lets go pavel

i think the stats were all even strength, at least that's what it sounded like in the original post ... but you're right, it doesn't take into account linemates ... i guess just another example of why stats, although useful, are often misleading or misinterpretted, and sometimes it's better to just watch the game and trust what you see ...

the reason you do it per 60 minutes is to compensate for the differing times-on-ice ... the #'s themselves aren't realistic expectations for performance, but they give you a level comparison between players ... for example, Lidstrom has been on ice for 20 goals against in 48 games for an average of .42 GA/game .... Ellis has been on ice for 5 goals against in 31 games for an average of .16 GA/game ... by these numbers Ellis is far superior defensively, but what they don't take into account is that Ellis average 5:27 TOI per game while Lids averages 27:19, 5 times as much ... (i used total TOI, not even-strength only, but it makes the same point)

maybe this is a blessing in disguise for the NHL ... with crosby there the game would basically be a sid love-fest, and - oh, by the way- we brought a few other players for him to play with/against ... maybe this will force the league to shine the spotlight on some of the less-marketed players so people feel they have a choice .... right now the NHL marketing campaign seems to be "love hockey = love crosby" when they should be developing some "rivalries" for crosby, promoting others as equals so casual fans can take a side ...

yeah, i'm not sure we should be annointing Franzen "THE shut-down forward" or "best defensive forward" until he's putting up those kind of numbers against the other teams' big guns ... i do think he's growing into that role though ... still pretty cool to look at ...

i don't know, i'm not really surprised ... the guy is having a great year, he's been carrying his team most of the year, and on ice his captaincy is arguably more visible/vocal than lidstrom's ... don't get me wrong, i'm not saying he's more deserving, just that it would have been a good choice either way, and it's certainly no slight to Lidstrom that Iginla got it ... now if someone like Pronger had been given the C i'd be pissed ...

ehhh ... i think the game should stay meaningless ... it's a showcase for the league's talent (although it would be better without the one-from-every-team mandate), it's not supposed to be a hard-fought game ... we have a good chance at the president's trophy and home-ice throughout the playoffs ... if we make it to the finals would we really want to give up home ice because maybe Legace had a bad outing? moreover, even with home-ice on the line, do we really want our players hitting and playing all-out at an all-start game? how pissed would we be if Hank or Pavel got knocked out for a few months? in my opinion, it should stay meaningless, and the emphasis should be on promoting the stars and showing off some of their personality ...

because he's lazy and he sucks?

i think it's a bit early to start comparing downie to claude lemieux ... i didn't just hate lemieux because of the cheapshots, but on top of all that the guy could play and had a knack for timely goals, especially in the playoffs ... that made him a great "guy you love to hate" ... so far downie's doesn't seem to be bringing anything to the table except dirty play, and if that's all he's got he shouldn't be playing ... just my 2 cents

nope ... from espn.com: "Western Conference reserves, chosen by the NHL's hockey operations department along with general managers, will be announced Thursday. The rest of the Eastern Conference roster will be revealed Friday." http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3186274

good point, the 3rd line is a bit weaker with sammy instead of cleary ... i think DZH is clearly our best line together, but we didn't get much in the way of secondary scoring when they were together ... i wonder now that the secondary scoring has picked up with pavel and hank separated if it would continue if babs put them back together ... also i would imagine when malts and homer are back that ellis goes back to GR and babs alternates between downey and drake again

wow, you're taking this very personally ... i don't think most of the posts in this thread have been bashing sammy mercilessly - in fact most have said they don't mind him, they just don't like him as a top-6 forward ... that's their opinion, they have a right to post that ... you don't have to agree, but why all attitude ... now to the statistics ... sammy is tied for 6th among our forwards in point production: z - 54 dats - 52 homer - 31 cleary - 29 huddles - 29 sammy - 23 flip - 23 which means one of them has to be the odd man out when homer returns ... in the past it seems like it has usually been huddles or cleary ... i'd like to see sammy dropped to the 3rd line ... i don't think huddles is as productive on a lower line, and i like the way cleary has been playing ... that's it ... not saying sammy sucks, don't have a problem with his salary, i think he plays hard and is a quality contributor, i just don't think he belongs on the top 2 lines ... (edit - typo)

wow, less than 2 hours from suggesting he might be the missing piece of the puzzle to out-for-the-year ... that's gotta be a record ... hey, maybe this will work like the madden-cover-jinx -- let me try! maybe chris pronger is the missing piece of the puzzle?

Tonya Harding ... she can skate and she's not afraid to get down and dirty ...

i'm not sure fredo's a big fan of boats ... :battle:

if we're looking for some extra scoring, what about vinnie prospal? 32 years old, 6-1, 195, he's putting up a point a game right now for TB, he's a UFA after the season and making 1.90 right now ... they look to be out of the playoffs right now, and unless they can move richards or st. louis he might not be in their plans for the future ... i haven't sene him play much, so maybe he isn't what we need, but we might be able to get him fairly cheaply ... or i know a lot of us around here like gratton, maybe we could give sammy + young D-man + draft pick and get both? otherwise i wouldn't mess too much with what we've got going right now ...

no, i don't think he'll be going anywhere either ... UNLESS ... if babs decides he's not top-6 material and sammy won't be happy playing on 3rd or 4th i could see them maybe making a move ... maybe i'm wrong, but i thought at some point last season babs dropped sammy to 3rd or 4th line and cut his playing time and sammy was upset about it ... does anyone else remember this, or did i make it up?

contempt is such a strong word, i usually save that for things i take seriously ... i don't think sammy's bad, i just don't think he's a top 6 forward ... if he were on the 3rd or 4th line i'd have no problem with him, he's big, plays pretty solid defense, will mix it up, and can contribute offensively ... he's just not in the same league as our other top 6 guys, especially when it comes to the puck possession ... he's good at mucking for the puck, i'll give him that, but too many blind passes, turnovers, and cringe-worthy attempted spin-o-ramas just kill the momentum ... and he doesn't have much of a shot - his shooting percentage is the lowest of all of our top forwards, less than half of the next closest one ... if he would accept a 3rd or 4th line role i'd be happy to keep him around, but i don't think he'll do that happily ...

i like the idea, but i have a feeling that most GM's actually watch the games, not just the stats sheets ... now if we could convince sammy and hank to swap jerseys for a while then maybe we could inflate sammy's trade value and lower hank's worth so we can re-sign him longterm for less $ ...

wow ... we're the #1 team in the league and playing with great chemistry and heart from top to bottom and most of you guys want to pretend-trade away half our roster??? in my opinion what makes a gm great when it comes to the trading deadline is not pulling offer the whoppers, it's restraint ... we're not trading hudler, filppula, franzen ... none of the rebuilding teams will want drake, and i don't see us trading him to a contender because we won't get anything but prospects in return, which won't help our cup run ... i don't think we'll move lilja, despite the turnovers, he's been solid in the postseaon ... sammy is about the only guy off our current roster i could see us moving, maybe packaged with a prospect or two, but i'm not sure what we would get for that - probably not a significant upgrade ... i could see us deal a prospect or two for someone like calder last year, but that's about it ...

exactly ... throw him on a line with pavel or hank and i'm sure we could revive his statistics and make him appear to be worth another fat contract, but come playoff time when it's all about heart and effort i don't think we'd want him anywhere near our team ...

don't know what babs would do ... i'd like to see ozzie in there, i think he's deserved it this year, but they may overlook him because he's splitting the games with dom and because our goalies seem to often get a lack of respect because of who is playing in front of them ... that said, hopefully the league will see through that crap and recognize that ozzie has been playing lights out all season ...

in my mind, sirdrake looks a lot like this ...

yeah, i think this actually quaifies as lame, but i guess we all knew it was coming ... on the bright side this also means they are about out of "retired" players to bring back to try to help them, unless of course they try to poach from another team ... maybe gretzky's tired of coaching ...

exactly ... it's not the outfit that makes visiting fans objectionable, it's the behavior ... cheer, but don't be a jackass ... have good hockey talk with opposing fans, but don't talk s*** ... basically the kind of behavior that separates "good" visiting posters on these boards from the trolls that seem to show up at playoff time just to start trouble ...

unless i'm mistaken, sakic just had hernia surgery and is out 2-3 months ... i could see iginla maybe, but lids has to be the front runner, especially being the leading votegetter ... in the east i agree, it should go to a veteran ... to me the C at the allstar game is honoring a player who, even in a room full of all-stars, stands out as an unquestioned leader ... sid is an unquestioned talent, but i don't know that he's in the same leadership strata across the league as guys like sundin, shanny, or alfie ... i think personally i'd like to see alfie get it, the sens are the top team in the east and the guy deserves some recognition ...