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Just saw a post game with Stamkos on NHL network and some jackass in the crowd was wearing a #19 Yzerman Lightning Jersey... I don't care if he's their GM, that's all kinds of wrong...

Used to be that questionable calls by the refs didn't incite hordes of doomsayers decrying the state of the sport. Ah, the good ol' days... Given that the kid was bent over pretty far, and was starting to turn inside when he got hit, I'd be inclined to give the hitter a pass. But he did put his shoulder into the guys face, so I can see how the ref might have thought it was worse than it was. Maybe plays should be reviewed before a player can be ejected, but I don't see this as being all that bad.

Here is the biggest issue with the hit. The hit is clean as clean can be, but every DAMN time a player gets hit he or team of the player that gets hit decides they need to fight the hitter. This is whats wrong; fights after clean hits. I am so sick of these meaningless fights after good clean hits. As far as I'm concerned, the scrums after clean hits need to be penalized in either 5 minute delay of games or 5 and 10. Keep your head up and hits like this will not happen. Or how about getting the hitter back later on with yet another clean check. I don't know about anyone else, but nothing frustrates more than these scrums, just like our buddy Kesler wanting to fight Kronner after a good clean hit.

Well said. Question: do you ever get tired of being reasonable and considerate when you respond to this stuff? Seems like having to sift through ten tons of reactionary bulls*** everyday would begin to take it's toll. Either way, keep up the good work.

His shoulder very cleary hits the guy in the facemask. Doesn't make it a dirty hit or even a penalty, but there was contact with the head. I don't know the college rule, and going by NHL rules I wouldn't call it a penalty. I wouldn't say the head was targetted or the principle point of contact. Just saying that with all the attention on head hits and concussions, I can understand why a call was made. There's a reason slippery slope arguments are considered fallacious. Refs are probably a little over-zealous when calling headshots. That doesn't mean it won't improve as refs and players adapt to the new rules, and certainly doesn't mean that refs will become over-zealous in calling other types of hits. No one is trying to get rid of body checks. They are trying to reduce head injuries. I would think that head injuries are more 'universally undesireable' than tapping a guy on the hip or mitts with a stick. A good arm tackle used to be considered "defense". Used to be fine (sometimes still is) to rub a guy out along the boards after he chips the puck past you. Used to be fine to try to take a guys head off if he didn't see you coming. Yes, there are inherent risks to the game. However, exaclty what those risks are hasn't been known for long, and I'd bet are still not widely understood by the players. Head injuries can have permanent debilitating effects on people. Players have been getting bigger and faster. Equipment gives better protection so players feel the need to more agressive. As the game becomes more violent, and the risks better understood, you'll get adaptations like this to minimize those risks. Yeah, maybe you'll see people pulling up on these hits more often. And really, so what? Hits like that happen maybe once a game. If that's all hockey is to you then I'd have to say you're no more a fan of hockey than the guy who tunes into NASCAR for the crashes is a fan of racing. There are big hits that don't involve head contact, and they very rarely result in injury. If anything, I'd expect players to become more adept at laying a big hit without hitting the head. People always say they don't want to see someone get injured, but it seems to me that is exactly what they want. Maybe not a lasting injury, but you all sure cheer loud enough when someone gets knocked senseless. Well, guess what. That's a brain injury. Maybe not severe, maybe not one that will cause any lasting harm, but an injury just the same. We still do not really understand how those little injuries can add up. Much better to err on the side of caution. Worst-case we see fewer big hits and fewer injuries. Players are always going to push the envelope; try to get away with as much as possible without crossing the line (or getting caught doing so at least). If you're too lax with the rules, the worst-case is you see a lot more frequent and more severe head injuries. I'd certainly prefer the former.

It was a good hit, and a bad call. Nuff said. Seems like every time a call gets blown there's always a bunch of people screaming referee conspiracy or the end of the game as we know it. The game's still physical and always will be, I don't think anyone actually believes that they didn't blow calls in years past.

A bunch of players hooking the crap out of Datsyuk after he deked them out of their jockstrap wouldn't have been called 10 years ago either. It was a great hit and a bad call. But lamenting the death of hockey as we know it assumes that these calls (or any other problem we don't like with the game) will continue unchanged until it runs the game into the ground. That's not how it works. Players adjust, refs adjust, the league adjusts. The game adapts. When we came out of the lockout, it felt like you couldn't touch another player without a hooking penalty. After a little while it settled down. With hitting it feels like the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of calling clean hard hits just because the guy had his head down. But I'm hoping they'll figure out some better standards and settle down and adjust. To me the biggest adjustment they need to make to hitting (other than the obvious east west headshots) are the exploding upwards into hit (Sorry Kronner). Go back to old style hitting of skates on the ice, all the energy directed towards the guys body, not leaping up towards his head. Again, great hit by Ramage. He totally read that play. And man am I old because so many of the player's names that I recognize now, it turns out to be their kid. Or the player is now a GM.

So the problem is that someone in Tampa is a big Yzerman fan? We had him for over 22 years as a player, and a few more in management. Can't we at least let Tampa enjoy him for a while until he comes back to replace Holland?

I was on HFBoards, and someone over there posted this, I found it interesting.. What do you guys think about Nash?, and what would it take us to get him over here?

We got away with one tonight. If J Mac started the game, who knows, maybe the outcome would have been different but I think we got an answer to the question of which guy will be our backup goalie.

We are going to have to be very, very good in this game because Edmonton is rolling and they have s*** loads of skill. Wings got to play smart and the big boys have to play rough on these kids. LGW

Getting eliminated in the second round in consecutive years doesn't mean things are working. The Wings have higher expectations than that. If you're talking about our position in the standings, that doesn't matter come playoff time. We've seen that before. The President's Trophy is s***. I don't know about trading Zetterberg, but we do need to make some kind of move, not only because of our past playoff failures, but because our competitors will make moves themselves.

Because the players are bigger, there is more awareness to head injuries, and there is a higher amount of liability in college sports. I don't think the ignorance of years past is something to speak positively about.

Ice Basketball. esteef

Bad call but the ref who called it was behind the play and probably only saw the head jerk back thinking an something made contact with his head. Beautiful textbook hit. Arm and elbow down and skates on the ice.

Bad calls don't spell the end of hockey as we knew it. Quit being melodramatic.

Chrisdetroit check your reading comprehension. Not once have I said I was wanting to trade him. I was talking to some friends and they asked me what it would take to trade him. I didn't have an answer but started wondering. Simple as that but geez at this thread

I have been reading the articles and the forums, and listening to everyone else’s opinion as to why Henrik Zetterberg is not producing the points, especially goals, the way we are used to. I’ve thought about it, and like everyone else, I don’t think you can point to any one thing that is the root cause of Zetterberg’s scoring woes. After watching his play closely, I have come to a conclusion that it is likely a combination of things. Many are speculating that Zetterberg is possibly playing with a nagging injury, possibly his back. Perhaps years of playing with a bad back is affecting his game. Or maybe he has just lost a step. It happens with age. Never a “speedy” player, Z always had to kick it into a higher gear to work his way around a defenseman. If he has lost that higher gear, that part of his game is gone. That doesn’t mean he can’t score. It is just one factor. Additionally, Zetterberg has never had the strongest shot. He has cited this as a weakness in the past. If he isn’t getting shots from prime scoring areas in front of and around the net, then his softer shots, no matter how many of them he takes, aren’t going to get by NHL goalies, especially without a net front presence. When Zetterberg has been effective in the past, he has had a “grinder” on his line. Whether it be Tomas Holmstrom, Dan Cleary, or Johan Franzen, there has been someone who created chaos in front of the netminder, and someone who could muck it up, bang bodies, and win battles along the boards. These guys could go get the puck in the corner and get it to Zetterberg in the slot or beside the crease. With smaller skill players such as Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler as linemates, Zetterberg is sort of filling the “grinder” role. He has to play along the boards and try to win battles in corners with bigger opponents. A lot of time he is losing those battles. He isn’t able to carry the puck out and get it into area he needs to be in to score regularly. This results in an increase in turnovers and penalties taken by Zetterberg. Defenses know all this. They see the players on Detroit’s second line and they focus on Zetterberg, ensuring that he is forced along the boards. They make him take low percentage outside shots. They are taking away his real scoring chances. But, you can’t do that without giving up a little and the beneficiaries are Zetterberg’s wingers, Hudler and Filppula, who are both having career years. That is why coach Mike Babcock isn’t making any line changes to accommodate Zetterberg’s “slump”. The Wing’s are winning. And while Zetterberg's numbers aren't where they could be, the line is scoring. Babcock, and probably even Z himself, are willing to sacrifice Hank’s statistics for the production of the entire line. What does it mean? It means Zetterberg isn’t done. He can return to goal scoring form on a line where that is his role. That isn’t what he is being asked to do right now. You don’t hear Babcock asking for more goals from Zetterberg in the media. He realizes what he is asking of Z. Zetterberg is still one of the best defensive forwards in the game. He is a coach’s son and plays in great position. He is a top-line two-way center and an outstanding penalty killer. From Zetterbergfan.com

I'll admit watching him this season he seems a lot less dangerous then he has in previous years. But a player with his calibre could turn it around in a game, and have a fantastic finish to the season. Then it becomes a whole new story with Hank come playoff time. Off year so far yes, but then you have players like Flip and Huds who are having career years playing alongside Zdawg. So with bad comes good and again, he could turn it around in a day. Do we really wanna miss out on a heart like this in the post-season ?

i'd rather have jeff carter. more versatile as a rh center and on a less lucrative (but still huge) contract. would cost less than nash too imo. same age as nash if I'm not mistaken (27).

It will never happen. In good sport though, Rick Nash would be awesome he always was killer playing for Team Canada when he had some good players to play with. Flip Hudler a couple of picks for Nash

My grandfather suffered from this before passing away. When this man passes away, I'm going to weep like an infant and throw elbows at anyone who dares tease me about it. All the best Mr. Hockey. We love you.

Hudler so far has 11 goals and 14 assists in 38 games. Not bad at all.

Size small 1999 Lightning jersey signed by Yzerman? Even worse. This dude probably bought the jersey for 30 bucks, had it signed at a team hotel, and is trying to turn a quick buck. The jersey is disgusting

Gross... Agreed... It's like he was fishing for a throwback, but they're too young of an organization to really have an iconic one, so he reached... and failed horribly...