#i love my current draft so much but i absolutely want to invoke some of this unhinged behavior again in this revision

[sentfromwolves]

I'M READING THROUGH AN OLD DRAFT OF HBABL and straight up I forgot it existed and that I wrote it and I'm honestly so sad some of this truly unhinged zero draft bullshit isn't in here anymore, like:

[wholelotofweird]

Hi! Hello!

I recently had the huge privilege of working on the Season 4 Cover Art for the Actual Play Podcast @crudelydrawnswords​ (listen here!! or on your podcatcher of choice).

Part of that process was helping design new outfits for The Hawks and I just want to talk about my thoughts through that process! 

First, I think the evolution of my personal designs for them is important because it fully informs where we ended up, I think. 

When I first considered doing fan art I looked around for any existing fan art, this is something I always do, I think maybe to feel like I’m not WAY off base? (Which is super silly, get off base with fan art! That’s why it’s fan art!) But I do it. 

I think this piece of art by CDS’s own Magnus (follow Mag on twitter!) was if not THE first, one of the very first pieces I saw:

This image really heavily played into how I drew The Hawks. ESPECIALLY the color pallets. There are some real obvious similarities between this and where I ended up for a couple reasons. 

Despite the changes I’ve made to their designs I’ve always thought it was important to keep their main colors intact, Bambari in browns, Tristan in reds, Percy in stark silver, and Enigma in green. 

Keeping their colors consistent has been a specific choice on my part, largely to pay homage to this specific image, and partially for visual consistency. Meaning, even if I messed with the structure of the outfit, the vibe would remain (hopefully). 

I think this is most obvious with every group and “special” group art I’ve done of The Hawks. Here’s a couple examples of what I mean by “different structure, same vibe”:

The two pieces have very different fashion choices, but the intent was to remain true to the characters through the use of color. 

Percy: Well put together with colors that invoke the sky just before a storm, combined with over-polished silver. 

Tristian: Reds and blacks, with pieces that are very flashy. 

Enigma: Green and simple, something easy to move in. The one time I drew her in a skirt I tried to make it obvious that it was as easy to move in as possible. 

Bambri: Browns, simple, fabric textures that are basic, no attempts to evoke fancy fabric. 

Color, for me, does a lot of heavy lifting when I draw The Hawks, the colors are always a conscious choice, even down to the little stuff like “How sunburned should Tristan be?” “Which of them should have similar eye colors?”. I mention this, because it was a factor I very much kept in mind when designing the Season 4 art. 

Sooo, with all that in mind, let’s chat about the outfit drafts I came up with! Shout out to Ben (twitter here!) who was my point of contact for all of this. He had a very clear vision for what the energy of the cover art should be, as well as passed on the style references from The Hawks. 

We’ll start with Percy, I’m just going to cut and paste the brief I got from Ben: 

Percy will look less the knight in shining armour. The armour is tarnished, he is wearing tattered robes over it, he perhaps looks a little careworn but there is focus in him as well. 

He also sent a couple of reference pics that were very influential. With those together I ended up with these 4 variations: 

There’s some real difference from 1 to 4. The thoughts I had were along the lines of:

1: Very close to the reference image I liked most

2: Fun, funky, more visual interest and still very much showing off his Paladin garb.

3: Low key, with still a touch of the regal vibe I try to insert into him (it’s the cape.)

4: VERY MUCH PALLY, despite liking this choice, It is def the furthest from the reference I was sent. I included because I wanted to make sure there was still the option of showing off his Pally side. 

In each of the 4 designs there is either an obvious scarf or (in the case of 1) the hint of a scarf shape. A scarf was not a feature of his design before this, it was a feature of the design I had most recently landed on for Bambari. It was VERY important to me to have SOME sort of visual touch that connected the two. 

You can also see I went for similar brown shades and Fabric Styles, again, it was absolutely on purpose to draw a connection between the two. 

Onto Tristan!

Again, from Ben:

I think we have already raised the likelihood of Tristan being dressed absolutely in the style of "Welcome To The Black Parade" era MCR.

I wish I could describe the feeling I had when I read this. It was intense, visceral, joy. Not only were MCR a part of my heavy rotation through High School, but The Black Parade is so visually “my shit” it’s not funny. If I could draw every character in a Marching Band Inspired Outfit I would 1000% do it. 

The downside of this specifically, is there aren’t a TON of variations to play with. So, I mostly went wild with Jackets. 

I wanted to make sure I kept the very ornate feel, while also staying true to marching band. For folks that were part of marching band (waddup), you’ll notice that the pants in 1 and 3 are absolutely the baggy look that that is the most true to the vibe, but they aren’t the most true to Tristan T. Wilde, world famous bard. 

One of the extra variations of this I sent off for approval had red accents, but I’ll be honest, I’m glad that the final choice was for all sliver and white. Choosing to remove the red from his outfit completely sends a big visual message about where his character is at currently. 

You can see in all 4 options the coat has some form of sharp arrow style cut. I was important to me to keep him from looking boxy, and keep his outfits looking very specifically Fit For Him. 

And Enigma! Once more from Ben:

I don't have a definite visual reference for Enigma yet, but she is a Ranger now.

And she has a magpie.  

So. Uh. Initially that isn’t a lot to go on. But, I’ve been drawing Enigma for A WHILE, I felt confidant that I could direct myself to something that was very “Authentic” Ranger. 

After about 9000 google searches, I came up with 4 ideas. 

Boy howdy. I think her’s may be the most diverse, style wise. I’ll be honest, I love all of these. There are certainly a couple who are less Her than I would normally go for, but in each of them, I tried to make sure there were Obvious Engima Touches.

3 is perhaps the least interesting, as it was the most similar to how I had already been drawing her. 

1 & 2 (and a little bit 4) were an excuse to draw muscle definition, no doubt, don’t @ me, I think it’s important to note that by this point I had been binging F@TT, so 1 is ABSOLUTELY inspired by art I have seen of Hella, you are free to @ me about that. thank you. 

ANYWAY, with all of these I again considered the fact that even if she was no longer a rogue, she wouldn’t be giving up her amazing parkour skills, so she would still need to flip about. 

2 & 4 were designed specifically with that in mind, as in: What will look coolest when she’s flippin’ around? 

And if you’re looking at any of these and thinking: Hm, there are some design elements here that I used for Bambari’s design, again you are correct. I was less concerned with making the connection obvious here than I was with Percy, but I still wanted to insert some of that. 

Later, Ben mentioned that if we could a little more Aloy from HZD that would be ideal. 

SO! HOW DID ALL OF THAT COME TOGETHER?

I’m glad you asked. 

I’m so glad that even with these changes I was able to keep most of the color standards for The Hawks. 

Enigma is still in green. 

Percy still has that silver, even if it isn’t as bright. 

Tristan no longer has red, but my hope is that his attitude still stands out. 

They’ve been through a lot, but they are still them. 

I will admit, there was a selfish part of me that was truly glad with the choices the players made here. Despite really loving all of the outfit choices, these were my favorite from a narrative arc standpoint and also from a re-draw-ability standpoint. 

If you’ve made it this far... Shit dude. 

Thank you. 

I have a lot of feelings about this show and I still can’t really believe I was asked to do this. It was a delight working with Ben to make this vision into a reality. 

The Hawks truly are rad as heck. 

[killjoy-loveit]

Just As The Sun Rises

A/N: I would like to clarify that everything written in this story is complete fiction and isn’t to be taken as a true portrayal of reality. This is written in 2nd POV, and is a request. Though I wasn’t sure if they meant Enemies to Lovers instead of Lovers to Enemies so I decided to write both. This is the first part, however the next will be Lovers to Enemies so if you want a happy ending do NOT read the part that comes after this.

Excerpt: That night you called your best friend the second you were at home; the phone ringing in your hand as the shoes on your feet were kicked off by the door. By the time she answered you had a large glass of wine in your hand, sitting on the balcony, watching the night sky. Of course it was natural for you to rant and rave about Jun, just as it was for her to soothe your frayed nerves before the tables were turned.

Word Count: 2,947

Genre: Office AU, Coworkers AU, Enemies to Lovers AU, angst, fluff (towards the end)

     Ever since you can remember… Wait, no, that’s not right. Approximately five years ago, you landed the job of your dreams- in one of the top companies in its field. That’s much better. And of those five years, only two were spent peacefully. That is not to say that after those first two years work became unenjoyable, but rather that a person was added to your department that mixed things up. He was as close to your opposite as a person could get, personality-wise. This guy was loud and outgoing, whereas you were quiet and reserved. He was the type of person that grated on your nerves, despite being a charmer that could befriend everyone else. And his name was Jun.

     Over the next three years at your company after Jun was hired, you did your best to avoid him. There was only so much you could do to put off working with him, as you were in the same department. Except it was evident to the point he recognized your efforts to steer clear of him, to which his response was to be around you as often as possible. This only proved to annoy you further, and from then on you gave up trying to avoid him. Tensions rose between you, slights whipped at each other upon almost every encounter. All of this is what has aided in the inevitable blow out that’s occurring right now.

     It’s about eight at night, every other person apart from yourself and Jun have since left work. This situation was unavoidable; actually, it’s astounding you’ve made it this long without ending up like this before. To be more detailed in what’s currently happening, there’s a screaming match happening between the two of you. Something that had started so small, as a slight difference in opinion over the color scheme that would be best-suited for a major sport’s brand ad campaign, has spiraled into a full-blown verbal sparring.

      “It doesn’t matter what shade of red it is- it’s still red!” You shouted, arms flying up into the air in aggravation.

     “But a darker red would give off a completely different feel than a bright red!” Jun’s voice was tight with frustration.

     You rolled your eyes at his attempt to justify using red in this advertisement. “I don’t care, Jun! The emotions we want to be evoked would be destroyed if we use red. Have you forgotten that we’re trying to invoke the sense of luxury and trust? That our brand has been around for close to a hundred years, and in that time they’ve always had a sterling reputation!”

     “No, I haven’t. I just think-.”

     You cut him off. “You think you can change the emotions that colors evoke? I’m sorry but even if we could, it’d be to risky for this campaign! The company trusts us, not to mention the amount they’re paying for this is more than we’ve received before. If you don’t recall that we’re still a relatively small company, such a huge project is our chance to prove ourselves! Do you want to risk our company’s future on the color red?”

     Jun let out a frustrated huff, set his jaw and crossed his arms. But you could see it in his eyes- defeat. He knew you were right. “Fine.”

     Just like that your argument was over and you both went back to putting the finishing touches on the draft that you’d present to the sports company. Within the next hour the draft was finished and you were packing up for the night. Normally when one of you left you never said a word to the other, lest it turn into another sparring match of insults. However, tonight seemed to be an exception.

     Right as you reached the elevators, Jun’s voice rang out. “Night. Don’t yell at the colors you see as you go home because they don’t match their specific themes, you might come off as odd.”

     You snorted. “Better to be obsessed with the right color themes than not give a damn and screw everything up.” With that you stepped into the elevator and watched the doors close, leaving Jun in the office alone.

     That night you called your best friend the second you were at home; the phone ringing in your hand as the shoes on your feet were kicked off by the door. By the time she answered you had a large glass of wine in your hand, sitting on the balcony, watching the night sky. Of course it was natural for you to rant and rave about Jun, just as it was for her to soothe your frayed nerves before the tables were turned. See, that was just what the two of you did; one would rant and the other listen and calm them, then it would switch so the other could vent.

     When the call eventually ended, the sky had become significantly darker- an indication that it was high past time for you to make your way to bed. As you prepared for bed, your mind strayed to a world where you went to work happy and stayed that way. Not that your job didn’t make you happy, it was one of the best things about your life. It’s just that anger wasn’t something that was meant to be ever-present in line with a dream job such as this. But just as the sun would rise tomorrow, your vehement feelings of animosity towards Jun would continue- that fact was undeniable in your eyes.

     Weeks passed by. The project you’d been fighting with Jun about that one night had since been completed, which had provided more than enough fodder to fuel your jibes for the next couple of months. Scornful remarks between the two of you had become so commonplace that none of your coworkers, nor your boss, ever batted an eye at your antics. That all changed when she was hired. If there was something you disliked more than loud people who knew no boundaries, it was know-it-all snobs that refused to hear a different opinion.

     That’s the type of person she was, Annie, the new hire you wanted to strangle more than Jun- which in itself was a magnificent feat. Luckily, you weren’t in charge of training her, or that might have become a very real possibility. Even though you had her on your radar, and she grated your nerves like nothing else, the feud between Jun and yourself raged on. Before moving on to what happens next, you should recall that no one was ever as harsh to Jun as you were- that was something reserved to you and you alone. This is probably the reason you reacted the way you did.

     Jun had the absolute pleasure (sarcasm, my dear) of working with Annie before you did, about a month after she was hired. Annie was still green, but she acted as if she’d been present in the advertisement field for years- despite already making a plethora of mistakes on the small responsibilities she had. There was no doubt in your mind that she wouldn’t last long, she’d eventually make a large mistake and get fired for it.

      It was about noon, a lot of your coworkers had already left for lunch, but a couple remained trying to iron details out before losing their train of thought. Among those were Annie and Jun, and from what you could hear, they were arguing. You tried to push their argument to the back of your head, but that proved difficult as voices rose. Realizing that you’d never get to finish your proposal for a cat food company’s campaign until their argument was resolved, you steeled yourself and headed over in an attempt to get them to shut up.

     You walked over just in time to catch the rest of Annie’s rant, which was completely undignified. “-And you can’t even choose the right colors for this project! You never seem to be able to shut up, and you kind of lack professionalism what with your volume always being raised above an appropriate manner for an office. It doesn’t even seem like you do anything important around here either, I just don’t understand why you work here or why they keep you around.”

     Annie flipped her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms, lips pursing as she stuck Jun with a look that screamed superiority. Something about hearing her tear into him that way left your blood boiling. Who did she think she was? Coming in here all of a month and thinking she knew anything about any one of your coworkers enough to berate them. Especially as a newbie at that, a person hired straight from college, who had zero experience in this industry. Before Jun could form a rebuttal to defend himself, you stepped up next to him, a fire burning in your eyes.

     “I’m sorry,” You snapped, head tilting to the side in annoyance. “But who do you think you are? I get that Jun’s use of colors is unusual, but there are some clients who actually love his differing view on colors. Not to mention that he’s been in this company for three years because he’s good at his job. I’ve been around long before you, and even him, and I know that there have been times where he pulled all-nighters to finish a project before the deadline.

     “And yes, he’s loud, and that can be annoying, but sometimes that’s just what this office needs. You on the other hand,” You snarl, taking a step forward and pointing your finger directly at her. “Have yet to prove your worth; what with your little mistakes here and there that you don’t see as a big deal. Those mistakes, if they weren’t caught by your superiors, could prove to be a disaster for some campaigns. So how about you turn that snark onto yourself and figure out how to do your job properly before you get fired for being an ignorant snob.”

     There were a few remarks you said in addition that are far too cruel to write down, and by the time you finished your rant she had tears in her eyes. A part of you disliked making her cry, but another, larger part, felt a twisted sense of satisfaction upon seeing the tears slip down her cheeks. Turning around you grabbed Jun’s hand and pulled him to the elevator with you, punching the button to call it to the floor you were on. Once inside, you pushed the button to take you to the roof, which you reached in dead silence- your hand burning hot around Jun’s wrist.

     After standing on the roof for a minute, calming yourself, you twisted your head to look at Jun, who stood beside you with a perplexed look on his face. But before you could say anything his mouth was open and he asked a question that froze you in place.

     “Why did you do that?”

      Why did you do that? It shouldn’t have bothered you so much to see someone berating Jun. You, after all, were always annoyed at him and throwing jarring insults his way. There was only one thing you could say to justify your actions, and even to your own ears it sounded like a pathetic excuse just a few words from the truth. “She doesn’t know you, she has no right to make such assumptions of your character.”

     “And you do?” Jun crossed his arms, fixing you with a stare that spoke volumes.

     “I know you better than she does.” You retorted, annoyed that he was questioning you like this.

     “What do you know about me?”

     “I know that you’re annoying, for one. But other than that, I know that you’re a professional. You care about others as much as you are loud. You’re more hardworking than a lot of our coworkers, but you never say anything to them about it. And I know that you shouldn’t have let Annie speak to you like that, so why did you?”

     His stance changed from defensive to insecure. “There was some truth in her words.” Jun whispered, eyes on the ground.

     You rolled your eyes at him. “Just because I get pissed at your volume problems doesn’t mean everyone else is. Besides, you’re like the energizer bunny at work. You can somehow manage to recharge everyone’s energy with one of your energetic words- that’s not something to be taken lightly. So,” Stepping forward you patted his shoulder. “You shouldn’t let her walk over you again. Next time you should knock her down a peg or two.”

     The words you left unspoken were left hanging in the air, much too loud for words that never left your mind. Before the elevator doors shut, Jun replied. “I think you already did.”

     From then on, your never-ending battle of insults with Jun cooled down. It didn’t stop entirely, it just wasn’t as intense and bloodthirsty as it used to be. You even started to joke around together, which was an odd sight for all of your coworkers who were used to you being at each other’s throats twenty-four seven. Slowly, you spent more time together, starting with lunch. Jun would drag you out to his favorite places nearby most days, and he never let you get away with saying you had to work through lunch. His rationale was that everybody needs a break, otherwise you can’t put forth your best effort.

     Eventually you even started making plans together after work, something that was prompted by you rather than Jun. Where he would drag you to lunch, you tended to drag him to clubs or bars to unwind after stressful projects. During this time you learned of each other’s habits, pasts, and dreams of the future; all of the small things that made you tick. How he took his coffee, what he liked in a good wine or whiskey, his favorite color. How you dreamed of becoming an executive of the company, that you thought dark chocolate was divine, what managed to calm you.

     This new friendship grew to the point where you couldn’t understand why you’d held such vehement feelings of anger toward him. Obviously you still understood that he could be annoying, but isn’t everyone? Your teasing became more light-hearted, no venom laced into the jibes you made towards each other. Walks in the late evenings became a ritual for the two of you on the weekends, talking of work was forbidden on these walks. They were meant solely for unwinding, taking in the scenery, the surrounding environment. It was on these walks that hidden feelings brewed, the kind you tried to deny but knew were true in the back of your mind.

     To mark the time, it’s been about a year since your knock-down drag-out fight with Jun in the office about the color scheme of that sports campaign. The sun is low in the sky, such a beautiful blend of yellow and orange hues with the encroaching deep blues and purples. Wind blowing gently as to softly rustle your hair in the cool evening. In the background you hear people milling about, laughing and chattering, yet somehow their liveliness doesn’t reach the two of you.

      No, you are both caught in the serenity of watching the water flow and focused on the sounds of nature around you. You look at him out of the corner of your eye, it’s not the first time you note his beauty, but it is the most prominent. Lost in thought, you hardly notice that you’ve turned completely to look at him. He’s too entranced by the sun setting over the river to notice where your gaze lay.

      “It’s so beautiful.” Jun whispers, eyes glimmering.

     The words that come out of your mouth next came unwittingly. “You’re beautiful.”

      For a moment he doesn’t react, and you think he might not have heard you. A relieved breath is cut in half when he slowly turns his head to look at you. “You think I’m beautiful?”

     “I- Well, I…” You trail off before ramping up the nerve to say it outright. “Yes, Park Junhee, I think you’re one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

     He looks away, smiling bashfully, a blush covering his cheeks. “Thank you.” Time passes by in a comfortable silence as you watch the sky gradually darken. It’s when the sky has turned a royal blue with stars beginning to appear that you hear him say, in a voice so soft you’d think it’s in your head, “I think you’re beautiful too.”

     Meeting his gaze, you see a sort of adoration shining in them. Your next move is fueled by the air surrounding you two; a heady blend of calm, simmering attraction. Lips pressed gently against his for a brief moment, before pulling back to gauge his reaction. Worry began to filter through your being as the thought crossed your mind that you might have been alone in your feelings. However that growing concern was dashed when he stepped forward, hand cupping your face, and kissed you.

     Never in a million years would you have expected to be kissing Jun, your annoying coworker and best friend, someone you used to harbor feelings of hatred for. Then again you never would have expected to be working the job you do, or living in the apartment that is your current abode. But isn’t that just what life is, always filled with the unexpected? Sometimes in less than desirable ways, and others in the most whimsical fashion. And now you knew, that just as the sun rises, your feelings towards Jun would remain.

[amtushinfosolutionspage]

DGB Grab Bag: Kessel’s Hot Dog Hockey Card, Shootouts, and a Puck to the Dome

Three stars of comedy

The third star: Joe Thornton and Brent Burns – When they’re not challenging WWE tag teams, they’re mastering the weirdly specific sub-genre of commercials that involved them just randomly yelling at people.

The second star: Jonathan Ericsson – Just be a nice guy and toss a puck to a fan, what’s the worst that could happen?

(Via r/hockey.)

The first star: Phil Kessel’s hockey card – It was tempting to give this week’s obligatory Phil Kessel spot to this or maybe this, but instead we’ll go with his new hockey card featuring his day with the Cup. Yes, that one:

At some point, we’re going to have to disqualify Kessel from future appearances in the three stars. That moment is currently scheduled for one day after I write my last column. Besides, he had to be first star because everyone in his family is winning stuff this week. Hey, speaking of which…

Debating the Issues

This week’s debate: Wednesday’s women’s gold medal game between Team Canada and Team USA was an all-time classic. But should Olympic gold medal games end with shootouts?

In favor: No, of course not.

Opposed: No, of course not.

The final verdict: No, of course not.

The NHL Actually Got Something Right

The NHL does not award the Stanley Cup based on the results of a shootout.

Trivial Annoyance of the Week

The women’s gold medal game ended in a freaking shootout.

OK, I think the point has been made. But we all agree on this, right?

Actually, it seems like we do. In the moments before and after Wednesday’s shootout, the reaction was pretty close to unanimous. Just about everyone was dreading the way that game ended. American media. Canadian media. Analytics guys. Legendary American players. Canadian Olympians from entirely different sports. Me. You, assuming you’re a decent person.

So why did the game have to end in a shootout?

That’s not a rhetorical question; I’d really love to know why you’d ever use a shootout in a gold medal game. In the round robin or earlier playoff rounds, sure—maybe you don’t want one team to get trapped in a six-period marathon that hurts them for the rest of the tournament. But the gold medal game? Why?

It’s not about keeping the rules consistent, since they already make overtime longer in the final game. It’s not about needing the ice for the next game, since there isn’t one. It’s not about fatigue, you’d think, since it’s the last game. Or is it? That’s the only option that makes sense. But not much.

Sure, players are going to get tired in long games. We saw that on Wednesday, when Team Canada looked absolutely gassed as overtime went on. But that’s hockey. Conditioning is part of the sport. So is bench management. The shootout probably didn’t change the result of the game, since a Team USA win was looking inevitable the longer it went.

But that’s the problem—they deserved that win, a real win, not a gimmicked one that gives Canadians an out. Wednesday’s shootout was just about as good as a shootout can possibly be, with some dramatic stops and truly great goals. Jocelyne Lamoureux’s winner will become an iconic goal in international hockey history. But it was still a shootout. Shootouts suck. Sometimes they’re a necessary evil, maybe. But gold medal games are never one of those times.

The Canadian men will play for gold this weekend, and while there’s no chance they can match the drama and intensity of the women’s final, here’s hoping they at least get to settle the biggest hockey game of their lives by playing hockey.

And if at some point in the future, somebody tries to invoke Wednesday’s classic as a reason to consider using the shootout in the NHL playoffs, load them into a bobsled and slide them into a lake.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

It’s been an interesting week for Montreal Canadiens fans. Their current captain, Max Pacioretty, is expected to be traded before Monday’s deadline. And the guy who held the job before him, Brian Gionta, was the captain of Team USA at the Winter Olympics.

Not many players can say they’ve worn the “C” for the Canadiens; it’s a list that includes legends like Rocket Richard, Doug Harvey, Jean Beliveau and Newsy Lalonde. In recent times, the honor hasn’t been quite as prestigious, with names like Mike Keane, Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon taking their turns. But the Canadiens are so enamored with their own history that just holding the job confers a certain type of fame on a player. You wouldn’t think it would be possible for there to be any obscure former Habs captains.

But then you’d be forgetting this week’s player: Walter Buswell.

Buswell was a solid defensive defenseman who started his NHL career with the Red Wings in 1932. He spent three seasons in Detroit, racking up 13 points in 140 games, before being traded to the Bruins as part of a deal for future Hall-of-Famer Marty Barry. Boston flipped him to the Canadiens two days later for Roger Jenkins, and Buswell spent the next five seasons in Montreal.

Those seasons weren’t very good. The Habs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade in Buswell’s first year, then lost in the opening round in each of the next three. It was a tumultuous time, with Montreal burning through five coaches and three GMs. By the 1939-40 season, Buswell was one of the oldest players left on the team, and was given the captaincy after Babe Siebert retired to become the team’s latest coach.

It ended up being a forgettable year; Siebert never coached a game because he drowned in Lake Huroan during the offseason, the team had a stretch where they won one game out of 20, and the Canadiens finished dead last, a feat they haven’t repeated in the almost eight decades since. It was also Buswell’s last as captain, and as an NHL player. Toe Blake took over the honor and held it for most of the next decade, while Buswell headed to the QPHL and was out of hockey entirely by 1941.

Be It Resolved

The trade deadline is now just three days away, and while the market is picking up, it’s still been fairly slow. That’s a bit of a surprise, given that there are a decent number of sellers this year. And you’d think there would be more draft picks in play, since this year’s crop is considered to be a relatively weak one. But so far, GMs don’t seem to want to move their 2018 picks.

But maybe there’s a way around that. And the key may be hidden in this week’s least interesting deal: The one that sent Eric Fehr from the Maple Leafs to the Sharks for a seventh-round pick.

Most Leafs fans’ reaction to the trade was something along the lines of “Wait, we still have Eric Fehr?” And they only kind of did—he’d been loaned to Anaheim’s AHL team, so he wasn’t even playing for the organization. But the Leafs wanted to free up a roster spot and a bit of cap space. The Sharks needed some fourth-line veteran depth, so they coughed up a late pick.

And it really was a late pick, because the Leafs don’t get the choice until 2020.

It’s relatively rare in the NHL these days to see a draft pick traded more than two years in advance. But maybe it shouldn’t be. Maybe that’s the way to loosen up the market a little bit. If NHL GMs are going to be tightwads with their next bushel of draft picks, then let’s start trading ones for future drafts.

Like, way in the future. Forget 2020. Who wants a 2024 first rounder?

There’s actually plenty of precedent for hockey trades involving far-off future picks. It happens in junior hockey all the time. Check out this year’s biggest CHL deadline trades; they’re full of future picks. Here’s a team trading nine draft picks that stretch all the way to 2023. Here’s a team giving up three picks, none earlier than 2021. Here’s a team trading their second-round pick in 2026. That’s eight years in the future. That’s so long that the Sabres might even be good by then.

How much fun would it be to see NHL teams trading picks from 2026? Do you know how to properly value a draft pick that far down the line? I don’t! I bet NHL GMs don’t either, which would lead to all sorts of unpredictable results when they sat down to work deals. Plus imagine tracking the ups and downs of a rival team, knowing your team owned their first rounder a half-decade from now. It would be great.

Granted, junior hockey isn’t the NHL. Draft picks aren’t as valuable, and teams go through cyclical and relatively predictable stages of contending that make trading away future picks a little easier. But it’s not like an NHL GM has never thought of acquiring future picks. In fact, it was pretty much the trademark of the best GM ever, Montreal Canadiens’ legend Sam Pollock. He built a dynasty out of ripping off dumb teams, stockpiling their future picks and then turning them into guys like Guy Lafleur and Larry Robinson.

If Pollock could do it, couldn’t the GM of your favorite team? Well, no, because they’re not as smart as Sam Pollock. But you think they’d be willing to try. And even a dumbed-down version of the Pollock strategy could probably break a few logjams.

So be it resolved, let’s stretch out the event horizon for NHL trades. You can’t give up your precious third-round pick this year? Fine, give us your second from 2021. You probably won’t even be the GM by then, so let’s get this done and hit the bar.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

With the trade deadline looming, GMs all across the league are sitting in conference rooms with their front office staff, plotting out the moves that will impact their teams for years to come.

But what do those highly private conversations sound like? As it turns out, we have at least some idea, thanks to one team that figured it would be a good idea to film a crucial decision and put it on the internet. Spoiler alert: It would not be the only bad decision they made that week.

It’s June 29, 2013, with the draft and free agency just days away. These fine folks you see here are the assembled brain trust of the Boston Bruins, who’ve just finished up their second Stanley Cup final appearance in three years. Everything is going well. Let’s see if we can pinpoint the moment that changes.

The star of our clip is, of course, then Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. He also looks really miserable throughout this entire clip, which makes me wonder what he must look like today with the Oilers. Has anyone seen him lately? Are we completely sure he hasn’t gone goth on us?

Things start off with what seems like a reasonably straightforward problem: The team wants to re-sign Nathan Horton, but as Chiarelli puts it, “we’re having difficulty.” That was true; Horton was basically stringing the Bruins along, waiting out the clock to get to free agency. We eventually found out he wasn’t happy with the Bruins waiting to negotiate, but at the time, the whole thing was a bit of a mystery.

Still, it’s Nathan Horton. Good player, but he’s not going to make or break your team. No need to panic, right?

Yeah, not so much. As Chiarelli explains, signing either Horton or a reasonable replacement will mean they’ll have to move a player, and the guy he’s focused on is Tyler Seguin. At this time, Seguin is 21 years old, three years removed from being the second overall pick, and has already led the Bruins in scoring. But he’s coming off a disappointing playoff run, and now he might be on the block. Chiarelli opens the floor to feedback.

First up is Keith Gretzky, making his second ever YouTube section appearance. He apparently isn’t much a Seguin fan, accusing him of not wanting to pay the price. He’s followed by director of player personnel Scott Bradley, who suggests Seguin isn’t physical enough and relies on his skill.

“Sound familiar?” Chiarelli asks, in a pretty transparent reference to Phil Kessel. “Yeah, it does,” Bradley replies, and then there’s a weird jump cut where something is clearly edited out. I’m assuming it was somebody else going “It sounds like Keith’s older brother, somebody remind me if he turned out to be any good?” and then being dragged out of the room and thrown down an elevator shaft.

We see a shot of Chiarelli talking to Don Sweeney, which ends up being a bit of ironic foreshadowing given how this all plays out. Meanwhile, we get a voiceover by Denis Leary, which is weird, because I don’t even remember Bill Hicks doing this bit.

Chiarelli calls “Paul,” which is Horton’s agent Paul Krepelka. We only hear one side of the conversation, but we can tell from Chiarelli’s reaction that he’s not hearing good news. “Done,” he tells the group. We then cut to a shot of Jim Benning making the exact same face that every Canucks fan made last week when they found out about Jim Benning’s extension.

We skip ahead a day, and now Chiarelli wants everyone to weigh in one a potential Seguin trade. Bradley’s up first, and this time he’s done being subtle; he just buries Seguin. So does Bruins legend and team president Cam Neely. If there’s a dissenting voice in the room, we don’t get to hear it—these guys clearly don’t like Seguin, and they want him gone.

I mean, can we just take a moment to appreciate how insane it is that this was all filmed and released? As a fan I love behind-the-scenes stuff and as media I want as much information as possible, but it’s crazy that the Bruins would let this see the light of day in a league that obsesses over bulletin board material. The only saving grace is that surely everyone involved learned their lesson and never let themselves be filmed talking trade ever again.

All that said, now I kind of want to know what the Kessel trade conversation was like in 2009. I’m guessing it was just Chiarelli taking off his jacket Ric Flair-style and elbow-dropping a photo of Kessel over and over.

Chiarelli goes to work the phone, talking to an unnamed GM about first round picks and prospects. That’s where our clip ends, although you can watch the rest of the episode here. That clip doesn’t give us any additional insight into the eventual trade, which saw the Bruins send Seguin to Dallas as part of a seven-player deal for Loui Eriksson and prospects. We just skip ahead to Eriksson meeting Cam Neely, touring the rink, and waving a watch in front of Benning while repeating “You will sign me to a terrible free agency contract in three years.”

The epilogue: Seguin immediately blossomed into a point-a-game star, and is the sixth-leading scorer in the league since the trade went down. Eriksson, who’s never been anyone’s idea of a physical player, lasted three years in Boston. All in all, not good.

So what happened to the brain trust in the meritocracy-based NHL? Well, three (Chiarelli, Benning and Sweeney) are currently running teams, and two more (Gretzky and Bradley) have since been promoted to assistant GM. But at least they all learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of trading a top pick from the 2010 draft.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you’d like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com.

DGB Grab Bag: Kessel’s Hot Dog Hockey Card, Shootouts, and a Puck to the Dome syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com