Tulski has been brilliant. Many GMs would have been absolutely SUNK by the Mikko Rantanen trade. But Tulski turned it into Logan Stankoven and K\u2019Andre Miller, and multiple other assets. <\/p>\n
**Look at the teams that really had success this season. It\u2019s a diametric look at coaching in the NHL. The Boston Bruins (Marco Sturm) and Penguins (Dan Muse) made the playoffs with first year head coaches. The Philadelphia Flyers (Rick Tocchet) and Anaheim Ducks (Joel Quenneville) got to the big dance with experienced coaches in their first year with the team. Conversely, other teams that have had success for a decade include teams that have kept the same coach in place. Carolina, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Colorado Avalanche. <\/p>\n
The quick lesson is that good coaches can stay, even through rough times or moments when the team falls short of expectations. <\/p>\n
**The other lesson is that a consistent system allows GMs and scouts to hunt for players with specific skills who fit the system; they can be utilized in a much greater fashion than others realize. Call that the Bill Belichick principle. <\/p>\n
**The Golden Knights breaking down after Game 6 was a sight. Even the most ardent veterans wore a hollowed expression, with tears held back by the last ounce of strength they had left. <\/p>\n
As much as I love the victory celebrations, every year I find myself glued to the losers. Glory is a spectacle. Pain is far more identifiable. <\/p>\n
**A few readers noted the absolute lack of post-whistle scrums and nonsense in the series. I didn\u2019t notice until they pointed it out, but wasn\u2019t that absolutely refreshing? A clean series played at the highest ability of both teams. <\/p>\n
We should be so lucky in the years to come. <\/p>\n
**The very best road trip of the year was Sweden. It was an experience I\u2019ll always remember, but it was completely worthless from a hockey and NHL standpoint. The hockey was terrible, the ice wasn\u2019t up to standard, and quite frankly, you really didn\u2019t care that much beyond just another couple of regular season games \u2014 one that was on in the late morning.<\/p>\n
I still haven\u2019t determined if Dubas was messing with me or one of you truly told him, \u201cI\u2019d like to be Dan Kingerski.\u201d Dubas reported this in Sweden as he rushed past me in the hallway and followed my incredulity with a beaut of a putdown, \u201cI don\u2019t judge.\u201d<\/p>\n
OK, fess up, did one of you actually tell him that? I need to know which joke to laugh at.<\/p>\n
**I\u2019m happy that after more than 70,000 miles traveled this year, I had very few mishaps. Very unlike last year! There were no mad dashes across the airport, except in Vancouver (again), where the cart refused to give this wheezing asthmatic a ride because she was on break or something. <\/p>\n
Canadian air travel is a dystopian mess befitting its own portrayal in an Ayn Rand novel. So, beware if you\u2019re going up north.<\/p>\n
Actually, that night, a movie producer and his daughter were struck by me recording the post-game video in the terminal and lingered nearby. With my chest burning, I finished the video (and none of you could tell!), and then answered all of their questions about what I do and the life of a psycho, er, sportswriter. No, they didn\u2019t offer to cast me in anything, unlike the last producer I met on the West Coast who invited me to come by his set the next day \u2026 to an, ummm, adult movie. <\/p>\n
But no, I didn\u2019t accept that invitation, even when I was offered an on-camera role. That\u2019s a story for another day. Or never.<\/p>\n
Travel Log<\/p>\n
Travel is a joy. Go. Look for that little restaurant that\u2019s just a little bit hidden, not too crowded, and start with a compliment to the first service person who approaches. Sit at the bar. Talk to people. Or ask for a corner table if there\u2019s no bar and just enjoy the experience. <\/p>\n
Even when the food tastes like an odd combination of body odor and Lemon Pledge, you\u2019ve got a story. Chain restaurants are for old people and suckers. <\/p>\n
**Calgary remains my favorite city for a steak. The Derrick downtown is fantastic. Alberta beef steaks are better than Wagyu, and you can actually afford a good cut without selling a kidney (about $25 USD), although my colleague and I were the only people in the Derrick on a Monday night. Kind of awkward.<\/p>\n
You must make the Calgary-Edmonton trip at least once. You\u2019re never more than one left turn and an hour from the Rockies, and it\u2019s Texas with a Canadian sensibility and a deep civic pride in hockey instead of football. Oh, they so love hockey, and if you go with a good attitude, they don\u2019t care if you\u2019re from a visiting city. In fact, your first beer is probably on them, but they\u2019re also tough, so don\u2019t be a jagoff n\u2019at.<\/p>\n
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Chicago. Luke\u2019s Italian Beef. Get it with hot peppers. Eat it slowly. Skip the tourist joints because I\u2019ve had them all, and none are close to that little jewel. And definitely skip the Italian sauce cake that city calls pizza. Go to Luke\u2019s, then walk along Wacker Drive, reciting, \u201cThey\u2019re not gonna catch us. We\u2019re on a mission from God.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can also go to the original Billy Goat. I finally found it late one night, down a flight of steps beneath a main avenue downtown. Cheezborger. Cheezborger. If you\u2019re old enough, stand there and just imagine a plastered John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and more before they were famous just having a time in the dinky little dive just like ordinary 25-year-olds who had no idea what the world had waiting for them.<\/p>\n
St. Paul. Gambit Brewing. They have a really robust blonde ale. And a sausage sized hot dog is $7. It\u2019s below street level, which only adds to the charm. Also, get the Weck and Wings at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo ($20 for a Beef on Weck and six wings). <\/p>\n
St. Paul is finally recovering. This year, I only had to sidestep sidewalk poo in Philly, LA, and Seattle, but I wasn\u2019t so lucky the second time in LA. God bless the hotel maid. She didn\u2019t speak English, but very quickly realized the situation as I carried my shoes into the lobby. She refused my ask for a brush and some cleaner, \u201cYou give me.\u201d So, I did. 30 minutes later, they were outside my room, spic-and-span. She got a couple of crisp Andy Jacksons for a tip.<\/p>\n
LA. I tell ya. I\u2019m not sure, but I think my shoes voted in the Mayoral election.<\/p>\n
Also in LA, I committed my first art heist. It\u2019s the spitting image of an old friend who is an actress (OK, actually I bought it from the front desk clerk\/owner for $100, but my friend thinks I stole it for her, so just go with it).<\/p>\n
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Brockville (45 minutes south of Ottawa\u2019s arena) on the 1000 Islands. Go across the border and take the parkway instead of the highway. Drive along the St. Lawrence river for 30 minutes and enjoy. The 1000 Islands Brewing is sleepy in the winter, but some wonderful beers, decent enough food, and the downtown area is nearly identical to the quaint Watkins Glen and Wellsboro areas. The Super 8 is usually about $60 a night, and there is an authentic English Tea House, too. <\/p>\n
Some of my favorite spots closed this year. Zeffirelli\u2019s Italian Restaurant in Vancouver closed, which ruined my night in Vancouver. It was an absolutely perfect hidden gem, but instead I wound up in an overpriced sushi and vegetarian place (seriously, those words taste almost as bad as eating some filet-shaped mushroom cap trying to masquerade as proper food). I had similarly sad closures in D.C., Toronto, and the hotel near Sunrise (the only hotel) is becoming an absolute dump. If you go to Florida for a roadie, stay at the beach and rent a car.<\/p>\n
I refuse to believe vegetarians and vegans live longer. I think it just seems longer.<\/p>\n
The world is changing rapidly. I suppose AI has made many people even dumber, which only exacerbates the need for it. Give me a cheap plane ticket, a clean hotel, a chef-run restaurant, a hole in the wall bar, and I\u2019ll be just fine in the coming Apocalypse. <\/p>\n
Now, bring on the aliens.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> <\/p>\n