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Clearly Ovechkin will be there but when did you hear Sedin was going to be playing for the Caps or Pens next season? If this was about the most profitable teams in the NHL the Leafs would be playing in the 2011 Winter Classic. lol wut? You needed to read the replies here to question that? What percentage of the world population do you assume has worked with a national marketing campaign?

Agreed. But that's why I'm glad of three things about this situation: 1. Howard isn't up for until next summer-- he'll have to do just as well next year. 2. Howard will be an RFA (I believe) 3. Ken Holland is the best GM in the NHL.

Howard's 3rd overall in GAA on a team that's in the bottom half of the league in goals scored. That's significant because it means that Jimmy's won a lot of close games. He's also had only 2 shutouts. Shut outs basically allow goalies to have an equal number of s*** games. Let's say you have four shut-outs. You want a GAA of 2.00. That means you can now afford to have 4 games where you let in 4 goals and the shut-outs will even it out. This is why a terrible peice of s*** goalie like Huet can get away with being raped 8-3 by teams. He gets blown out but his defense saves his ass more often than not by severely limiting shots while his offense scores enough goals to completely break the backs of his opponents. The result? A good GAA but mediocre Sv%. That's why it's usually so important to have an elite GAA and an elite Sv% if you want to be called an elite goalie. Look at the list of shut-outs: http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20102ALLGAGAll&sort=shutOuts&viewName=savePercentageLeaders Notice how many goalies there have lots of shut-outs and mediocre GAA? Anderson and Rinne both have 7 shut outs but they've got GAA greater than 2.50. That means they've been blown out far more often than a guy like Jimmy Howard. Anyone remember the link someone put up on here that had Howard listed as the most statistically consistent goalie in the NHL? That's one reason why. He's got a lame number of SO but a brilliant Sv% and GAA. If I had more info on how many 1 goal and 2 goal games he has I'd be able to break it down in a graph. If anyone knows where I can find that I can throw a quick spreadsheet together. In conclusion I'd like to say this-- Jimmy Howard is the s***.

Only one acting like an 11yr old here is you, bro. Sorry.

I don't generally complain about Crosby threads. Maybe do some research before you try and derail another thread... maybe? Of course, I don't have to explain that this thread is about Ken Daniels and NOT Sidney Crosby, no matter how badly you want it to be.

It was mentioned in the GDT but I'm convinced that Ken Daniels referred to Sidney Crosby as "Cindy Crosby" in the post-game. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that Ken and Mickey were holding back giggles after he said it. Maybe it was a legitimate accident, but I'm convinced he said it. Either way... awesome stuff.

I certainly think that other teams deserve a shot in the Winter Classic. Ideally, everyone would get a shot at it before seconds started going around. But like I mentioned, the NHL is a business and as a result their decisions are going to be dictated by what will be the most profitable for the league. Ever since Crosby came into the league, the NHL has been exploiting his talent to develop a fan base of people who normally would be uninterested in hockey. Whether that has been successful or not, Crosby is now beyond celebrity status, and when his name comes up, whether you love him or hate him (and you either absolutely love him or absolutely hate him), you're paying attention to what context his name was brought up in. This is evident in every hockey forum and blog that has been in existence since he was drafted. That makes him marketable. Whether for you personally he's being marketed as a villain or a hero is up to you, but he still gets people's attention and that's all the NHL wants. Ovechkin does the same thing. He get's people's attention, and one of the NHL's best moves IMO was marketing him as Crosby's rival, especially after they noticed how people responded to Crosby being shoved down our throats. If you love Crosby, you're going to hate Ovechkin and take joy in his short-comings. If you hate Crosby, then you're going to love Ovechkin and take joy whenever he can put Crosby in his place. This has pretty much become law in hockey fandom (yes there are exceptions, but I'm pretty comfortable guessing that close to 99% of hockey fans fit this bill). That's why a Crosby/Ovechkin battle is pretty much guaranteed to break profit records for a Winter Classic, and to capitalize on this opportunity, the NHL wants to get this WC out of the way before the rivalry subsides or one team falls from their peak. Additionally, with Crosby making a name for himself as the enemy of the US by winning the Olympic gold, its much more likely that the NHL could pick up a number of folks who turned into the gold-medal game but are otherwise not hockey fans, because they heard this Ovechkin guy stands for everything Crosby doesn't and might enjoy retribution in some manner. Finally, I'm guessing NBC may have requested this match-up specifically because they have their own ratings to worry about. I wouldn't be surprised if NBC even threatened to discontinue its partnership with the NHL if this match-up doesn't happen. Bettman seems to take it up the ass when it comes to NBC, and I assume they're holding TV coverage over his head.

I just thought I'd point out a feature on NHL.com called "Three Star Standings". The three stars being referred to are the ones the NHL assigns once a day based on individual performances in every game that occurred on that day. This is not related to the three stars you see on individual boxed scores (the ones announced at the rinks). For any given day of the season there can only be one 1st, 2nd and 3rd star. These are the three stars you see on the NHL homepage. Here are the total standings so far this year. Note that Jimmy Howard is 9th overall in total three star points (where 1st star is worth 30pts, 2nd star 20pts and 3rd star 10pts). Also note that he's been selected as the 1st star by the NHL three times this year. The leader in that respect has 5 stars. The next closest rookie to Jimmy in those standings is Niemi(who's 15th). None of Howard's Calder competitors are listed in the top 30. Interesting. Howard will likely end the season with 62 starts so it's not unthinkable. Also note that Thomas won the Vez even though he only played 54 games last season.

Completely different. I wasn't aware of the injuries Bertuzzi has struggled with on and off over the last couple of years. Iginla does not know how to play in the defensive zone, he has become really weak along the boards, turns over the puck almost every shift, and he can't skate anymore. The only thing he seems to have left is his ability to pass and his quick release (best in the NHL). Unfortunately his ability to pass usually leads to interceptions because he lacks the hockey sense he once had. I still love the guy, but it just isn't the same Iginla. He is not a powerforward, he is a sniper that has no one to pass him the puck, and even if he did he would still turn the puck over. I'm hoping it's an off year, I'm hoping it has all to do with a lack of number one center (confidence, motivation). It would be great seeing him go to Boston. Edit: Despite my absolute hate for Franzen, Holmstrom, Kronwall, and Stuart; I would probably cheer for the Wings if Iginla played for them.

Unbelievable... all the trolls on this site and you are the only person I've ever considered blocking. You're fanaticism is that powerful. I'm not sure if I should be impressed or creeped out. Seriously, if you can't take 2 minutes to appreciate a funny occurance, I don't know what to tell you.

...and you're so much more mature by coming in here and calling everyone out on it.

blueadams should have his own sub-forum for his line threads. There is NO way Miller sits. Not a chance.

I'd personally be more amazed if he said "Crysby" or something to that nature. Cindy and Sidney don't sound that much different so it'd be easy to hear something else, especially if you wanted to hear it.

Like I said before, if he had played lights out at the start it would have definitely boded well for him despite his games started, but he was still a huge question mark up until late November. And it helped Thomas that he had virtually no competition that year. Howard has Bryz and Miller to fend off. Not to mention Brodeur (reputation) and Luongo (hype).

Honestly you guys need to stop crying about Pittsburgh getting the attention when the reality is Pittsburgh brings in ratings. As does Washington. As does Detroit. That's why they get the majority of NBC matchups. Devils: Horrible TV ratings would not help bring in revenue for the WC Minnesota: Too many people translate the Wild to being a trap team which wouldn't be popular Any sunbelt team: No. Personally for the sake of rivalries I would prefer a Rags/Devils matchup before this, but at the same time this is going to bring in viewers (including a good number of people here who say they will boycott the game) and the more viewers the better.

Try watching Chris Drury now compared to Chris Drury in Buffalo. It can happen.

I like the idea of putting Ericsson on the 2nd PP for Williams. He has a cannon that never gets the opportunity to be fired. Yea, I'm waiting for Cleary to step it up, however he seems to be a clutch player, so we'll see where he is in the playoffs.

Osgood and Hasek faced the lowest number of shots per game of any goalies in the league. Howard played behind a team that is less stacked and was riddled with injuries. When the Red Wings faced tons of injuries in February of '08, the Wings lost an atrocious number of games in the time before the injured players returned. Meanwhile, Howard's play did not suffer.

My $.02: I think what we are all missing is that since Babs has come to Detroit never has he had a goalie that has won so many games for the team (not the team winning them for the goalie). While the 07-08 season had some killer netminding, the defense was stronger, and the offense was on a different level. This year the Wings have won games purely due to Howie stepping it up. I was the BIGGEST Howard basher on this site, but, his play has won me over. He has been money most games, whereas in 07-08 there were some games where I was pretty sure Ozzy/Hasek were playing solitaire for most of the game. So I don't think it was a veiled shot at Ozzy, I really do believe this year goaltending has been the best we've had in years.

absolute bulls*** and just adds to the already stockpiling evidence that Bettman favors Pittsburgh.

Miller sits for Abdelkader? Not a chance. Look at who's made more impact this year. Abs went back down to GR and the Wings haven't missed a beat. Miller was the catalyst that completely turned our PK around.

Jimmy "give me the ******* Calder, *****!" Howard.

No, Howard the Duck. Just like the great George Lucas movie.

Leave it on the ice, or take it outside... security really needed to stop this, but people who fight like this at a sporting event are ******* - if you can't cheer your team on like ADULTS, stay home. period. Just on the fight alone - yes unfair, yes stupid for the Ducks fan not walking away in someone ELSE's arena WHILE on lower ground... idiots.