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Mario, after you publicly jam a hockey stick up Matt Cooke's ass, then I'll entertain your ideas about dealing with teams with multi-suspension players. K? Awesome.

On the ice, Mario was an extremely talented player. In the owner's box, he's a little b*tch, with little b*tch suggestions, leading a team that includes such upstanding individuals as Matt Cooke. Somehow I doubt Mario has ever ventured down to give Mr. Cooke a good talking-to. He only gets ticked when one of his own players gets hurt; he couldn't care less when a goon on his own team brains someone else. Piss off, Mario. I'm starting to like the other Lemieux more than I like you.

I agree that concussions and head-shots are a problem, but your analysis is reaching. Hits to the head happen in hockey because you cannot wrap your arms around another player to remove them from the puck (like you can in football). As I asked, have you ever tried to make a north-south hit on someone with their head down without making head contact? It's not possible to do consistently, and protecting these players would result in them skating with their head down through the center of the ice because they can't be hit. I don't think this is explainable to someone who hasn't played the game at a competitive level (if you haven't), but it is one of the first things you learn in peewees. If you skate with your head down, you will get nailed. The Kronner- Havlat hit is an example of this. I would hate to see those hits removed. Fighting was around in hockey since the beginning of the sport, not since the 70's. Fighting is significantly down since the lockout. This is a totally different discussion, but I will never support the removal of fighting from hockey. Orr received a bad concussion from fighting earlier this year, and I don't see him calling for fighting to be removed either. I also never heard any comments suggesting the removal from Probert. If I drop my gloves and ditch my lid, I know the risk I'm taking- so do the NHL players. Just because other sports don't allow fighting, why shouldn't hockey? Fighting is a sport, so why do we need pucks or skates or sticks? I am being sarcastic, but it shows your logic is flawed. No one should bring a lawsuit on hockey for anything that happens on the ice (within reason). Hockey is a dangerous sport, and when the players suit up and sign their contracts they no this. The need is to minimize the risk of dangerous plays while keeping the integrity of the game. I agree with the blind-side rule, making shoulder pads smaller, removing seamless glass, removing the instigator, increasing helmet tech., etc. but not degrading the game. Speaking of dangerous sports (to use a comparison like yours), cheerleading is one of the most dangerous, but I don't think throws (or whatever they're called) are outlawed. The key parts of the game, like hitting, need to be kept.

Not gonna happen.

I always thought one of the important steps was first admitting that you have a problem and then apologizing to all of the people you have harmed over the years. Or wait... is that a different set of steps?

Well then you're looking to be offended by him. And despite what you posted earlier, you're simply not capable of distinguishing between his in game or post game stuff (of which he can be very douchey) and his off the ice stuff where he is very well spoken, humble and gracious. Not that we need to go scouring the internet for more Crosby but the videos are out there. Away from the ice he seems like just another young, talented, aw shucks kind of hockey kid. Hockey is known for this. This isn't the NBA. In game, that's one thing. No debating that. Away from the game, I have nothing bad to say about the kid. Handles himself exceptionally well in interviews and has done so since he was 18. That's my opinion anyway.

LGW, keeping it classy. Sheesh man, it's just hockey.

Looks as if Ozzie's back now, according to Official Detroit Red Wings on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/#!/DETROITREDWINGS Doesn't say if Joey's down again which I assume he is, or when he's going to be really ready for action. EDIT: Confirmed on Twitter too http://twitter.com/detroitredwings

congrats to hooon, NeverForgetMac25 and FinRedWing all with a big 18! WEEK 20 RESULTS #1 hooon 18 #1 NeverForgetMac25 18 #1 FinRedWing 18 #4 LEBDA22 17 #4 dat's sick 17 #4 SeeinRed 17 #4 ricky0034 17 #4 MulesWillFly93 17 #9 wingsgirl001 16 #9 aflac9262 16 #9 crotty99 16 #9 Dominator2005 16 #9 #19=Legend 16 #9 rbkhockey43 16 #15 GoWings1905 15 #15 dirtydangles 15 #15 kook_10 15 #15 Aussie_Wing 15 #15 TheDetroitRedWings 15 #15 Hockeytown0001 15 #15 akustyk 15 #15 Norwegian Red Wing 15 #15 RippedOnNitro 15 #15 MGreenberg 15 #25 edicius 14 #25 Zombi 14 #25 CaliWingsNut 14 #25 Motown4013 14 #25 Vladimir316 14 #25 wingslogo19 14 #31 Blood On The Ice 13 #31 wingfanatic4alltime 13 #31 Batigol2k 13 #34 Dan Bylsma 12 #34 Zeowingsfan 12 #34 Swayze 12 #34 brett 12 #38 juice71285 10 #39 hokeychik22 9 #39 Naranja 9 STANDINGS a/o WEEK 20

The fault is on Letang for not keeping his head, hands, and stick up to protect himself. He got caught completely stationary, turned around, watched his pass for a second, forgot about the forecheck in doing so, and got buried. Brule coasted in, hit him front-on, with his arms up on his chest, while Letang was totally unready to get hit hit. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this play from Brule's end.

Mario Lemieux=

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make though. Let's take those players as examples: - Cooke - suspended for hitting from behind - Gillies - suspended for head shots, two separate times - Shelley - suspended for hit from behind and for sucker punch - Godard - suspended for leaving the bench to fight - Rypien - suspended for altercation with fan - Kostopoulos - suspended for head shot I think the idea is that you'd try and get the teams to influence their players not to engage in this type of activity. I doubt you'd have many teams have issue with trying to ensure it's players don't: hit from behind, deliver head shots, sucker punch people or fight with fans. It's a tough sport and sometimes things happen so fast it is tough to avoid, but a lot of the times, it's the matter of making a good decision rather than sucker punching someone or purposely take a shot at someone's head, etc.

Hey, Mario, I have a suggestion since all of a sudden you're so concerned about player safety. Since eight per cent of the concussions in the league this year have been caused by fights, how about we make it so that an instigator penalty in the last minute of a Stanley Cup final game is an automatic one game suspension, no matter how many points that player has in the regular season? I'll hang up and listen. In all honesty, I like the suggestion. Teams should be accountable for the actions of the players they put on the ice. But I hope Mario is just as committed the next three times Matt Cooke gets suspended, if this system is ever enacted.

We are 1 point away from being tied for second IN THE LEAGUE. WTF are you talking about? Hitting a cold streak doesn't mean we suck and we need to change the style of hockey we play. I'd like to point out that last year, about this time, you were the person saying we might not make the playoffs, let alone think about finishing 5th. True story.

Removing the instigator rule should be number 1 on that list.

I think Babcock HAS to run a 50-50 split going into the playoffs. We don't want a tired Howard and we don't want a rusty Ozzie trying to salvage the playoffs if Howard falters. With 13 games left I want to see 7 for Howard and 6 for Ozzie.

Can't wait to see him back in net!

Good deal. A capable backup to give Howie the rest he needs.

Lidstrom is injured? I heard nothing of this.

As far as the best player in the league being out is concerned, I'm pretty sure Pavel came back a while ago. In a way this kind of makes me sad because the Lions were showing some good potential at the end of last season so I was thinking this could have been a good year for them.

Jezz man just marry the guy already. Your the biggest Crosby fan boy I know and my best friend growing up is a penguins fan.

I would be disappointed if that were to happen. Crosby is a whiner, but he's also a phenomenal talent. It would be a shame for his career to end so early.

+1 I'd much rather play against the best and hopefully kick their butts than to have guys retire early from injury just because they pose a threat to my team. Much more rewarding to beat the best than to get the easy road. My dream playoffs would have us playing the Ducks, Hawks, Canucks and Penguins with all their players healthy and hoisting the Cup at the end.

Because the date under my avatar says Join date: May 2010 means that I wasn't here or reading the boards? Mighty fine detective work, sporty. Don't quit your day job. I've been around here since 2001/2002... but that can't be true, cuz the date under the avatar doesn't prove it.

Did you copy & paste the contents from the October 2009 thread and the October 2008 thread to make the "is Zetterberg slowing down" October 2010 thread? I swear these threads roll around every October. In April, May and June threads pop up that say "Zetterberg is a BEAST", "Zetterberg is a MONSTER", "Congrats to Zetterberg for his Conn Smythe trophy!!!". This thread sucks.