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It's not JUST about points either - Punching another guy in the junk from behind, taking all kinds of other cheapshots, not shaking hands and overall flopping around and acting like he's been shot with a shotgun over the smallest shots, just to return to the ice 2 shifts later... he portrays the game in a poor light and is a HORRIBLE role model for young players - THAT is not a face the league should market... hell, even though I can't stand him, how about Getzlaf? Even he plays the game with more honor - close to the same PPG, has a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and is young as well... or even Bobby Ryan... my point is, there are plenty of others in the league that would represent the league better...

Two years ago I was a person that would vehemently argue against conspiracies against one team or another. However, my views have changed after watching the last two years of playoffs. I don't think there's an outright directive to favor anyone, but I definitely believe there is an unspoken rule to favor some teams and players. Kinda like when Jordan was playing. He could get away with murder. Lebron and Kobe would be similar examples. Remember the Ducks last year and what they did to the Wings? The disallowed goals, the phantom holding penalties, etc... Then the famous six men on the ice for the pens for over 30 seconds that wasn't called at a CRUCIAL moment of the series. Tonight's game is a perfect example of the league trying to make games more interesting. The Habs go up by four and suddenly the Pens get four straight power plays. Montreal hasn't had a power play since the first period. I saw a post on lgw after one of the Pens games about how quickly the Pens get a power play after the other team goes up by a goal. All of that can't be a coincidence, imo. So, is there a conspiracy? Probably not. Is there an effort to try to keep games close and to give the golden boy an opportunity to be a winner? Yes, I definitely think that's happening.

Ovechkin got a lot of crap from the media for losing to Montreal, despite scoring 10 points in that series. It clearly wasn't his fault that the rest of his teammates choked in that series but everyone pointed the finger at him. The media kept talking about how Crosby has surpassed Ovechkin as a player because of the Caps loss and that Crosby is a better leader and all that s***. Well, if I'm not mistaken, Crosby scored 5 points in this series and only 1 goal. He choked big time in this series, and didn't play nearly as well as Ovechkin did against this same team, scoring around half as many points. I want to hear the hockey media blame Crosby for this loss the same way they did Ovechkin. I know that probably won't happen, but it should. He was completely invisible here just like against us in the Finals the last two years.

At least he actually carries himself like a captain and plays the game with some honor... I REALLY don't want to see the Hawks win the cup, but Toews would be a drastic step up in terms of marketing... I would like to see them market Stamkos more to be honest, it just sucks he's in such a crap market...

He is viewed as smug, arrogant and classless... when citizens of his OWN country burn his picture, in the same year that he was on a gold medal Olympic team , I think it speaks volumes of how he is viewed by majority of NHL fans... The NHL needs to hitch it's horse to someone else, and FAST, while it still can...

How about marketing an American player since most of the teams come from the states?

Agreed... for his salary, he should chip in at least 30+pts and be a PK'er, along with the enforcer role...

Wasn't he a free agent last season? I feel like he's way overpaid for his 22 points.

What's unclassy about using a bear bong? Plus he's linemates with 20 cent so at this point he'd have to be revealed as a puppy rapist to look unclassy. Find me some dirt on Stamkos. This game is at least an interesting diversion for the offseason.

I can only blame him for Williams. I don't recall one person being excited about it. Wish we got Moen instead...

Keep in mind, Getzlaf plays in the West. Much harder to rack up points. esteef

I don't really see an issueswith using Crosby as the face of the game. Probably one of the few players (obviously Ovie is another) in the league who's a "name" to those people who don't really follow hockey.

Only one that was a true bust was Williams. I wish Holland went after Moen instead of Williams. I think it would have made us tougher to play against. Williams made us easier to play against when he was in the lineup, as he's not a 3rd or 4th liner.

And using a low-class player as the face of the league does not attract new fans... it just makes it look like more of a mickey mouse operation... I would easily argue that Crosby isn't even the best player on his own team, let alone the league and also, he averages more ice time than any other forward in the league not named Kovalchuk... you can argue this all day long, but he is NOT worthy of being the face of the league. period.

Neither. Babcock clearly meant that Hudler is worth 70 points in the standings. Expect the wings to finish the year with about 170 points next year. Now some of you Hudler haters out there might say "but that isn't even mathmatically possible" well lets just wait and see who is eating crow after next season.

I think this says more about the fans in Montreal than anything else.

If you get Kovalchuk, that's what Holland will need; a bunch of $.500 - $.600k players to fill holes. (goodbye depth) Holland isn't interested in signing another long-term deal. He could of had Hossa and Franzen by moving some players last year. Especially at the cap hit Hossa took in Chicago. Holland is looking for support guys. - Source Using Hossa two years ago doesn't help your argument. Do you remember the circumstances how we got Hossa? Do you remember Zetterberg and Franzen's salary that year? Like I said before, Holland told mlive that whoever signs first (between Hossa and Franzen) gets to stay in Detroit. Franzen took the deal, Hossa did not. Holland could have found a way to re-sign Hossa at the cap hit he took in Chicago by moving some players/salary, but Holland wasn't giving out anymore long-term contracts after Franzen got his deal. Seriously? m'kay I'll finish this off with a Holland quote he made just two days ago: "We're looking for support guys. We'd like to get a little grittier on the fourth line, get somebody who's a pain to play against, who'll get in on the forecheck. Someone we can put in there in the playoffs and he's got enough skill and he's a factor because of his physical play." Sure glad Holland is our GM! Do.Not.Want.Kovalchuk!

Is it sad that the whole time I'm reading that article, I can't help but impose Keating's weird cadence? Words... pause..... woooooooooords, pause..... word.

Thank you, all of you, from the bottom of my heart for all the well wishes. I AM home from the hospital now recovering from a bout of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever -- yeah, I had the same reaction, too -- that left me laid up in Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak for over a week. Plenty of times I felt like a patient on House -- apparently cases of this illness are extremely rare (only 800 Americans get diagnosed with it a year) -- as I had at least a dozen different doctors and infectious disease specialists looking at me during my stay. It appears as though I fell victim to a tick bite sometime two weeks ago as I ventured back home and helped plant around 175 saplings in my parents' wooded area behind the house. About a week after that I started to get an intense fever and ultimately broke out in red spots everywhere (palms, arms, legs, feet -- everywhere). That and a fever hitting 102.9F freaked me out sufficienly enough to get me into the ER. There it seemed the primary worry was meningitis, so I went through the battery of tests for that (CT scan, xrays, standard blood/urine tests) -- even the dreaded lumbar puncture. Yes, they are horrible. I didn't have the stiffness in the neck or other classic meningitis symptoms, which left a lot of people stumped. After I was admitted my fever continued to rise, spiking at around 104.5F sometime mid-last week. I was on a cooling blanket for a large portion of that time while I was fed a steady supply of antibiotics. Basically, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever had come into focus because all of the tests I'd undergone basically ruled everything out. I started turning the corner over the weekend (the biggest hurdle was managing my own temperature without the assistance of the cooling blanket) and after a few days of that (and some improving lab results) I was discharged around noon on Tuesday. Naturally this whole thing has left me embarassingly weak. For the first four days of the illness I was unable to sleep and had to be put on pain and sleep meds just so my body could get some semblence of rest. I'm going to spend the next few days trying to ramp my strength back up and hopefully things will return to normal. I do have to say that I'm thankful I didn't decide to Wikipedia this illness while I was still admitted. I really didn't have any idea how serious this whole thing was (or could've been), but the bevvy of "Jesus, Matt, you really scared the crap out of us" comments I've heard now that I've been home have really shed some light on this whole thing. Of course, it was painful watcing the the Wings' ultimate playoff demise while laid up in a hospital, but I did give some of the nurses a good laugh with my constaint pained "yyyesssss!" and totally weak fistpumps during the first period of Game 4. They all thought I was in pain but I had to grimace out a "nooo... I'm happ-pppy!" Again -- thank you to ALL OF YOU -- for your patience and well wishes. I'll be back to 100% shortly!

Yeah, that's also another reason. I just don't like how Ovechkin was thrown under the bus, and everyone seemed to say convincingly that Crosby was better than him.

Holland said, as of now, he plans to make qualifying offers to all his restricted free agents, thereby retaining their rights. The list includes forwards Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller and Mattias Ritola. That constitutes the bulk of their third and fourth lines.

What are they gonna do with the dilemma called Jakub Kindl? a 15th overall with maximum years in the AHL and still is a liability and a turnover machine... what a fail pick

Brendan Smith finds your lack of faith disturbing.

Cheapshots? Are we talking about the same player? When I think of cheapshots I think of Ovechkin putting a player into the boards from behind, or kneeing other players. You know actually plays that could end careers? Crosby isn't an angel on the ice, but hockey is a physical and emotional game I'd be worried if a player didn't show any emotion. I hate the diving, but it's up to the NHL to enforce it not the players. Hockey is a competitive game and you have to use every advantage you can. Don't act like Crosby is the pioneer of embellishing. Getzlaf and Ryan are not in the same class as Crosby/Ovechkin are. As a league you have to market your very BEST players. I don't even really care about marketing, I just like watching hockey and watching Ovechkin/Crosby play is quite a treat and I'm happy to leave it at that. Marketing is about attracting new fans, not to satisfy existing fans that's what the game itself is for.

We hardly got 70 points from our top 2 players this year. Babcock is reaching too far here. At least he didn't say he expected 10 fighting majors out of him this season also. Eva, why did you have to give me a minus for dogging on your boy? Anyone who expects Hudler to score 70 points has never seen him in a Red Wings uniform. Last time he was here, he was disappearing in the playoffs after Mike Brown laid him out.