of divine worship') to the current day adorable. as in maybe if we had made it to the movies or if eddie didn't show up, i could've showed you just how much i want to worship you. as in i look at you and there is a font of adoration in my heart for you. adorable as in i flew into a hurricane with you and yet this date is a thousand times more thrilling than that. adorable as in there is a person in your building who saw me jump up and down like a little kid in the lobby after i had kissed you for the first time. adorable as in i kissed you and immediately thought fuck i could do this forever if he lets me. adorable as in i want to press kisses to your birthmark. adorable as in i spent the entirety of the days leading up to our date wondering about you, if you liked your coffee with two sugars or one. if you liked storms or if the lightning strike had put you off on them all together. if you liked cats or dogs or if you were the kind of weirdo who liked goats instead. if you thought about the kiss as often as i did. if your stomach tangled into twisted knots as saturday drew closer. if you would be agreeable to sitting in my lap. if you would blush as prettily as you did the day i kissed you. if your world also realigned when our lips met. if our orbits had matched up now that we flew into a hurricane together. if the gravitational pull between us had finally been too strong for either of us to resist that night in your loft. or maybe, more simply, adorable as in, "evan, i find you adorable."

[cake-chad]

Kremy being down bad for Gideon will never not be funny

[thisshitisridiculous]

i guess my thing is that buck calling tommy would put them into a cycle. it's essentially what happened after their first date. buck said something impulsive and dumb - tommy decided this isn't a serious option and left - buck calls tommy to apologize and work it out with the goal of dating again. that's exactly what buck would be doing if he called tommy back now. he'd be apologizing for trying to move to fast and be trying to win over a guy who won't commit to something when he sees potential obstacles on the road ahead

and while last time since tommy was worried about buck not being out and ready for a relationship with a guy, buck was able to prove his commitment and desire by coming out to his friends and family. this time tommy is worried about buck not being serious about him in the long term, about buck needing to explore his sexuality outside of their relationship. there's not much buck can do to get tommy to not worry about those things. those are large issues that take time and communication to work through. something tommy walked away from

[beanarie]

hey hey don't cry chimney is going to bring a sixpack to tommy's house in a couple days and before tommy can even open his mouth say "i'm calling in another favor" because oh hey his wife is pregnant again and he is terrified but none of that can get back to her. he just needs to wallow for an evening with someone who doesn't spend time with her on the regular (anymore). and tommy is still off and shocky so he just becomes a sin eater, he lets chimney take residence on his couch and cry multiple times while he keeps coming back to "i love her so much that it's all worth it. even when it's scary. even knowing it could all end in a blink." and tommy's head quietly dislodges from his ass.

after chimney grabs an uber home, tommy picks up his phone and leaves a voicemail. "evan, i'm sorry. can we talk?"

[pngjamie]

that's cool and all but is the twink in blue I MEAN serial designation R free on this valentine's… .., i have to befriend them.. … i'm going to explode him (affectionately and lightheartedly)

im sure if whoever hes expecting doesnt turn up he'll reluctantly happily take anyone else 😊

coughs @kkolg

[puckpocketed]

caps fan here!

as follower of pld (the few, the proud, the courageous!), i was wondering if you had any thoughts about how he might fit in with our team, assuming he's going to be 1C with Ovi on the left and one of Wilson or Mangiapane on the right, and basically taking the former Kuznetsov/Backstrom spot on the halfwall on PP1. my thinking is that he can easily return to being a 60 point player just by the increase in ice time alone this coming season, and maybe even flirt with 70 if he has a triggerman like big O on his wing.

as someone who knows a hell of a lot more about PLD than i do, is that just wishful thinking because i'm a caps fan? what do you think?

The PLD Post, Part 2: mask-OFF

Hii!! (we are SO brave and SO correct). i am so sorry this took ages to answer, i was trying to decide how serious to be. I will admit, I was hesitant about going mask-off and hitting up the microstats and revealing that i do seriously think he can be better than he was bc that shit is kinda lame ESPECIALLY when defending a clear failhorse. but at this point any rep i have as someone with good opinions must be gone considering how many media scapegoats i've attached myself to (i got a fucking. c.gauthier ask the other day aslkjdkljas) so. mask is coming off. we've hit somewhere between well-considered manifesto and vibe check so . um. enjoy!!

I remain optimistic going from everything I've heard and from what you're saying here! But, big big asterisk. He absolutely needs to take ownership of his lack of engagement. when he speaks in media availability I believe him when he says he wants to change. The will to change is there, idk if it’s possible that any player would be satisfied with their performance being the way his was. There’s a lot that needs to be unpacked about his lack of production, the Character Issues, and what his role might look like going forward. You and any other Caps fan who reads this will have to tell me if the fit is right. Hockey talk below the cut lol!!

So before I start I have to say I know dick all about the Caps except:

You're dragging that old man (Ovechkin) to Gretzky's lawn (record) to set it on fire (break it before he retires)

Everyone is pining away for your very very injured 1C who is also Ovechkin's boybestfriend/perfect set-up guy/work wife

There's. intricate pre-game rituals?

So I'm not sure I can speak to how he will fit with your (our? i AM picking the Caps up fr given every acquisition/draft pick they've made) team with any depth or specificity. also i don't think i'd call myself a PLD expert. like. i just got here !! I haven't been following him since he was drafted or anything!! I have, however, consumed TOO MANY Kings games this past season and I can give you a broad look at what actually happened with them and why I think it didn't work out. I will not be making any overtures about being unbiased. My biases WILL slip through because I think Dubois is a sweetheart and I find the mental exercise of defending him fun <3 I’ll give you stats and observations and I will build a story that runs counter to what the prevailing media narratives say. While I stand by my opinions, they're also just one of many available interpretations of what happened.

character concerns

Everyone will be bringing it up at the first speed bump of the season, the first bad game he has. Please be prepared to have a crisis of faith and also be deeply disappointed in him. god knows I am, like, all the time <3 But... I always want to dig deeper when it comes to dominant narratives, because in following multiple teams I’ve become acutely aware of just how miserably Bad media can be at reporting on teams that aren’t their own.

I hear “Locker room cancer” accusations bandied about and I’ve yet to see anyone produce a primary source for this — podcasters, journalists, even people on nhl broadcasts will throw these words around so casually, assuming they’re correct because everyone knows the story. Some confounding factors in the character narratives arise when you scratch the surface. People who've worked with him speak well enough of him. Todd McLellan called him “misunderstood”, and had nothing bad to say about his character.

Matt Roy, who also just got picked up by the Caps, has recently said he’s a great teammate. MORE proof if you want to hear it directly, Roy went on Dropping The Gloves and had this to say about Dubois (transcript by me):

[on what actually happened] Honestly, I don’t know. I mean if you asked him he would say he had a down year. But it’s nothing like — I feel like the media paints this picture of him, and to me it couldn’t be further from the truth, you know. He’s a great teammate, he’s a great locker room guy, he gets along with everybody. So, in terms of all that I don’t know where the media is getting all this stuff. If I hated the guy I probably wouldn’t have come to Washington. He’s one of my friends on the team and I really think he’s going to have a bounce back year. I think he’s really going to be good for the team.

Matt Roy signed with the Caps of his own free will as an RD, a contested free agent in a sparse market, knowing Dubois was already here. He could’ve gone to plenty of different places. Why the hell would Roy sign here long-term, clearly wanting to play and win, if Dubois was as disliked as some pundits would have us believe??? Credible reports (and not just speculation) point to PLD’s other teammates liking him!! 

And here’s some propaganda; I direct you to this extremely sweet video where he gets asked about assisting on Akil Thomas' first NHL goal (and a bunch of other first NHL goals). He is so, so genuinely happy for Akil, who battled through injuries that set back his development for years. Just LOOK at his smile!! He can’t hold it back. (Others have said this but it looks like a little v. Like :> !!!! HELLO !!)

How does all of this happen when, supposedly, he’s a low-character asshole and a “locker room cancer”? It doesn’t line up for me.

On the other hand, I have seen Dubois cruise. He really can’t seem to bounce back from a poor start, and if you were just looking from the outside in, the scoresheet this year reflects this. The critique is fair; I’ve turned this over in my head enough times. there are less physically gifted, less skilled players, who are working so hard to stay in this league, and Dubois’ poor showing does feel somewhat like, idk, something I’d be mad about usually.

Here comes the “but”. Call this next bit the narrative section, because I’m showing my ass here: I think Dubois gets a lot of scrutiny because of his infamous Shift, which went a specific kind of viral, under the exact right conditions, and it has just. defined his career. And okay… I am not denying that the shift happened, but plenty of guys in this league have taken shifts off. come on. the season is long and they're only human. I’m not excusing it either! It was bad and he deserved his benching. Ideally, he one day becomes a player who always puts effort in. Working hard is one of my favourite traits in any player, and usually this would be enough for me to dismiss him as not worth being invested in.

and yet…. the reactions to his floundering performance feel so much like they’re about expectations as seen through the lens of The Shift. They’re calibrated differently because he went 3rd overall, and he's got this big body, the speed, the skill — it's the fact that he's got the tools and seemingly squanders them. All of this is amplified by the contract he's sitting on and his run of short-term stays on teams. Does he get this much scrutiny if he went in the 2nd or 3rd round? Does he catch this much heat for his low energy performance if that one shift clip hadn’t done all that damage? We’ll never know obviously but . I do wonder.

Final word on the character stuff is that we don’t know what truly went on in those locker rooms and i don't want to give more air time to baseless speculation. What we can examine is the hockey. The hockey tells the truth <3

the 23-24 la kings

Assuming the plan is to give PLD a look at 1/2C while he’s on the Caps, I think he’s a complementary type of player. The way he is right now, I don't think he can drive his own line or pull people up. He works with the calibre of lineys he's got and will produce the expected outcome. That sounds so obvious, but what I’m saying is I don’t think he’s capable of miracles like the best playmakers in the league, he's not about to make your guys look 15 years younger. In this vein, I look at his many first NHL goal assists as a symptom of what kind of linemates he was being paired with all season, and how unstable the situation was. His drop in point production IS more complicated than "he's just a piece of shit". From this article, the best summary I've seen of the Situation PLD was in:

LA acquired a player who had been a top-six center (and at times, winger) his entire career playing with established NHL talent. Yet after investing multiple assets to acquire Dubois and sign him to a significant contract, the team decided to put him in a third-line role where his most common linemate was a first-year NHL player who wasn’t expected to be on the roster in Alex Laferriere. Those two had a revolving door of wingers throughout the season. Moreover, Dubois’ most common on-ice teammates after Laferriere at 5-on-5 this season were Matt Roy and Andreas Englund. Gee, I wonder why he didn’t produce?

Context about Roy and Englund: Roy is a quiet but capable d-man who is defensively geared with a bit of offensive upside (j'adore. does things the right way and is very responsible and good. will throw hits but doesn't chase them or headhunt. I think playing away from the Kings’ more passive system will unlock more of his offensive potential. Matt Roy you will be SO good for the Caps I truly believe mwah mwah); and Englund is a leg weight/goon who, going by every single stat I can pull out, makes his d-partners Worse (with affection <3). Point here is neither of them being on the ice was particularly conducive to a lot of scoring chances.

As I said in my previous post, I think Dubois absolutely needs finishers. At some point there was hype around his shot but I didn't see much of that at all on lak? Eye test says: he was unwilling to shoot, and when he did shoot it felt like there was low/no commitment, no power behind it. Comments on his shooting called him “too deferential” at different turns. That’s just an insulting way to say a guy likes to pass and I truly think it circles back to the expectations thing. Would there be anything wrong with him not being much of a shooter this past season if he was another player? (Can't we just say he passed a lot this season without bringing value judgement into it? leave my failhorse ALONE!!!! like must a man score goals ,can't he be very very sweet and happy for the rookies he assisted ? wailing about it forever.)

More fun stats from that same article:

#1 on lak for passes that led to high-danger scoring chances, and scoring chances in general <- again, not a miracle worker. did not have finishers who could capitalise on these chances. its so fucked up what they did to my failwife

one of the best on lak in actually carrying the puck into the o-zone. (another reason i quite liked watching him!! transition forwards my BELOVED) everything I've ever observed about him off the cuff holds true here: he draws penalties this way, because he's fast and when he's locked in he is pretty good for controlled zone entries <3

Dubois had a career high in even-strength assists per 60, this is all in spite of his weird linemate situation and his reduced TOI and the power play mess (more on this later). he might have been deferring, but I truly think the lack of stability + good finishers, and ice time held him back from being more productive.

jim hiller

Building off that last point: even worse on the stability front, which I did allude to in the initial PLD Post, was what happened when Jim Hiller took over. You must understand one of the first clues that we were working with a different animal of a head coach is he was NOT afraid to line shuffle, and shortly after he found short-term success with that, they started running 11 forwards and 7 defensemen (you can see where it started precisely if you scroll back in lak lb because you'll find ME yelling about it LMAO). This shortened forward bench resulted in mid-game line shuffling, as in it was uncertain as to who they would be playing with from shift to shift. Hiller is on record saying he thinks it was beneficial, per this article:

It’s all about getting his deep forward corps engaged in the game. That’s sometimes difficult if you’re running four full lines and there are penalty kill or power play opportunities that alter the flow of the lines. Especially for the group of forwards who don’t kill penalties – think Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson, Quinton Byfield, Pierre-Luc Dubois – it’s an opportunity to get them extra shifts and engage in the game. “Some of our other players who don’t penalty kill, you know they can lose the flow of the game, so they enjoy it more I know,” Hiller said of having 11 forwards in action. “We’ve talked about it a lot. We really just think for our team, the way it is right now, that gives us an advantage getting those players more ice time.”

(and ok sorry to go off about my gripes with how the kings are run but .They were doing this into playoffs. This article was written during playoffs. god. CARL GRUNDSTROM, WHO HAS NEVER NOT PLAYED HARD, PLAYED 25 SECONDS IN GAME 2. all this while they were trying to get people 'engaged'. Idk. Maybe it did work for some players. I wasn’t behind that bench. But sitting one of your most energetic and committed forwards during a series in which you’re trying to come back from being down several games was a CHOICE!!!! also like what if you didn't double-shift QB. what then. And we all know how that series ended. lak coaching/management i am beating you with a pillowcase stuffed with bricks . <3)

Much was made of the Hiller takeover. I liked it at the time. In his first couple of media availabilities post-TM, Hiller emphasised bringing back "fun" to the game for many of the players who were slumping — and a reportedly tense locker room during the big skid that lost McLellan his job. It was all very Ted Lasso of him. Hiller also introduced a new way to rate Dubois for his performance every night, separate from the scoresheet. I made jokes about PLD's very special star-chart, everyone who knew about it was making jokes about it. This merit system was tailored towards communicating with Dubois what he did and didn't do well, and while no one ever went into depth about it we do know a few things:

It measured things outside of +/-, goals and assists, and was likely a score out of 5 per metric.

One of the metrics was about hits/physicality, another one was likely ‘compete’ levels.

He alluded to being measured on penalties drawn?? Or something??

Anyway it sort of … worked?? The change in Dubois was pretty immediate, the moment he was given some clear direction to work in. He played some of his BEST games of the year in the wake of this change. He got involved physically, he was not losing steam, he was drawing tons of penalties because he’s huge and fast and has good hands and IF he puts his mind to it he can truly be a transition monster.

CUE THE LINE SHUFFLING… imo, much of the progress made seemed to be lost, and the rest is history.

NOT saying Dubois is free of fault here. Needing that extra motivation to get physically involved is kinda wild, and I understand why for some people it’s a bridge too far. EYE am here for the laffs though and it's really funny that the communication came in the form of super special individualised performance evaluations/a glorified sticker chart. This is why he’s my temperamental desert flower. Wilting violet. Soggy kitten. <3 and for the record I truly don’t think I’d care if he put up 40 points per szn for the rest of his career. I don’t care because he’s a sweetie and the Bit i do when defending him is too funny. I don’t think I’d care if everyone was right about him — I just don’t actually think they are.

the power play problem

So okay, as per part 1 (my last email <3) we know Dubois thrives net front. It’s where he scored a bunch of his goals on the Jets. Every stat and the eye test supports this. So how come Lak had him stationed on the half wall doing jackshit, if he was on the power play at all?? I will admit I drove myself half crazy studying power play structures and watching LA Kings games back before coming up with a garbled, half-formed idea about how LA runs their PP. I was going to attempt to explain it here — had to do with Kevin Fiala and Dubois being lefties and how that's just an awkward passing sitch — but it turns out more than one person has had this thought and MAN I love being validated by actual hockey people. I fully thought i was making shit up in my head for a good week or two, and was seriously considering scrapping this portion . but it’s SO important for contextualising the production drop, so here goes !!

As early as September 2023 there was a story published about PLD’s role on PP1 — a place where he certainly should’ve belonged as a top-6 guy with plenty of ppg’s under his belt. From this article, which explains the issue very very neatly, and much more eloquently than I could ever hope to:

The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois was a big one this summer; at first glance, he should be a great addition to the power play. But when digging deeper, the Kings might struggle to fit him onto the top unit. Dubois played mostly as the net front player for the Winnipeg Jets last season, the role Gabriel Vilardi often played for the Kings last season. So, it’s an easy one-to-one switch in that spot, right? Not necessarily. Dubois has all the talents to be an effective net-front player. He has the size and strength to battle in front, with the skill to effectively pop down low and create chances. However, his handedness is a big problem for this role. The Kings run their power play primarily on the left side with Kevin Fiala — Anze Kopitar when Fiala is hurt — which necessitates a right shot down low. When a right shot player pops out on the left side, there’s an easy passing angle for the half-wall player and more options for the player down low. Quick passing is key for a successful power and a left-shot can’t move the puck quick enough down low. They would have to either move too far into the corner or take the extra second to step out from and open up their body to create an effective passing angle. Time that would slow the power play down too much and allow the opposition penalty kill to get back into position. There’s also minimal shot threat from a lefty down low. We saw both Vilardi and Viktor Arvidsson frequently take the pass down low and quickly turn it into a shooting opportunity, something a left shot wouldn’t be able to do.

It then goes on to suggest 2 solutions that aren’t appealing at all:

Flip the power play entirely to accommodate Dubois net front. Not great as they dont have the players for that, and if they tried it they’d be hamstringing Adrian Kempe’s one-timer.

PLD on the bumper position. This one’s hard to swallow because that displaces Kopitar to PP2, there’s his position as captain and the optics of moving him off his spot.

In this article it is once again suggested that LA MUST flip their power play and figure out how to get PLD net front. In this article they point out how useless he was playing on the wall down the stretch, and how the only reason he seemed to be able to produce something was because he’d taken Kopitar’s spot in his absence. This article calls to attention Dubois’ worlds performance, where team Canada utilised him net front.

Big picture, the Fit

Do we see the problem here yet? It’s not the flat narrative I was sold by the national media, random assholes on twitter, and podcasters who don’t actually watch Kings matches!!!! Do we see how weird and messy and complicated it is, beyond “hey he’s just a sack of shit who isn’t trying hard enough”. Rob Blake himself has come out and admitted that they didn’t put Dubois in a position to succeed. And absolutely there was effort required on his end — a different player might have sucked it up and adapted to circumstances, a different player might never have needed that extra bit of communication, a straight up better player might have dragged his less skilled lineys up to a higher level. But the problem has always been two-fold: LA was trying to coach and manage a completely different player to the one they had in front of them and expecting good results; and Dubois was unable to keep competing with all he had in the face of that. I think both parties are at fault here. And I think, given the chance and the right circumstances, Dubois can hit 60 points again.

Okay, circling back to the big question of Fit. Will he be able to work with Ovechkin? Hard to think he could fail with one of hockey’s best goal scorers on his wing, if he does get a look at 1C. People who know the Caps better than I do, does this sound workable? Is Dubois going to be too difficult of a nut to crack for your coach? Your locker room?

And, of course, the power play issue. Maybe Dubois learns to be better on the half wall! Idk!! Maybe it was a matter of coaching and he thrives in Washington running your PP1 from there. For my money… I like him better playing net front or bumper. Do the Caps have the bodies to accommodate this? I did ask someone familiar with the Caps PP to explain it to me so I could try and figure this out but ouuuugh. My head is spinning. Someone smarter than me please jump in. I am TIRED . We don’t know what it will look like, what they’re planning to do with Dubois on the power play. You guys probably have a better idea about what’s possible than I do <3

Conclusion?

PLD is fast, big, a passing threat and a formidable net front presence when he’s given the opportunity and playing his A-game. As far as I can tell, his B-game is garbage </3 His poor performance is more complicated than people think and I’m pretty sure only the LA Kings beat reporters + the 12 kings fans on twitter know this. Most of them still dislike PLD anyway bc his low motor. I don’t blame them, I’m just more inclined to be forgiving because I love redemption arcs and I think he’s a good person. i would love to be wrong about his low-effort B-game LMAO but im trying to be realistic here. I want him to fit in and be embraced by the Caps so bad <3 Your coach sounds like he wants to help PLD succeed and is up for the challenge. The vibes from my friends who follow the Caps are always good, I’ve read through various tags and it sounds like a place that will take him in whether he likes it or not. I might be stupid but I believe in him !!! and I’ve laid out all the hockey bullshit for you to the best of my ability. Given all of this… do you think he’ll do well?

[lesbianralzarek]

sometimes a friendship of 3 months ends in explosions, and sometimes your best friend who youve known for 10 years walks away and its just... "well, i suppose thats it"