Blue Bullet Brad

Father, Oilers and Esks fan, Blogger and analyst on hockey prospects & the NHL draft.
@bluebulletbrad.bsky.social

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

BLUE BULLET 2025 NHL ENTRY DRAFT RANKINGS https://t.co/0LoQrB1Yz7

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@NHLFoley Good luck finding a management team interested in hearing you out 15 years ago.

Just look at MacT's recent comments about Dellow's time in Edmonton.

[The Mug NHL @TheMugNHL]

Ivar Stenberg’s height (5’11) is a concern for some teams around the NHL. Per, Cam Robinson.

H/T @PuckEmpire

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

How do they measure more entertaining games?

How much pressure does the league put on referees to manage the games to stay close and competitive?

[NHL News @PuckReportNHL]

Gary Bettman on the current playoff format: “Statistically: Closer games, more games, more competitive games, and more entertaining games.”

[Kevin McCurdy @KevinMcCurdy]

Was Werenski?

Bouchard: 82:21-74-95/+25
Werenski: 75:22-59-81/+7

The Norris has been a scoring trophy since forever, except when it doesn't please the voters (see: Tyson Barrie).

Bouchard had more GWG (5 v 2), more OT goals (3 v 0), a higher overall SH%, nevermind his advanced stats.

Also Werenski went 2-4-6 through his last 13 games. Bouchard was 2-15-17 through the same period. There's a narrative that he choked on the home stretch and was a contributor to his team missing the playoffs, which is a bit hard to dispute, though obviously it's a team sport and not his fault alone.

Bouchard played 147 mins PK, with 7.3 GA/60.
Werenski played 91 mins PK with 8.56 GA/60

Bouchard played 298 mins of PP, with 12.48 GF/60
Werenski played 227 mins of PP, with 7.65 GF/60

At 5v5:

Bouchard was 55.4% CF, 56.4% SF, 57.6% GF and 54.1% xGF
Werenski was 53.5% CF, 53.1% SF, 52.5% GF, and 53.7% xGF.

In addition to all of this, the Norris over the past 40 years (with some exceptions, sure) has been awarded to the defensive scoring leader (right or wrong is irrelevant).

I understand why he won, but the fact Evan finished 4th given the above shows more about the PHWA voters than it does about the players.

If the Norris was a all around d-man trophy as it actually says on the tin, Seider would have won it by a landslide.

So considering above, which "all around" catagory is Werenski beating Bouchard in?

FWIW, I think Werenski was probably the right choice, but Bouchard finishing 4th is a joke.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@tribecalledrags

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@TheLineBlender I am working out the kinks with the new draft model. Got to fine-tune the Euro equivalenies.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@MorganLaidler @KevinHarberg I am not sure the exact year, probably around 88, give or take a year, but I was getting a penny a caterpillar from my parents going around the house. I made a few bucks.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@rangerbob94 D-0: 0.85
D+1: 1.31

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

Sam O'Reilly
D+0: 0.82 Pts/GP
D+1: 1.15 Pts/GP
D+2: 1.27 Pts/GP (1.54 w/ Kitchener)

Scott Laughton
D+0: 0.83 Pts/GP
D+1: 1.14 Pts/GP
D+2: 1.61 Pts/GP

[C. Hill @kirkception]

Hockey fans when they see a 20 year old prospect barely score at over a point/game in junior

[Jonathan Willis @JonathanWillis]

Evan Bouchard was +14/-0 for Canada before Lindgren's headshot knocked him out of the tournament. Pretty decent case that it cost them a medal.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@WScafemirror @uh_who_are_you https://t.co/YceiHi4ytU

[Ray @menard_ray]

Okay, let’s start there.

YYC and YEG are not simply “Alberta land leased to the feds.” The major airport model in Canada is federal land leased to local airport authorities under long-term ground leases. Those authorities are separate not-for-profit corporations, not Alberta departments.
Bases are not that simple either. CFB Cold Lake, Suffield, Wainwright, and Edmonton are federal defence assets administered by DND, with land, buildings, runways, ranges, equipment, environmental liabilities, and operational obligations attached.

National parks are federal Crown lands administered through the federal parks framework, not generic provincial parcels.

So if the claim is “Alberta owns all this and just leases it to Ottawa,” then show the title documents, leases, transfer instruments, improvement ownership, and liability allocation. That was @jkenney's point. Location does not settle ownership, jurisdiction, compensation, or operational continuity.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@johnwtomkinson @jkenney https://t.co/F6UV3QcKRf

[Ray @menard_ray]

I think this avoids dealing with the complexity @jkenney is pointing to. The issue is not that federal lands, buildings, parks, bases, airports, or other assets could never be transferred or negotiated. The issue is that they are not all the same kind of asset, and they cannot be treated as though they sit on one clean spreadsheet where Alberta’s population share automatically solves the problem.

The question is not just how many square kilometres appear on each side of a ledger. The question is what those lands are, what legal status they have, what obligations attach to them, and who has authority over them during and after any negotiated separation.

National parks are not generic federal assets that can simply be offset against other federal assets elsewhere in Canada. Banff, Jasper, Waterton, Elk Island, and Wood Buffalo are specific places with ecological, cultural, tourism, treaty, infrastructure, and international significance. Saying Alberta has 12.2% of the population, therefore Alberta should receive 12.2% of Canada’s assets, does not by itself settle what happens to those parks. Land is not always a fungible financial asset.

The same issue applies to military bases. The question is not just whether Alberta’s population share roughly matches the land area of bases located here. The question is what happens to the assets, personnel, equipment, liabilities, environmental obligations, defence infrastructure, strategic requirements, and national-security interests tied to those facilities. Some of that might be negotiable, but it is not resolved by a population-share calculation.

The reserve land issue is even more complex. Reserve lands are not simply federal parcels that Alberta and Canada can divide between themselves in an asset-and-liability negotiation. They exist within a constitutional and treaty framework, and First Nations are not just another category of Alberta residents whose interests can be absorbed into a provincial majority vote. Treaty 6, Treaty 7, Treaty 8, section 35 rights, federal fiduciary obligations, consultation, consent, and the political position of Indigenous nations would all have to be dealt with directly.

None of this means these questions are impossible to resolve. It means they are much harder than the reply suggests. Legal authority, land title, sovereignty, asset value, treaty obligations, environmental liability, and political legitimacy do not collapse neatly into one “fair share” calculation.

Maybe Canada and Alberta could negotiate land, assets, liabilities, parks, bases, airports, federal buildings, and Indigenous obligations in a way that worked. But that is the argument that has to be made. It is not enough to say Alberta has 12.2% of the population, therefore the problem is basically reduced to a small residual land dispute.

A spreadsheet can help divide value. It cannot settle sovereignty, treaty rights, jurisdiction, environmental liability, military continuity, or international recognition.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@HockeySeanie Almost all short players are weeded out way before the CHL. The ones that make it to the CHL and are drafted are just as likely to turn out as taller players.

That's why in the last 25 years, 6/16 forwards 5'7 or less have played 160+ games in the NHL.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

Height of forwards is not statistically significant at the NHL level (or CHL level or AHL level). This hypothesis is not supported by empirical data.

[Bleed Oil Blue @BleedOilBlue]

When your top 3 point leaders are under six feet it's always going to be hard for them to win the cup.

Montréal Canadiens

Nick Suzuki (5'11") — 101 points
Cole Caufield (5'8") — 88 points
Lane Hutson (5'10") — 78 points

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@CampbellOver900 Clearly, I am not.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

I've been debating with a friend over separation. I wanted to see what AI thought of our debating styles.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@SportsThor I am probably not the best person to try to win over the hearts and minds of rural Albertans. Growing up in Bon Accord, where there was only one other boy to receive honors in Grade 9 in my year, I developed some preachy and condescending habits that I still fall into.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@SportsThor More so from my Twitter friends.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@FowleBall15 My most recent model found weight to be a significant factor for career pts/gp for forwards. Lighter is better.

[Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981]

@BleedOilBlue You can wish it into existence all you want.