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Originally Posted by Five-hole

I don't know what you mean by "turn even non-relevent (sic) threads into the tanking (sic)" unless you're insinuating I'm peppering the board with thoughts on tanking (I'm not). I posted an offhand comment that seems to have upset you greatly, which is surprising, but I'm bored, so here we are.

I agree with most of the above, except your apparent definition of tanking. Tanking, if it occurs, occurs at the management level. Stripping your rosters of talent, moving veterans for futures, operating at or near the cap floor, and playing a great deal of rookies in prominent roles is evidence that management is not trying to win as many games as possible and is rather taking a "long view" (to be extremely euphemistic). Is this unconscionable? Not by any means -- it's the manager's job to assess short-term gain versus long-term pain, and vice versa, in making their decisions.

But if you're suggesting that all 30 managers have iced the best team they could this season, I have to strongly disagree.

This is where your missing the point becomes legendary. If you can find me any statement I made where I suggest that a top pick is undesirable as a consequence of the mere fact of the possibility of injuries, I will happily retract everything. I think I've made it pretty clear that making a top pick your objective is a poor long-term strategy as a strategy in and of itself. Sometimes abject failure is the inevitable consequence of the cycle of success/failure that nearly every franchise endures, other times it's pretty clear that management guts the team and relies on a top pick to be the savior.

If you want to have a long talk about Nathan Horton's injury, go right ahead. I fail to see how I've impeded that conversation. But "tanking", and to a greater extent the plenitude of talent at the top end of this year's draft, is a nearly ubiquitous conversation. I, apparently, exceeded your tolerance threshold for it and I sincerely* apologize.

* Not sincere

lol