Alain Vigneaults first real test as coach of the Flyers comes today.

Thats because his team, a team that appeared to be playing a different brand of hockey through the first three games than anything we had grown accustomed to in the mediocrity of the past seven years, had a relapse in Calgary, losing to the Flames 3-1.

An optimist can sit here and make an excuse for the Flyers after all, it was their fourth game in four different time zones and all, and the travel has been brutal.

But lets be real for a second. They had two days off between games. They didnt skate Tuesday morning. The flight from Vancouver to Calgary is a brief one. Using travel as an excuse for bad play in this instance isnt acceptable.

It would almost be OK if the Flyers messed the bed tonight in Edmonton because of travel. Back-to-back games, end of a road trip, blah, blah, blah.

But thats not what happened (yet, anyway). Instead, the Flyers were ambushed by a superior Calgary team who has visions of Stanley Cup glory this season dancing in their heads.

All the good feelings of a fast start to the season were wiped out in one ugly game. The 2019-20 Flyers, who garnered a lot of early takes about how they were a different team, for one night became the 2018-19 Flyers. Or was it the 2017-18 Flyers? Maybe it was the 2015-16 version?

Screw it, they all run together.

But thats what it was. The Flyers had no answer for Calgarys pressure. They iced the puck 10 times through two periods. They couldnt get the puck out of their zone. Brian Elliott, who got the start against one of his former teams, was under assault all night.

Elliott was one of the few Flyers who stood out, playing an excellent game in net and keeping the Flyers in the contest, undeservedly so. Elliott made 35 saves. The Flames outshot the Flyers 38-22.

Matt Niskanen scored the lone goal for the Flyers on a pass from Travis Konecny on a delayed penalty. Both of those guys have been really good for the Flyers.

You know who hasnt been good?

Jake Voracek. Claude Giroux. Ivan Provorov. Shayne Gostisbehere.

Its kind of hard to win when those guys arent playing up to snuff, eh?

Through four games, the Flyers four highest-paid forwards (Giroux, Voracek, Kevin Hayes and James van Riemsdyk) have combined for one goal and one assist (on the same goal, a flukey power play goal) and with the exception of van Riemsdyk, who has played well in a third line role before taking a few periods worth of shifts on Girouxs line in the last couple games, those guys havent looked great at even strength either.

And while Niskanen, who is the second-highest paid defenseman on the team, has played well. The highest-paid (Provorov) and third-highest paid (Gostisbehere) have looked a lot like the inconsistent duo they were a season ago.

Thats six of your eight highest-paid players not contributing. Thats a bad formula for ultimate success.

Which is why the challenge now falls on Vigneault to show his coaching chops.

He benched Voracek in the third period against Vancouver for what he called uncharacteristic play. He then opened the game against Calgary with Voracek on the third line with Scott Laughton and Carsen Twarynski while van Riemsdyk took his place with Giroux and Hayes.

Voracek was reunited with the top line (I beg to differ on that label, because Sean Couturier, Oskar Lindblom and Konecny have played like the top line for the Flyers in every aspect through four games), in the third period, but it still had no benefit.

Voracek finished the game without a shot on goal.

So, was the message sent? Maybe. But it didnt net a positive result.

As such, Vigneault needs to find the next step for this Flyers team. Making an example of a veteran skill player who also happens to where one of the leadership letters on his sweater is not just a message to that player, in this case Voracek, but to the entire team that everyone will be held accountable to the team for the way they play.

Its a good message, and one that Vigneault hopes to build on as the season progresses.

But what if the Flyers top-end talent just isnt good enough?

Thats not to say its bad. Giroux still remains one of, if not the most underrated player in the NHL for the past decade. Voracek is bound to snap out of it and put up a 60-plus point season, as per usual. Its only a matter of time before van Riemsdyk scores. He actually wasnt bad against Calgary, leading the Flyers in shots with six (of the 22, Think about that for a second) David Ridditch had his number, but JVR has played well so far.

Hayes needs to get going, or the fan base will turn on him quickly. The contract he signed might end up being an albatross for the Flyers. Ironically, hes the only big money forward with a goal.

On the defensive side though, its hard to put a finger on whats up with Provorov. Gostisbehere has his limitations we all know that. So, if hes not producing offensively, then hes mostly dead weight. That ones pretty cut and dry. But Provorov has the potential to grow into an enigma. He should be developing into one of the best young defensemen in the NHL and maybe he still is but there have certainly been more hurdles than expected on that path.

So what can Vigneault do?

There are a number of coaching tactics he can employ. Lineup juggling. Deployment on the ice. Calling players out. Healthy scratches. System changes. Hard practices.

Some are more drastic than the others.

What Vigneault chooses to do, will be the most interesting thing to see and very likely will give us an early-season look at how he handles a habitually inconsistent team.

For more Flyers coverage, check outSnow The Goalie Radio Mondays from 5-6PM on 610 ESPN Philadelphia and subscribe to Snow The Goalie: A Flyers Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, GooglePlay, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Also be sure to tune intoThe Press Row Show as Anthony and Russ live stream during pregame and the first and second intermission breaks of every Flyers home game live from press row of the Wells Fargo Center via the Crossing Broad Facebook page and Twitter.

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Time Machine Flyers: Team Looks A Lot Like Last Year in Loss to the Flames - Crossing Broad

The dam on the Chevrolet Corvette C8 embargo broke in a big, big way yesterday, with Motor Trend shoving their story in their remaining readers inboxes around 5:30 am yesterday. Everybody else who had early access to the car (Road & Track, Car and Driver, The Digital Publication Formerly Known As Autoweek, etc.) quickly followed suit, and by the end of the day you had all the Corvette news you could handle splayed all over the internet like Hope Solo. Dont search that at work.

There were some good takes on the C8, including this excellent lap of Thunderhill by FOB (Friend of Bark) Travis Okulski. But then there was a very, very bad one by Car and Driver, entitled Race Track Hot Throwdown Of All Throwdowns: The C8 Tells The C7 To Step Outside! Okay, it wasnt actually called that, but it may as well as been. The idea was to compare the C8 Corvette Z51 againsta C7 Corvette Z51 on a racing surface and see which one was faster.

Ill save you the click and let you know that C/D discovered that the C8 could lap Grattan Raceway in 1:26.1, while the best the C7 could muster was a 1:27.0.The C8 was faster! All hail the new mid-engined Playskool disaster!

Except, of course, theyre wrong. Heres why.

First of all, lets talk about these lap times. Ive only been to Grattan once for a press launch, and I wasnt allowed to time when I was there, but those numbers seemed kinda slow. I checked the results for some SCCA and NASA races at Grattan in 2018 and 2019, and saw that the 1:27 range is about what you would expect from a, ahem,Spec Miata.C/D never explicitly states who was behind the wheel for these timed laps, but I think we can surmise that these werent the hottest of hot laps. Its not uncommon to see a Boss 302 Mustang in Touring trim make a complete circuit of Grattan in about 1:21.

Any time you introduce that much driver variable into a test somebody who cannot best a Spec Miata around Grattan in a C7 Corvette Z51 by more than a second I think that casts the validity of the test in doubt.I will give C/D credit for actually putting a timed lap on record, which a lot of mags are hesitant to do, but I cant say that theyve gotten anything close to the true potential of either of these cars on track.

However, lets assume that His Holiness Juan Pablo (Montoya) himself was behind the wheel for these laps. The C7 in this test was wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which are a fine tire if you happen to find yourself in an Avengers: Endgametype of time heist in the year 2012. The C8 was shod (when does one use the word shod other than discussing tires?) with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S, which are about six years newer tech. I hate linking to Motor Trend, but heres an example of how putting the Pilot Sport 4 S on a car previously equipped with Pilot Super Sports can affect lap times. MT found an improvement of 1.44 seconds per lap with the PS4S over a circuit of very similar length to Grattan, not to mention improved braking, acceleration, and lateral grip. I have the PS4S on my own Focus RS, and was able to take second place at the SCCA Time Trials Nationals in 2018 with them, competing against cars equipped with trackday-special tires like the Bridgestone RE-71R. In other words, the PS4S would easily be worth the delta in time between then C7 and the C8 in C/Ds test.

Therefore, one can rightfully make the assumption that a C7, equipped with modern tires, would absolutely be just as fast and potentially faster than the C8. Keep in mind, we are not talking about a suspension modification, or an engine tune we are talking about replacing the OEM tires with another set of tires that happen to be themost populartire for the C7 sold on tirerack.com.

As you can see, there is a whopping $11 difference between a set of Pilot Super Sports and Pilot Sport 4 S for the C7 Corvette Z51 not exactly a barrier to entry. Anybody who bought a C7 Z51 more than 24 months ago is likely already in the market for new tires, and wouldnt opt for the PSS over the PS4S in any scenario, unless they simply went to the dealer and said, Gimme more of what I already had. (Im absolutely certain this happens, of course.)

Thereal test would be to put the car in the hands of a capable driver, like Okulski, and equip the cars with the same tires. When the C7 comes out ahead, just remember that Bark told you so.

[Images: Tire Rack]

Related

Originally posted here:
Car and Driver Says the Corvette C8 Z51 Is Faster Than the C7, and They Are Wrong - The Truth About Cars

Before his weight loss journey, Brendan Romele can't remember the last time he was within a healthy size range.

He was always the "bigger" kid in class and reached a whopping 20st in weight during his twenties.

Then one day, Brendan decided it was time for a change and started his transformation by investing in a good scale, the Fitbit Aria 2.

The product synced up wirelessly with his daily fitness tracker allowing him to monitor his progress without manually entering it into the device's app.

He told Men's Health : "My mum suffered from heart failure at an early age that almost cost her life and my grandfather had diabetes.

"I began to track my weight and body fat percentage. When I started I was 285 pounds (20st 3lbs) with 37% body fat, which is in the obese range."

Brendan then tracked his steps by using a Fitbit Versa, where he made sure he hit a whopping 10,000 steps a day.

He quickly realised that fitting in physical activity didn't have to mean countless hours in the gym.

Brendan also began to take advantage of Fitbit's coaching program, which helped to motivate him with guided workouts.

His next step was to focus on his nutrition and started tracking his food by cooking for himself.

Four weeks into his routine, Brendan, who gorged around 4,000 calories a day before his journey, had already dropped 20lbs with his new routine.

Brendan found that losing weight eased his back pain and increased his lung capacity, which is when he started adding running into his routine.

He concluded: "A lot of friends and co-workers have told me how they have been inspired by my journey and helped them to lead a healthier life.

"I feel better, mentally and physically. I've noticed I have more energy compared to when I started."

View post:
Man drops an impressive 7st in one year after hitting 10,000 steps a day - Daily Star

Joel Peterson says he lacks the paranoia gene. The chairman of JetBlue Airways naturally trusts other people. And he believes that has led to his success.

It works, most of the time. Not only do people accomplish more in a collaborative spirit when seeking win-win outcomes than when setting up the paraphernalia of paranoia, but theyre simply much happier when dealing in a world of harmony and co-operation, he writes in The 10 Laws of Trust.

But trust can be betrayed. When that happens, he says it can cripple organizations and destroy lives. That happens enough that we need to know how to avoid betrayal and overcome the devastation it causes.

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He says placing trust in somebody who suffers from one of the following three unmet needs can be risky: A desperate need for security, a need to win at all costs, or a general malaise. Most betrayals are a joint venture, assisted by a failure to trust wisely in the first place or a willful blindness to something that is not right.

The first time youre betrayed, you cant imagine having been used by someone you trusted. At first, you hope it isnt so. Then you try to understand why and how you were duped. Finally, you accept if youre honest with yourself that you helped create the circumstances that led to the betrayal, he notes.

He says it helps to acknowledge some realities. First, betrayal at some point is likely. Given that, you must be vigilant. Also: Betrayal stings. Breaches of fiduciary trust feel worse than breaches of contract because we are being duped by somebody we trust. We turned over our trust to them, and they violated it. Even worse, somewhere in the deep recesses of our consciousness we fear that the betrayal was made possible by a suspension of caution on our part, he writes.

Reconciliation is difficult. Both parties must squarely face the breach of trust and agree to put it behind them. While the blame lies with the betrayer, the first step to recovery is to admit your own role. At the same time, recognize its likely you are not alone and others have been duped.

The seriousness of the breach will matter in some cases you just need to clear up a misunderstanding but in others the options are more limited and difficult because of the severity of the betrayal. Fix quickly what can be fixed, he advises. When a betrayal can be explained as a one-off stumble, perhaps born of extenuating circumstances, it may well be worth giving the betrayer another chance.

The steps toward restoration are demanding. Be realistic about the potential. Forgive, moving on unburdened by the weight of treachery. Dont consider trying to get even. Vengeance is rarely sweet. The downside of retribution is that it leads to self-absorption. A far more productive process is engaging in mourning the loss after which theres an opportunity to think through what happened and try to correct flaws, he says.

If restoration is possible, construct it carefully. For it to happen there must be a genuine recognition on the part of the betrayer of the breach and damage caused; an earnest apology that acknowledges the violation of trust, without rationalization, and a willingness to fix things.

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If an apology is given, accept it if the right conditions are in place, namely contrition and a relationship worth resuming. Youll probably know contrition when you see it, he says. If the relationship is worth picking up, accept the apology and embrace the future.

Trust is worth the risk, he concludes. But it is not without peril. People are human. Temptations abound. Trust can take a beating.

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Link:
How to move forward when someone at work betrays your trust - The Globe and Mail