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Go away, Gary.

Pasha has mentioned before that Igor was his idol growing up...it's good to see that the qualities that made Larionov a class act have been passed down...and now there is another young one coming up the ranks that may just pass on that goodness to another generation of players. I've not paid much attention to this fellow in Winnepeg, but perhaps it might behoove me to change that.

Do you really classify seven years ago as "not too long ago"? That thread was made in the summer of 2005, two months before the first post-lockout season began. Datsyuk was an untested youngster with a history of playoff disappearance, and Redden was in the prime of his career. Today Datsyuk is unquestionably one of the best forwards in the world, and Redden has spent the past two seasons in the AHL. He is in the minors because he was playing terribly. He's an offensive defenseman, and he mustered an average of 20 points in his first two seasons with the Rangers. He is not at all exceptional on defense; he was thus completely useless. This made his cap hit unconscionable, and so he was deposited in the AHL. It did not happen because he was an average defenseman with a bad contract. It happened because he was a terrible defenseman with a bad contract. I'm not sure if you've bothered to check on his stats over the last two seasons. If you do so, you'll find that he ranked #4 in defense scoring on his AHL team. Needless to say, that's very bad for a guy who previously made his dough on the power of his offensive prowess. The Flames are better with Bouwmeester than without him. While his cap hit is excessive for what he brings to the table, he can still perform ably on the second pairing.

I'm expecting to see an Eric Daze thread any day now.

One thing I know for certain is that he's the only thing besides a flu epidemic that's ever caused the Stanley Cup not to be awarded... The fact that this many people HAVE a "predisposition against Bettman" is enough for me to say he shouldn't be commissioner. If the league is really as concerned about the fans as they like to claim then the head of the NHL should be a guy that the fans don't hate imo.

The Pitsburg Penguins

Great short story. Thanks to Dmitry Chesnokov. http://dchesnokov.tumblr.com/post/30056452315/good-deeds

Seconded. I thought our red scheme is generally regarded as the best uniform in U.S. pro sports. Have I been living a lie?

Ummm....what season?

my prediction: Datsyuk tops 60 assits for Dynamo, Zetter scores 40+ for Timra while Filppula shows flashes of brilliance for Jokerit.

So you think Nyquist is going to be on the 3rd line over Brunner? Put Nyquist on the 1st line with Pavs, Brunner on 2nd possibly 3rd rolling with helmer and you have a more realistic lineup. Nyquist isn't going to play 3rd line minutes, especially this season. Who knows also, maybe brunner will become that winger we were dying for. He has the shoot first mentality and knows how to pot em.

Saw 2 pods of orca whales over the weekend

/thread

I think they'll all still be in the league, and thank heavens that now that we've lost a season to a lockout that the CBA has a one-year-extention if they can't come to terms. Now we won't have to lose a season in 2012-3. (Playin the "pretend it's still '06" game.)

The Wings have absolutely the best looking uniform, hands down. That's why I fell in love with them as a kid.

Without reading everyone's comments I'm going to say GOD NO.

He made the game of hockey less entertaining and fun to play to facilitate parity and give weaker teams a better chance of winning, he has caused 2 lockouts (never happened with any other commissioner) and trying for another. Those atre the 2 biggest ones for me but there is so much more. What sad is that there are hockey fans that don't resent him

20 points in the playoffs (tied for 1st in playoffs with Kopitar), +16, several game changing hits, kills penalties and plays on the PP. He was a force in the postseason. As the captain of the Cup winning team he's going to get a lot of attention but I haven't heard anyone make it sound like he's Gretzky or anything. Off the top of my head my vote would be Fleury. A talented but inconsistent goalie. What good is a highlight reel save when you let in a backbreaking softie a few minutes later?

Experience and business sense aside, there are very few fans who actually respect Gary Bettman and want him to represent the sport of hockey to die-hard and casual fans in North America. The expansion (in terms of revenue) has been a failure, specifically for the Southern franchises and this whole shady deal with NBC, should there be a labor stoppage, shows Bettman's true colors. Unfortunately, the decision of whether or not to replace Bettman is up to the Board of Governors, and as long as the larger market teams are satisfied then there will be a majority vote to keep him.

Exactly my thought. In fact I bet he doesn't know a large number of the nuances in hockey, like he wouldn't know how to suit up properly to play. When he gets booed that much at every event (draft, cup presentations, etc.) its pretty clear he isn't a likeable face for the nhl. So what if the nhl grew with him in charge? its preposterous to think that it couldn't grow under someone likeable as well.

Isn't Shanahan paid to do this?

All of the names listed are great, and I agree on them all... With that said, I'm going to go left field on this and take one that people don't think about very often and one that was the worst scape goat in RW history... Curtis Joseph Had he been given his fair shake and was here through his prime, it would have been epic

God I love Helm

The education process, dealing with post-career life, is crucial.