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I'm not okay with Abby there either. He's a 4th liner, 3rd at best. But no, Jurco isn't ready. And yes, Jurco put up a 34 point pace against much lesser competition vs abbys 33 point pace against top line competition. CLEARLY this means Jurco should be there. What was I thinking? Excuse my ignorance. And Kip, did you watch the last few games before the olympic break when Gus and Z played together? The chemistry and puck movement was insane. Z and pav like. So why not have two extremely dunamic duos on the ice at the same time? We wouldn't need to grind it out much because we'd always have the puck. If you want to change the dynamic of the attack, you don't do that by putting one guy thats going to go to the net on each line. You put two on one line. Franzen and Jurco can both play down low. Put them together. Putting Jurco on the top line now could actually kill that line (not to mention the kids confidence) just as much as abby has.

Frank I don't even know what to say in response to you sometimes but I can't resist... The Bruins are not being "punished" for success or having a great goal scorer. They legally evaded the cap and deferred their bonuses to this year by choice. I suggest you do some research there... So in your opinion... To attract free agents...we need to not do well...draft high...get some good young players...even though you just claimed no one knows how young players will ever turn out...or was that just relevant for our current prospects...whatever benefits your argument at the time I guess... OK. Where...in Zeus' butthole...did you come up with this idea...and in what universe did that make sense... PS. I may have had a drink...

A league that is already too big, has struggling franchises want's to expand instead of relocate ... just amazing The only thing Las Vegas can provide is gambling 24/7.

I want nothing to do with a Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Alfie (or Nyquist) top line. It should be wildly clear over the last five or six post seasons that we don't have anyone scoring down low. Giving another perimeter guy top line minutes is a recipe for failure. I'd rather lose a little bit of offense but change the dynamic of our attack than keep throwing the same one dimensional attack at teams over and over and over. Jurco showed a willingness to use his body to protect the puck, was strong in the corners, and had no problem creating offense in traffic. Plus, despite rookie linemates, limited minutes, and no powerplay time, his offensive number projected very favorably to Alfie's over a full season (and should only increase with D and Z). As such... Z-Dats-Jurco Nyquist-Weiss-Franzen Tatar-Sheahan-Abby Miller-Helm-Glendening/Callahan/Cleary

Am I the only one that doesn't think Jurco is ready for a top line role yet? I get that he's a better option than Abby but I think he's still not quite ready for that role. Z-Pav-Gus Jurco-franzen-tats Alfie-sheahan-weiss Abby-helm-miller

Given some quotes I've seen from the front office over the years, the first question that will need to be answered is which of those 3 will make the HoF which is the first step in getting their number retired. "But, but, but Stevie & Lids got their numbers retired before HoF induction", I hear you say. Yeah, but there was no denying that those two would be in the HoF before they even hung up their skates. Personal HoF opinion is Feds might not be a 1st ballot HoFer but he should be, Dats might have to wait a year or two but he'll get in, & Z has at best an outside chance if he stays healthy. So out of those 3, Pavel has the best chance of having his jersey in the rafters in the near future with Sergei maybe getting a shot with a little forgiveness & time, like in another decade plus as nostalgia begins to outweigh the bad vibes that a large part of the fan base still have in regards to Sergei. As to the question posed by the OP though, Stevie & Sergei in a no-brainer. Instead of posting this as a new thread, I'll throw out a similar question to everyone here. The Wings are in a tough battle for a Stanley Cup. It's game 7 and right before the game, Doc Brown pulls up in his DeLorean, tells you the fate of the world hinges on the Wings winning & offers you the opportunity to pluck one former Wing in his prime from the time stream to guarantee a victory. Who do you pick & why? My choice is a close one, but I would take the quiet, consistent perfection of Lidstrom over the more manic variety of Hasek. So who you got?

If there's four more expansion teams I might be able to make the NHL. Vegas is pretty close to California. ( a hockey hot-bed) Is there a chance Vegas gets some spill over fans from Cali? ( Much like Buffalo does from Toronto.)

I've posted a lineup similar to this before but I would like to see something like this on opening night (October 9th) against Boston... Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Alfredsson Nyquist - Franzen - Tatar Helm - Weiss - Abdelkader Miller - Sheahan - Callahan Cleary - Glendening Kronwall - Ericsson DeKeyser - Smith Quincey - Ouellet (more likely Kindl...) Lashoff I really think that this top line would dominate. The skill across that line would match any line in the league in my opinion. The key for them would be for all three to stay healthy. I really believe that Hank will play at least 70-75 games this season and Datsyuk will play somewhere close to that as well. My only concern is Alfredsson. I hope he takes it easy and doesn't push himself too hard, especially to start the season. I think he can play somewhere around 65-70 if he is careful and listens to his body and takes a lot of "maintenance days"... I would love to see this two kids and a Mule line as our second line. Franzen plays his best hockey when he is playing center. He is third on the team in faceoff percentage going into this season (behind Datsyuk and Zetterberg), based on last years stats of players that took at least 100 faceoffs. 225 faceoffs taken at 52.9%. I really think the two kids (Gus & Tats) would keep him energized. I've always thought that Franzen starts his floating ways when he plays on a line with Pav or Hank. It's almost like he feels that he doesn't need to work as hard with them because he knows the puck will find him and he will still produce, even at half pace. Maybe playing with the two kids, he will take on more of a leadership role and that, along with playing down the middle will light a much needed fire under his ass... I think third line minutes is best for Weiss to start the season. Maybe promote him after 10 or so games if he looks good and hungry or if the lines aren't working out or if coach Babs just want to mix things up for some unexplainable reason... I kinda want to switch Abdelkader and Sheahan but I think Abby is better suited for the wing. With Helm's health concerns over the past few seasons I think third line wing is a great spot for him to play and hopefully stay relatively healthy. His wheels could really be put on display on the wing as well. I think this could be a great forth line and I absolutely love the grit that Callahan would bring to the line. I would like to see Cleary rotated in to get his ten games in on this line or possibly the third line depending on how he looks in training camp. I do like Glendening but I just don't see where he fits on this team going forward...

Holland hasn't stepped down for two simple reasons. He thinks he can still do the job and he's not ready to be the next Jimmy D.

Yzerman, Fedorov, and Zetterberg all did/do everything perfectly, text book. Datsyuk writes his own book.

I don't disagree that D & Z are not in that category, but I dont think to have your jersey retired you have to be at the level of Howe, Yzerman, or Lidstrom. Your talking about 3 guys that are 3 of the best players of all time. Are they at the level, or close the level of Abel, Lindsay, or Delvecchio? This is the better question.

Yea this isn't a good idea. Why should you be rewarded for just missing the playoffs? Plus, there actually might be a bigger incentive just to miss the playoffs than make it! Thus, if you're in a battle for the last spot with like 2 other teams, all of them might try and tank to get that 17th place, which wouldn't make for entertaining hockey at all.

Cause Edmonton, Florida, Buffalo, Nashville, Calgary, Winnipeg, NYI, PHX, Carolina, Dallas and Ottawa have pulled in so many great FAs... Sure

Terrible idea. Rich get richer and porter get poorer. Parity is a great thing in sports special when it comes to watching playoff hockey stuff like this would kill the NHL. Unless your goal is to go back to just the original 6.

The logo will be a man at a pay phone calling his wife to wire him more money. "I have a system!"

So two years the league was in such bad shape that it was shutdown with the lockout, but now let's add 4 teams? The ineptitude is mind-boggling, either Bettman was dropped on his head as I child or someone should drop him on it now.

Boyd Devereaux and Jason Williams

Was thinking the same thing. I can't believe she's 75!

Took the words right out of my fingers. She is beautiful. I can't believe she's 75.

This whole things makes me proud of the internet and viral videos, which I didn't believe was possible before this. "Faith in humanity, restored." Your mothers awesome t, I haven't been a member here long enough to have known of the situation until now, but I hope you're doing well.