1984Echoes

There's lots of ways to get bigger and tougher on a team... It can't just rest all on Chiarot's shoulders... I know what you're saying, I've seen a few of his hits. He's... solid. But, again, there are other ways/ players, not just one guy.

The common thread amongst my Confederation is that they were all brutalized by the former Soviet Union and have no interest in going back to that. The EU may be the appropriate umbrella organization. But those states are going to align themselves militarily. Which you know to be true. And it's not as if smaller groups of NATO nations or nations that cooperate with NATO but aren't in the group never get together for maneuvers and exercises and such, they do... IE: BALTOPS.

I didn't read this... But I would love to see a revisal of the Polish-Lithuanian "empire". I've been thinking about this the past few months. There's Poland, Lithuania & the other Baltics, Ukraine, could probably add at least Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia. Call it the Western Slavic Confederation (I'm guessing it's pretty similar to the Visegrad Group above, without reading... and, although the Baltics aren't Slavic, they were a part of the old Polish-Lithuanian Empire so I am honorarily including them here...). It would be missing Byelorussia, and Kaliningrad. But go ahead and kick the Russians out of those two areas, and might as well do Transdniestra as well. I'm certain the Russians would love that idea. The Czech Republic could either lean towards Germany (language/ cultural affinity in western Czechia) or the Western Slavic Union (eastern Czechia is Slavic, like it's former union state Slovakia...). I'm guessing they would choose Slavic based on current political affinities (heavily anti-Russian). It would also be missing southern Slavic nations but it's a little more tricky down there (Serbia, Hungary, etc...). But I agree, a mini-NATO in the east of Europe. I think I proposed a confederation with Poland and Ukraine several months back as a pathway for instantaneous inclusion of Ukraine into NATO. But revising Poland-Lithuania, or creating a Visegrad group is an excellent idea. Now just... "March on Minsk" (future victory song of the Western Slavic Confederation!)

I'm fine with that... But I think it's going to require a move, and... Noone will want Hagg. I think the Chiarot signing was a mistake. I'd like to move him but I don't see that as a realistic possibility. I don't want to move Maatta... but I think he's the guy that teams will want and SY will be able to make a trade... if he wants to... I'd prefer to dump Chiarot... but didn't we sign him to 3 years...? Ugggh.

It sounds like Edvinsson is really starting to take off at Grand Rapids...

The only point I was making was that managers in general and Hinch in 2022 in particular, tend to favor veterans over kids because they are hunting wins more than anything else. It's a normal thing for the position. I actually think Hinch will do great under the new management/ philosophy of making certain kids get playing time/ development. My only reservation was that I said I wanted to see it on the field this year, and hope he isn't feeling pressure (self-inflicted or otherwise) to chase wins instead of development. I believe that's a reasonable (and very minor) concern. Just my 2 cents...

Are you telling me that because I supported Avila I'm NOT ALLOWED to question Hinch... like, ever? That seems like some kind of draconian punishment that I am receiving here...

The most perplexing thing about this is Casey is still coach. WTF is wrong with management? Are they blind? I agree with everything else in your post (but not quoted).

I was being facetious...

How could anyone tell the difference?

I know, right?! The Pistons are without Cade Cunningham, Marvin Bagley and Cory Joseph. I guess just wait until next year...

No... They're kicking ass. Although the Rockets are trying hard to get back into the game...

What a Brainless F*@k Family.

And the Ukrainians are counting tanks coming from the West. Each and every 321 (at this point) of them: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-receive-321-tanks-western-095800258.html

An educated guess: It's on the hush-hush... but the US, right now (and possibly the past several weeks), is sending ATACMS over to Ukraine.

They should be losing 4 or 5 to 0... They've looked bad all night long...

That should be hash-tagged: #BNT or #BNTS

US Training of Ukrainian troops (in this instance their NCO development program) from 2014 through 2021 (before they pulled out... was that Jan-22?) resulted in Russia's defeat, starting in February, 2022: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraines-battlefield-success-surprised-russia-174110124.html

Yeah... Hopefully the majority of that will now be in the past. It's torture trying to read a Lions game thread... Given my nature that is...

The Psyche mission...: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/rare-asteroid-may-worth-70-140000062.html

It's not Kasper's chances at issue. It's the timeframe. Horvat is a rental. Lower return value than what people think...

Without a contract... He's a rental. And his value just dropped significantly.

This is where I'm at. Maybe add Buium and Mazar (at U of Denver) into the mix because I believe they are showing themselves as belonging in a potential future Red Wings core... Also, Hronek (I know quite a few in here are pretty dead set against him based on history) has shown enough improvement that I'm reluctant to let him go. As far as I'm concerned, he's a part of the core, at least for now, until he proves otherwise to me. And as a 2nd pairing RH'ed D, who else do we have? We have NOONE as a RH'd D otherwise, aside from Seider. So that's 1st pairing, what about 2nd and 3rd? I'm reluctant to let go of anyone that might fix a hole on the team, but just creates another gaping hole.

Several Feds have commented on having 25 basis points raises in Feb & March. Others still holding out for 50 basis each of these two meetings. But then nothing until September... I don't see an overshoot, I see fine tuning. And the unknowns are where the fine tuning is only a best guess. The primary unknowns are: (A) Does China come roaring back because they've stopped their zero-Covid policy. Who knows? They're suffering hospitalizations and deaths right now because zero-Covid basically just delayed the impact of Covid spread and as a population, they are NOT highly vaccinated. Plus, the US and EU are treating China differently than pre-Covid for multiple reasons. They're losing manufacturing and other jobs to SE Asian countries. But if they do take off, that's a huge upside pressure on energy prices, again. (B) When is Putin going to stop? If he just stopped, today, then (1) a huge pricing easing of foods and fertilizer and related occurs because both Russia & Ukraine are heavy worldwide suppliers (fertilizer and grains in particular) in these areas. Stopping the war will ease access to these supplies in multiple different ways. And (2) the opposite of a China increase in energy demands will be Russia having less difficulties getting oil & related products to China & India. Not certain if the price cap remains or is removed though... another unknown. This is just my opinion, but: the labor market is less critical to inflation than the Russian war against Ukraine.

No on Hronek, Kasper or Ras. The offer is Zadina, Veleno, a 1st rounder from 2024 or 2025 (not 2023), Cross Hanas, and choose any 1 of McIsaac, Viro, Albert Johansson, or Sebrango. Add a 2nd rounder if it clinches the deal. If not... If they say no, that's fine by me. As Shinzaki stated, we are not yet in "win now" mode so I have no interest whatsoever in moving any primary players or prospects. If we were a playoff team and needed a Brendan Shanahan trade and Horvat was "that guy", then I would treat it differently. But I believe this trade is a couple years premature. I want our best guys (and prospects) as the core of our team, not traded away in a short term not-ready-yet move. One last question: If we do trade for Horvat, and sign him long-term... is that a message to Larkin that he can be replaced? That Stevie Y has no problem moving on from him if they cannot come to an agreement? He's done it before.