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The Leafs' medical staff reminding Matt Murray just how injured he is.

Imagine a weekly fantasy hockey podcast so perfectly tailored to our format that it will literally tell you who your opponent is targeting in the Amateur Draft. Good news! If Ralphdog is in your league, such a podcast exists. Yes, our very own Capwise legend (how is this dude not in the Hall of Fame yet?) Ralphdog (aka "Lance" or whatever) has started a fantasy hockey podcast called Fantasy First Hockey and it does not suck. Truly... I listened to three full episodes before I posted something about it because I wanted to make sure it doesn't suck. It doesn't! Find it on Spotify and enjoy listening to people talk about Capwise outside the confines of your own brain! Episode 2 is embedded below (but be sure to go back and listen to episode 1, too... it's very enjoyable).

You'll come around on the Coyotes, just mullett it over for a little while.

Go Leafs Go

All Leafs fans today...

This is a great thread - makes us all feel better about our mistakes. As for me, my worst was this one from 2018 in the PCFL. I gave away... Elias Lindholm Zach Werenski Josh Norris Kasperi Kapanen 5th Round Amateur 2019 2nd Am (GTP) And I recieved... Erik Haula Drew Doughty 4th round amateur $2,500,000 Haula and Doughty were basically rentals. They weren't great ones, and in any event, I wasn't truly in contention that year. I can't really explain why I made this trade other than to say that it was a desperate, sad, and impulsive move. Naturally, it led to a trade report that involved Richie Rich backing up a Brinks truck: https://capwisehockey.com/forums/topic/2729-what-the-haula-just-happened-here/?tab=comments#comment-20321. "What the Haula Just Happened Here?" asked Thunder in the title. Good question, buddy. To this day, I have no freaking idea. Also, for any golfers out there, there's a version of the mulligan story in which the explanation is that Mr. Mulligan lived on the Island of Montreal and his golf club was on the South Shore. That meant that he would have to drive over the Victoria Bridge to get there. This was the 1920s, and back then, the Victoria Bridge was more suited for horse-drawn carriages; driving over it in a car caused your hands to vibrate a lot. So Mr. Mulligan, who was often late for his tee time, always needed a "correction shot" because his hands were still shaking from the drive to the course. I'm not sure if this is true or if it's just local legend, but there's a similar story here: https://www.countryclubmontreal.com/the-club/the-origin-of-the-mulligan

Hockey lost its greatest champion today. No one has done this... ...more times than the Pocket Rocket. As we debate whether Gretzky's all-time goals record will be broken, I think we can safely say that Richard's record for all-time Stanley Cup wins will never be.

You'd think so and yet...

This post isn't strictly about hockey, but whatever. Canada lost a giant today. For the non-Canadians in the forum, Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip were like Canada's Bruce Springsteen, except that they weren't world-famous superstars, and they didn't really care... which makes them all the more emblematic of Canadian culture. I thought I'd post a few links to some of the Hip's most famous songs referencing the great Canadian game, for those non-Canadians who might not be familiar with Downie and his work. 50 Mission Cap, which is about Bill Barilko - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-t8W4X8Obo Fireworks, which references the Summit Series - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9wW9ENBPlQ Heaven is a Better Place Today, which was inspired by the Thrashers' stoicism after Dan Snyder's death - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvmAaYCk11E Enjoy.

Canadiens Draft Grade: B- : R1 P5 - David Reinbacher - As it stands Reinbacher is a hell of a player. Big and physical while remaining fluid and quick on his feet. Any team should be happy to have hi in their system. With an abundance of young talented D-men in the ranks , Ghule , Mailloux , Hutson , Harris , Barron , Xhekaj to name a few. The question by the Habs faithful is WTF? with Michkov drawing comparison to Bedard as a 1-B type pick and the obvious holes in the Habs scoring ability we are left to wonder what exactly the plan is in the front office. R1 P31 and R2 P37 - were traded for Alex Newhook a former 16th overall pick from the 2019 Entry draft. Smaller in stature with a ton of potential the last thing the habs fans wanted was another small forward. With 2 covid years stymying his development as well as a stacked Avalanche roster Newhook has not impressed as much as some would have liked. Staring at he numbers this Habs man has come to the consensus that Newhook needs more TOI. Every time he passed the 15 minute mark good things seemed to happen for this young man last season. So here's to hoping he flourishes in a new environment where there are spots to be won. R3 P69 - Jacob Fowler - A 6'2" goalie from the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL he had a heck of a season and took home the hardware winning the Clark Cup while posting a astonishing 8-1 record with a .952 SV% and a 1.36 GAA. His height and weight ( 223 lbs) are a little concerning by NHL standards but this is a solid 3rd round pick. R4 P101 - Florian Xhekaj - Little brother to habs heavyweight Arber this was a smooth move by the habs to take care of their own. Arber will die for his team and the Habs just showed him they will take care of him. Good luck to Florian Canadiens Free agency Grade: B Cole Caufield - locked and loaded for 8 years at 22 years old at an AAV of 7.85 is a beauty . Raphael Harvey Pinard - 2 x 1.1 mill. Utter genius . after 20 points in 34 games the little engine that could this signing was great. Sean Monahan - 1 x 1.985 is a great signing. Hopefully Monahan can put his injury woes behind him and show us he's worth another 2 year contract after this. Lias Anderssen - another pure genius move. Hopefully this kid is a late bloomer. The former 7th overall pick has never really spread his wings but was also never really given the opportunity to shine on the Rangers and Kings. Depth at center and a tendency to bring the young bucks along slowly, marred by a couple of Covid years really put the brakes on this young mans path. He had 59 points in 67 games for the Ontario Reign in the AHL last year. He will look good in a Rockets uniform or the big clubs CH. Michael Pezzetta - @ year league minimum for the flow. I'd do it. Not afraid to step up for his teammates and with a wicked hairdo Pezzetta is the kind of guy you want near the team right now. Most of all this off season we didn't see the Habs make any rash decisions. We let Drouin and Gurianov walk. Paul Byron and Karl Alzner are off the books. Newhook and Anderssen are in and at 1 time these guys would have been considered two out of three on the second line prospects. I'm content with the habs moves. It wasn't time for the big splash. We're all a little disappointed we won't see Michkov in the CH but only time will tell how that plays out. We also moved on from Edmundson and gave some room to our young guns. This team is on the right path, it may just be a Long and Winding Road rather than a short crossing of Abbey road. Don't ask why I threw that in there.

Habs nation and the entire hockey world lost a legend today. Guy Guy Guy He was my hero, my super hero as a kid. I was spoiled as a kid, my father had company season tickets but would often give them to me and my 2 brothers. I would go to about 10 games a year at the glorious Forum during the 70's dynasty. Memories flooded back to me this morning as I heard of his passing. Memories so vivid and fresh in my mind as if they happened yesterday. Too many to recount here but will fill me with happiness forever. As an adult I met him in 2012 at a book signing. I was as nervous as my 6 year old self watching him play. I kept thinking what will I say to my superhero. As I approached him my stupid self, instead of saying hi how are you, blurted out Ask me anything about your career, he said when did I get my 1st hat trick, I quickly and excitedly responded in 1971 against Minnesota playing on a line with Houle and Tardif. He looked at me in a way I imagine a victim would look at their stalker and said you know more about my career than I do. RIP my superhero le demon blond

Thanks for sharing man, what a good read. One of my first hockey memories, not the first, but one of them was in June of 1980 right after Nystrom scored in OT from Tonelli to win their first cup. I remember being downstairs out front of my aunts house on Outremont Ave just below Van Horne, where my brother and I were staying at the time. I had a hockey stick in my hand, not even sure if I had a tennis ball or was just practicing deking with small rocks, but I remember telling every person that walked by, "Hey the Islanders just won the cup!" Being only 8 years old or so at the time I didn't realize the Habs were larger than life to everyone in the city, but now looking back I can understand why almost everyone who I told basically shook their head at me and one person I remember said "Who cares!" But man was I ever happy the team I was going for won, and in dramatic fashion. We moved to Whitehorse not long after and I remember roaming the little community labyrinth behind our townhouse and found people watching the finals on a small TV in one of the many small fenced "backyards". Cheering for the Islanders vs the Canucks. Again not the popular choice aha. Yukon is basically Canucks territory. My love for Bossy and the Islanders was very overshadowed by my love for Guy Lafleur and the Habs, but #22 did have an effect on me growing attached to the game I still love. One last thing I will add to the story. My family did move back to Montreal and we settled in Park Ex, and in those early days we'd go exploring the laneways and I remember finding a Mike Bossy rookie card in one lane, soaked from the rain. Of course I picked it up and kept it but just like all my 20 Gretzky rookie cards, somewhere along the way it got lost. RIP Mike.

50 in the first 50 is more impressive, in my opinion. To start the season so hot is remarkable. 50 in any 50 is also very impressive though. Even ovechkin didn't pull that off. Of course, Matthews plays a lot of games in Canada, so you have to factor in the exchange rate.

With so many of us around the world suffering with Covid-induced depression and anxiety, I thought it would be interesting if we could take a trip down memory lane and open up some old wounds and see if we couldn't hurt just a little bit more. Maybe we can share a few stories about a trade or a draft pick that we'd like to take a mulligan on. Or maybe a dropped player or whatever. Wow, that's a great idea! I'll go first. I had the fourth pick in the SFHL 2016 Inaugural draft. The three first off the board were Holtby, Crosby and Kane. The three right after my pick were Price, Ovechkin and Karlsson. My pick? Jake Allen. I remember telling a friend of mine around 2015 that the Blues were on the verge of being a dynasty and Allen was going to be a big part of that. Wrong on both counts. But I took some comfort when the Blues took it all a couple years back. I wasn't as wrong as I could have been, I suppose. Especially since Allen was clearly the back bone of that championship run. However, the Allen pick kept me out of the playoffs in that first year and my team dropped to dead last the next year. Things didn't turn around until I traded Allen in the offseason. Anyone else want a mulligan?

Planning to post deals and trades here throughout the day. Stay Tuned. Contracts: Player Team Signed Length in Yrs AAV Total Victor Mete MTL 1 $735K $735K Dominik Kubulik CHI 2 $3.7M $7.4M Wayne Simmonds TOR 1 $1.5M $1.5M Malcolm Subban CHI 2 $850K $1.7M Luke Schenn TBL 1 $800K $800K Patrick Maroon TBL 2 $900K $1.8M Bobby Ryan DET 1 $1M $1M Radko Gudas FLA 3 $2.5M $7.5M Tyler Motte VAN 2 $1.225M $2.45M Jon Merill DET 1 $925K $925K Henrik Lundqvist WSH 1 $1.5M $1.5M Carter Verhaeghe FLA 2 $1M $2M Kyle Turris EDM 2 $1.65M $3.3M Cam Talbot MIN 3 $3.67M $11M Nathan Beaulieu WPG 2 $1.25M $2.5M Alan Quine EDM 1 $750K $750K Kevin Rooney NYR 2 $750K $1.5M Braden Holtby VAN 2 $4.3M $8.6M Buddy Robinson CGY 1 $700K $700K Colin Blackwell NYR 2 $725K $1.45M Anton Khudobin DAL 3 $3.5M $10.5M Alexander Wennberg FLA 1 $2.25M $2.25 Tyler Pitlick ARI 2 $1.75M $3.5M Evan Rodrigues PIT 1 $700K $700K Mark Jankowski PIT 1 $700K $700K Tyler Ennis EDM 1 $1M $1M Keith Kincaid NYR 2 $875K $1.75M Derek Grant ANA 3 $1.5M $4.5M Tobias Rieder BUF 1 $700K $700K Mark Borowiecki NSH 2 $2M $4M Jack Johnson NYR 1 $1.15M $1.15M Kevin Shattenkirk ANA 3 $3.9M $11.7M John Hayden ARI 1 $750K $750K Joseph Cramarossa MIN 1 $700K $700K Dakota Mermis MIN 1 $700K $700K Matthew Benning NSH 2 $1M $2M Alex Petrovic CGY 1 $700K $700K Extensions: Matt Murray - OTT - 4 Years $25M. ($6.25M Cap Hit) Trades: Stastny to WPG for Carl Dahlstrom and a Conditional 2022 4th round pick. Waivers\Buyouts: Tyler Johnson - TBL

Fresh spreadsheets will be coming tomorrow, by the way

Alright, neanderthals... welcome to 2018.

For anyone not in the ECFL, it would be a shame if you didn't get to see RegDunlops new logo.

Crazy atmosphere here in Vegas!!!! Fans are more nuts than anywhere I have ever seen heading to the game. Even Caesar is a fan!!!

I think the only fair way to compare players across eras is to compare them relative to their contemporaries. During Bossy's career, the Islanders had 3,322 goals, of which Bossy scored 573 (17.2%). So far in Ovechkin's career, the Caps have 3,093, of which Ovechkin scored 607 (19.6%). If you look at the top goal scorers in Ovechkin's era... his 607 dominates the next best... 411, 384, 382, 379, 375. His goals per game is also tops... 0.61 to Kovalchuk/Stamkos's 0.52 and Crosby's 0.48. Bossy also dominated goal scorers in his era (with the exception of Gretzky, of course)... 573 for Bossy to Gretzky's 543 and Dionne's 461. Trottier is 4th with 378. Looking at goals per game, Bossy is second to Gretzky... 0.86 to 0.76. And ahead of Kurri's 0.68 and Tim Kerr's 0.61. And then, of course, you have to look at the NHL as a whole... in Bossy's era there were 24 different teams that combined for 61,085 goals (2545 goals per team). In Ovechkin's era, 33 teams have combined for 85,953 goals (2604 goals per team). Of course, that's only 10 seasons for Bossy vs. 12.585 seasons for Ovechkin. So goals per team per season for Bossy... 254.5. Goals per team per season for Ovechkin... 208.32. This assumes that the players each played full seasons. Worth noting that Bossy missed some time over his career... a total of 48 games, or 4.8 games per season. Ovechkin has missed 63, or 5.0 games per season. So factoring that in... Ovechkin has scored 22.8% of the Caps' goals in games that he's played. Bossy scored 18.3% of the Isles's goals in games that he played. So I guess I'd conclude... If Ovechkin played in Bossy's era for an average team, averaging approx 3.18 goals per game, and if he played the same number of games as Bossy (752)... you could argue that he'd score 545 goals. And if Bossy played in Ovechkin's era for an average team, averaging approx 2.54 goals per game, and if he played the same number of games as Ovechkin (1003)... you could argue that he'd score 466 goals. So I've spun myself in a circle. All in all, I think I'd say Ovechkin's the "greater" goal scorer, mostly on the grounds that he has nearly a full 0.1 goals per game more than the next guy. Bossy wasn't even the most productive goal scorer of his era... that goes to Gretzky.

Whatever was or could be for the 2016-17 season is in our rear view mirror. Today, all regrets of the past season need to be purged and fill yourself with the hope of what tomorrow can bring. Enjoy being part of the best Dynasty Cap League in the World. Looking at the expanding participation by a growing number of GMs, the CHA has never been bigger or better then it is today. Big Shout Out to all in our great community of guys (need to find some gals soon) who play well in the sandbox.

Not sure anyone else noticed, but the league did a comprehensive review of their hits stat. Quite a drastic change. https://theathletic.com/5257606/2024/02/07/nhl-hits-audit-fantasy-betting/ Essentially, the league realized it was about 25% down in hits from the past few seasons, so it used it's third party company to review every game and recount. Looks like the change hasn't hit Fantrax yet. But some interesting adjustments to big hitters:

Happy last long weekend of the summer boys. Crack a cold one wherever you are. This is where I'm planting my ass all weekend.

A bit behind here… just partway through last weeks episode. But for the record, AAV is here to stay 🤣

He's the only player to lead a different team in points for three consecutive seasons. Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal

The Holy Trinity

I'm old enough to have had the pleasure of watching Mike Bossy play and the Islanders win 4 consecutive Cups. I read this article a few years ago and it was posted again on the CBC site: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/letter-to-my-younger-self-mike-bossy

I like to write and I like looking through hockey statistics, so when I heard that a team in the CHA won their matchup last week with a perfect 16-0 score, I went digging around through fantrax. I could recall other 16-0 wins through the years but it seemed they were becoming less frequent. I looked through six seasons of stats from the GNFL, ECFL, IFHL, HUEL & SFHL as well as the present season in all leagues and have found exactly zero other sightings of the elusive perfect score. Can it be that when the CHA Champion Rocky Mountain Roughnecks beat Pimple International Legion last week in the HUEL, it marked the first time this has ever happened? Can't be, right? here's the proof...

Speaking as someone who's background is half-Ukrainian, and has (very) extended family and friends over there, I don't believe Festivus is advocating for apathy. There needs to be a lot of understanding that this has been a hell-ish couple of years for a lot of people, and it just seems to keep getting worse - having an outlet like Capwise that's free of everything else happening in the world may be really important to a lot of people. There are definitely more appropriate platforms to be angry on or have more in-depth conversations, but I also don't think we need to close off a conversation from happening here. There's just no need to make it personal while not knowing what else is going on in someone's life. My piece? We do need to be angry, and we do need to be active. Many, many Russians are as well - thousands upon thousands have been risking being arrested, having their livelihoods ruined, and even their very lives in protesting the invasion. Yes, I wish they'd be able to go further and dispose of Putin, but there's a reason why he's maintained his totalitarian power for the last 22 years. This guy has been consolidating his power, has had no problem authorizing assassinations left and right, and has been building his influence globally. Many of these hockey families have very close ties to him, so while it's easy to suggest Ovechkin should speak out and take a hard stance, he'd straight-up be risking the lives of his loved ones. Would any of us be ready to risk our parents, significant others, families, etc. to do so? I feel angry for everyone involved, as while the Ukrainians are paying the price right now, everyday Russians and hundreds of millions of others are going to suffer by proxy for one man's vanity for decades to come. Mod note: I'll keep this thread open for now, but if this gets heated I'm shutting it down.

I've made my share of bad trades over the years, but one really stands out: In the 2018 offseason, I traded: Leon Draisaitl for Clayton Keller 2nd round amateur (ended up Kaliyev) $4M cash At the time, Draisaitl already had two 70+ seasons under his belt. As everyone knows, he would get 100+ points in the next two. Keller was just coming off a 65 point season. His AAV was a fraction of Draisaitl's and I thought he was on the verge of becoming a superstar (I'm sure some guy said so on the Dobber forums). He ended up giving me two 40+ point seasons with some of the worst peripherals in fantasy hockey. I basically carried deadweight on my team for two seasons instead of one of CHA's top performers. My reward? The Coyotes inexplicably signed a 40-point player to a $57M contract and I decided to walk away (just watch, that'll be my mulligan entry for next year). What adds insult to injury is that I made this trade with weeoiler, who is possibly the biggest Oilers homer in CHA and probably would have given me half his team for Draisaitl if I'd only asked. Epilogue As for Kaliyev, I ended up trading him, Mantha and another 2nd amateur for Couturier (pricey but I stand by that trade), so I guess this can also be seen as Draisaitl Mantha 2nd amateur for Couturier

2017 Inaugural GNFL draft and my introduction to Capwise. I had never been in this type of pool, had been doing pools since the late '80s but only point pools with almost no trading. Ralphdog kept bugging me to join Capwise and just to shut him up I joined, I figured I'd hate it and quit after a year. I was not prepared for the Inaugural draft, I had 3rd pick overall. McDavid went 1st, Crosby 2nd.3rd pick...I freaking took Erik Karlsson cause I was used to point only leagues and at the time he was a top point producing defenseman. I'm still trying to recover from that. I've made a lot of bad trades since then, too many too mention but trading Brady Tkachuk so the other guy would take Jake Allen off my hands immediately comes to mind as a horsesh#$ trade. Back to Capwise, yeah I didn't wanna join and I wasn't crazy about it initially but 4 years later,after the love of my 7 year old daughter, Capwise is the love of my life !!

As the Pens announcer says “ I’m smiling like a butchers dog” after this contract signing. Think I’ll celebrate with an adult beverage

after the david clarkson trade I was left wondering why would a cap strapped team would acquire a ltir players. After some diggin I think I got it down So the Capceiling is 81.5m ltir bonus is additive to the Hard cap not deductive to your own cap, meaning a team that is not spending to the cap gets 0 releif from placing a guy on ltir, but a Team that sits at the cap lets say right on it at 81.5m and a 10m player gets hurt they now have a 91.5m Hard cap ( until player is activated). what it changes is this. exemple 1) say toronto had 2m in space with marner unsigned and they wanted to sign him. they would have to put horton right away on ltir so you take horton cap hit of 5.3m you substract the 2m in space they already had and you end up with a real 3.3m in space or if you prefer you can now spend up to 81.5 +3.3 = 84.8m . exemple 2) say toronto had exactly 5.25 in cap space before the clarkson trade ( lets ignore sparks) Now they sit at right on the 81.5m limit they can now put them both on LTIR and spend up to 81.5+10.55 = 92.05m so the big picture here is you only get bonus cap space of the actual amount your over the cap reguardless of the player cap hit. in theorie a team that is not against the cap say ottawa, and their full roster goes on ltir at the same time you actually get no bonus

-"Hey Jim. It's Julien BriseBois. Listen, I'm in a real bind here. I need to get rid of Miller's contract. You think you can help me out?" -""I dunno. What were you thinking?" -"Well, maybe something like the Marleau deal with Carolina" -"What was that one? I haven't heard it yet" -"Well, they gave up a lottery protected first, but in our case I thought maybe a third could..." -"Let me stop you right there, buddy. You got yourself a deal! We'll give you a first and a third. But I want that first lottery protected. I'll throw in Mazanec to make it happen. We good?" -"Wait, what? No I meant we would be giv.. uh... Yeah, no this works."

I think some NHL trades are starting to look more like a trade you'd see in Capwise leagues. It's about time they caught on.

Botterill has a plan

Android ftw.

Absolutely Reg. Mental health can affect so many so profoundly. I always think of Robin Williams as I am a real fan of him. But there have been many in the sports realm as well, like Clara Hughes. So good on you Robin Lehner for speaking out. I hope you turn turn your life, and your hockey career, around!

Regardless of how his season, and the rest of his career, turn out, he is to be congratulated for speaking out about two serious health issues that still carry a lot of stigma in 2018.

I can think of no good reason not to postpone the drafts by a week. Everyone will just need to make sure they're drafting quickly since we'll only have 2 weeks til the season starts.

Who cares just as long as you remain the best certified spreadsheet guy in captivity!!

It's crazy how far technology has come in such a hurry, I just hope Im still around when they figure out how to take a screenshot staight off of your device.

There was a pretty cool story this morning in La Presse. Early morning on Tuesday January 9, this 19 year-old kid from Tremblant (a touristic area about 90 minutes north of Montreal) was skating by himself in -15 celsius weather on an outside rink when this Jeep pulled into the parking lot. At first, he's kinda bummed because he was hoping to have the ice to himself, but he immediately recognizes the man stepping out of the vehicle. Sidney Crosby walks over, takes a closer look at the ice and the area and asks the kid if he's expecting the place to get busy. The kid tells him it's usually pretty quiet this early in the morning and asks him if he wants to join him for a skate. Crosby, who is on vacation with his girlfriend, goes back to his jeep to get his equipment and ends up skating with the guy for over an hour! Link to the article (in french) attached: http://www.lapresse.ca/sports/hockey/201801/31/01-5152080-seul-sur-la-glace-avec-sidney-crosby-a-mont-tremblant.php The pics in the article were taken by Crosby's girlfriend.

Thomas Plekanec Andrew Shaw Jacob DeLaRose Shea Weber Karl Alzner