David Staples

'Very nice deal': Edmonton Oilers lock up power forward on two-year deal edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/… via @edmontonjournal

We fall into poor eating and exercise habits without thinking much about it when we are young. But we now have a full-blown health crisis that is disabling and killing people at ever younger ages. Hard to change the system for all, but we can all work on our own habits.

The reason I'm very excited for the next podcast episode (which is postponed due to flooding evacuation) is because of my research on Mike Babcock. I've researched and studied... • The Ana era • The Det era • The Tor Era • Systematic play • His influence on xG • His perfect imperfection with player quality • and more The more I learn about him, the more he reaches the term "excellence" in my opinion. As someone who was greatly against this hire, my opinion has changed dramatically. I still have some doubts for some obvious reasons, but there are topics not discussed yet; an insight into some neat evidence of what he has done and will bring. I am very excited to discuss Mike Babcock being Edmonton's next coach. This next podcast episode is a MUST-listen.

@coopsie39 @Oil_Drop Dach’s defensive reads were already bordering on iffy on the wing. Huge stretch for him to play centre, imo.

@Oil_Drop That’s fair.

Dach was on with Gregor yesterday and mentioned straight up he is working on face-offs this off-season. Said he is comfortable at center and did play a handful of games at center last season. With Stauff alluding to him at center, I think we likely see it tried early-poor Sammy

Stan Bowman's best deal of the year just got better edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/… via @edmontonjournal

So good

Whoever made this Take a fecking bow This is class

Numbers. @acoyne

@50in39 @bcurlock It was indeed an excellent trade

@bcurlock I sure hope people can give Bowman credit for what he did at the deadline and this summer. Some will get hung up on the Mangiapane “mistake” but for him to get the use of 3 good players and then be able to sign them before they hit the crazy marketplace is elite work.

Nice deal for Colton Dach. As some know I was high on him when the deal was made at the deadline. IMO puck skills will separate him from 4L and a spot up the lineup. Being pigeonholed as a “physical presence” only would be a disservice to his potential upside. Puck skills are key

@dstaples Ok...relax...its a rival in conembol..no different than oilers/flames rivalry... where one ridicules the other ...

The world is fascinating

@rascalgas It takes some doing to beat out Canadian exceptionalism. But a few franchises did so.

My most hated NHL teams are now: 1) Hurricanes 2) Panthers 3) Golden Knights Thanks to American Exceptionalism* for knocking out the Leafs, Flames and Canucks from the Top 3. (*American Exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is morally superior to other nations)

@pakeha1 @edmontonjournal He was indeed great in that short series

@dstaples @edmontonjournal He was… except for the 2021 Winnipeg series… he played incredibly well. Jim Playfair was the defence coach and played a conservative, protect the middle style. Nurse started to go downhill starting with Woodcroft/Manson in 2022 with an aggressive, physical, man to man style.

Edmonton Oilers finally escape Stanley Cup purgatory thru discounts and dumping one ugly contract edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/… via @edmontonjournal

@pakeha1 @edmontonjournal Could well be

@dstaples @edmontonjournal So with Manson/Coffey there was a lot more decision making, getting the angles right etc… Playfair’s was a much simpler system that suited Darnell.

Italy #Azzurri

One of the deepest paradoxes of the social justice movement is that it uses oppression narratives to accrue institutional power, and then, as that power grows, it cannot stop claiming to be a victim. So we arrive at a strange place, where the people protesting in the name of justice and equality are promoted and celebrated by the bureaucracy, the arts, the media, academia, and the corporations they claim to be fighting. Many now speculate that the woke movement has run out of steam. I would argue it has solidified. It is quieter because it is no longer at the gates, but is inside, sitting comfortably within the managerial apparatus of society. Trump tried to rip DEI up from the roots, and it did not die but shape-shifted instead. Institutions that once had "diversity and inclusion" teams now have "belonging employee resource groups." Companies that once promoted a "culture of inclusion" now build a "culture of belonging." The University of Alberta replaced its office of equity, diversity, and inclusion with an office for access, community, and belonging. Mentions of DEI in S&P 500 corporate filings have fallen seventy percent since 2022, swapped out for softer words like belonging and inclusive culture. The offices, staff, and mandate remain, and only the letterhead changed. Meanwhile the same people will scream about fascism and Trumpian authoritarianism while holding a firm grip on nearly every institution in the country. They will never claim victory, and they will never acknowledge their stranglehold, because their power depends on the revolution never ending. Orwell saw this clearly when he wrote that one does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution, but rather makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. Every film is now a vessel for their politics, every major sports league submits to its ritual humiliations, and admissions and elite appointments are weighted by race, gender, and sexuality. And still the activists must pretend to be the oppressed. No matter how much you hand over, they will never be satisfied, because equality was never what they were after. The aim is ideological domination and the centralization of power, and there is no amount of concession that satisfies an aim like that. A movement like this cannot be killed by banning a word. It has to be refused at every level of society. Individuals must stop letting the lies pass through them, and the people inside the institutions must stop following the rules of a revolution they never voted for. Full essay below 👇

@GenePrincipe I miss those great Italian teams.

@pakeha1 @BlueBullet1981 Fair comment

@dstaples @BlueBullet1981 Nope… he had the same issue in Pittsburgh and was sent to the AHL.

My latest hypothetical showcased that there is a good sample of Oilers fans with a strong recency bias.

@pakeha1 @edmontonjournal Nurse was ok to good in regular season. He may well be missed October to mid-April.

@dstaples @edmontonjournal In reality what has really changed… goaltending and coaching… remains to be seen if Walman/Shea can munch Nurse’s minutes.

@pakeha1 @edmontonjournal

@dstaples @edmontonjournal Assuming they make the playoffs. 😀

@Badcock_ @TheCultofHockey @edmontonjournal Just one playoff season for Matt

@TheCultofHockey @edmontonjournal Podkolzin at $2.95 for 3 years is an absolute gift. Hate to see Oilers overpay Savoie if he can’t elevate his game when it matters most.

Edmonton Oilers finally escape Stanley Cup purgatory thru discounts and dumping one ugly contract edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/… via @edmontonjournal