#pp 38 lightning

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

DID BETSY TOLEDANO WORSHIP HEVIOSO? 

Pictured: Artistic Rendition of Xɛbyoso (Hevioso)

When the priestess Betsy Toledano was arrested in 1850, the police discovered stones (described as “flintstones” and “pebbles”) that were said to control lightning.

“...They found in one of the rooms a kind of chapel fitted up, the walls hung round with colored prints of the saints, etc., and a number of bowls upon the altar, containing stones varying from the size of gravel to the largest “pavers.” Goblets and vases filled with unknown liquids had also their place. A number of colored women were present, who escaped. Betsy Toledano, the chief priestess of the heathen temple, stoutly defended the ceremonies from any wrong construction; said that its signs and symbols were derived from the mother-land, and that the incantations were harmless; that the rocks in question were intended to protect the building from lightning, and that by placing them in water during a storm they acted as non-conductors for the dangerous element. The woman also exhibited a very curiously wrought necklace of shells which had been brought from the western coast of Africa by her grandmother, and which could influence the clerk of the weather to such an extent that he could not resist her application for rain when she insisted upon a genial shower…”

SOURCE: “The Rites of Voudou” The Daily Crescent. (New Orleans, LA) 31 Jul. 1850, p. 3. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82015378/1850-07-31/ed-1/?sp=3

"...Betsy then went on to explain cases of sundry ominous looking vessels containing pebbles, flintstones, shells, horse-hair, curious aprons, colors, banners, &c., &c. Besides these, there were vases filled with a liquid, neither palatable nor of the odor of sanctity. And then Betsy had a necklace of strange shells and rainbow-tinted beads, which was not without its use in the craft of Voudouism. The necklace was all-potent in calling rain down on the parched earth, in seasons of drought, and the flint and pebble-stones, were for taming and turning aside the fiery shafts of "Heaven's artillery."…”

SOURCE: “Voudouism Unveiled” The Daily Delta  New Orleans, Louisiana •  Wed, Jul 31, 1850 Page 2. Retrieved from: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-delta-voudouism-unveiled/40979649/ 

The flintstones seem similar to sokpe - stones or flint implements associated with the lightning vodún Hevioso (Khebioso):

“On the Slave Coast, as is generally the case elsewhere, flint implements of the Stone Age are believed to be thunderbolts, and are consequently called so-kpe, (kpe = stone) . After a building has been struck by lightning, the priests of Khebioso, who at once run to the spot to demand that the inmates should make amends for the evident offence they have given their god, almost invariably produce a flint arrowhead, or axe, which they of course bring with them, but pretend to have found in or near the building. As Dr. Tylor says, the fact that siliceous stones actually produce a flash when struck, gives a key to the widespread belief that flint implements are thunderbolts.”

SOURCE: Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. pp. 37-38. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/ll-BAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 

The “pebbles” may or may not have also been sokpe. 

MUCH doubt exists as to the origin and use of the curious circular stones with holes bored through them which are well known to people living in the southern districts of the Gold Coast and Togoland. Geologically, they may be described as consisting of quartzite – usually an altered sandstone which is very common throughout the districts mentioned. That the hole found running through the two flat sides of each stone has been artificially made is obvious, but the precise manner in which this has been effected is as puzzle. As the holes are circular some form of boring has, apparently, been employed – each hole having been commenced from either side, and usually in the centre of the slightly flattened stone, and rapidly narrowing down the further the stone is penetrated until, in some cases, it is so small at the point where it meets the hole bored from the opposite side that a pin-head could not pass through it.

An examination of over 300 such stones shows that the average diameter is about 1 ⅗ inches, while that of the largest stone was found to be 2 ⅓ inches and of the smallest 1 ½ inches. Some of these stones have 3, 4, 5, or even 6-cornered edges but, in general, they are slightly flattened with smooth sides and a rounded edge. When two such stones are struck together they give a dull glow at the point of impact, but no sparks are emitted as in the case with flint….

East of the Volta River the stone is connected with one fetish only, viz., the So (or Hebieso, or Hevieso), the god of thunderstorms. Here the stone is called “Sokpe,” lit. stone of the god So– “kpe” meaning “stone” in the Eve language. This fetish is one of the four which, together, constitute the Yeve or Vodu cult which has spread to the Addah and Ouittah districts of the Gold Coast, and to southern Togoland from its original home in Dahomey. The uses to which the peoples of these countries now put the stones are as follows: – 

They are used medicinally for the cure of any illness. The stone is put into water and the patient may then, at once, wash therewith. This he must do on seven consecutive days, after which a cure should be effected. In the case of religious ceremonies connected with the Yeve cult a candidate for admission to the secrets of the faith is shown a pot of consecrated water, and then a number of articles of symbolic import to the members of the sect, including a “sokpe.” These articles are placed in the water and the “sokpe” is then taken out by a Yeve priest who addresses the candidate, explaining his obligations to the fetish, and after drawing the “sokpe” up the candidates back to the crown of his head, concludes by saying, “If you become faithless to Yeve, or betray his secrets to someone who is not a servant of Yeve, then Yeve will kill you in this manner”; the meaning intended to be conveyed being that Yeve will appear in the course of a thunderstorm and hurl a thunderbolt as his faithless protege, splitting him asunder.

SOURCE: Newlands, H. S. "An archaeological puzzle from West Africa." Journal of the Royal African Society (1919): 40-43. Retrieved from:

As the vodún Gu is derived from the orisa Ogun, the vodún Hevioso is derived from the orisa Shango. 

In Haiti, Hevioso became the lwa Kebyesou Danle, part of Rit DANWONMEN.

SEE: Hebblethwaite, Benjamin. A transatlantic history of Haitian Vodou: rasin figuier, rasin Bwa Kayiman, and the Rada and Gede Rites. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2021.

[annelister-wellwellwell]

Saturday July 11, 1829...

4 50/60

12

L

Breakfast at 6 to 6 35/60 – left for the post my letter written last night to ‘Mrs Lawton  Mr E Burinstons, York Place, Harrogate, Yorkshire, Angleterre’ – George washing the carriage and to be at the Jardin at 9 1/4 – at the Jardin per fiacre, at 7 38/60 – of course 8 minutes too late, and sat in the gallery – cannot hear well in the gallery, being too far off, on account of keeping clear of the great body of students – at last nodded a little, and let my book and paper fall – this roused me and kept me awake afterwards – certainly not much the better for the 29th botanical lecture over at 8 1/2 – then walked about reading chemical lesson 34, but it began to rain and therefore went into the amphitheatre at 8 50/60 – 34th chemical lecture began at 9 20/60 – left it at 10 20/60 in a heavy shower – 23d lecture on the mollusques from 10 1/2 to 11 3/4 - then 17th geological lecture from 12 to 1 55/60 – fiacre à l’heure from 2 to 2 10/60 – 

Drove to n°48 rue Meslay (faubourg Saint Martin) chez la somnamnbule au 2nd – 20 minutes there – waited about 1/2 the time – shewn into the salon – this and the little entrance room to it furnished with specimens of natural history stuffed birds, reptiles in spirits, electrifying machine and apparatus and a variety of little things, and languish paintings in oils – the somnambule with her eyes shut and again with her eyes open – copies of madonnas etc etc. had just got up to say I really could not wait any longer, when I was shewn into a small room where sat the somnambule, Madame Fagard, and her maid – I was supposed to be a patient but soon explained that I was commissioned by a friend in England to make inquiries of Mme Fagard as to how she was to be consulted; and her terms – her eyes were closed and she asleep, but concluding, as it proved correctly, that she could answer just as well as if professedly awake, I addressed unprecedently to her – all that was necessary was for my friend to send her a lock of her hair, sealed up in a bit of paper, which I was not to open – Exempli. gratia. she shewed me a letter she had just had from a vicomtesse at or near Rheims, enclosing the bit of hair (too gray by the way, for such folly) which the somnambule opened out and examined by the touch, and then, rubbing the hair between her fingers, dictated to the maid the ordonnance or prescription she was to write to the vicomtesse – une cuillere à bouche de tapioca, des violettes, and something else of similar importance, to be boiled together douze minutes, and the decoction well strained – the vicomtesse was to ‘gargariser la bouche’, to take ‘plus de vin que de l’eau’, and ‘écris qu’elle prenne un bain par semaine’ – she seemed curious to know who had given me her address – I said the wife of my Épicier – I had sent to my druggist who refered me to Dr Frapart rue Jean Jacques Rousseau 15, but I had not found him at home – The somnambule did not seem to know anything about him – I asked if she had cured any Anglais – yes! someone from London – she said her son had been dying of a violent infectious putrid fever, and she had just cured him but he was still very weak – she sent for him for me to see him – he looked wretchedly, but I was glad to have him out of the room again not liking the thoughts of a putrid fever – asked if it was not necessary for my friend to describe her case – no! not at all – the hair was sufficient – why said I, then you cure by miracle – oh! no! she did not – mais vous avez les yeux fermés, et dormez vous à ce moment, Mme? – oui – avez-vous toujours les yeux fermés? non – mais à present je dors et je ne peux pas les ouvrir – ils sont tournés, and she put up her hand, lifted up the left lid about way and shewed me the white of the ball of the eye – But said she, the maid could have told you all this just as well as I – I took no notice of this, but asked her terms, and she told me 10 francs for the 1st visit and 5 francs for every one afterwards always 10 francs for hair - ‘quand je ne me dérange pas’ – asked what she meant by this – she meant that these were her fees when persons consulted her at home – but when she went en ville she had double – she had 20 francs a visit – did not quite understand whether this was only for the first visit of for every one – said I would write all this to my friend and came away marvelling how in this day any one can be silly enough to be duped by such a sleeper – yet Mme Bertrand said she knew several whom she had cured – they must have been cured by the potent means of their own fancy, even the poitrinaire given up by all the faculty – 

Spitting all the way home and washed my mouth and hands, and swallowed down about 1/2 tea spoonful of eau de cologne in about as much water, for fear of the putrid fever – 

Walked the length of my own street, and got home at 3 1/4 – had my hair put in papers – then an hour’s nap in my chair – at my desk at 4 3/4 – Dinner at 6 – came to my room at 8 - before and after dinner till coffee at 9 3/4 wrote out last 10 lines of Wednesday and the whole of Thursday and the first 17 lines of yesterday – coffee at 9 3/4 – talking to my aunt about my father – her being much better here than at Shibden hall – came to my room at 10 3/4 – then I told Cameron and till 11 25/60 read the first 17 pp. Essay 35 chimie generale, for the next lecture – 

Heavy showers at 10 20/60 and afterwards a.m. At 5 1/4 p.m.very heavy rain and thunder and lightning and heavy rain afterwards in the evening –

Diary pages:  SH:7/ML/E/12/0054  and  SH:7/ML/E/12/0055

[saraelisaperezpierrez]

5. Light Design

We are all being influence by light since it is the basis of all existance. The type and amount of lighting can affect our overall mood and even our health. For example during winter when days are most commonly dull,there is a higher number of cases of depression among the population; ‘roughly 70% of the population feels minor depressive mood swings’ (Brandi, 2006, p. 8). And as humans have been evolving we have felt the need to create artificial light, which is greatly used in interior desin and architecture.

Most of us would have probably had an experience in which the lighting in a place was just not it, and it might have even caused physical problems, like headache, discomfort on the eyes, and even made us feel more tired than usual. And nowadays, light is an essential element to create a safe and comfortable work environment. Specially because it is natural daylight that our eyes and body perceive as more comfortable because of the way that our eyes are able to discern colors with it in comparison to artificial lighting which does not reproduce the colour spectrum like sun-light does, our retinas sense this and have to overcompensate for it, which causes our eyes to react by being tired more easily.

BRANDI, U. (2006). Lighting Design: Principles, Implementation, Case Studyes, Base/Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH

We can se an example of this on the images above found in the book of Lighting Design: Principles, Implementation, Case Studyes; by Ulrike Brandi, pg 11, in which we see the same image shown in different lightings, image a) is the object in direct daylight, image b) In artificial yellow light, and image c) is the object as it should be perceived by the human eye. Here we can see that there are more similarities in the hues between image a) and c).

So not only is it very important when designing a space to consider the amount of natural light, and also the type of artificial light that would (most probably inevitably) be used, like for example ‘the ever-popular PAR-38 lamp is a powerful, controllable source available in a wide variety of wattages and beam spreads’, (White, M.D., 1989, pp 1), halogen lights, fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, etc, all depending on what the final purpose of the space is, and the necessities that it has.

Fortunately for interior designers and architects, technology has provided us with advanced programs that assist us in lightning design in a very realistic manner. Since computer-aided design has grown in popularity and has now resulted in an inseparable tool when designing an interior space, and many of the most advanced programs have recognize the importance of having realistic shadows and light, however, since all these are parameters that can be modified, it is our responsibility to keep them as realistic as possible and properly investigate about the place, position of the building in relation with the sun, the materials, and the proper kind of artificial lightning required.

******************

References

BRANDI, U. (2006). Lighting Design: Principles, Implementation, Case Studies. [Online] Basel/Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH. Available from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/herts/detail.action?docID=3045442. [Accessed: 30th November, 2022]

WHITE, M.D.,(1989) ‘Update: Interior design light sources’ Interior design. [Online] 60(11) pp 164. Available from: link.gale.com/apps/doc/A7871899/AONE?u=uniherts&sid=summon&xid=61faff86 [Accessed: 30th November 2022]

CENTAUR COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED (2005) ‘Lighting Design” light touch’ Design Week. [Online] 2005, Available from: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A138927363/AONE?u=uniherts&sid=summon&xid=a5168e2f. [Accessed: 30th November 2022]

YUAN, J. (2021) ‘Research on the Effect of Light and Shadow in Computer-aided Interior Design’ Journal of Physics: Conference Series. [Online] 2074(2021) pp. 012053. Available from- https://iopscience-iop-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2074/1/012053/pdf. [Access: 30th Novemeber 2022]

[anisanews]

NHL playoffs 2021: Breakdown, predictions, odds for Lightning vs. Islanders Stanley Cup semifinal

Islanders and Lightning.

It’s a series 265 days in the making. That’s how long it has been since these two teams met in the 2020 Eastern Conference finals and when Tampa Bay won the series in six games. It’s also how long it has been since they’ve faced each other in any kind of game. 

And here’s the plot twist: In reality, it’s likely this would have been the Eastern Conference final pairing if things had been per usual this year. So while this round has a fancy new title for 2021 — Stanley Cup semifinal — it’s just one more nudge that things are getting back to normal.

“It’s a great opportunity for us seeing them again in the semifinals,” said Anthony Beauvillier after his Islanders sent the Bruins golfing. “I think we’re taking a lot of pride in what we do, and to get back to the spot that we were last year with some unfinished business, it’s a great opportunity for us. Everyone is excited in the room and we’re really looking forward to it.”

Speaking of normal, both arenas should be rocking with fans back in the seats, especially the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Old Barn is closing its hockey doors when the Islanders’ run ends, and the team is certainly sending it out in style. It has been 38 years since the home team gave Lord Stanley’s Cup a twirl around the ice — 37 since it was in a Cup Final — and this club will be itching to do it one more time. On the flip side, the defending champion Lightning are aiming for a repeat and, this time, to give the fans a chance to see it in person. 

But before they can even think about fulfilling their Stanley Cup dreams, they have to face each other.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Islanders: Schedule, odds, breakdown, prediction

Stanley Cup semifinal schedule

Date Matchup Time (TV channel) Sun., June 13 at Tampa Bay 3 p.m. (NBC, SN, CBC, TVA Sports) Tues., June 15 at Tampa Bay 8 p.m. (NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVA Sports) Thurs., June 17 at New York 8 p.m. (USA, SN, CBC, TVA Sports) Sat., June 19 at New York 8 p.m. (USA, SN, CBC, TVA Sports) *Mon., June 21 at Tampa Bay 8 p.m. (NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVA Sports) *Wed., June 23 at New York 8 p.m. (NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVA Sports) *Fri., June 25 at Tampa Bay 8 p.m. (NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVA Sports)

(* If necessary)

Season statistics

The teams did not play against each other in 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions. Here’s a quick look at some stats against the seven other teams in their respective divisions (per NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick):

TBL STAT NYI 3.21 GF/GP 2.71 2.59 GA/GP 2.23 22.2 PP pct. 18.8 84.2 PK pct. 83.7 52.37 CF% at 5v5 48.6 98.57 xGF at 5v5 102.52 86.76 xGA at 5v5 94.62 58.12 HDGF% at 5v5 58.54

Odds

Lightning -250 Islanders +200

(Odds by FanDuel)

Offense

So here’s the funny thing about all those season stats for the Lightning: Throw them out the window. They look all shiny, but they were missing one key element — Nikita Kucherov. The Russian missed the entire regular season recovering from hip surgery and has hit the ice running in the postseason. In 11 games, he has racked up 18 points (five goals, 13 assists), with 13 of those on the power play, and averaged an eye-popping 1.64 points per game.

If you’re Barry Trotz and the Islanders, you’re probably thinking, “Let’s shut down Kucherov and we’ll have a solid chance,” right? Well, if you just focused on him, then you’d leave Steven Stamkos (13 points), Alex Killorn (12) Brayden Point (12) and defenseman Victor Hedman (11) open — and those are just the players with double-digit points. That’s the thing about the Lightning; they have a balanced offense across all four lines and their blue-liners chip in, too.

The Islanders have a similar setup with their forward group, especially as of late. More known for shutting down the other team’s high-octane offense, the guys from Long Island are led by . . . a guy from Long Island. Deadline pickup Kyle Palmieri has reignited the offense with a team-leading seven goals. But he’s not the only one putting the puck in the net; the team boasted a 3.67 GF/GP against the Bruins in the second round. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (13 points), longtime Islander Josh Bailey (11) and Anthony Beauvillier (11) have double-digit points in the playoffs. 

One guy the Islanders will need to keep pace to have any success the rest of the way is Mat Barzal. The 2018 Calder Trophy winner notched just three points in the six games against the Penguins, but he has turned it up as of late. In six games against Boston, he notched six points, including the game-winner in Game 4. Last season in the Eastern Conference finals, he contributed four assists in six games. The Islanders’ points leader in 2021 will be critical to this squad getting past the defending champion.

Edge: Lightning

(Getty Images) https://ift.tt/3xe8uaW

Defense

Barry Trotz knows defense. Yeah, he knows how to squeeze every last bit of offensive juice from his players, but the man knows defense. His team had the second-lowest GA/GP in the regular season at just 2.23, and since Trotz shipped up north from Washington after winning the 2018 Stanley Cup, the Long Island team has boasted a league-best 2.46 GA/GP. 

In the first round, Trotz sent the East Division’s best team, the Penguins, into a downward offensive spiral. A crew that includes Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin went from 3.45 GF/GP in the regular season to 2.67. In the second round, the Bruins, who were at 2.93 for the 2021 season and 3.20 GF/GP for Round 1 against the Capitals, dropped to 2.83. 

Tampa Bay sported a 3.21 GF/GP in the regular season, which isn’t too shabby, but again, it didn’t have Kucherov. The Islanders have one of the worst Corsi For percentages at 5v5 (42.20) — it’s actually 15th out of 16 playoff teams — which means they don’t have the puck a whole lot and they allow a whole lot of shots against. But they do have the best SCSV% (percentage of scoring chance shots against that were not goals, per Natural Stat Trick) at 92.23 and the third-best High-Danger save percentage (87.80).

Jon Cooper’s Lightning are also solid on defense and, in fact, have posted a better GA/GP than the Islanders in the postseason (2.36 compared to 2.75). It surely doesn’t hurt to have the 2020 Norris Trophy winner — and a 2021 Norris Trophy finalist — in the corps in Victor Hedman. Then there’s Mikhail Sergachev, David Savard, Jan Rutta, Erik Cernak and Ryan McDonagh. All but Savard were on the 2020 Cup team, so this crew knows what it takes to get to the final round.

Edge: Islanders

Goaltending

This series may come down to the performances between the pipes. Andrei Vasilevskiy is up again for the Vezina, and for good reason. He led the league with 31 wins — the Lightning won 36 total — and had a shiny .925 save percentage. That was the regular season; as the importance of each game has risen, so has his level of play. 

“I’ve been around a long time and I’ve seen a lot of goalies that are good, but he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after his team was eliminated by the Lightning. “And how he affects the team and how they can play. That’s kind of what I told him. And it’s true.”

In the playoffs, he’s boasting a .934 save percentage, just .001 behind leader Carey Price, and has two shutouts, including one in the series clincher against Carolina. In 11 starts, he has a 3.57 Goals Saved Above Average and .921 High-Danger Save percentage at 5v5 (per Natural Stat Trick), both of which are the best among the remaining goalies. 

Trotz has called on both his netminders — Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin — in the postseason. Varlamov has started seven games while the rookie Sorokin has gotten the tap five times. Both are displaying sparkling save percentages — Sorokin is at .934 and Varlamov is at .925 — but the latter has been getting the gigs lately. After Sorokin faltered in Game 1 against the Bruins — and despite winning three straight vs. the Pens — Varlamov has been the one in net.

Edge: Lightning

Special teams

There’s really not too much to say here other than Tampa Bay’s power-play is connecting at 41.7 percent effectiveness. The Islanders’ penalty kill is 61.5 percent effective. Translation: You CANNOT take penalties if you’re the Islanders. The Islanders’ power play, by the way, is working at a respectable 28.1 percent and the Lightning’s penalty kill percentage is 77.8. But, again, you CANNOT take penalties if you’re the Islanders.

Edge: Lightning

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Key players to watch

Brayden Point (TBL): The Calgary, Alta., native has been red-hot as of late with five points in the last three games, including the series winner in Game 5 against the Hurricanes. In 11 games this postseason, he has notched eight goals and 12 points and is well on his way to besting the 14 times he hit the back of the net in 23 contests in 2020 bubble hockey. He’s boasting a 6.83 Expected Goals For at 5v5, which is fourth-best on the club, and has won 57.26 percent of his faceoffs taken, per Natural Stat Trick. Last postseason, he played in just four of the six games against the Islanders and still skated away with seven points.

Kyle Palmieri (NYI): Acquired via trade around the deadline along with fellow longtime Devil Travis Zajac, Palmieri has made himself quite at home on Long Island, which shouldn’t be a shocker since the Smithtown, N.Y., native grew up about 30 miles from Nassau Coliseum. After potting just four points in 17 regular-season games, he has turned it up in the playoffs with seven goals and two assists in 12 games. According to Natural Stat Trick, he’s seventh in the league with an individual xG of 2.65. The 30-year-old forward, who is growing back his magnificent beard for the playoffs, is also riding a five-game point-scoring streak.

Lightning vs. Islanders playoff history

It should also be noted that the two times these teams have met in the postseason (regardless of round) and the Lightning have won, they went to win the Cup.

YEAR RESULT 2020 TBL def. NYI in conference finals in six games 2016 NYI def. TBL in second round in five games 2004 TBL def. NYI in quarterfinals in five games

Last five playoff appearances

Tampa Bay Lightning

YEAR FINISH 2020 Won Stanley Cup 2019 Lost in first round to CBJ in four games 2018 Lost in conference finals to WSH in seven games 2016 Lost in conference finals to PIT in seven games 2015 Lost in Stanley Cup Final to CHI in six games

New York Islanders

YEAR FINISH 2020 Lost in conference finals to TBL in six games  2019 Lost in second round to CAR in four games  2016 Lost in second round to TB in six games  2015 Lost in first round to WSH in seven games 2013 Lost in conference quarterfinals to PIT in six games

Lightning vs. Islanders prediction

It’s hard not to think the Islanders will pull this one out — and they just may because, as we’ve learned, you never bet against the mastermind, Barry Trotz — but the Lightning are, soup to nuts, the more stacked team. This club has been to the promised land. It knows what it takes and, when all is said and done, it should have a chance at going back-to-back.

Prediction: Lightning in 6

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[jurassicpark1990]

Preds, Kings, CBJ, VGK, and Sens? :3

Nashville Predators: If you had unlimited money, what jerseys would you buy?

i did answer this before but will also say:

• giroux home jersey

• kopitar home jersey

• koivu in this sexy number:

Los Angeles Kings: What team did you really like in the past but lost interest in?

leafs and bruins, both of their fans became insufferable during playoffs and it literally ruined the teams for me

Columbus Blue Jackets: Who has the worst jersey in the league?

for regular jerseys dallas has the ugliest green i have ever seen and i hate it so much

Vegas Golden Knights: What locations would you like to see get expansion drafts?

everyone loves this question and i just don't know a good answer i'm so sorry :/

Ottawa Senators: Make some too early trophy predictions for the 2021 season.

stanley: lightning repeat

conn smyth: stamkos, who i predict will go on a tear in playoffs

most points: jvr with precisely 38 pp goals and some extra points as well

best d: charlie mac because he's shaped like a chubby lil snack and it amuses me

best goalie: gibson because he's a freak imo

uhhh i've forgotten what the other 900 trophies the nhl does my bad :/

[oncecoreysadler]

1670 symbols

Objects, actions or creatures that have a deeper significance and are so understood by those who see them or use them.

Symbolic objects

The rainbow: a symbol of God’s covenant See also Ge 9:13; Eze 1:28; Rev 4:3

A stairway: a symbol of the way to God Ge 28:11-13; Jn 1:51

Thunder, lightning, cloud and smoke: symbols of God’s majesty Ex 19:16-18; Ex 24:17; Ps 97:2,4; Rev 4:5; Rev 8:5; Rev 11:19

Thunder: a symbol of God’s voice Ps 29:3; Ps 68:33

Trumpets: a symbol of God speaking Ex 19:19; Rev 8:6

The pillar of cloud and fire: a symbol of guidance Ex 13:21

A throne: a symbol of God’s glory Isa 6:1; Eze 1:26; Rev 4:2; Rev 22:3

Dry bones: a symbol of spiritual death Eze 37:1-2,11

White hair: a symbol of wisdom Da 7:9; Rev 1:14

The wind: a symbol of the Holy Spirit Jn 3:8; Ac 2:2

Fire: a symbol of the Holy Spirit Ac 2:3

Stars and lampstands: symbols of God’s ministers Rev 1:20

A signet ring: a symbol of authority Est 8:10; Hag 2:23

Arrows: symbols of God’s judgments Ps 38:2; Ps 120:4

A sceptre: a symbol of God’s rule Ps 2:9; Rev 2:27; Rev 19:15

The capstone: a symbol of pre-eminence Mt 21:42 pp Mk 12:10-11 pp Lk 20:17; Ps 118:22

A rock: a symbol of stability Ps 18:2; Ps 40:2

The human body: a symbol of interdependence 1Co 12:27

Grass: a symbol of human frailty Ps 90:5-6; 1Pe 1:24

Symbolic creatures

The serpent: a symbol of Satan’s subtlety Ge 3:1; Rev 12:9; Rev 20:1-3

Locusts: a symbol of God’s judgment Ex 10:12; Joel 1:4; Rev 9:3

Beasts: symbols of earthly kingdoms Da 7:2-7,17; Da 8:20-22

A dove: a symbol of the Holy Spirit Mt 3:16 pp Mk 1:10 pp Lk 3:22

A lamb: a symbol of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice Rev 5:6

Symbolic actions

Breaking a jar: a symbol of the destruction of Jerusalem Jer 19:10-11

The cursing of a fig-tree: a symbol of judgment Mt 21:18-19 pp Mk 11:12-14

Washing hands: a symbol of innocence Mt 27:24

Being thirsty: a symbol of spiritual need Ps 63:1; Jn 7:37

Baptism: a symbol of salvation in Jesus Christ Ac 22:16; Ro 6:3-4; 1Pe 3:21

The Lord’s Supper: a symbol of union with Christ Mt 26:26-29 pp Mk 14:22-24 pp Lk 22:19-20 pp 1Co 11:23-26

Anointing: a symbol of empowering by God’s Spirit 1Sa 16:13; Lk 4:18; Isa 61:1

Harvesting: a symbol of judgment day Joel 3:12-13; Mt 13:29-30; Rev 14:15

Tearing garments: a symbol of anger and sorrow Ge 37:29,34; Jos 7:6

Spitting: a symbol of contempt Isa 50:6; Mt 26:67 pp Mk 14:65

Shaking off dust: a symbol of rejection Mt 10:14 pp Lk 9:5; Ac 13:51

Sitting in sackcloth and ashes: a symbol of repentance Ps 69:11; Isa 22:12; Jnh 3:5-6; Mt 11:21

Lifting of hands: a symbol of prayer Ps 63:4; 1Ti 2:8

Covering the head: a symbol of submission 1Co 11:3-10

Symbols expressing God’s nature and character

God’s face: a symbol of his presence Nu 6:25-26; Ps 34:16

God’s arm or hand: a symbol of his power Ps 21:8; Ps 89:13

God’s eyes: a symbol of his awareness Pr 15:3; 1Pe 3:12

God’s ear: a symbol of God listening Ps 31:2; Isa 59:1

[zel-cs]

@k-9-dog-cs made an ask list so here we gooooo 1.) How did you find ChickenSmoothie? A moderator on the German version of Howrse had a little green caterpillar pet on their profile page. I thought it looked cute and went to the website to find out what it would look like grown up. 2.) What was your first pet you’ve adopted? Since it was the butterfly wolves that brought me there, my first pet was also a bwolf. Here she is! 3.) What was your first pound catch? A queen of hearts card dog. I no longer own it, but it randomly ended up on a friend’s account so that’s cute, too. 4.) What is your current best pound catch? I grabbed a Spotted Tribal this year! 5.) What’s your favorite species? Chickens! The hens with the fluffy tail are the best. 6.) What’s your current favorite pet you own? This deer is my favourite pet on the site. 7.) If you could get a new animal species to adopt on ChickenSmoothie, what would it be? Consider: Tortoises 8.) What is your current dreamie(s)? Maybe a Dark Pink Shima bwolf? I also want to try getting a Cinnabun at some point, but I’ve been too lazy so far. 9.) Do you have any achieved dreamies? If so, which one? My dreamies were the black UR Cat, Noncoon, and GWJ. I own all of them~ 10.) What was your first list pet? I joined before the List even existed, but the second pet I ever adopted was a Nonballoon, so I guess that counts. 11.) What was your first UR? Oh man I can’t remember for sure if I got the UR Bwolf or the UR Cat first. I think it was the bwolf, because I remember trading the Moonswirl I got from the 2009 re-release for it. 12.) What was your first store pet? I think the red and yellow Androids. Not sure about it, though. 13.) Out of all the seasonal events, which one is your current favorite and look forward to every year? Advent Calendar! My birthday is in December, I always get excited to see what we get on that day. Or about picking up a new gift every day in general. 14.) Which past summer event is your favorite? The 2013 Slumber Party. I adored the story and the aesthetics. The whole Dreams vs. Nightmares thing was very cool. I also have fond memories of the discussion on the forums. We had a lot of fun with our speculations and stories. 15.) What is your favorite item(s)? Either the Oarfish from the Lost City event, or the yellow Plasma Scythe from the store, probably. 16.) What’s your current favorite dress-up? Hm. I’m not very invested in dressing up my pets for the most part, so I don’t have many. Maybe this one? It’s just a pet dressed as one of my OCs. 17.) What’s the most funniest dress-up you’ve done? I’m such a boring person, I can’t even remember ever attempting to make a funny dress-up. 18.) What’s your best memory of ChickenSmoothie so far? This one is always difficult for me to answer. There’s a lot of moments to choose from! I already used the 2013 summer event as my answer for the summer event question, so here’s two others: I remember that back in 2010-12 I was very invested in my hoards, often spending all day trying to get more pets. It was a lot of fun to compete for the (then more active) hoard records thread, especially! I met a lot of really cool people among other hoarders; it was perhaps the most social I’ve ever been on CS and it felt great to make friends. Becoming a GH in 2015 was awesome, too. Doubly so because I applied together with my friend Irisidium/aaron, and we both got picked. I think my heart stopped for a moment when I saw the message from Tess, ahah. 19.) What’s your most funniest ChickenSmoothie memory so far? April Fool’s is a blast every year, but the first ‘event’ for it in 2010 was beautiful. Nick pretended to have taken over the site; it looked like our adopts were Nick pets only, and some people got legitimately worried that Tess wouldn’t be coming back. “ Hi there everybody!!! It's Nick here I have so many fans in the "I <3 Nick" club that I decided that I don't need Tess any more. I can just draw all of the art myself! I hope you like April's pets!!” 20.) What’s one positive thing  ChickenSmoothie taught you? It’s going to be a testament to how bad I was at this IRL, but I’m pretty sure CS improved my social skills. I feel like the site encouraged me to be more outgoing, generous and considerate. I was a rather abrasive and blunt person as a teenager. Not saying CS did the job alone, but it definitely contributed. 21.) If you could be a mod, which job would you want? (General helpers, admin assistants, etc.) I was made a General Helper in 2015, and since then haven’t felt like I’d want any other position. I think it’s the best match for me! If I had to choose something else, I guess I’d like it as an Archivist. But Solloby does a fine job at that, no need for a replacement :D 22.) If you could add a whole new feature or even improve a feature on ChickenSmoothie, what would it be? I wish we had a spoiler function on the forums, mainly to make image-heavy threads easier to browse. It would be lovely if all those lists of pet images could be hidden until opened. I can see how it would tempt people to post more rule-breaking content, though... 23.) What is your favorite 2nd Gen pairing? These two were a match made in heaven. 24.) What 2nd gen pairings would you like to see in the future? This dog and either this or this one. Cyborgs, please. 25.) If you could make any new UR, what would it be? I remember talking to friends about this a while ago, and coming to the conclusion that we need more foods like the cinnabun. Coffee, maybe. I’ll take one UR coffee, please. 26.) Who are your friends and buddies on CS? I would have to name so many people, because there’s just so many lovely users I’ve met over the years. Based on which ones I talk to the most, it’d be Thalassic, Raire, aaron and torpor, as well as the GH team (including former GHs like Swiftalu, Aquila, Nadine, Simon and Seasonal). I’m active on a CS discord chat, too, so I talk a lot to the regulars there. There are more people who I consider friends, but trying to make a full list would make me scared to leave someone out :( 27.) If you roleplay, what’s your favorite roleplay you’re currently in on CS? 28.) If you roleplay, who’s your roleplay buddies? 29.) How many forum posts have you made so far? 23,568 30.) Which forum section on CS you like/lurk the most? CS Discussion, by far! I also like reading the introductions board. 31.) If you draw, what’s your favorite Oekaki board(s) you post your art on? 32.) If you draw, have you ever gotten featured? If yes, what got featured? If not, what one would you prefer to get featured? 33.) If you could add a new tool/feature or improve a feature/tool in Chicken paint, what would it be? 34.) If you draw, do you use a tablet or mouse or both? 35.) If applicable, what’s your favorite usermade adaptables? 36.) What usermade adaptables you own/made/mod/an artist of? If none, which one would you like to be an artist/mod of? 37.) What forums do you run/mod? Unsure if that means boards or threads; I’d assume threads? I technically ‘own’ the religion thread on the 18+ board, but I wasn’t the one to create the original, and there’s nothing for me to ‘mod’ because generally, if something happens on there, the actual mods need to get involved. I used to briefly be a mod for Adopt a Newbie some years ago, but school got in the way as I was about to graduate. As a GH, I don’t mod anything, but we are expected to keep an eye on the Help and Intro boards. 38.) What’s your favorite stamps? I’m happy that we have the pronoun stamps! Other than that, I like the bird lover stamp :) 39.) What’s your CS username? ZΕL I used to go by Amazilion before that. To this day I sometimes come across people who didn’t realize that’s me and thought I left the site, whoops. 40.) If applicable, what’s your favorite gift you’ve given/received? I have a friend who currently has the username lkjhgfdsamnbvcxz, but used to be known as Discord for the longest time. They haven’t been active for years, and last contacted me in 2014, but when they were still active they loved to help me with my hoards. Once they entered an art contest and won a Vixen Advent for me. Another time they became the first person to hit the limit on buying a token pet (that wasn’t meant to be hit) because they got me so many vixen bunnies. I am forever thankful to them for how much effort they put into getting me gifts. They’re an absolute angel who I didn’t deserve. 41.) If applicable, what’s your favorite hoard you’ve completed? This one of the entire March 2015 moth bwolf litter. 42.) If applicable, what’s your current on going hoards? I have 16 incomplete and 11 endless hoards at the moment. That’s too many, so let’s stick to the endless ones. Lightning/Arrow owls, Blue Nebula dogs, Microbiology dogs, SoulWings Sundogs, Gummy ponies, Ozone deer, Hummingbird bwolves, Vixen Advents, Vixen bunnies, Vixen rats, and a Bakery themed hoard. Phew! Out of the still incomplete hoards, though, I am particularly proud of the Sushi PPS cats and Conure owls. 43.) What’s the most interesting pet ID you have? I own pets with my birthday and my boyfriend’s birthday as an ID, but I’m not going to point those out. I also have a dog with the ID 6666666. 44.) What’s your favorite April fool’s prank chicken smoothie did so far? Tied between the chicken uprising and Totoro’s takeover. Because birds. It was a lot of fun to bicker with Kyar on the ‘17 April Fool’s thread. He’s a traitor. 45.) Who would win: Avian or Totoro? I think Totoro answered that for us this year :’) Bird all the way! 46.) If you were able to get a custom pet, which oc of yours would it be based off of? If you don’t have an oc, what pet lines would you use? Hm, I don’t think I’d want to use one of my OCs. But I’d probably go for a black/gray/yellow colour scheme. Matches both my favourite character, and that fursona I had when I was a teen. And it’d have to be a chicken! 47.) What’s your oddest CS habit? No idea. I can’t think of anything particularly odd. Some people I talk to find it amusing that I will spend ages in the Pound waiting for a pet with a specific name to show up, though. The longest I’ve had to wait was an hour and a half, I think? 48.) What’s the oddest Ad that popped up on the site? I don’t pay attention to them tbh. They’re usually just for other pet sites or pet care products, anyway. 49.) What’s your ChickenSmoothie username? Last time I looked it was still ZΕL :P 50.) What species (that ChickenSmoothie has available) would you want to see more? It can even be PPS/EPPS lines too! I believe we all need more chickens in our lives. And those sheep bunnies, especially PPS ones.

[araitsume]

The Desire of Ages, pp. 627-636: Chapter (69) On the Mount of Olives

This chapter is based on Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21:5-38.

Christ's words to the priests and rulers, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), had struck terror to their hearts. They affected indifference, but the question kept rising in their minds as to the import of these words. An unseen danger seemed to threaten them. Could it be that the magnificent temple, which was the nation's glory, was soon to be a heap of ruins? The foreboding of evil was shared by the disciples, and they anxiously waited for some more definite statement from Jesus. As they passed with Him out of the temple, they called His attention to its strength and beauty. The stones of the temple were of the purest marble, of perfect whiteness, and some of them of almost fabulous size. A portion of the wall had withstood the siege by Nebuchadnezzar's army. In its perfect masonry it appeared like one solid stone dug entire from the quarry. How those mighty walls could be overthrown the disciples could not comprehend.

As Christ's attention was attracted to the magnificence of the temple, what must have been the unuttered thoughts of that Rejected One! The view before Him was indeed beautiful, but He said with sadness, I see it all. The buildings are indeed wonderful. You point to these walls as apparently indestructible; but listen to My words: The day will come when “there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Christ's words had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people; but when He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him as He sat upon the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they said, “when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration in that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth's history.

Turning to the disciples, Christ said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Many false messiahs will appear, claiming to work miracles, and declaring that the time of the deliverance of the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many. Christ's words were fulfilled. Between His death and the siege of Jerusalem many false messiahs appeared. But this warning was given also to those who live in this age of the world. The same deceptions practiced prior to the destruction of Jerusalem have been practiced through the ages, and will be practiced again.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, men wrestled for the supremacy. Emperors were murdered. Those supposed to be standing next the throne were slain. There were wars and rumors of wars. “All these things must come to pass,” said Christ, “but the end [of the Jewish nation as a nation] is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Christ said, As the rabbis see these signs, they will declare them to be God's judgments upon the nations for holding in bondage His chosen people. They will declare that these signs are the token of the advent of the Messiah. Be not deceived; they are the beginning of His judgments. The people have looked to themselves. They have not repented and been converted that I should heal them. The signs that they represent as tokens of their release from bondage are signs of their destruction.

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” All this the Christians suffered. Fathers and mothers betrayed their children. Children betrayed their parents. Friends delivered their friends up to the Sanhedrin. The persecutors wrought out their purpose by killing Stephen, James, and other Christians.

Through His servants, God gave the Jewish people a last opportunity to repent. He manifested Himself through His witnesses in their arrest, in their trial, and in their imprisonment. Yet their judges pronounced on them the death sentence. They were men of whom the world was not worthy, and by killing them the Jews crucified afresh the Son of God. So it will be again. The authorities will make laws to restrict religious liberty. They will assume the right that is God's alone. They will think they can force the conscience, which God alone should control. Even now they are making a beginning; this work they will continue to carry forward till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose in behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people.

On every occasion when persecution takes place, those who witness it make decisions either for Christ or against Him. Those who manifest sympathy for the ones wrongly condemned show their attachment for Christ. Others are offended because the principles of truth cut directly across their practice. Many stumble and fall, apostatizing from the faith they once advocated. Those who apostatize in time of trial will, to secure their own safety, bear false witness, and betray their brethren. Christ has warned us of this, that we may not be surprised at the unnatural, cruel course of those who reject the light.

Christ gave His disciples a sign of the ruin to come on Jerusalem, and He told them how to escape: “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” This warning was given to be heeded forty years after, at the destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians obeyed the warning, and not a Christian perished in the fall of the city.

“Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter; neither on the Sabbath day,” Christ said. He who made the Sabbath did not abolish it, nailing it to His cross. The Sabbath was not rendered null and void by His death. Forty years after His crucifixion it was still to be held sacred. For forty years the disciples were to pray that their flight might not be on the Sabbath day.

From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on rapidly to the greater event, the last link in the chain of this earth's history,—the coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. Between these two events, there lay open to Christ's view long centuries of darkness, centuries for His church marked with blood and tears and agony. Upon these scenes His disciples could not then endure to look, and Jesus passed them by with a brief mention. “Then shall be great tribulation,” He said, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” For more than a thousand years such persecution as the world had never before known was to come upon Christ's followers. Millions upon millions of His faithful witnesses were to be slain. Had not God's hand been stretched out to preserve His people, all would have perished. “But for the elect's sake,” He said, “those days shall be shortened.”

Now, in unmistakable language, our Lord speaks of His second coming, and He gives warning of dangers to precede His advent to the world. “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” As one of the signs of Jerusalem's destruction, Christ had said, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” False prophets did rise, deceiving the people, and leading great numbers into the desert. Magicians and sorcerers, claiming miraculous power, drew the people after them into the mountain solitudes. But this prophecy was spoken also for the last days. This sign is given as a sign of the second advent. Even now false christs and false prophets are showing signs and wonders to seduce His disciples. Do we not hear the cry, “Behold, He is in the desert”? Have not thousands gone forth into the desert, hoping to find Christ? And from thousands of gatherings where men profess to hold communion with departed spirits is not the call now heard, “Behold, He is in the secret chambers”? This is the very claim that spiritism puts forth. But what says Christ? “Believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

The Saviour gives signs of His coming, and more than this, He fixes the time when the first of these signs shall appear: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the stars should fall from heaven. And He says, “Learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that He is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:32, 33, margin.

Christ has given signs of His coming. He declares that we may know when He is near, even at the doors. He says of those who see these signs, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” These signs have appeared. Now we know of a surety that the Lord's coming is at hand. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” He says, “but My words shall not pass away.”

Christ is coming with clouds and with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend Him. He will come to raise the dead, and to change the living saints from glory to glory. He will come to honor those who have loved Him, and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. He has not forgotten them nor His promise. There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. A little longer, and we shall see the King in His beauty. A little longer, and He will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little longer, and He will present us “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 1:24. Wherefore, when He gave the signs of His coming He said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

But the day and the hour of His coming Christ has not revealed. He stated plainly to His disciples that He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second appearing. Had He been at liberty to reveal this, why need He have exhorted them to maintain an attitude of constant expectancy? There are those who claim to know the very day and hour of our Lord's appearing. Very earnest are they in mapping out the future. But the Lord has warned them off the ground they occupy. The exact time of the second coming of the Son of man is God's mystery.

Christ continues, pointing out the condition of the world at His coming: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Christ does not here bring to view a temporal millennium, a thousand years in which all are to prepare for eternity. He tells us that as it was in Noah's day, so will it be when the Son of man comes again.

How was it in Noah's day? “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world turned from Jehovah, refusing to do His holy will. They followed their own unholy imagination and perverted ideas. It was because of their wickedness that they were destroyed; and today the world is following the same way. It presents no flattering signs of millennial glory. The transgressors of God's law are filling the earth with wickedness. Their betting, their horse racing, their gambling, their dissipation, their lustful practices, their untamable passions, are fast filling the world with violence.

In the prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction Christ said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” This prophecy will again be fulfilled. The abounding iniquity of that day finds its counterpart in this generation. So with the prediction in regard to the preaching of the gospel. Before the fall of Jerusalem, Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, declared that the gospel was preached to “every creature which is under heaven.” Colossians 1:23. So now, before the coming of the Son of man, the everlasting gospel is to be preached “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Revelation 14:6, 14. God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.” Acts 17:31. Christ tells us when that day shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord's return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God. 2 Peter 3:12, margin. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth in power and great glory.

After He had given the signs of His coming, Christ said, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “Take ye heed, watch and pray.” God has always given men warning of coming judgments. Those who had faith in His message for their time, and who acted out their faith, in obedience to His commandments, escaped the judgments that fell upon the disobedient and unbelieving. The word came to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me.” Noah obeyed and was saved. The message came to Lot, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.” Genesis 7:1; 19:14. Lot placed himself under the guardianship of the heavenly messengers, and was saved. So Christ's disciples were given warning of the destruction of Jerusalem. Those who watched for the sign of the coming ruin, and fled from the city, escaped the destruction. So now we are given warning of Christ's second coming and of the destruction to fall upon the world. Those who heed the warning will be saved.

Because we know not the exact time of His coming, we are commanded to watch. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching.” Luke 12:37. Those who watch for the Lord's coming are not waiting in idle expectancy. The expectation of Christ's coming is to make men fear the Lord, and fear His judgments upon transgression. It is to awaken them to the great sin of rejecting His offers of mercy. Those who are watching for the Lord are purifying their souls by obedience to the truth. With vigilant watching they combine earnest working. Because they know that the Lord is at the door, their zeal is quickened to co-operate with the divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. These are the faithful and wise servants who give to the Lord's household “their portion of meat in due season.” Luke 12:42. They are declaring the truth that is now specially applicable. As Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so will Christ's servants now give the special warning for their generation.

But Christ brings to view another class: “If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him.”

The evil servant says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” He does not say that Christ will not come. He does not scoff at the idea of His second coming. But in his heart and by his actions and words he declares that the Lord's coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay. They are confirmed in their worldliness and stupor. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant eats and drinks with the drunken, unites with the world in pleasure seeking. He smites his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. He mingles with the world. Like grows with like in transgression. It is a fearful assimilation. With the world he is taken in the snare. “The lord of that servant shall come ... in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.”

“If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Revelation 3:3. The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers. They are saying, “Peace and safety.” Like the priests and teachers before the fall of Jerusalem, they look for the church to enjoy earthly prosperity and glory. The signs of the times they interpret as foreshadowing this. But what saith the word of Inspiration? “Sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth, upon all who make this world their home, the day of God will come as a snare. It comes to them as a prowling thief.

The world, full of rioting, full of godless pleasure, is asleep, asleep in carnal security. Men are putting afar off the coming of the Lord. They laugh at warnings. The proud boast is made, “All things continue as they were from the beginning.” “Tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” 2 Peter 3:4; Isaiah 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Revelation 16:15. At the very time when the world is asking in scorn, “Where is the promise of His coming?” the signs are fulfilling. While they cry, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction is coming. When the scorner, the rejecter of truth, has become presumptuous; when the routine of work in the various money-making lines is carried on without regard to principle; when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief.

Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade. Who can read the future? Where is security? There is assurance in nothing that is human or earthly. Rapidly are men ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen. Restlessly are they waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are waiting and watching and working for our Lord's appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. Few believe with heart and soul that we have a hell to shun and a heaven to win.

The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying, and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling. Men are jostling one against another, contending for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation's hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agencies at work that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied and entranced, until the day of probation shall be ended, and the door of mercy be forever shut.

Solemnly there come to us down through the centuries the warning words of our Lord from the Mount of Olives: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

[dippedanddripped]

When the game-changing micro-robotic vibrator, the Osé, invented by tech pioneer Lora Haddock, was banned at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year, it ignited a firestorm, particularly given the show’s history of showing love (or lust) for sextech in the past—as long as the products were for men. VR porn has been a mainstay at CES since 2017, various sex robots for men have launched on the show floor, Trojan Condoms has exhibited sex toys, and an adult film company exhibited the same year the Osé was blocked.

It’s not a shock to see yet another hurdle for women to conquer. The battle for equality for women impacts everything from pay gaps to opportunity, and the advance of sextech is demonstrating with new clarity how the fight is far from over. As marketers, we know that products for men often lead the way, followed by female brand extensions (think: Gillette).

But what’s most thrilling about the present day is that women inventors, marketers, CEOs, and investors—as well as consumers—are flipping the script. We’re not waiting to be heard or raising our hands quietly. From viral movements like #TimesUp, #MeToo, and #YouKnowMe to the conversation around the wage gap, we are alive in a time where women are proving their ability to own the conversation and destigmatize what was previously too taboo to discuss. So why not sextech?

Sextech, or sex technology, is a vital component in the overall femtech category, that’s predicted to be a $50 billion market by 2025. As a woman who has spent her entire career in advertising and PR, I see an incredible opportunity for a disruption that has implications beyond the women’s wellness consumer packaged goods category, where lo-fi sextech has always discretely held a place in the development of products such as warming lubes and lotions.

ADVERTISING

Sextech impacts the larger tech ecosphere. App developers are creating vibration apps and phone-controlled vibrators, and female inventors are integral to shaping its future. While CES ultimately did an about-face to support the Osé, the damage was done, demonstrating not only discrimination but also a worrying lack of foresight. Events like CES are supposed to show us the future of consumer technology, and the growing embrace of sex toys, sex education, and sextech has the potential to be an inflection point.

THE SECRET WAYS SEXTECH DRIVES INNOVATION

If you want to know where the biggest tech innovations are coming from, look to unlikely industries. The military brought us modern digital computers, the internet, and GPS. Or you can look to the adult industry. Porn has been a surprising driver of consumer attitudes and the mass-scale adoption of broadband. It’s tipped the scales in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray fight and even standardized many of the building blocks of e-commerce that we now take for granted.

Sex toys are becoming increasingly tech-enabled and forward-thinking, too. At the time CES originally rejected the Osé, it had eight patents pending related to engineering, robotics, and biomimicry. Sex robots (yes, they’re a thing now—and they come in female and male models) are poised to make huge strides in robotics by simulating physical systems.

WOMEN’S SEXTECH IS THE FUTURE

Innovation in this industry is happening at lightning speed. It won’t be long before sextech’s work with multi-haptic systems, AI, and biomimetics spreads into other industries. In some places, it’s already happening. In 2016, Apple filed 38 patents for multi-haptic technologies and biological vital monitoring systems. The same tech that lets you engage with a smart sex toy will work its way into future iterations of the Apple Watch. Even the multi-haptic technology behind Huggies’ pregnancy belt, which allowed fathers to feel their babies’ kicks in real-time, thanks to the mother-to-be’s matching belt around her belly that sensed pressure and movement, was made possible by sex toys.

Tech-enabled sex toy brands like the Osé, OhMiBod, and Lioness are showing that the slice of the Venn diagram where sextech, femtech, and health and wellness overlap. The technology is fascinating but more important for marketers and communicators is its place in the cultural conversation. Our current moment has allowed these women-built sextech products to have a bigger platform than they would have had even two years ago. It’s opening new ways of talking about our sexuality for women, for brands, and for influencers.

These brands are mainstreaming the narratives around sex toys in a serious way, talking about them in the same language used in the health and wellness industry. This isn’t to say that every brand is ready to have these conversations. Maybe the telecom giants aren’t ready to start talking about smart vibrators with their consumers—yet; but they must know that the female segments of their audience will be talking about this.

The sex-positive feminism movement has made room for suddenly emboldened and powerful women’s voices in the cultural conversation. And the most groundbreaking work in sextech is being done by women and for women. Marketers and communicators would be shortsighted to not pay attention to these brands and the ripple of impact they are poised to create.

There’s still a long way to go toward mainstream acceptance. Facebook and Instagram still don’t allow ads for sextech products but cultural norms are changing. And those disruptions offer opportunities for challenger brands and visionary marketers, while also providing a heads-up to the traditional leaders in the broader category.

The marquee brands that have been holding up the women’s health and wellness market risk losing their place if they don’t adapt. Their ability to drive sales is compromised if they don’t offer what women want today. We know women are asking for it, and instead of having brands serve them, they’re inventing the category themselves in a space, like so many others, that was predominantly male-dominated.

What’s different in 2019 is that women won’t wait for the female complementary products to be introduced into the market once the male market is fully sated. Women who own their sexual lives are also powerful consumers. With $50 billion on the table, are you paying attention?

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Thoughts on Murray, Jones, Marner, Byfuglien, Ehlers, some post-mortems and more (Apr 22)

Ramblings: Thoughts on Murray, Jones, Marner, Byfuglien, Ehlers, some post-mortems and more (Apr 22)

***

Four teams were eliminated last week. Here are my thoughts on those teams, the players, and what the future holds…

Winnipeg Jets

First, kudos to Dustin Byfuglien, who reached deep down and pulled out some extra career mojo. He struggled with injuries all year and as a 34-year-old it has to be concerning. But production-wise, he’s been right there. His 0.74 points/gp this year was his best in seven seasons. He had eight points in six playoff games and was Winnipeg’s top player. His production next year will still be stellar, though I would not count on more than 65 games.

Disappointment of the first round for the Jets has to be Nik Ehlers, who went pointless. He actually has zero goals in 21 career playoff games. The entire campaign for Ehlers – his fourth, by the way – was a write-off thanks to a shoulder injury. I consider him a buy-low this summer and consider next year his true (potential) breakout season. Although I would stay away from him in next year’s playoff pool.

Was also disappointed in Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey – just one assist each in the six games. It’s as if they can’t thrive at the same time as Big Buff. If the Jets ever get all three of them going and divide the PP time evenly, the team would be hard to stop.

As a Patrik Laine owner in one of my leagues, I was happy to see him regain his mojo in the postseason. He still wasn’t quite the game-breaker he could be on a nightly basis, but definitely the one game he was massive. It’s enough to set my mind at ease that he’ll be fine. He has to be disgusted with his 50-point season and early playoff exit. If that doesn’t motivate him to push hard this summer, nothing will.

Of the eliminated teams, Winnipeg is in the best cap shape, looking at over $25 million in cap space, depending on where the cap is set. That’s a lot of flexibility even if they do have to fill a dozen roster spots with it.

I think we knew in our bones that this wouldn’t be Winnipeg’s year. We just didn’t have the confidence in this team that we had a year ago. All season long there were problems with consistency and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck never really found his mojo. But I believe in this team – the depth, the cap situation, and the goaltender. I think this season was just a learning experience and I am bullish on the Jets for 2019-20.

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Calgary Flames

I was disappointed in the way Elias Lindholm had such a nosedive down the stretch and then in the postseason. He had nine points in the final 21 games of the campaign, giving him 11 points in the last 26 games that he played in all. This is a guy who finished with 78. On one hand, at 24 years of age he is still a player on the rise, not even at his prime yet. On the other hand, it’s as if opponents had him figured out. He was even removed from the big line later in the playoff series against St. Louis. I think his spot on that line is cemented, but I don’t believe he will repeat his 78-point season. I think he’ll get back there again in two or three years, but next year will be a small regression. And pay special attention to any signs of slowing down in the second half.

I was disappointed in the way Bill Peters switched things up when the playoffs started. The Flames went into the postseason on a roll and all of their lines were doing great. Auston Czarnik had 12 points in his last 25 games with minimal ice time. That’s great depth production, but he didn’t get a sniff of playoff time until Game 5 when he saw five minutes of action. I would have also had more patience with the 3M line and kept them together to the end. I understand swapping out Lindholm for Sam Bennett, who was their playoffs top scorer, but the 3M line to me needed another chance.

I like what I am seeing in rookie defenseman Rasmus Andersson. He had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and he added two in five playoff games. His PP ice time was 2:39 per game in the postseason and I wonder if he will leapfrog TJ Brodie on the PP depth chart next season. At the very least he will take a step in that direction.

This summer the Flames will have about $12 million cap space depending on where the new cap will be. This will be needed to sign Matthew Tkachuk (at least $9 million, in my opinion, or close enough to it), Sam Bennett ($4 or $5?), Andrew Mangiapane ($2 million or more?). This team will need entry-level deals on the roster, meaning Juuso Valimaki will make the team, and likely Dillon Dube as well. Trading Czarnik and filling that spot with a minimum-salary earner would save another half million. A Czarnik trade to the right team would put him back on my radar. Trading Michael Frolik (one more year at $4.3 million) will help. But bottom line is they have to be kicking themselves over and over again for that James Neal signing – he has four more years at $5.75 million and he was scratched last game when they absolutely needed their best players in the game. Which means they don’t consider him one of their 23 best players.

*

Pittsburgh Penguins

During the last game I started thinking long and hard about the following. Is it time to do a mini-retool? The Pens can keep pushing with the Sidney Crosby – Evgeni Malkin duo and over the next three years perhaps they can win one more Cup with some lucky match-ups and timely hot streaks. Or they could trade Malkin, who will be 33 in the fall, and free up $9.5 million in cap space each of the next three years and likely bring in a tidy return. Instead of having a decent chance for the next three years, perhaps this would mean having one tough year, and then four or five years of competing. The Penguins have zero cap space this summer, unless the cap rises by a couple million bucks. But how on earth can they re-sign Zach Aston-Reese and Marcus Pettersson? A lot of ugly contracts on the books right now (Erik Gudbranson $4 million next two years, Jack Johnson $3.25 million next four years, and even Patric Hornqvist at $5.3 million next four years – he’s 32 years old). A full-blown rebuild will happen in two years if they don’t do a minor re-tool this summer, and I think a re-tool would need to involve a Malkin trade. But they’d have to be creative.

The Penguins were beat by a hot goalie and a sound system. Unlike with Tampa (below), I don’t put as much onus on the players. We can’t let them completely off the hook – Crosby and Jake Guentzel getting just one point is inexcusable, but in a four-game sweep against a red-hot goaltender this stuff happens. The real concern for Pittsburgh fans is that it’s a key season lost, when they are running out of key seasons (“key season” defined here as prime Malkin – Crosby years).

The Pens made an interesting signing on the weekend. Teams only get 50 contracts so using one on an undrafted European always catches my attention. And with the cap crunch this is especially true because they need as many minimum-salaried players as possible. Oula Palve is a 27-year-old from Finland who led his TPS team in scoring with 51 points in 53 games and he finished seventh in Liiga scoring. He is on Team Finland at the Worlds, but has not gotten into a game yet.

*

Tampa Bay Lightning

I think the most common explanation for this shocker is the right one – TBL coasted over the final month of the season and without that desperation game in March or April, they had trouble finding that fortitude when it was needed. Yes, preparation is on the coach, but these are professional players and they shouldn’t be left off the hook. That being said, while they did lose to a team that they beat by 30 points in the regular season, Columbus was not 30 points worse than them. From mid-March onward, their actual playoff roster started to mesh. The Blue Jackets added Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, but as I noted last week they also added a player who has been much better than Dzingel over the past two months: Oliver Bjorkstrand. Last week I pointed out that Bjorkstrand scored at a 36-goal pace over his last 40 regular season and playoff games, and since he scored last game that actually gives him 19 goals in his last 41 games (so a 38-goal pace, after half a season).

What let the team down was the lack of leadership, desperation and clutch play of the forwards. With no exceptions. Erik Cernak, a rookie defenseman who wasn’t even in the league to start the season, led this team in playoff scoring with three points! Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Braden Point, JT Miller and the so-called playoff-clutch player Tyler Johnson all combined for two goals. They combined for 169 in the regular season. This team has a good, deep organization with what looks to be maybe $8 million in cap space this summer. Braden Point should get at least $10 million this summer (it would be far more, but since Kucherov recently signed for $9.5 I can’t see Point going too much higher). As of today, this team doesn’t have near the cap room. And with four UFA defensemen to sign or replace, and a couple of depth forwards to sign, that’s probably $5 or $6 million used up right there. The Lightning will probably move Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat or JT Miller – and likely two of those four. This would just mean an expanded role for Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde and Mathieu Joseph, with a couple of kids moving up into the vacated depth roles. The conveyor belt that Steve Yzerman left behind can run successfully through this difficult summer – but won’t be able to sustain things if this happens again.

Alex Barre-Boulet is my pick to make the jump next year, joining a long list of smaller players (5-10, 170) that TB has brought along slowly, such as Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Marchessault and Yanni Gourde.

***

I heard on FAN590’s Ben Ennis show, JD Bunkis (I think it was him) said that Tampa Bay could not be excused for having two injured defensemen because “Columbus was without their best defenseman – Ryan Murray”. I normally wouldn’t choose this forum to argue that point, but then he was so insistent on this as fact that he repeated it four or five different times during the segment. And since I can’t raise an argument with a guy talking through my car speaker, I’ll do it here… because I can. It is a fact that Murray has had an amazing rebound season and let’s be honest it could be considered the first and only “good” season of his career. But Seth Jones is by far and away the best and most important defenseman on this team. Even if Murray could play 80 games, which he can’t – so why count on him as your “best” – he isn’t as strong as Jones in, well, most categories. Look at the player comparison tool of the two players here. Hits, BLKS, points, IPP, SOG are no contest, and even PKTOI is similar.

Anyway, Murray is a great No.4 or even a No.3 defenseman and good for 60 games per year, and as long as you don’t expect more than that, I think any team would be very happy with him. But Columbus is quite familiar with playing Murray-less games, certainly more familiar than Tampa Bay is in playing Hedman-less or Stralman-less games. So yes indeed Tampa Bay can use these blue-line injuries as a third explanation (read: excuse) on top of the two I already provided.

*

Tough to be a hockey fan in Canada as we watch our best Stanley Cup Playoffs representation in years go down the tubes in an awful hurry. Not in terms of bulk (i.e. just three teams made it), but in terms of true Cup contention. The Flames looked great and were my pick to come out of the West. The Jets have a bright future and if they could put it all together they would have done damage. The Leafs have a chance to deep now that Tampa Bay is out of the mix, but just when they have Boston on the ropes they let them crawl back.

I really liked Morgan Rielly’s game, both Friday and Sunday. It was a high-risk style but very entertaining. It cost the Leafs in giving the Bruins several huge chances, but I think it created more for the Leafs than it hurt and I’ll take that trade. He seemed to really take control, almost as if he felt responsible for Toronto’s entire offense.

Speaking of “entire offense”, how about Brad Marchand? Nine points in six games leads the Bruins. He’s had two three-point games in the last three, both were Boston wins. The Leafs are doing a fine job of shutting down David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron (four points in six games is probably the best you’re gonna do with those guys), but stifling Marchand will be key for Game 7 Tuesday. Also, the sky is blue and grass is green.

Mitch Marner had two points in Game 1 and looked as though he and John Tavares will just run rampant over the Bruins from that point onward. But Marner has just two points in five games since then as the Bruins have been effective in shutting him down. He has just one SOG in the last three games combined. The last time he was held to one shot over a three-game span was November 16-20, 2017.

*

Nothing to say about the Vegas – San Jose game as only three goals were scored and it went to double-overtime. I watched it, but nothing jumped out at me other than the surprise of a shorthanded goal being the game winner. It was the first time in NHL history that a multi-OT game was decided by a shorthanded goal.

With a 2OT game it’s always fun to look through the TOI totals of the players. Vegas managed to still keep their fourth line at 12 minutes of ice time, while William Karlsson was the only forward to reach 30 minutes at 30:25.

The Sharks kept things a little more balanced, with their fourth line hovering around 16 minutes (including Gustav Nyquist a forwards-low 15:38). Brent Burns led all players with 42:32 of ice time, as you would expect. The Sharks were outshot 59-29 so of course they were going to win the game, that always seems to be the way. And I trash on Martin Jones so much in this space that it’s only fair that I give him his props this week. An amazing performance that makes me wonder why he doesn’t do that more often.

{youtube}HkM4xQ7ZBEE{/youtube}

*

See you next Monday.

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-thoughts-on-murray-jones-marner-byfuglien-ehlers-some-post-mortems-and-more-apr-22/

[paradoxicalca]

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 26 Knightfall Edition

/r/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Mar 25, 2019 - Mar 31, 2019Thank YouThank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.RankersSpoilerOrganizersSpoilerVisualizationThe visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /r/hockey opinion.It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it hereProcessHow does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /r/hockey!Rankings (26/31 Rankers Reporting)Ranking (avg)TeamDeltaOverall RecordRecord This WeekComments1 (1.08)Tampa Bay Lightning-59-15-41-1-0Tampa doesn’t play well after a long break. That has been established quite well this season. There isn’t much more I can say about the Bolts that hasn’t been said I’m going to focus on some baby Bolts. Carter Verhaeghe leads the AHL in points with 75 (30 G 45A), Alex Barre-Boulet is second in rookie scoring with 60 ponts (32 G 28 A), Cal Foote also a rookie has 29 points ( 9 G 20A +16) as a defenseman, Alexander Volkov continues to show strong two way play in his second season (20 G 20A). Taylor Raddsyh is 8th in rookie scoring (17G 26A), Boris Katchouck is still trying to find his footing, Mitchell Stephens who almost made the team out of camp but had an unfortunate injury has played well since his return. Suffice it say there are a lot of good young players developing in Syracuse.2 (3.56)Boston Bruins147-23-91-3-0Oof. It seems neither Toronto nor Boston want home ice advantage in the first round. Both teams are losing to lottery contenders. At least 🍝 got a hattrick against the Rangers and Backes got his 7th goal of the season; passing James Neal.3 (3.88)Calgary Flames-149-23-72-2-0And that is how the West was clinched.4 (4.28)Washington Capitals247-24-83-0-0Starting this week I'm ranking teams based on who I think will win the cup, biases included - Caps are second. We absolutely took it to the Bolts last night, with each member of our old top line scoring twice, dominating them as much as you can dominate that team. I'm fully torqued entering the 'loffs, literally counting down the days like it's christmas. Both Carolina and cum bus scare me, but the post-TDL Caps can beat anybody. Russian machine never breaks babes.5 (7.32)New York Islanders246-26-72-1-0Clinched? Fucking Right! Isles had the chance to clinch on Tuesday night versus CBJ but played awful and lost badly. Thursday they constantly played down 2, chasing the Jets. They were down for about 58 minutes throughout the game, but scored 2 goals with less than 90 seconds to go to tie, and steal the win in Manitoba. They kept momentum from there to dominate Buffalo and clinch a playoff spot before April for the first time in almost 30 years. Lehner looks like a wall in net and is maybe the most loved Islander right now. Eberle has a hot hand scoring lots of goals after a long dry spell, Barzal is finally seeing results for his hard work, and other guys like Bailey are chipping in after a long cold streak. This team looks to be heating up again at the perfect time, looking like they will finish as the #2 in the Metro with home ice advantage for the first time in a long long time. If things play out well they could be playing Washington for the division title on the last day of their season.6 (8.12)San Jose Sharks-144-26-91-3-07 (8.44)Nashville Predators444-29-62-1-0Ignoring the result of the CBJ game (Saros is apparently no Michael Jordan when it comes to flu games), it's been a pretty okay week to be a Preds fan. Fabbro signed on so fears of another Vesey situation were finally put to ease. He even made his debut, not an earth shattering one mind you but it was solid nonetheless. That does burn the first year of his ELC which will expose him in the Seattle expansion, but current speculation is that was a term to him actually signing. In other player news, Arvidsson has tied the Preds single season goal record with only 55 GP. Watson completed his AHL conditioning stint, and it will be interesting to see how he gets slotted into the roster. Turris is... yeah. The Central is up for grabs, with any combination of NSH, STL, or WPG in the top 3 a distinct possibility. The Preds final three games are @ BUF, v VAN, v CHI, games that they should be able to win and go into the playoffs at least lukewarm and potentially with home ice advantage. Key word there being 'should'.8 (8.72)Winnipeg Jets-445-29-40-3-09 (9.52)Toronto Maple Leafs-145-26-71-1-1A tale of two teams in the month of March...Team A was missing two of their Top 4D for basically the entire month of March. Collected 16 of 30 points. Posted a CF% of 44.9%, a xGF% of 44.3%, and a PDO of 103.51...Team B was also missing two of their Top 4D for the entire month of March. Collected 15 of 28 points. Posted a CF% of 54.4%, a xGF% of 55%, and a PDO of 98.7...Guess which of these teams is expected to become a Conference Finalist and which is expected to be bounced quickly in Round 1? TOR is Team B but there's been a lot of "they don't look good" punditry over the Leafs' recent play despite the reality that they've been downright dominant (5th in CF%, 5th in xGF%). Unfortunately, their goaltending fell apart to the tune of a .892 Team SV% in March. It's the kind of thing that can sink ANY team in the NHL, no matter how well the rest of the group is playing. The good news is Freddy and the Buds have one final week to tighten up. Otherwise it will truly be Bruins in 5.10 (10.08)Carolina Hurricanes-43-29-71-3-0The Canes are still finding a way to stay in the thick of it with every game being a must win game. Losses have come from one bad period of hockey against some of the top teams in the league, namely Tampa and Washington. The month of December is haunting the team, 2 points from one of those terrible games would have gone far this month. Previous week went 3 - 2, beating the Wild cleanly, Montreal in OT, and Flyers was alot closer of a game than the scoresheet would show. Washington beat the team for the two losses of the week, both in the third period. The hope here in Canes Country is that those 4 points don't haunt us too. Mrazek is emerging more and more as our #1, but expect the shuffle to keep happening till playoffs come (if and when) Svechnikov has grown into the scoring talent that was promised with the second overall pick (and top forward in the draft) Hamilton continues to show why he is the best defenceman from his draft year with two goals, and continues his streak of games wi11 (10.4)Columbus Blue Jackets345-30-44-0-0What a time to get hot. This Jackets team that we are watching right now is what we expected to see after the TDL. Every line has been playing great as we seem to have finally stumbled on the right combinations. Bob is literally a brick wall and our offence has been just as good. Over the last 5 games the Jackets have outscored their opponents 24-4. This final week is going to be exciting, and we could land anywhere from 3rd in the metro to 9th in the East.12 (10.52)Pittsburgh Penguins-43-25-112-1-0I don't have much to say this week except who'd have thought in December we might finish with more points than the Leafs? We're one game from extending the longest active playoff streak in the NHL. It's been a good season all things considered.13 (11.44)St. Louis Blues-42-28-82-1-0The Blues finally clinched the playoffs this week, and if you told me 3 months ago that we'd be fighting for the division I'd have said "yeah and 25 year old goalies can debut after 6 years in professional hockey and contend for the Calder." Memes do come true i guess14 (12)Vegas Golden Knights-542-30-70-3-1Even the Stone age is not invulnerable to having average goaltending.15 (13.72)Dallas Stars141-31-73-0-1I put the Stars at 8 this week because we earned 7/8 points and we look like the Western team to beat heading into the playoffs. My major concern is that we win too much and end up in a worse matchup against Nashville.16 (14)Montreal Canadiens-142-29-82-1-017 (17.52)Arizona Coyotes-38-33-82-0-1That game against the Avalanche could be the final dagger in this season but as we have been doing we keep clawing our way back. Just need some help.18 (18.08)Colorado Avalanche136-29-132-0-02 Big wins this week! We beat back the two desert teams, to establish our selves in the second wild card. Its not over yet, but we have control of our own destiny. The Captain is back just in time for or final push. On the bad side Rantanen's injury might be a bit more severe than first reported, but he should be back for the playoffs. One final push this week we need at least two wins, three guarantees it. Also Cale Makar is Hype and Avs prospects are showing well in the NCAA tourney.19 (19.68)Minnesota Wild136-34-91-2-0And so closes the window on the Minnesota Wild.20 (20.44)Philadelphia Flyers-237-34-81-2-0Fade us fam. Hail Gritty. Praise be unto Wawa. And screw William Hill commercials.21 (21.52)Florida Panthers-35-32-122-2-0Roberto has turned back the clock again. We still don’t know if this is his final season but if it is lets give him a sendoff that he deserves.22 (21.92)Chicago Blackhawks-34-33-111-1-1The Blackhawks' PP went 3 for 32 in March (29th in NHL), the PK allowed 10 goals in 32 opportunities (also, 29th). Excluding empty net goals, 5 of the Blackhawks' 7 losses this month were by 1 goal. They'd likely be in a much different position playoff-wise if they'd gotten some help from their special teams. DeBrincat (5G, 5A in March) has caught up to Kane (1G, 10A) for the team's lead in goals at 41. DeBrincat is the second-youngest Hawk to hit the 40-goal mark (after JR). That also makes him and Kane the second pair of American-born 40-goal scorers on a team (after Mullen & Stevens, 91-92 Penguins), and the first pair of Hawks since the 90-91 season (Roenick & Larmer). Gustafsson (5G, 4A) scored his 17th goal of the season, the most by a Hawks dman since Byfuglien in 09-10 (also 17). Caggiula returned from a concussion on Sat, while Kampf left with a facial/dental injury. When healthy, Kampf has been one of the best defensive forwards in the league. Sikura still awaits his first NHL goal.23 (23.36)Vancouver Canucks134-35-102-1-0The future is here, sort of. It's here like the era of the electric car is here - there's plenty of flashy things to get excited about, but there's still many, many hurdles to overcome. The arrival of Quinn Hughes allows this season to end on a warm note and leaves many hopeful that the Canucks might secure one of those "young team overperforming" playoff berths next year. It was also pretty awesome to see Edler crack the all-time goalscoring record for a defenceman. Otherwise, the lack of regulation wins prevents this team from moving much either way in the power rankings.24 (23.92)Edmonton Oilers-134-35-91-1-125 (25)Anaheim Ducks-133-37-102-1-0Rakell must not think we are out of the playoff race. He had a natural hat trick against the oilers. Ducks keep on slipping slipping slipping up the standings and out of the jack Hughes race. Best part of the week: Jake Dotchin has to exit the game yesterday because he was technically scratched while playing for an injured player26 (26.52)New York Rangers131-34-132-2-0Georgiev is starting to show why he is the heir apparent to the throne.27 (26.6)Detroit Red Wings231-38-104-0-028 (27.48)Buffalo Sabres-231-38-100-4-1I'm willing to give goaltending a pass for now, given how god-awful our defense has been. This week we lost to not one, not two, but THREE of the four teams below us in the standings. In March we have 2 wins, and neither came in regulation. If you look back further, we have 3 total wins in our last 21 games played, and as I write we are down 0-3 to Columbus. In that stretch we have been out-scored 45-84. If that isn't depressing enough for you, just remember that we were first place in the league at one point this season. Where are we now? Oh yeah, bottom five. Again.29 (28.32)New Jersey Devils-129-40-101-1-1Most of us are either trying to find the "sim to the draft button" or enjoying getting a glimpse to our possible future with our young guns. Some games are decent and competitive like taking the blue hot blues to OT. Others are like like 4-0 to the wings. As long as this kind of play doesn't continue into next season, we should be alright. But Lord do I miss TayTay.30 (28.8)Los Angeles Kings-29-40-92-1-1The Kings self-sabotaged their draft lottery a bit this week- the young guys are doing well and Austin Wagner showed off his wheels with a sweet McDavid esque sprint.31 (29.76)Ottawa Senators-28-44-62-1-0Beating Toronto twice in the span of a couple weeks is probably the best thing to happen all season. /r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 26 Knightfall Edition Source

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

There is additional evidence that Xɛbyoso (Xeviosso, Hevioso, Khebioso…) and/or Shango persisted in Mississippi River Valley Voudou.

In Slave Religion, Albert J. Raboteau describes four noteworthy clues:

…The way in which bits of African faith and practice persisted in folk beliefs and customs, though their original meaning had been lost, is evident in the following account from the New Orleans Times-Democrat of August 5, 1888. During a thunderstorm elderly Tante Dolores anxiously searched the house for some object. Not finding it, she ran to the yard. According to the article,

Hither and thither she ran in rapid quest, until at last she stumbled upon the object of her search, no less a thing than an axe for chopping wood…a bright expression of joy irradiated her face. 

Seizing the ax and raising it over her head, “she made pass after pass in the very face of the rushing current, as if chopping some invisible thing in twain.” When the wind suddenly abated she returned to the house in triumph, stating that it never failed her if she “jest got there in time enough.”91

A similar custom among Mississippi black folk was noted by Puckett: 

…foreign to European thought is the Southern Negro custom of going out into the yard and chopping up the ground with an ax when a storm threatens. This is supposed to “cut de storm in two” and so stop it. Others stick a spade in the ground to split the cloud, or simply place an axe in the corner of the house.”92

The use of the ax as an antidote to the storm is significant, since the sacred emblem of the West African god of thunder and lightning, Shango, is an ax; but equally significant is the fact that the African theological background has disappeared and what remains is a folk custom. There is perhaps a trace of the thunderstones hurled by Shango in the belief, as told to Puckett by an old “conjure doctor” in Mississippi, that “the Indian arrowheads often found in the locality were not made by man at all, but were fashioned by God out of thunder and lightning,”93 It was also a common saying in New Orleans “that when it thunders, Le Bon Dieu is rolling his stones.”94

SOURCE: Raboteau, Albert J. Slave religion: The" invisible institution" in the antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. pp. 80-81

Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/slavereligioninv00rabo/page/80/mode/2up? 

While Raboteau connects these customs to the orisa Shango, connections can also be drawn to the vodun Xɛbyoso.

Note the similarity between the above and Ellis’ description:

On the Slave Coast, as is generally the case elsewhere, flint implements of the Stone Age are believed to be thunderbolts, and are consequently called so-kpe, (kpe stone) . After a building has been struck by lightning, the priests of Khebioso, who at once run to the spot to demand that the inmates should make amends for the evident offence they have given their god, almost invariably produce a flint arrowhead, or axe, which they of course bring with them, but pretend to have found in or near the building. As Dr. Tylor says, the fact that siliceous stones actually produce flash when struck, gives a key to the widespread belief that flint implements are thunderbolts .

SOURCE: Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. p. 38 Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0 

Many African Americans in the South descend from the Fon/Ewe, who worshiped the vodun rather than the orisa. Xɛbyoso is a counterpart to Shango, which is why they are similar to each other and are both associated with axes. Since African Americans descend from both the Yoruba and the Fon/Ewe, it’s probably pointless to identify this custom with a “pure” form of Xɛbyoso or Shango; both were likely important to the descendants of West Africans.

Another intriguing clue comes from Mary Alicia Owen’s Voodoo Tales, in which she describes folklore from Missouri Voudou. One of the recurring mythological figures is “T’undeh-Buhd” - Thunder-Bird; Owen posits that Thunder-Bird originates in the Algonquin spirit of the storm, “A great eagle”. 

SOURCE: Owen, Mary Alicia. Voodoo Tales: As Told Among the Negroes of the Southwest. United States, Putnam's Sons, 1893. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Voodoo_Tales/H_kLAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 

Owen argues that some of the folklore of Missouri Voudou was transmitted from the Algonquin legends of New England, noting several similarities between the two. However, there are also similarities between the description of Thunder-Bird and Xɛbyoso.

Pictured: Thunderbird and Sisiutl Headdress by Kwakwaka'wakw artist Bill Henderson. The Kwakwaka'wakw Thunderbird is likened to Xɛbyoso.

Although I have been writing it as “Xeviosso”, this is not the correct spelling/pronunciation. In his description of Vodun of the Maxi region of Benin, Cossi Augustin Ahoga explains that one of these two pronunciations is correct: 

a. Xɛbyoso

Xɛ / byo / so

Oiseau / être agile, être prompt / foudre

L’oiseau agile ou prompt pour faire de la foudre

b. Xɛbyɔ́so

Xɛ / byɔ́ / so

Oiseau / demander / foudre

L’oiseau demande avant d’envoyer la foudre 

SOURCE: Ahoga, Cossi Augustin. Vers un modèle africain de dialogue interreligieux: Le cas de Vodun Xɛbyoso et de l’Église des Assemblées de Dieu dans la région Maxi au Bénin. United Kingdom, Langham Creative Projects, 2023. 

Ahoga further explains the connection between Xɛbyoso (Xevioso) and the bird, likening the vodun to indigenous deities (namely, the Zuni Ahayuta and the Kwakwaka'wakw Thunderbird):

…Il se dégage de là deux lexèmes identiques au niveau de toutes les définitions : Xɛ (oiseau) et So (foudre) autour desquels se construit la quintessence de chaque nom. 

Xɛ (oiseau) se comprend au sens métaphorique, qui est un principe de la loi d’analogie dans la religion. Cela rappelle la même préfiguration chez les Indiens et les Kwakiutl où les dieux « Ahayuta » et « Amoncas » sont ailés, « Oiseau de Tonnerre »…

TRANSLATION: 

…It is from here that two identical lexemes emerge from all definitions: Xɛ (bird) and So (lightning), around which the quintessence of each name is constructed.

Xɛ (bird) is understood in the metaphorical sense, which is a principle of analogy in the religion. This recalls the same prefiguration among the Indians and the Kwakiutl where the gods "Ahayuta" and "Amoncas" are winged, "Thunderbird"...

SOURCE: Ahoga, Cossi Augustin. Vers un modèle africain de dialogue interreligieux: Le cas de Vodun Xɛbyoso et de l’Église des Assemblées de Dieu dans la région Maxi au Bénin. United Kingdom, Langham Creative Projects, 2023. 

Ahoga goes on to describe the origin myth of Xebyoso (Xevioso), which includes the following excerpt: 

Quand le monde fut créé, la terre et tout ce qui s’y trouve furent créés. La terre avait la forme d’une calebasse à laquelle manquait le couvercle. Xɛbyoso fut le couvercle que Sɛgbo-Lisa créa pour parfaire le monde…

…Xɛbyoso acquit de Sɛgbo-Lisa une force redoutable, une force qui le métamorphosa en un oiseau pyrogène pour qu’il fût en mesure de parcourir terres et airs, brousses et forêts, et même mers. Sɛgbo-Lisa le dota également d’une arme redoutable, une arme en forme d’une hache néolithique, Sosyͻvi, que Xɛbyoso emporta au monde. Pour le châtiment des coupables, Xɛbyoso la lançait à ses cibles pour les foudroyer, tuant et humains et animaux, abattant et arbres et lianes…

TRANSLATION: 

When the world was created, the earth and all upon it were created. The earth had the form of a calabash with a missing cover. Xɛbyoso was the cover that Segbo-Lisa created to perfect the world…

…Xɛbyoso acquired from Segbo-Lisa a formidable power, a power that transformed him into a firebird for him to be able to traverse land and air, brushes and forests, and even the seas. Segbo-Lisa likewise gave him a formidable weapon, a weapon in the form of a neolithic axe, Sosyͻvi, that Xɛbyoso carries to the world. For punishing the guilty, Xɛbyoso throws it as his targets to strike them down, killing humans and animals, felling trees and vines…

SOURCE: Ahoga, Cossi Augustin. Vers un modèle africain de dialogue interreligieux: Le cas de Vodun Xɛbyoso et de l’Église des Assemblées de Dieu dans la région Maxi au Bénin. United Kingdom, Langham Creative Projects, 2023.

A similar description is provided by Ellis, who appears to have misunderstood the meaning of Khebioso (Xɛbyoso) but correctly identified his association with the bird. Much like Ahoga, Ellis also notes the similarity with indigenous belief systems:

The name Khebioso is compounded of khe (bird) , bi (to let go light, or throw out light) , and so ( fire) , so that it literally means the bird, or bird-like creature, that throws out fire. As the thunder- cloud rolls along in khe-kheme, "the free-air region ," and as that region can, to the native mind, only be traversed by birds , the Ewe- speaking negroes imagine that Khebioso is a flying god, who partakes in some way of the nature of a bird. The general idea seems to be that Khebioso is a bird -like creature, hidden in the midst of the black thunder-cloud, from which he casts out the lightning ; and by some, the crash of the thunder is believed to be the flapping of his enormous wings. This belief in the lightning-god being bird- like does not stand alone. The Mandans of North America believed that lightning and thunder were caused by the flashing eyes and flapping wings of the terrible Heaven-bird, and the Tupi tribes of Brazil hold similar views.

SOURCE: Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. p. 37 Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0 

This is just a theory, but the Thunder-Bird of Missouri Voudou might also have a connection to Xɛbyoso (Xebioso). 

SOURCES CITED BY RABOTEAU IN SLAVE RELIGION: 

91.  Raboteau’s description of Tante Dolores can be found in Gumbo Ya-Ya, where Tallant erroneously accuses Dolores of “witchcraft”: Tallant, Robert, and Lyle Saxon. Gumbo Ya-Ya: Folk Tales of Louisiana. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1945. p. 250 Retrieved from: 

92. FROM: Puckett, Newbell Niles. Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. United Kingdom, University of North Carolina Press, 1926. p. 320. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/folkbeliefsofsou00puck/page/320/mode/2up 

Even more foreign to European thought is the Southern Negro custom of going out into the yard and chopping up the ground with an ax when a storm threatens. This is supposed to "cut de storm in two" and so stop it. 4 Others stick a spade in the ground to split the cloud, 5 or simply place an ax in the corner of the house. 6

93. FROM: Puckett, Newbell Niles. Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. United Kingdom, University of North Carolina Press, 1926. p. 315 Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/folkbeliefsofsou00puck/page/n349/mode/2up 

One old conjure-doctor in Mississippi told me that the Indian arrowheads often found in the locality were not made by man at all, but were fashioned by God out of thunder and lightning. To use one for good luck, strike a spark from it with your knife (if the sparks fly readily you will know that you have a good knife) and let the spark fall upon a piece of powdered punk. Let the punk smoulder into ashes, which are to be wrapped in a piece of newspaper and carried with you always for good luck. 7

Puckett’s note 7 cites: Owen, Mary A. Among the Voodoos, I. F. L. C. (1891) p. 258 94. The saying “when it thunders, Le Bon Dieu is rolling his stones” is found in Gumbo Ya-Ya: Tallant, Robert, and Lyle Saxon. Gumbo Ya-Ya: Folk Tales of Louisiana. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1945. p. 557. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/gumboyaya00louirich/page/556/mode/2up? 

DID BETSY TOLEDANO WORSHIP HEVIOSO? 

Représentation du Hèviosso au Musée Honmè

When the priestess Betsy Toledano was arrested in 1850, the police discovered stones (described as “flintstones” and “pebbles”) that were said to control lightning.

“...They found in one of the rooms a kind of chapel fitted up, the walls hung round with colored prints of the saints, etc., and a number of bowls upon the altar, containing stones varying from the size of gravel to the largest “pavers.” Goblets and vases filled with unknown liquids had also their place. A number of colored women were present, who escaped. Betsy Toledano, the chief priestess of the heathen temple, stoutly defended the ceremonies from any wrong construction; said that its signs and symbols were derived from the mother-land, and that the incantations were harmless; that the rocks in question were intended to protect the building from lightning, and that by placing them in water during a storm they acted as non-conductors for the dangerous element. The woman also exhibited a very curiously wrought necklace of shells which had been brought from the western coast of Africa by her grandmother, and which could influence the clerk of the weather to such an extent that he could not resist her application for rain when she insisted upon a genial shower…”

SOURCE: “The Rites of Voudou” The Daily Crescent. (New Orleans, LA) 31 Jul. 1850, p. 3. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82015378/1850-07-31/ed-1/?sp=3

"...Betsy then went on to explain cases of sundry ominous looking vessels containing pebbles, flintstones, shells, horse-hair, curious aprons, colors, banners, &c., &c. Besides these, there were vases filled with a liquid, neither palatable nor of the odor of sanctity. And then Betsy had a necklace of strange shells and rainbow-tinted beads, which was not without its use in the craft of Voudouism. The necklace was all-potent in calling rain down on the parched earth, in seasons of drought, and the flint and pebble-stones, were for taming and turning aside the fiery shafts of "Heaven's artillery."…”

SOURCE: “Voudouism Unveiled” The Daily Delta  New Orleans, Louisiana •  Wed, Jul 31, 1850 Page 2. Retrieved from: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-delta-voudouism-unveiled/40979649/ 

The flintstones seem similar to sokpe - stones or flint implements associated with the lightning vodún Hevioso (Khebioso):

“On the Slave Coast, as is generally the case elsewhere, flint implements of the Stone Age are believed to be thunderbolts, and are consequently called so-kpe, (kpe = stone) . After a building has been struck by lightning, the priests of Khebioso, who at once run to the spot to demand that the inmates should make amends for the evident offence they have given their god, almost invariably produce a flint arrowhead, or axe, which they of course bring with them, but pretend to have found in or near the building. As Dr. Tylor says, the fact that siliceous stones actually produce a flash when struck, gives a key to the widespread belief that flint implements are thunderbolts.”

SOURCE: Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. pp. 37-38. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/ll-BAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 

The “pebbles” may or may not have also been sokpe. 

MUCH doubt exists as to the origin and use of the curious circular stones with holes bored through them which are well known to people living in the southern districts of the Gold Coast and Togoland. Geologically, they may be described as consisting of quartzite – usually an altered sandstone which is very common throughout the districts mentioned. That the hole found running through the two flat sides of each stone has been artificially made is obvious, but the precise manner in which this has been effected is as puzzle. As the holes are circular some form of boring has, apparently, been employed – each hole having been commenced from either side, and usually in the centre of the slightly flattened stone, and rapidly narrowing down the further the stone is penetrated until, in some cases, it is so small at the point where it meets the hole bored from the opposite side that a pin-head could not pass through it.

An examination of over 300 such stones shows that the average diameter is about 1 ⅗ inches, while that of the largest stone was found to be 2 ⅓ inches and of the smallest 1 ½ inches. Some of these stones have 3, 4, 5, or even 6-cornered edges but, in general, they are slightly flattened with smooth sides and a rounded edge. When two such stones are struck together they give a dull glow at the point of impact, but no sparks are emitted as in the case with flint….

East of the Volta River the stone is connected with one fetish only, viz., the So (or Hebieso, or Hevieso), the god of thunderstorms. Here the stone is called “Sokpe,” lit. stone of the god So– “kpe” meaning “stone” in the Eve language. This fetish is one of the four which, together, constitute the Yeve or Vodu cult which has spread to the Addah and Ouittah districts of the Gold Coast, and to southern Togoland from its original home in Dahomey. The uses to which the peoples of these countries now put the stones are as follows: – 

They are used medicinally for the cure of any illness. The stone is put into water and the patient may then, at once, wash therewith. This he must do on seven consecutive days, after which a cure should be effected. In the case of religious ceremonies connected with the Yeve cult a candidate for admission to the secrets of the faith is shown a pot of consecrated water, and then a number of articles of symbolic import to the members of the sect, including a “sokpe.” These articles are placed in the water and the “sokpe” is then taken out by a Yeve priest who addresses the candidate, explaining his obligations to the fetish, and after drawing the “sokpe” up the candidates back to the crown of his head, concludes by saying, “If you become faithless to Yeve, or betray his secrets to someone who is not a servant of Yeve, then Yeve will kill you in this manner”; the meaning intended to be conveyed being that Yeve will appear in the course of a thunderstorm and hurl a thunderbolt as his faithless protege, splitting him asunder.

SOURCE: Newlands, H. S. "An archaeological puzzle from West Africa." Journal of the Royal African Society (1919): 40-43. Retrieved from:

As the vodún Gu is derived from the orisa Ogun, the vodún Hevioso is derived from the orisa Shango. 

In Haiti, Hevioso became the lwa Kebyesou Danle, part of Rit DANWONMEN.

SEE: Hebblethwaite, Benjamin. A transatlantic history of Haitian Vodou: rasin figuier, rasin Bwa Kayiman, and the Rada and Gede Rites. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2021.

[thrashermaxey]

21 Fantasy Hockey Rambles

Every Sunday, we'll share 21 Fantasy Rambles – formerly 20 Fantasy Thoughts – from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's ‘Daily Ramblings’.

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

  1. One season does not make a career, but despite the high shooting percentage, it was a marvelous campaign for Hawks’ Erik Gustafsson.

The question is if he maintains his power-play role; he had more than 100 minutes at five-on-four over the next-closest Blackhawks defenseman. Henri Jokiharju looked great whenever they allowed him to play in the NHL, while Adam Boqvist was a top-10 pick last year for the franchise and has been tearing up the OHL playoffs.

It seems certain that unless he falls off the map (he won’t), Gustafsson should have the PP role for 2019-20. Beyond that? Less certain. (apr12)

  2. You know who the Leafs don’t need? William Nylander. I mean, sure you could use a second-line talent with good first-line upside. But they have enough of those and could shed one if it means keeping a top-six character player who brings other things to the table.

Since Nylander makes the money he does, logically he would be the best one to shed. Still shaking my head over that “not trading Nylander” comment from Kyle Dubas. Nylander is a great top six forward, perhaps even a first liner, but there are several dozen of him in the league – most definitely not a rare commodity.

And if he costs the team keeping the likes of Andreas Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen (I won’t even consider them losing Mitch Marner over keeping Nylander, I shudder), and prevents the team from acquiring a No.3 or 4 D, then that’s too big a sacrifice. (apr8)

  3. The reason I am not a big fan of Alex Nylander in keeper leagues? Injuries. He had himself a nice season this year taking a big step forward in his pro career after a couple of steps backward. But he had a different injury wipe out two of his training camps, back-to-back, and then finally getting an opportunity with Buffalo that looks as though he is there to stay – and he gets hurt again.

If every time Nylander gets some sort of opportunity, or gets on a role he suffers an injury, he’s never going to get going. There are too many other prospects to roll the dice on, so I’ll leave the younger Nylander to someone else.

I just realized I’m kinda trashing on both Nylander brothers today. Time to write something nice: Both have tremendous upside and I really like William as a potential first-liner – no matter what team he plays for. In fact, I think it’s better for both him and the Leafs if he went somewhere else. He would flourish elsewhere and they would address some serious needs. (apr8)

  4. By far the biggest question regarding the Flames entering the playoffs was their goaltending. Mike Smith had been downright awful during significant stretches of the season, so would he be able to hold up during the playoffs? Why didn’t the Flames give David Rittich a go instead?

Smith has found his game and then some. Since he doesn’t fit the definition of a stud goalie, he fits the definition of a hot goalie, which can just as well get the job done in the playoffs if he can be hot for long enough.

Even though Smith has a brief playoff history for a goalie of his service time, his career playoff numbers are outstanding (11-8, 1.79 GAA, .947 SV% entering Game 2). Maybe that could have counted for something in coach Bill Peters’ decision to start him in Game 1? The numbers aren’t recent, though, as his last playoff experience was in 2011-12 when he led the Coyotes to the conference final (his playoff numbers are mainly from that season). It’s more likely that Smith’s much-improved play swayed the decision (9-5-1, 2.08 GAA, .916 SV% since February 14). (apr14)

  5. This year’s Dobby Awards!

Fantasy Player of the Year: Andrei Vasilevskiy. It’s not a coincidence that the teams that won each of my leagues that involve goalies, owned Vas. As I noted to one GM when we were discussing the fairness of the goalie points system in that league: “Owning Vasilevskiy under these rules right now is like owning Gretzky in 1986.”

Vasilevskiy  only played 53 games thanks to a broken foot, and yet he still managed 39 wins. If healthy all year, he may have taken a run at 50 wins. He also boasted a 0.925 SV% in an era where goaltenders don’t really do that very often.

Runner-Up: Nikita Kucherov, who finished with 128 points, 12 more than the next player and the highest total in 23 years. (apr8)

  6. Fantasy Rookie of the Year: Jordan Binnington. I wrestled with this one for a long time because I’m a huge Elias Pettersson fan and feel he will be an elite player. As in, top-5 in the league. Meanwhile, Binnington could Jim Carrey his way out of the NHL and become this massive bust. But we’ll always remember this year.

In the end, I asked myself: which rookie did the most to help a fantasy owner win? And frankly, Winnington turned more than a few fantasy squads around on his own this year. So, even though I would much sooner own runner-up Pettersson and honorable-mention Rasmus Dahlin by a wide, wide, ridiculously wide margin in keeper leagues, Binnington has to be the ROY in fantasy hockey. (apr8)

  7. Fourth Year Magic Award: Dylan Larkin teased in Year 3 with 63 points and then took another huge step this season with 73. This is quite the feat when you consider that no other Detroit player reached 55.

Runner-Up: Max Domi jumped from 45 points in his third year to 72. He was a big reason why the Habs made it to Game 81 before finally being eliminated from the playoffs. (apr8)

  8. Second-Half Stud Award: Patrick Kane’s 59 points in 39 games tied Nikita Kucherov in scoring since January 5. It was also a nice jump from his already-solid first-half pace of 51 points in 42 games.

Runner-Up: Sean Couturier, who had 47 points in the last 42 games after starting out with 29 in 38. This was despite managing just three points and going minus-9 in the final seven contests. (apr8)

  9. Second-Half Swoon Award: Patrik Laine had 20 measly points in the last 49 games after starting the season with 30 in 33.

Runner-Up: Jeff Skinner was a revelation with 44 points in 45 games to start the year. He was going to demolish his career high of 63 points, no question about it. That is, until he didn’t. Just 19 in his last 37 to finish up with, you guessed it, 63 points. Congrats to anyone who traded either of these players in January. (apr8)

  10. Although Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov was the top-ranked player in playoff pools, he has been held without a point in two games so far and will still be scoreless in the playoffs after Game 3 because of his one-game suspension.

Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point, who were projected to go second and third, have also been held without a point in the first two games (see our Dobber Hockey Experts Panel picks for more). In addition, Kucherov has been held to just two goals in his last 14 playoff games. He’s been getting it done and then some in the regular season, but not so much in the playoffs when the intensity is turned up several notches.

So, if the Lightning is eliminated in the first round, does that mean the folks that didn’t pick any Lightning players will win their playoff pools? It probably isn’t that simple, but it goes to show that playoff pools aren’t as easy to predict as you might think and sometimes a counterintuitive strategy (although more risky) wins in the end. The silver lining is that if the Bolts come back and win this series, you’ll probably get the same four or five games of production out of them than you thought you would receive from them in the first round anyway.

It's funny how in two short games that the narrative on the Lightning has shifted from being the model franchise to the ultimate choke team. A win in Game 3 would go a long way toward righting the ship. A loss, well… (apr14)

  11. Jordan Weal has teased us at the end of the season like this before. And the last time he did it, he was set to become a UFA and earned himself a two-year, one-way contract.

I think his progress was derailed by the Flyers lucking into the draft lottery win and adding Nolan Patrick to the lineup. It nudged Weal down the roster and he hasn’t done much of anything since.

Here he is, set to become a UFA again and he ends things in Montreal with eight points in nine games. What kind of contract he earns from that should determine how much of a chance he will get. And to be fair, he had plenty of top-six opportunities in Arizona, but couldn’t find the chemistry. He is clearly a guy who will lean on chemistry with a talented player for his points. (apr8)

  12. Vince Dunn has long been thought of as an offensive defenseman. He had 99 points over his final 120 games in the OHL, and had 45 points in 72 games as a 20-year old rookie in the AHL back in 2016-17.

All I’m saying for now is that I’m leery of predicting some sort of Erik Gustafsson-esque breakout. In St. Louis, there is still Alex Pietrangelo’s ice time to contend with and Colton Parayko isn’t someone to just eschew. Of course, Dunn is still just 22 years old, so the fact that we’re even talking about him potentially being an offensive factor from the blue line is a very good sign. (apr12)

  13. When we look at the list of top producers per minute from the blue line at five-on-four, most of the names make sense. We see Torey Krug, Dustin Byfuglien, Keith Yandle, Victor Hedman, and Morgan Rielly, among others. Who’s the defenseman that finished second in points/60 minutes at five-on-four this year (minimum of 100 minutes)? It was Rangers’ Neal Pionk.

In fact, over the last two years, Pionk leads all defensemen in points/60 minutes on the power play. Yes, all defensemen. Granted, it’s limited ice time (140 minutes or so) but it’s been an unbelievable run.

I think a bit of caution should be used here. Pionk had a poor season defensively, as much of the rest of the team did. Tony DeAngelo had a good season for the team even if coach David Quinn wouldn’t play him every night. Kevin Shattenkirk is still lurking and I’m sure he’d like to have a rebound season of his own. I’m not entirely sure what the Rangers are going to do on the blue line next year. I’m not entirely sure the Rangers know what the Rangers are going to do on the blue line next year.

There could be some sneaky value here should: A) Pionk be a regular next year again and; B) no one else is brought in. There are a lot of moving parts that can change in the next 5-6 months. (apr12)

  14. I’m interested to see what Robin Lehner’s contract ends up being this summer. A lengthy postseason run with the Isles could mean a significant pay raise. Cap league owners are watching carefully. (apr11)

  15. In spite of the loss in Game 2 vs the Predators, Ben Bishop was stellar, stopping 40 of 42 shots to keep the Stars in this game. With his 1.92 GAA and .946 SV% in two playoff games, Bishop is carrying a strong regular season into the playoffs, where he has been the Stars’ best player so far. Bishop finished the regular season with a 1.98 GAA and .934 SV% and seven shutouts, which are numbers that could result in a Vezina Trophy nomination. (apr14)

  16. David Savard had a marvelous season for Columbus. It’s a shame he’s stuck behind Seth Jones and Zach Werenski on the PP depth chart. I would like to see him get top power play minutes sometime. (apr11)

  17. So, I wanted to take a stab at what the NHL might look like in four years. Ready to be made a fool of again? I am.

A lot of stars have signed huge contracts in recent seasons with lengths of anywhere from six to eight years. A lot of those contracts will be running out in the same three-year span, and that will lead to a lot of talent in unrestricted free agency, even if they’re older.

Per Cap Friendly, here are some of the names that could theoretically be available after the 2022-23 season: Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jonathan Toews, David Pastrnak, Sean Monahan, Nathan MacKinnon, Dylan Larkin, Ryan O’Reilly, Max Pacioretty, James van Riemsdyk, Jonathan Huberdeau, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Bo Horvat. That kind of talent in a single free agent class is almost surreal.

Of course, as alluded to, a lot of players will be in their 30s by that point. There are a handful of guys who will be in their mid-to-late 20s like MacKinnon, Pastrnak, Monahan, and Larkin. With the likelihood of a lockout looming, will some of the older players not named who will also be UFA like Milan Lucic, Kyle Okposo and Duncan Keith be bought out?

The younger guys, I’m sure, will be extended by their current teams. What about everyone else? Wouldn’t it be cool for Toews and Kane to do what Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne did and take cheap contracts to sign somewhere together? Regardless, in a few years’ time, there will be a lot of high-profile free agents that will start hitting the market. (apr10)

  18. It seems pretty likely that Colorado is one of the top teams in the league in four years, isn’t it? They’ll have Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen on the roster, Samuel Girard will be a top-tier puck-mover, Cale Makar has the look of a future Norris Trophy contender, and then there’s Ottawa’s top pick from this year. There will be a great core to build around and if management can manage to not pull an Edmonton or Buffalo, it will hopefully be a championship core.

Of course, there is a lot else the team will have to deal with. Their captain, Gabriel Landeskog, is a free agent after the 2020-21 season. Will he still be around? Will Tyson Barrie? Will any of the young guys currently on the roster like J.T. Compher, Alex Kerfoot and Tyson Jost be making an impact on the 2022-23 roster? This is certainly a team on the rise, but the toughest leap to make is from a good team to a championship-calibre team. Can the Avs be that team?

I say yes. There were some early bumps in the road but the Avalanche management group has made solid deals over the last year or so. As long as they can keep making positive deals for the franchise, there’s no reason to believe they’ll flounder. I believe that in April 2023, we’ll be talking about the Avalanche as one of the top franchises in the league, returning to the glory they enjoyed early in the franchise’s existence. (apr10)

  19. Cale Makar is the 2018-19 Hobey Baker winner. After playing in Saturday’s championship game, it’s possible that he could debut with the Avalanche as early as Game 3 on Monday night. Of course, we’ll be keeping an eye on the top prospect blueliner should he enter the Avs’ lineup. With 49 points in 40 games with UMass, the 2017 fourth overall pick is definitely a blueliner that should be heavily sought-after in keeper leagues. (apr13)

Not that I’m not looking forward to seeing Makar in the NHL, but what an introduction to the top professional hockey league; “Here ya go kid, you’re starting your career in a playoff series against the top team (Flames) in the West.” (apr11)

  20. Dustin Byfuglien was injured on December 29. He returned in early February for five games and then was injured again, not returning until the end of March. That’s important because Byfuglien is a top-pair defenseman whose relative expected goals against numbers were among the top-20 defenseman league-wide this year.

Over the last three years, Mark Scheifele’s shot share numbers drop from nearly 53 percent to under 49 percent when he’s not on the ice with Byfuglien, while Bryan Little’s drops from 52.2 percent to 49.2 percent. Big Buff is an important player. (apr9)

  21. Legendary coach Joel Quenneville was hired by the Florida Panthers to be their next bench boss last Monday. He replaces the recently fired Bob Boughner and will try to take the Panthers to the playoffs for the first time in four years, and past the first round for the first time in over 20 years. You can read Dobber’s take on the hiring here.

All I will say is that I do not believe coaching was and is the issue with the Panthers. I’ll leave it at that. (apr9)

  Have a good week, folks!!

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles-13/

[thrashermaxey]

Top 10 power-play surprises 2018-19

  In last week’s column, we looked at 10 players that would be good to trade for in keeper pools.

Those 10 players are having underachieving seasons. One common theme between the skaters, and even those that didn’t make my list, is the fact that their power-play numbers are awful. That got me thinking about the flip side and which players have posted surprising numbers with the man advantage.  

One caveat to take consideration is that the power-play numbers for the listed players are all relative. A player with 12 power-play points may not seem that impressive, but maybe going into the season he wasn’t expected to get any. That’s why that player would be on this list.

  10. Torey Krug

Let’s all take a second to reflect on how great, and underrated, Krug has been this season. His 28 power-play points is already a career high (and second-highest amongst defensemen). That number is even more impressive when you consider he missed the first three weeks of the campaign with an ankle injury. He’s on a 70-point pace in an 82-game season, and his 46 points are the 10th-highest among defensemen.

  9. Alex Chiasson

We’ve been here before with Chiasson — in 2013-14, he had 14 power-play points with the Dallas Stars — but sometimes it just has to do with opportunity. Getting some power-play time (and playing with elite players) can do wonders for some guys. Chiasson isn’t owned in many leagues as he doesn’t contribute much in any fantasy category, but any fantasy general manager that does roster him has to be pleased with the six power-play goals and 12 power-play points.

  8. Neal Pionk

Pionk is lower on the list because he hasn’t been a power-play force since the start of December. However, he was excellent at the beginning of the season. Up until Nov. 21, when he was the Rangers top power-play defenseman with the Rangers, Pionk had 11 power-play points. Since then, he’s had only two. Despite that, and a few healthy scratches, he still leads the Rangers’ defense corps in both goals and assists with the man advantage.

  7. Matthew Tkachuk

Even though we knew Tkachuk was going to be a superstar, he’s progressing at a much faster rate than many of us anticipated. He’s almost a point-per-game player despite second-line duties, and being on the top power-play unit is really helping his point total. He has 23 power-play points (already besting his career high from last year) and has a great chance of cracking 30.

  6. Mark Giordano

I’m part of a points-only pool where we have an auction before out draft. Basically, you can bid on any dropped player with a pick from that year’s draft, but the owner who dropped the player gets that pick. I dropped Giordano, and someone bid the 58th overall pick for him. That was a great steal, as Giordano has been phenomenal this year. Part of Giordano’s amazing season has been his power-play production, where he has 21 points, the second highest of his career. His numbers with the man advantage usually fluctuate somewhat, but last year, he had only 10 power-play points even while getting top minutes with the man advantage.

  5. Mike Hoffman

Every summer, I list 10 players that could hit 70 points for the first time. I had Hoffman on my list for several years, but he was never able to reach that mark. I decided to give up on him this year with the whole issue going on with the Sens and rumours he was going to be dressing on the Panthers’ third line. Now he’s on pace for 72 points, a large part thanks to his power-play production. His 29 man-advantage points are already a career high and put him in the top 10 in the league.

  4. Keith Yandle

Yandle is one of those players who is overlooked somewhat because of his age. He’s 32 years old, but he also has 32 power-play points, which is a career high and leads all defensemen. It’s also the third highest when accounting for forwards as well. Anyone who tells you they were expecting this is lying, considering the NHL’s leading iron man has put up 36 power play points the previous two seasons combined. However, if he were 24 years old, fantasy GMs would be scrambling to try to acquire the Panthers defenseman.

  3. Dylan Strome

There are lots of lessons to be learned from this year’s Dylan Strome situation: Don’t give up on a third-overall draft pick just a couple of years after he was selected, and don’t trade him for lesser value if he isn’t succeeding right away. As mentioned with Chiasson, sometimes it’s just a matter of opportunity. It took a trade to Chicago to get him top-six minutes and regular power-play time. His six power-play goals and 15 power-play points may be on the low end of some of the others on this list, but he’s completely outperforming expectations. 

  2. Brayden Point

It’s probably no coincidence that three of the top five power-play point producers are on the Lightning, but it is surprising that Point is fifth with 31 power-play points. A year ago, Point was on the second power-play unit and had 11 points with the man advantage. J.T. Miller had come over from the Rangers, was on the top power-play unit and had five power-play goals and a power-play assist in 19 games. So obviously Point got switched onto the top unit this year and exploded, just like we all predicted.

  1. Erik Gustafsson

How far has Gustafsson come in the last couple of years? Just look at his numbers broken down:

2017-18 season: 1:25 power-play minutes per game, three power-play points

This year up to Nov. 27: 1:57 PP minutes per game, one power-play point

Since Nov. 27: 3:34 PP per game, 16 power-play points (not including Sunday night’s game).

Gustafsson wasn’t expected to be the team’s number one defenseman, and it seemed like they tried everyone else out first. Duncan Keith hasn’t been a power-play option for a couple of years. Brent Seabrook was tried, but except for a couple of seasons, has never been a power-play guy. Even Henri Jokiharju was given the opportunity, but he wasn’t able to produce either. Not only has Gustafsson taken advantage, but he’s also become the Hawks top defenseman overall, with 38 points in his last 38 games.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/fantasy-hockey-top-10/top-10-power-play-surprises-2018-19/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Rinne Staying In Nashville, Pominville a Plenty (Nov 4)

Rinne Staying In Nashville, Pominville a Plenty, plus more…

The Juuse Saros era in Nashville will just have to wait a little longer, if it happens at all. On his 36th birthday, Pekka Rinne has signed a two-year, $10 million extension to remain with the Predators. This contract could potentially keep Rinne in Nashville for the rest of his career. With a $5 million per season cap hit, the defending Vezina Trophy winner appeared to take a hometown discount to stay in Nashville. So this puts the Preds in a great position to continue to be serious Stanley Cup contenders for the next few seasons.

Both Rinne and Saros are now locked up until the end of the 2020-21 season, which would make Rinne 38 and Saros 26 by the time both contracts end. So if you’ve been stashing Saros in the hopes that Rinne would not be re-signed, this is a bit of a blow. Unless he is traded, Saros should continue to be one of the league’s top backups and at least a streaming option every time he starts.

Rinne’s start on Saturday capped off what was an amazing day. Rinne stopped all 26 shots he faced in backstopping the Preds to a 1-0 win over Boston. Despite his recent stint on the IR, Rinne has picked up right where he left off last season (regular season-wise, anyway) with a 1.63 GAA and .948 SV%.

Brad Marchand was doing Brad Marchand things in this game, at least the things that don’t involve scoring. From this sequence below, he racked up 14 minutes in penalties while receiving a dose of his own medicine. Having said that, if high-sticking penalties are now being reviewed, then why wasn’t this one?

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As one commenter in the YouTube video said, too bad they cut it off before Jack Edwards lost his mind.

Jaroslav Halak continued to further his cause to be the Bruins’ starting goalie (at least for now), stopping 39 of 40 shots in the loss. Tuukka Rask might have to take a seat for a while longer as the Bruins will likely continue with the hot goalie. The B’s do play home back-to-backs next weekend against Toronto and Vegas, so expect Rask to draw at least one start next week if you need him.

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It was raining goals in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.  

Everyone gets a goal! #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/O8FubSyYst

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 3, 2018

Jason Pominville won’t ever forget his 1000th game, not just for the pregame ceremony but also for what happened on the ice. Pominville scored two goals and added an assist while taking six shots on goal. This isn’t just a one-off for Pominville either. After a slow start that saw him record just one point over his first seven games, Pommer is scorching hot with 13 points (7g-6a) over his last seven games. As long as his linemates are Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner, Pominville deserves to be added in many formats.

Pominville can be a very streaky scorer, though. Last season he scored 11 points over his first nine games and ended the season with six points over his last seven games. But during a stretch in January and February, Pominville went 17 games without a point. You will probably need to bench him or drop him outright once the signs of another dry spell appear.

Jeff Skinner also scored two goals and added an assist. He’s also on a hot streak with 16 points (9g-7a) over his last ten games. Going back to his Carolina days, it’s all about linemates with Skinner, and for some reason he doesn’t always have the most ideal ones. But when he has them he is definitely a fantasy force.

Eichel also recorded three points, all in the form of assists. That was only two goals shy of Elias Pettersson’s output last night. For more context on what I mean by that, you can follow me on Twitter. Or read my previous Ramblings. If you didn’t think I make the right decision on trading Pettersson for Eichel one for one (hello, Cam Robinson), I will mention that this is a non-keeper league with no money involved. So I only have to live with my decision for the rest of the year and I don’t jeopardize my kids’ college fund in any way. Or maybe it won’t be that bad of a decision. We’ll see. This kind of thing makes the game more fun and discussion livelier, though.

It wasn’t all good for the Sabres on Saturday, though. Rasmus Dahlin left the game in the second period after blocking a shot. According to Sabres’ coach Phil Housley, Dahlin will make the trip to Manhattan where the Sabres face the Rangers on Sunday.

For the Senators, Craig Anderson was exposed to only the first three Sabres’ goals, but he lasted less than a period as you might expect given the score of this game. Anderson’s .909 SV% isn’t as terrible as it looks if you consider that the Senators now face more shots per game (38.7) than anyone, even the Ducks (37.8). So like I’ve said with John Gibson, keep an eye on a possible wear-and-tear injury with Anderson, who starts nearly every game for the Sens. Or as the old cliché goes, he’s a goalie that sees more rubber than a tire factory worker.

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With another two goals on Saturday, Morgan Rielly has matched his goal total from each of the last two seasons in just 14 games. Well on his way to a career year, Rielly leads all blueliners in both goals (6) and points (18). What’s more, neither he nor Jake Gardiner has taken a single penalty this season.

His owners may have cringed at the fact that he was facing the high-flying Penguins in Pittsburgh, but those brave enough to start Frederik Andersen were rewarded with a 31-save shutout. Usually Andersen is known for slower starts, but his save percentage is now up to .924. Andersen has allowed two goals or fewer in each of his last five starts, so he’s managed to find his groove.

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Thomas Greiss earned a shutout of his own, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a 3-0 shutout of the Devils. That’s five wins in a row for the Islanders, including two in a row for Greiss. We’re only a month into the season, but the Islanders now sit in first place in the Metropolitan Division.

With two assists, Josh Bailey’s point streak is now at eight games, with 11 points over that span. He’s scoring at over a point-per-game pace (15 points in 13 games), which seems to resemble last season. Considered a potential bust by many, Bailey seems to be doing just fine without you know who.

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Sean Monahan and the Flames have been clutch in the third period over their last few games. With another two goals on Saturday, Monahan now has two points in each of his last four games and a six-game point streak overall. He’s been a red-hot Flame.

Now a fixture on Monahan’s line, Elias Lindholm recorded three assists on Saturday. He’s on a five-game point streak of his own and is scoring at a point-per-game pace in Calgary. On his way to a career year and being used in all situations (ES/PP/SH), Lindholm has skated at least 20 minutes over five of his last six games. Needless to say, the trade from Carolina to Calgary has helped his fantasy value.

The Blackhawks had to make do without Duncan Keith for most of this game, after he was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for this early first-period hit on Dillon Dube (15 PIM total). The Flames’ rookie forward was forced to leave the game as well. Expect the NHL to review this hit.

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Without Keith, other blueliners had to step up in terms of icetime. One in particular was Brent Seabrook, who logged 26:48 with one assist and four blocked shots. Henri Jokiharju and Erik Gustafsson each logged just over 25 minutes as well.

*

Another two goals for Timo Meier, including the overtime winner over Philly on Saturday. With 11 goals on the season, Meier is now tied for the league lead with four other players. Meier has recorded points in 10 of his last 11 games and appears to be on the verge of a true breakout. Even though his goal-scoring pace might cool off a little (23.9 SH%), the signs were there. Meier took over 200 shots last season while scoring 21 goals, and he’s been on a solid scoring unit with Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl.

Couture assisted on Meier’s overtime winner. He’s now on a nine-game point streak where he has recorded 14 points (5g-9a). Both Meier and Couture took five shots on goal in this game.

Nothing from Shayne Gostisbehere again on Saturday. He now has just a single assist over his last eight games. It could be time to make a buy-low offer on him from an impatient owner.

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If you took Adam’s advice from the most recent Looking Ahead column and added Dustin Brown right away, you were rewarded. In just his third game back from injury, Brown scored a shorthanded goal and added two assists with a plus-3 while dishing five hits in the Kings’ 4-1 win over Columbus. Brown now has four points over those three games. He’s a must-add in many standard Yahoo leagues (which now include hits by default), as he has been credited with 14 hits over those three games. And yes, he is skating with Anze Kopitar.  

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One more shutout shoutout. This one to Marc-Andre Fleury posted his second shutout of the season, stopping all 34 shots he faced in the Golden Knights’ 3-0 win over Carolina.

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Finally, if you want to hear me talk and not just read my words here, you can hear me on the Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play radio show, as I’m interviewed by Nick Alberga (who you may know from Sportsnet radio). I’m on today (Sunday) from 9-9:30 a.m. ET, then again from 12-12:30 p.m. ET and 3-3:30 p.m. ET. If you do, you’ll hear me answer some burning fantasy questions from Nick.

You might also even get to hear my younger son scream in the background. My older son was trying to block him from running into my office room while I took the call. I have to give credit to Nick, though, who was totally cool about the whole thing. Let’s just say I’m glad I wasn’t doing a video interview! Otherwise something like this might have happened.

{youtube}Mh4f9AYRCZY{/youtube}

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/rinne-staying-in-nashville-pominville-a-plenty-nov-4/