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Oct 7Liked by Neil Paine

I so thoroughly enjoy your hockey coverage, and Ovi will be a terrific story that ESPN will somehow find a way to bungle and not cover appropriately....but, I have to tell you, it's only October and I'm already exhausted with the saturation bombing coverage in the press of the two Connors - Bedard in particular.

Not to be overly negative, but I have to vent. Beyond the annoying location flag on the television screen wherever he goes like some overbearing helicopter parent, he was "plenty solid" with 22 goals and 61 points, despite preseason predictions of over 100 points and one of the greatest rookie seasons "of all time." In the wake of his season, I am moved to quote Richard Masur as the unforgettable Princeton recruiter Bill Rutherford in Risky Business, "your stats are very respectable, you've done some solid work here. But its not quite Ivy League now is it?"

No it is not.

In fact, I'm not sure I don't vote for Brock Faber for the Calder even though voters ridiculously made up their minds in October before a puck was dropped. I know, I know, I'm incessantly reminded that Connor broke his jaw as some sort of excuse for his meh season...but Faber reportedly skated for two months with broken ribs and never missed a game. Why should I not be more impressed with that?

Thankfully, this mania will end when the Playoffs begin in 6 months...until then, thanks for letting me vent.

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Hey, I am just grateful I wasn’t on the Bedard beat with his statistical rookie ranking in GAR last season in addition to the Caitlin Clark beat, lol. I could have been getting even more hate for hyped rookies not looking better by the metrics…

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(That being said, I think all of these hyped young generational talents tend to figure it out quickly and do a lot better in Year 2 than Year 1. I’m reminded of the leap Kevin Durant made in his metrics between those seasons, etc. And some of that also comes with improved supporting casts for players forced to adapt to the pros on horrible teams. So that’s all why I think Bedard will be a lot better this year — and again, he was fine last season, just not perfect.)

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Oct 7Liked by Neil Paine

A tough 12 months for sure😀

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