The #Pens have acquired Ryan Reaves and a 2nd round pick for Oskar Sundqvist and the 31st overall pick.

[columbia]

This thread is now fantastic bathroom reading.

Well, @NAN is present

[meow]

Was he supposed to write

Oh I don't know. Maybe "Sidney Crosby 87"?

[NTP66]

Maybe if his head didn't get pounded so often he wouldn't have to keep writing down his name and number to remember them.

[beachboy76]

Over the past 4 seasons, the Blues were on the receiving end of 8 incidents that resulted in supplemental discipline from the league.

During a 9 day stretch in 2014, the Blues lost Oshie and Backes to head shots. The two hits resulted in seven games in suspensions while Oshie and Backes both missed playoff games. Reaves was in the lineup both nights.

Next season Marco Scandella was fined for a hit to the head on Oshie. Last year Bobby Farnham was hit with a 4 game suspension for taking a late, cheap run at Jaskin, while Reaves was on the ice. There were also a bunch more borderline hits that didn't result in fines or suspsensions.

Dirty stuff is still going to happen to star players whether he- or any player like him - is there or not.

Your not wrong here. The plays that end in suspensions are heat of the moment decisions, guys like Reaves don't fix that. What he can help with is discouraging the after the whistle cheap stuff. Case in point. What Sid did to PK behind the net was one of the most beautiful things i've seen in hockey, but, you don't want your best player in the box for something like that. Reaves job is to make sure PK is more worried about him than Sid. There will always be debates about the role of 4th liners in the NHL. Reaves isn't a liability, he rarely takes penalties that kill you, and if he makes Sid and Co. feel a couple inches taller on the ice because he's there, i think is a good thing. The Blues are going to miss him i'm afraid.

Quick edit. In regards to the Farnham hit on Jaskin, He and and Tootoo were taking liberties the shift before. They were both on the ice when Farnham hit Jaskin. RR couldn't get to Farnham because Tootoo was in the way. One hit later no more Tootoo and Farnham got tossed.

Reaves job is to make sure PK is more worried about him than Sid? Highly unlikely. As you've heard many times with mic'd up players, they laugh at 4th liners and tell them they mean nothing. It just happened in the finals with Hornqvist and Ekholm. PK won't care about Reaves, he's still going to play Crosby tough and try to get him off his game in any way possible. The threat of Reaves fighting him won't affect him because he simply won't fight him. It's up to the league to enforce the rulebook and protect it's best players. Sure Reaves can go after PK and hit him, but he can do that no matter if he hits Crosby or not. If he does something illegal to "deter" him, PK will just laugh when they go on the power play.

I'm not saying I'm against or hate the acquisition of Reaves, I'm just saying that people need to cool their jets on the whole deterrent thing. It doesn't work, it's been proven to not work. His physical presence will be a nice addition and his skating has improved, so he can probably keep up just fine in this system on the 4th line....but the deterrent thing needs to be put to rest.

[mikey]

The game has a little more nuance than it appears on TV sometimes...this is one of those instances...it's not a video game. These are actually people. An actual people don't like to willfully get themselves hurt whenever possible...generally...

The thought that adding Reaves allows Sid to skate around the ice untouched is stupid and no one would suggest that, no one is suggesting that and no one has any expectation of that. I saw someone bring up instances where bad things happened to St. Louis or whatever...useless. That stuff is part of the game. By that logic, we should disband the police forces in every city because crime still happens there, so therefore, they must be useless at stopping crime...the answer isn't binary. Most aren't. Not sure why this one slips through that filter.

The team I currently coach has a 6'5, 220 lb Swede on it...I gave him the nickname Sundin when I first saw him at camp...one game against a particularly chippy team, he wasn't there...the rest of the group is pretty young and don't really have a lot of size...we're a skill team, we score a lot and we're fast...it sounds familiar, I'm sure. We keep our hands clean most of the time, but we're talking about the collegiate level - not everyone can be roped in at all times...so, one game gets a little out of hand, a little chippy and some stuff happened that neither side should be particularly proud of...

Later in the season, we play these guys again...and they're intent on getting under our skin from the opening puck drop...I'm not sure I've ever seen a player get thrown out of the opening faceoff before, but they had a guy who did...that's how early on the antics were gonna start. After the whistle scrums are happening pretty frequently in this one early on...one happens with Sundin out there, someone gave him a stick, he turned around and, uh, escorted him to the ice - to put it gently. Two kids went after him and while being slightly restrained by a linesman, he put both of them down...just shoves really, it's not like he swings...he doesn't use his stick, he doesn't throw punches. I've never seen him throw a punch.

While everyone is hee-hawing about and our other coach is barking at the refs, I'm focused on the two kids that pulled themselves off the mat...they're skating to the bench side-by-side, talking...I can tell by the body language they're talking about what happened...one checks to see the number of Sundin (13, of course) and he tells the other one the number that he sees...

Later on in the game, there's another little scrum with Sundin out there...one of my players is about to be cross-checked in the back in front of the net just after a whistle...just before the punk follows through, he looks to his left and cruising to the far post is Sundin. The would-be cross-checker immediately pulls up and doesn't follow through with what was probably going to be a pretty good stick from behind...might have forced my player's face into the post, maybe not, my angle doesn't lend itself to that type of precision...but it was gonna be close...

One of my skill players - who has unreal hockey sense, but is only about 5'6" or so - is watching too. I said something about what was gonna happen there to no one in particular and that player turns around and nods emphatically at me but says nothing...he went on to have a whale of a night...

Just an anecdote...not meant to be a binary "this always happens" or "it never happens" result...Reaves won't prevent Crosby from ever being hit again, he won't prevent Malkin from ever being slashed again, he won't prevent Murray from ever being landed on again...nor is that the intent. This is a guy who hits and it hurts you. Even in the body armor you get to wear out there, Reaves is physically made out of bricks and he can skate. It hurts to get hit by him. It hurts Backstrom, it hurts Werenski, it hurts Gostisbehere...I'm not worried about him having a dust up with Josh Anderson if he wants to try his luck...that's not the forefront of what he brings...

It's the first time that Backstrom tells Wilson to "stop ******* doing that, you're getting me killed", that's when you get some results. Even though they're trying to take the power away, the game still has a way of policing itself...a good example is Chris Kreider of the Rangers who made quite a lot of waves as a youngster for running into goalies...he never had to answer because he got to wear a cage all of his career...and he wasn't gonna fight nobody anyway...right up until Derek Stepan has had enough of being speared in the gut every time he comes out on the ice by Alexei Emelin...then they sit down Kreider and tell him to learn to stop in front of the net instead of in it...

[Tico Rick]

I just keep thinking of what Sid wrote on the stick that he signed for Sestito's kid:

I feel a foot taller with your Dad in the lineup!

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/cro ... ar-BBrNKNf

Was he supposed to write your dad is a plug and has little to no skill? Of course he's going to write something to make the kid feel good about his Dad playing in the NHL.

Yes, of course, but he didn't need to write what he did.

[Algernon]

This thread is now fantastic bathroom reading.

This thread is trash.

Honestly, anyone who doesn't think Ryan Reaves presence doesn't have value has never played hockey

[Gaucho]

You don't like him?

[Algernon]

You don't like him?

Is this sarcasm or a sincere question?

I like the addition.

[Gaucho]

Never mind, I'm an idiot ... I know you like him, but your double and triple negatives had me confused.

[Jim]

"I don't see why it's necessary to have a big, fast, excellent forechecker, with a mean streak on our 4th line"

Do some of you people even watch hockey or do you just come here to post nonsense?

You don't need hitters or defensive players on Play Station so therefore you obviously don't need them in real life. In the video game you put out 4 lines of scorers and you are fine. People consider themselves expert GMs in the game so they know how to fill out a real roster. That should be clear.

[Jim]

I just keep thinking of what Sid wrote on the stick that he signed for Sestito's kid:

I feel a foot taller with your Dad in the lineup!

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/cro ... ar-BBrNKNf

Was he supposed to write your dad is a plug and has little to no skill? Of course he's going to write something to make the kid feel good about his Dad playing in the NHL.

What Was He supposed to write? You don't write anything, you just sign your name.

[NailedPenguin]

The dramatics from opposition to this deal is something to behold. The bloggers are still losing their minds. I've had people call him a Neanderthal who only carries a stick as an accessory. My favorite has been several people use the line "just admit you like having a guy who punches people!!" I sarcastically told one numbnuts that since physical play has no effect on games, they should just outlaw checking. His response was, no ****, "women's Olympic hockey does fine without it, so would the NHL."

Don't like giving up picks? Fine. Don't like giving up Sundqvist? Fine. But these people literally hate anything to do with a physical player. And "they won back to back without a guy like him" isn't good enough either. They just won a Cup without Letang too. This is all just mind boggling strange to me.

[mikey]

People got soff...

[shmenguin]

But I do like having a guy who punches people.

[NTP66]

Let's make a list of who we'd like him to repeatedly punch next season:

[Robot B9]

I will be curious to see if there's an eventual clash of Sully's just play approach and what appears to be Reaves engagement in the stuff that Sully prefers to avoid.

[Algernon]

Never mind, I'm an idiot ... I know you like him, but your double and triple negatives had me confused.

I r nat very gud at englesh

[beachboy76]

I'm happy we brought in a guy that has a physical presence outside of Kunitz, Wilson, and Hornqvist I guess. Hornqvist never really instills any fear, he's just a warrior that will hit when given the chance. Kunitz and Wilson while not being overly big, can lay a big hit every so often. Reaves will hit quite often, and hit hard. It's something that this team hasn't had, but you can't sit there and say we "needed" it, coming off back to back cups and successful regular seasons.

There's just zero proof out there that guys like Reaves stop anything from happening. History shows that guys still get cheap shots no matter who is dressed. Remember when Justin Williams suplexed Geno? Sestito was dressed, how could that happen? I realize Reaves has improved, I watched him in the playoffs and was surprised at times. I just don't see a huge need for him, however the cost wasn't as bad as some made it out to be, so it is what it is. I do hope he fits in well and pounds a couple of the idiots that deserve it.

[NTP66]

I'm looking for Reaves to plow through people in the corner, force turnovers, and get our cycle game going.

[shmenguin]

Have we been in a real fight + won it since 2012?

These things may not matter on the scoreboard but I also watch sports to be entertained. And seeing someone I don't like going through physical discomfort is entertaining to me. I don't like when the circus comes to town and our top 6 is in the crowd. But I quite enjoy it when it's the bottom of our lineup...under most conditions.

[NailedPenguin]

Well you see graphs and charts win games. Not big scary meanies. Someone should tell the bloggers that if what they preached mattered so much the penguins would have been bounced in round 1

[Algernon]

Ryan Callahan must die

Set Ryan Reaves to seek and destroy

[Factorial]

Ryan Callahan must die

Set Ryan Reaves to seek and destroy

OV too.

[Algernon]

Dubinsky, Callahan, Doan....

Bounty gate wouldn't have **** on me if I was an owner