I've seen plenty of whales, dolphins, flying fish and even a pair of Orca from the balcony of a cruise ship but this is a first. Saw four of them in total.

My current view...

I think both of these takes are somewhat incorrect. Trump isn't backing away. This is his negotiation style. His threats and bluster are intended to make his negotiation partner cave. He thinks the fear of what the crazy man might do will make the other guy give up a little more in negotiations.

I'm in Europe. It's getting late and I'll be asleep before Trump's deadline passes. If Trump starts nuclear WWIII and world annihilation occurs before I wake up, it's been great interacting with you all. Hah, who am I kidding. Enjoy TACO Tuesday for everyone who celebrates.

This is generally the rebuild model I support. If you have quality veterans who are good leaders that you want your young players to look up to and learn from then keep them on your team. This is especially true for players that have brought your organization success.

Their top scorers are: 38, 35, 33, 31, 38, and 32 years old. Is this what Leaf fans want now? Yes, they added Chinakov. He's shooting 17.7% in PIT. Before joining PIT he was shooting 10.4% in his career. Is PIT version sustainable? Where will PIT be when Crosby, Malkin, Karlsson age?

Search Aaron's timeline for Hormuz and you'll see in the last week he 1. Demanded Iran open Strait 2. Was in negotiations with Iran to open Strait 3. Told UK to open Strait 4. Told France to open Strait 5. Opening Strait is not an objective 6. Told China to open Strait 7. Opening Strait is easy

That "freezing island" is about 85% of the size of England.

The question the next Leafs GM needs to ask is this: can you build a cup contender around Matthews, Nylander and Knies as your only Top6/Top Pair talent with little in terms of prospects and draft picks? If the answer is no (and I think it probably is), then it is time to start the rebuild.

A lot had gone wrong with the Leafs this season but the biggest is they could never find the guys to replace the puck moving/play making of Marner. There just was not enough puck possession skill on the team without Marner.

In Iran, President Trump's leadership took a sanctioned adversary and in 3+ weeks at a cost of tens of billions of dollars turned them into an unsanctioned enemy (as a bonus made Russia an unsanctioned enemy too!!) and likely caused a global recession.

He isn't sure whether the nuclear dust is something he wants, something he's going to get or something they have already agreed to. He's TACO'ing and just making stuff up to sound like he accomplished something. This is the same as the Greenland deal he said he had but nobody knew anything about.

Taking off?

Trump starts a war with Iran. Iran's allies are Russia, who is actually helping Iran try to kill Americans, and China. What does Trump do? 1. Lifts sanctions on Russia. 2. Invites China to help him open Strait if Hormuz. 3. Lifts sanctions on Iran Strangest war tactics I've seen.

The Dow is up a mere 5% since inauguration day. www.macrotrends.net/2506/dow-jon...

What made Twitter so interesting back in the day and what makes this site the best for me today is I am in control. I can curate my own feed, I can make my own connections, I can have the conversations I choose. It is 'social', to whatever degree the user wants it to be.

Vance is complaining about how the highest paid workers in the world in the richest country in the world are getting ripped off and that Canada can't pay for their own defense at the same time as Trump is begging for help to defend the Strait of Hormuz from Iran in a war he foolishly started.

I eagerly await Pierre Poilievre blaming Carney for causing Canada to fall behind Venezuela in the Donald Trump Statehood Sweepstakes followed soon after by two more Conservative MP floor crossers.

I'm not sure "the Strait of Hormuz disruption is what we planned for and is part of our sequential plan we are sticking to but cant effectively communucate details of" is a better answer than "Iranian drones and mines are more effective than we expected but we are working on it."

The Oilers have given up 4 or more goals in 11 of their last 15 games, 68 goals in total for a dismal 4.53 goals against per game.

The Oilers have given up 4 or more goals in 11 of their last 15 games, 68 goals in total for a dismal 4.53 goals against per game.

I wrote about the Calgary Flames abundance of draft picks in the 2026 NHL draft and what is a reasonable expectation from the prospects they add to the organizations. If you are a Flames fan, which of these outcomes would make you happy? hockeyanalysis.com/2026/03/10/h...

Are the Anaheim Ducks a good team? Their record is 35-25-3. However... ANA has 20 regulation wins and 15 OT/SO wins Their regulation W-L-T record is 20-25-18. They also have a -10 goal differential, DET is the only other current playoff team below 0 at -1. Do you still think ANA is a good team?

I made some upgrades to the draft pick simulator. You can now specify up to 16 picks which should cover most/all teams drafts. I also added some additional pick ranges to choose (i.e. 6-10 overall). Finally, you can now run the simulation 1, 5 or 10 times. www.thestanleycap.com/tools/draft_...

So if I understand this right, Iran has surrendered and is no longer a threat to its neighbours but they are going to continue bombing Iran because...why not?? Maybe he's holding out for Iran to give him a gold watch and a fake Middle East peace prize.

Thank-you to everyone that visited TheStanleyCap.com today. It was almost certainly our busiest day for traffic ever. If you enjoy what we are trying to build please consider supporting us with a subscription or just help spread the word.

Did your team trade for some draft picks today? Were you wondering the quality of players you reasonably expect from those draft picks down the road? Use this draft pick simulator to see the types of players that were taken with those picks in the past. www.thestanleycap.com/tools/draft_...

With Kadri going to Colorado I think the biggest losers today are the Minnesota Wild. They really needed a center to keep pace with Colorado and Dallas and McCarron just doesn't cut it.

Acquiring Strome makes a bit more sense now that the Kadri to Colorado news has come out. Flames need someone to play (and some salary to get to the cap floor).

Hurricanes analytics department must have come up with a useful Grit/60 metric.

How much is a late first round pick worth? Using The Stanley Cap's new draft simulator which randomly picks former draft picks within a specified ranged. Here are 10 random players drafted between 20 and 32. www.thestanleycap.com/tools/draft_...

TSN is not doing one the least interesting things they could do to fill time, a fake draft lottery. Is this the best time filler they could come up with?

Maybe not explosive, but it is at a level not seen in 30 years and back in the early 1990's Canada debt to GDP ratio was what was exploding. I don't think Canada wants to get back to that level which necessitated dramatic cuts to services/healthcare spending in the Chretien years.

The TSN panel is talking about how Calgary wants to be good for when their new building opens for 2027-28 season but not one of them mentioned that there is almost zero chance any of the draft picks they have acquired this season will be ready for the 2027-28 season.

What I hope for today is one trade every 15 to 20 minutes starting at 10am. What will happen today is about 3 trades between now and 2:30ET followed by 20 trades in the final half hour.

I was curious how likely it would be that the three second round picks acquired in the Weegar trade would amount to something useful so I created a simulator randomly selecting players from past drafts based on criteria you specify. This should give you some idea of the draft picks value.

I just ran the simulator for Washington's draft pick return for Carlson using a first round pick between 12 and 18 and a 3rd round pick. I got Tom Wilson and Anthony Cirelli. Caps fans should be ecstatic if something like that happens.

I was curious how likely it would be that the three second round picks acquired in the Weegar trade would amount to something useful so I created a simulator randomly selecting players from past drafts based on criteria you specify. This should give you some idea of the draft picks value.

Update: Weegar: Three 2nds, Castagna and take Maatta's contract McCarron, Dowd, Myers: Three 2nds, 3rd, 4th, Vikman Yes, Weegar hasn't had a great year but he's a right shot D coming off back to back 52 and 47 point seasons, can play on PP and PK and eat up big minutes. Utah got a steal here.

Turkey borders Iran. Turkey is a NATO member (an ally), NATO had to shoot down an Iranian missile heading into Turkish air space. I'd be shocked if NATO allies hadn't already been discussing this possible scenario of defending Turkey if the war expands. This seems to be what Carney is referencing.

Lets compare the trade returns: Weegar: Three 2nds, a B prospect (former 3rd round pick) and taking on Maatta's contract. Michael McCarron, Cole Smith and Tyler Myers combined: Two 2nds, a 3rd and a 4th. It's unfortunate that Weegar isn't 6'5" I suppose.

When evaluating the Weegar trade from Calgary's perspective you have to account for the fact Maatta with has negative value. He's been a part time player in Utah. Put him on waivers nobody takes him. It is not unreasonable to think one of those 2nds as compensation for taking Maatta's contract.

I don't love this trade for Calgary. There was no need to move him now. You do it if you get a blow me away offer but I don't think this is that. It's not terrible but there is no reason to do this trade now. May as well blow the whole team up and hope to be good in 5-7 years.

If I am the Calgary Flames I am looking for a center, preferably one with some size, in return. That is an organizational weakness. So on Utah that could be Cole Beaudoin.

He clearly still doesn't get it. He isn't living in reality. It's great he wants tariff free trade with the U.S. but has he not heard and seen everything Trump has said and done? How does he plan to achieve that? Does he thing Carney hasn't been trying this? www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

This is a wonderful statement by the NDP, but let's live in the real world here. What does it mean to defend international law? Are we going to invade the U.S. now? Put sanctions on it? Do you think Trump cares one iota what the NDP think or what Carney says?

If all your friends seem to be turning against you maybe it isn't your friends that are changing direction.

I'll trade my lifetime of gold medals for our sovereignty and not having Trump as our President.

I doubt this happens, but lets play hypothetical. What would Leaf fans like in return? Established players? Prospects? Draft picks? Is this a full rebuild again?

It's official. 3 on 3 hockey sucks.