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[arfguy]

It's too beautiful to be real!

[arfguy]

The lighting in my room does not do this statue justice.

[arfguy]

I just think it's pretty.

[arfguy]

A Fan’s Opinion on Bringing Jordan Eberle Back to the Edmonton Oilers

I am seeing some interest online in bringing back Jordan Eberle to the Edmonton Oilers.  IMO, he hasn't exactly lit up the NHL since being traded to the New York Islanders and there are some talks that if he hits free agency, he might be brought back to the organization that drafted him, where he was productive for oh-so many years.

Eberle has always been a consistent goal scorer, averaging around 25 goals per season throughout his career. If he were to hit free agency this summer, I believe there will be a number of suitors that will find his consistent production to be quite attractive.

My opinion is: the Edmonton Oilers should not be among those suitors.

I will no longer defend moves by Peter Chiarelli.  While I felt he made some moves that were absolutely necessary, it is plainly obvious that he lost all the trades he made.  Case in point, the Eberle trade where Chiarelli did not get nearly enough back for the Oilers.

When Jordan Eberle was traded to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome, I felt it was necessary and I was a believer in Strome.  I felt Strome could use a fresh start and that he would contribute production and work-ethics into a room that may have had too much finesse.  After all, this trade came on the heels of a 2 assist performance by Eberle in the 2016-2017 playoffs and some questions arose of Eberle’s effectiveness.  

Strome was basically a non-factor since the trade.  While he slotted in quite nicely as a potential 3rd line centre, to me he looked disengaged and unproductive.  Basically, what I saw was another Jordan Eberle, with less goals.

It is blatantly obvious that the Edmonton Oilers can use more goals, especially from their wingers.  Jordan Eberle may fix that.  What bringing Eberle back will not fix is his work ethics.  The Oilers currently get majority of their production from their three centres: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.  The games when these three players are playing hard and working for their points, you get results.  I feel Jordan Eberle will not bring that to the Oilers organization.  

The Oilers should look for wingers that work for their points every night.  I look around the NHL and I think a better contributor would be someone like Ryan Dzingel.  I like Dzingel's speed, intelligence, and creativity.  I see Dzingel as a better option as a winger, a player who creates scoring opportunities.  Jordan Eberle feels like someone who would need to be paired with players like McDavid, Draisaitl or RNH.  On a team that is already relying too much on those three centres, what the Oilers sorely need are wingers who create space and scoring opportunities.  I do not think Jordan Eberle will bring those attributes to the Oilers.

[arfguy]

Bad boys, bad boys...whatcha gonna do?

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Come at me!

[arfguy]

Infinite power...in my grasp!

[arfguy]

If you have Netflix, you should watch Wind River ASAP! This movie is one of the best of 2017, IMO.

[arfguy]

Another batch of pretty awesome Marvel character cosplay.  None of the pictures were taken by me or of me.

[arfguy]

Amazing cosplay of Marvel characters.  Found on Instagram.  None of the pictures were taken by me.  

[arfguy]

A Trade Between The Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens Could Benefit Both Clubs

Given the current status of the NHL clubs for both Edmonton and Montreal, I am wondering if a trade between the two teams would improve things.

Montreal is in dire need of a centre.  They traded away an immensely talented defenceman in Mikhail Sergachev in order to get Jonathan Drouin.  Make no mistake, Jonathan Drouin is an immensely talented player, but he is not a natural centre.  He brings a lot to the table, but his natural position is on the wing.

Edmonton, on the other hand, are having so much trouble scoring that it is not even funny.  When your line-up boasts the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, you should not be struggling to score goals.  Yet, here we are.  The problem has been that a player like McDavid seems to have gone into full on "pass first" mentality.  He has had different wingers throughout the season.  In order to increase scoring chances, Maclellan decided to break up the duo of McDavid and Draisaitl, the only two player that had astonishing chemistry last season.  

I think the Oilers should trade Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the Montreal Canadiens for Alex Galchenyuk.  RNH's stock has never been higher, as he is having a wonderful season.  Galchenyuk had been expected to play centre for a couple of years now, with no success.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins may not be a number one centre, but I think paired with Jonathan Drouin on the wing, they would make a dynamic line combination.  Connor McDavid could use someone on the wing that can skate, carry the puck and get into those position to be dangerous offensively.

Marc Bergevin just had a press release saying he is not giving up on this season.  Next year, the Canadiens will be rid of Tomas Plekanec's horrible $6 million per season contract.  I think they can afford to take on RNH's contract and make it work.  I think the Oilers can use a better winger to play with McDavid.

[arfguy]

The Disney and Fox Merger

I have had some time to dwell on the Disney buying Fox ordeal and I have a range of thoughts.

First and foremost, if the deal clears all anti-trust laws and Fox does become a division of Disney, it will drastically change the entertainment landscape.  A possibility exists that it might not be approved due to government regulations.

Having said that, 21st Century Fox being a division of the Walt Disney Company should blow the mind of every person who wears the badge of comic book fan.  This is a huge deal.  The sheer possibilities for movies, TV shows and comics are endless.  Three simple words:  Wolverine versus Predator.

No, a movie involving both characters would probably not be very good, but guess what?  The possibility exists now for a live-action, big budget, Hollywood production where everyone's favourite Canucklehead takes on the biggest and baddest alien hunter to ever grace the big screen.  

Just think about it.  A cinematic universe where the Fantastic Four can interact with the Avengers.  X-Men interacting with the Guardians of the Galaxy.  

...

I am seriously geeking out.  This is the stuff of fanboy dreams.

Having said that, the sobering reality is...this will hurt movie visionaries in the long run.  The degree and duration of that pain remains to be seen, but there will definitely be some.  It was summarized best by a movie director, I think.  There will now be one less studio willing to back a project.  The chances of a big budget movie made by a studio from a potential legendary creator will decrease if the deal gets done.

Imagine a cinematic landscape where we did not get a Die Hard or Predator.  Hell, let's get a more recent one.  Imagine the cinematic landscape without Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds.  Yes, there is a chance that Disney would have done it.  But the percentage of the movie being rejected also goes up with the decrease of another major studio.

This deal is a potential double-edged sword.  Consider if things being cut both ways is a good thing or a bad thing.

[arfguy]

Check it: Netflix and Marvel’s Punisher, season one is the best single season of any of the Marvel Netflix shows.  Locked!

Jon Bernthal is absolutely mesmerizing.  I always loved the concept of the Punisher and I have quite a few comics featuring the character, but the show really adds a level of characterization that I had not found in the comics.  This is a case of a killing machine that can actually interact with other people on a human level.  Yes, he’s a jerk.  Yes, he’s annoyingly stubborn.  However, when he is talking to other people that do not know who he really is, he never comes off as a psycho.  I do not know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I do know that it is something I did not expect from the character of the Punisher.

Once again, the Marvel Netflix shows look amazing.  I love the production value that is added with these shows taking place on the streets of New York.  Everything looks as grimy and as shiny as it possibly can.  When you see a vista of the New York City skyline, it is hard to think that there are trenches of secrets and violence going on.  The Punisher show captures every bit of the grime and glory that can possibly be gleaned.  

I have to give it to the level of violence: it is brutal without being cartoony.  I really appreciated that.  Finally, a live-action Punisher that is about as straight-forward serious as the character deserves.  No, I did not like the Thomas Jane Punisher movie. Yes, I have seen the Punisher: War Zone movie and I deem it to be one of the worst things ever filmed.  Netflix Punisher is absolutely and unapologetically the most brutal Punisher that has been realized on screen.  Bernthal’s Punisher is not the cold and calculated Punisher I know of in the comics.  He still retains a soul.  Maybe the latter seasons will show the complete transformation of Frank Castle into the Punisher, but in season one, Frank Castle still has some humanity left.  There are moments of heart and humanity present in the show.  There are light-hearted moments.  Thankfully, this show does not delve into forced humour that a lot of the latter MCU movies have become known for (I am looking at you, Thor Ragnarok).

All-in-all, this is a great show.  It deals with various issues of violence, betrayal, gun-control, PTSD, revenge and never has a misstep.  Check this show out, as soon as possible.

[arfguy]

Some very cool cosplay. None of the images posted are of me or taken by me.

[arfguy]

Edmonton Oilers - Wake Up!

As an Oilers fan, it has been really difficult to watch this team crash and burn as badly as they have.  They look slow, they cannot score and their specialty teams are horrible.  It is unfair to blame one person for all of the Oilers woes, so I will name three:

1. Peter Chiarelli

2. Todd Maclellan

3. Milan Lucic

It almost seems as if these three are colluding to ensure the Oilers are terrible this year.  Why?  Well, let me explain.  

First and foremost, I was very happy that the Oilers organization got Peter Chiarelli.  I thought he made some truly impressive moves to make the Boston Bruins into a championship team.  I am definitely not going to slag most of the moves that Chiarelli made.  No, I am not bothered one bit that he traded Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson.  Despite how it may look to the hockey world in general, to this day I am very much glad this trade happened.  Some could argue that Chiarelli could have fleeced the New Jersey Devils organization for more than Larsson.  I am not a hockey expert, so I will not comment on it.  Much of the hockey world sees Taylor Hall as a star player.  I think of him as someone who is playing a very straight forward game of hockey when he should be using his speed and agility to play a smarter form of hockey.  No, I do not look down on the move he made to trade Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome in a one-for-one trade.  Personally speaking, despite the goal differential between Eberle and Strome, I would rather have Strome in the line-up 10 nights out of 10.  Eberle is lazy and lacks work ethics.  His goals seem to be a mix of luck, a little bit of talent and mainly other players doing all the work to set him up for basically “gimme” goals.  I said it before and I’ll say it again:  if the Islanders make the playoffs, you can count on Jordan Eberle to disappear, because he just lacks desire.  Beyond those two major moves, I think Chiarelli has made some really smart, low-key moves.  I think the pick-up of Zack Kassian was pretty risky, but I have liked basically everything that Kassian brings to the line-up.  My major problem with Chiarelli is the move he made to sign Milan Lucic.  Not only did he sign Lucic to a $6 million per year contract, but he also decided to give him 7-year term.  Not only that, but this $6 million per for the next 7 years has what looks to be no-movement clause.  Why would you offer $42 million over 7 years to any player that has never hit more than 30 goals?  I understand you have to overpay when you dip into free agency, but Chiarelli?!?  What the fuck were you thinking?  Whatever conditions exist for Lucic’s contract, you can bet that Chiarelli would have to work up a miracle to move it.  There is absolutely no hope of this contract ever proving to be anything other than a horrible mistake.

Now we move on to Todd Maclellan.  I honestly don’t know if Maclellan has lost it, but I swear he is blind.  I hope there is something in the players contracts that says they have to play on certain lines for certain minutes, as that is the ONLY way I will accept Maclellan putting together some of the line combinations that he has.  No, I have zero problems with McDavid and Draisaitl sharing the same line.  No, I am not all that much bothered by Patrick Maroon being on the top line, even though I think a faster and more creative player would benefit greatly by being paired with the Oilers big duo.  What I do have a problem with is Maclellan’s insistence that Milan Lucic has to play on the second line.  Maclellan!  For fuck’s sake...Lucic has zero chemistry with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, he cannot skate worth a shit, cannot generate scoring chances, cannot shoot, cannot stand in front of the net for deflections or chipping in rebounds, cannot pass to his wingers...just can’t do anything worth a damn.  I am confident that the 3 goals that Milan Lucic has gotten were not a result of hard work, but probably a result of 66% of them going off his body and into the net.  Yet, there is Maclellan...continuously putting Lucic on the second line.  To my surprise, the call up of Jesse Puljujarvi has not been a disaster.  The kid has looked good.  He has generated scoring chances, is actually shooting rather than passing like most of the Oilers and using his body to his advantage.  It seemed pretty promising that he might develop chemistry with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins if he has a few more games to get the rhythm of playing second line minutes.  NOPE!  Maclellan decided that, rather than dropping the slow and useless Milan Lucic off the second line, he will drop Puljujarvi to the third line.  Yes, one of the few players that has some offensive up sides on this team, that is shooting and getting into scoring areas, is slotted into the third line.  WTF?!?!

Third:  Milan Lucic.  Please, please do something.  You have done absolutely nothing.  You are being paid $6 million dollars a year for the next 7 years and you are doing jack shit!  For fuck’s sake, DO SOMETHING!

In conclusion, I am not looking for Maclellan or Chiarelli to get fired.  I am not even hoping for crazy trades to change the roster.  The Edmonton Oilers have at least 60% of the personnel required to be a dangerous team.  They just need to wake the fuck up!

[arfguy]

Arrange these movies in order of best reviewed.