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"D? You mean the vitamin?" - Garth Snow

I doubt he's going anywhere real soon either, but I think you're giving the system a little too much credit on the rebuilding process front. The kids floundered in the playoffs, and if we were healthier, we might've just had an old lineup that couldn't get it done. And the reality is that Z's back is going to force him into a decline quicker than he would if he didn't have back issues. I'm not saying he won't be effective or a great leader, but he is at the very least unlikely to continue to produce at a high level as more time goes by. And yes, you add health, get some more experience for the kids and less dead weight and we're in better shape for sure on some levels, but a lot of this stuff has been said each summer for 4-5 years now. Very little has been done to improve the roster outside of bringing up prospects that has worked, and that is a very clear fact at this point, not speculation. Until we see some real changes in the way Holland puts this team together, I still think we're ultimately in a slow decline. We will not be able to continue to compete at a playoff level as Dats and Z decline with our defense. Even if Jimmy bounces back from a rough year, our defense is far too often a huge liability and you can't expect your goalie to stop everything. Holland first and foremost has to make a real commitment to improving the defense. If another summer goes by and nothing on that front changes, something in management has to change. That said, again, I don't think Babcock is eager to jump ship at all and I don't think it'll necessarily happen right away, but I think it's more than fair to infer that he wants to keep his options open for a reason. If he truly believed in how green his grass can be here in Detroit, he wouldn't flat out say that he's not going to sign an extension this summer, especially after Holland flat out said he wants to sign Babcock to an extension this summer. Clearly, it's not about money as Babcock is already one of if not the highest paid coach and Holland would beat any salary another team would throw at him. If it's not about money and he believes that this will continue to be a good place to be, why is he unwilling to talk about an extension? Sure, there could be nothing to it, but I think there's likely to be something more to it if he's willing to flat out shut down the possibility of something the GM has expressed he wants. Add to that Holland's unwillingness to let Blashill go yet with Babcock's future not set in stone and at the very least, you have two parties that are covering their asses, obviously for some reason. If Holland again is unable to make this team better and it's another season of struggling just to make the playoffs only to lose early on, it's hard to imagine Babcock won't be interested in at the very least hearing about what's out there. He still might not leave, even if he gets a great offer, as I don't think he's misleading anyone when he says he's happy here. But I don't see him continuing to coach weak teams who's only hope is squeaking into the playoffs. I think we're starting to see that the idea that anyone making the playoffs has a chance isn't is true as it seemed for a few years. Babcock wants to win, bottom line. He's loyal, but he knows full well that this isn't the only job he'll be able to get and he's made that clear several times recently, while also shooting down talks of an extension.

Why didn't he hit Marchand like that?

Am I the only one here that kind of wants the Habs to win? At first I thought I was coming down in the side of the Rags, but I keep finding myself rooting for Montreal. I think it's because they were our avengers... They're our boyfriends, sticking up for us when some crusty homeless guy tries to grab our ass. Or something *grabs popcorn*

For starters, that writer is an idiot. It wasn't late and he didn't leave his feet before contact. Part of the reason the hit was so vicious is Sobotka was still following through on his shot and couldn't protect himself. People need to stop watching gifs and slow motion replays and actually watch the video at regular speed. I don't know about international standards but by NHL rules the only issue is the strides he took before the hit. That could make it charging. To me it looks like he's hustling back to make a play then veers into the hit, but it gave him a whole lot of momentum and made this hit a nasty one. As for the rest, he does contact the head but he makes solid contact through the body. That's legal in the NHL because of the solid body contact (I don't know about international rules). He doesn't leave his feet before contact. If Sobotka gets up, it's likely nothing happens here. Even if it were in the NHL though, because Sobotka doesn't get up it's likely getting a suspension.

Saw this tonight.. Smith v. Chara is towards the beginning.

He may not "know anything about hockey" in the sense that he probably couldn't coach a team to the Stanley Cup finals, but I'm sure Mike Babcock couldn't operate a multi-billion dollar industry either. Gary Bettman isn't employed to be a fanboy. He's employed to run a business, and by ever single metric he's doing that very well.

I disagree about it being clean. It was late and he made little contact to the body while contacting a player's head. And the only way you can contact the head legally is with solid body contact to the core of a player's body. He catches him with a shoulder to the chest maybe, but he also caught Stepan's head (he broke his jaw). It wasn't a hit delivered through the core of Stepan's body, it was a fly by that contacted the head. I'm fully expecting a suspension. As for Carcillo, he proved he's exactly as stupid as everyone thinks he is.

BULL SH!T!!!!!! Those that think that was a dirty hit, grow a pair! That was a perfectly fine hit. Didn't leave his feet, no elbow, went straight at the guy. Not Abby's fault that the dumba$$ dropped HIS HEAD in the slot area. As a defender you are SUPPOSED to level offensive players in the middle of the ice WITH the puck to protect your goalie. This shouldn't have been a penalty, and the Czech player was a classic example of guys not knowing how to protect themselves. But then again we are talking about Europe and the wussified version of hockey that they play. LOL....talk about timing...... Prust does worse to Stephan and is still playing in the game.

I wonder this every time I see him behind the bench. I think his record is 38 minutes. Part of it is he has such an angry looking face. He even said in his presser today that he woke up today feeling angry. Sometimes I wonder if it's all just the 'stache. It's clearly a demonic entity with a mind and will all its own.

Advilkader

Looks to me like he left after contact. Either way it was a head shot

I think he's over the salary cap for commissioners. Maybe Bettman can fight the Mountain as Tyrion's champion.

Tortorella was making $2 million a year in Vancouver until he got fired, so who knows what an actual good coach would make.

Trade 1st round pick and some other players for 1st round picks for 2015 of the draft is that deep... Load up...

I actually hope the Red Wings trade their first rounder for someone's first rounder next year and another later pick. Next years draft crop is supposed to be one of the deepest in a long time and it would be nice to have two cracks at the first round in 2015.

Not that anyone has done this yet, but I kind of laugh when people bring up how other teams are built through the draft, then you look at their top players and they're almost all drafted in the top 10. Then you look at Detroit. Their top few scorers other than Alfredsson were drafted 121, 210, 97, 60, and 171 overall, their top 3 D 29, 291, and undrafted, and their starting goalie was taken 64th. That's one player of their top 9 players taken in the first round. The Pens, on the other hand, have gotten almost nobody outside of the top 5 in the last dozen years.

Skilled wingers still fill the holes better than defensemen doAnd Callahan would fill the need for a physical winger Plus I think we need a scorer more than we need a big winger