lets go pavel

Based on ... what? And do you think he'll take less than Datsyuk? He wouldn't this year, and you've already said you don't want to pay anyone more than Dats because he's the most valuable guy on the team ...

Okay, but who do you think is overrating him? You are the only person bringing this up, and I'm not even sure why it matters. I think Lidstrom is our best defenseman, but yes, life can and will go on without him. Who is saying otherwise? Beyond that, why the hell are we talking about Lidstrom anyway? This whole thing started with the issue of who to keep, Z or Hossa, and you chose Hossa. If you don't want to pay Z more than Datsyuk, fine, but by your same argument you can't pay Hossa any more than Dats either. He took a pay cut this year, do you realistically think he's going to take even less next year?

How am I taking anything out of context? You keep saying Lids is overrated because we've never seen the team without him, but what does that have to do with anything? Your whole argument that he is overrated is based upon the presumption that none of us think we can live without Lidstrom, and that isn't the case. You are the only one bringing that up. Why? My opinion of Lidstrom is based on the outstanding, Norris-caliber defense, incredible on-ice intelligence, and top-tier offense that he has been bringing day in and day out for years.

WTF??? I don't even know where to begin ... Zetterberg is redundant? First of all, I don't think any GM in the league would complain about having too many Zetterbergs. Hossa has 3 more goals than Z, even on assists. Z centers a line, Z is a top PKer and usually the 1st guy out when we're down 2 men. They are different players, but you are drastically underestimating what Z brings to the team. And Lidstrom is overrrated because he stays healthy? That may be the dumbest thing I have read on these boards. And his numbers are only good because he plays on an "offensive-minded" team?? Most of the teams in the league are "offensive-minded", why don't they have D-men putting up those types of numbers? And don't tell me it's all because of Pavel and Homer, he was putting up great numbers long before either of them became a significant contributor ...

What makes you think Hossa will sign for less than Z? Your pretty quick to dump Z for financial reasons when re-signing Hossa will very possibly be even more expensive ...

Wow, you sure took that little tidbit and ran with it. Did you join this morning just to share your disdain for Z?

Agreed ... at the beginning of the year he was trying just a little too hard, waiting a second too long, squeezing the stick a little too tight, etc., but once he got rolling he was fine. The sore groin and different line combo will work itself out, and he'll get going again soon. No worries.

Are we so sure that this is a foregone conclusion? I know he's the priority, but when Holland was talking specifically about the talks with Z he didn't sound like a whole lot of progress was being made. I don't think we can afford Z and Hossa together, so the "keep two of them" could very well be Franzen and either Z or Hossa ...

He's had his moments, but the chemistry on his line obviously isn't what it was with Datsyuk. His current line doesn't have a natural playmaker like Dats, so that will obviously affect them on the offensive end. Defensively I haven't noticed any problems ...

It's starting to look like something out of TRON ...

This right here is why these threads always end up with bickering over Crosby: What the hell does being "sick of seeing Crosby everywhere" have to do with this call? It's called OBJECTIVITY, folks. If you want to talk about whether the correct call was made, great. But talk about the goddamn play on the ice, not how much Crosby is on TV, or how much you "hate crosballs", or how much he whines to the refs, or dives, or sleeps with Bettman, or plays dirty, or wears ladies underwear, or gets all his assists on empty-net goals. All this crap does is lead to arguments with those of us who actually subscribe to logic and reason.

You would just have to replace them with someone else, and they only count .65 and .483 million against the cap respectively. That won't help with cap space ...

Not in a fight ... the enforcer might go lay a body on the guy, but a 6'5 250 enforcer isn't going to square up with a 5'6 150 pounder regardless of what the guy did. 99% of the time the little guy isn't going to drop the gloves anyway, and the big guy is likely to draw an instigator penalty if he pursues it.

The guy CHOSE to fight, he didn't have to fight. It would be one thing if players were being dragged kicking and screaming into fights and subsequently getting injured, but that's not the case here. More injuries happen from checking than from fighting ... should they switch to flag hockey, or 2-hand touch?

32. And you? What the f*** is the point of deleting the clip? I didn't questions whether you posted it, I asked you for the other replay that you brought up in defense of your argument. If you don't have it, that's fine, but then I suggest you reconsider calling people "kinda stupid" for disagreeing with you when your argument is based on a clip they can't see.

How old are you? I linked to the whole clip that I saw YouTube, if you've got a different one or another angle than feel free to post it ... otherwise there's not much sense in arguing about a replay that noone else can see ...

Dude, just stop. Everything you are saying is so obviously biased, it's ridiculous ... you're just trying to bait people into an argument. It's hard to tell from the angle it was shot at, but to me it looked like Heatley ran into (interfered with) him. He didn't dive - he didn't go down - just embellished the hit. Slashing I'll give you ...

maybe this?

Hey, what if they sign for $3 and a happy meal! Come on dude, there's a limit to the discounts players will take ...

My fault, I misunderstood what I was reading ...

We're at the cap now ... next year it drops 2 million. If Z signs in the ballpark of what Hossa makes now, that leaves approximately 1 million dollars to give raises to Franzen, Sammy, and Huddles ... there's no way we keep them all unless we trade Flip or Kronner, and even then it will be tough ...

There's no way to keep Z, Franzen, and Hossa. Both Z and Franzen are due for significant raises - even with a hometown discount - and Hossa isn't going to take much less than what he earns this year. Even if we let everyone else go (Sammy, Huddles, etc.) and replace them with minimum wagers, it doesn't free up anywhere near enough $ to afford all 3, especially with the cap going down. The "Reality" thread has all the gory details ...

He can. I have no problem with legitimate criticism of Crosby, I really don't care for the guy, but most of these posts aren't expressing outrage at Crosby's actions, they're just bashing him. Again, I find it ironic that people spend so much time talking about a guy when the main complaint about him is how much publicity he gets ...

Who cares? Again, if it were Maxime Talbot doing the bitching, you wouldn't be talking about it. Your complaint isn't about WHAT was done, you're only making an issue out of it because of WHO's doing it. I understand he's supposed to be the new face of the NHL, but that isn't his fault, and while it makes him an easy target for these kinds of attacks it doesn't justify them.

Of course, if "Mr. NHL" didn't get involved and instead skated over to the bench like a good little boy you would be starting a thread about how Crosby is a ***** who won't fight and is too concerned about being the "face of the NHL" to actually stick up for his teammates ...