lets go pavel

No, I haven't ... what's your point? I asked for an explanation, not a smart-ass comment. I'll ask again, what does Kopecky getting his ass handed to him have to do with playing on a winning team?

I think his point is that the lack of depth/talent is even more significant when the other team is pounding the guys who are now playing ...

You're going to have to explain that one ... what does getting his ass handed to him have to do with playing on a winning team?

Just out of curiosity, who are these "grit-slappies" you keep talking about? You make it sound like there's a horde out there, but I can only think of 2 people making comments like that ...

Did anyone actually scroll ahead in time to verify it won't be on Center Ice? I know the channel changes names, but my recollection from last year is that they still show the playoff games ...

I don't think so, I think if Downey had come out on top it would have had the opposite effect, but I guess there's no way to know ...

Ehh ... maybe. I'm glad he's sticking up for himself. However, I didn't like the timing (or the showing) ...

But why is that going to dissuade the rest of their players from the physically intimidating play? Are they going to play nice out of fear that Kopecky will take Beauchemin to the penalty box again? It worked out fine last night, but I don't see it having any lasting affect on the Ducks style of play ... (edit: shpelling)

I agree with your first sentence ... however, I don't believe that Kopecky getting his ass kicked is going to affect their gameplan one bit.

I agree with you. It was a trade-off, and luckily it worked out for us. But had it not, I think we would all be questioning the timing of things.

So Kopecky getting his ass kicked de-energized the Ducks and stripped them of their confidence? I'm not seeing it ... as I said before, good for Kopecky for sticking up for himself, but I don't think it was the best decision.

No one is saying fighting is the only way to pump things up. But if there is a fight, as there was last night, don't you think the winning player's team typically gets a boost in the energy/crowd noise department?

I don't think you're going to find a lot of sympathy here as far as Crosby goes. If Crosby sneezes, someone here will start a thread about how he's a ***** who needs to stop whining about pollen. Apart from that, yeah, there are plenty of whiners out there. It's the playoffs, they're trying to shift focus, get calls, protect their players, etc. I'm just glad Babs doesn't go that route ...

We have Downey (not that he's a thug, but he serves a similar purpose), and his value to the team has been well documented, and well-disputed, in other threads. Likewise his wealth of playing time last year and lack of it this year has also been debated at length. I don't want to rehash all that here. There are lots of factors that contribute to winning or losing a game. None of them, apart from scoring more goals than the other guy, guarantees a win. However, it would be naive to say a fight never helps a team win. Momentum, energy, confidence, tendency toward physical play, crowd noise - all of these things can contribute to the outcome of a game, and all of these things can be affected by fighting.

The fact that Downey isn't in doesn't mean winning a fight doesn't boost momentum and crowd energy. I'm not knocking Kopecky, good for him for sticking up for himself. That doesn't make the timing right. Again, if the Ducks had fed off of the momentum and scored again there would ten Kopecky-bashing threads started this morning. Just because something works out well doesn't make it the right thing to do.

Is there ever perfect timing to get your ass kicked? Had he won (or had a fighting chance) it would have been good timing, but what happened last night could have very easily made things worse as far as momentum and crowd energy. Thankfully it turned out okay ...

I half expected to read this thread and find out Kopecky was concussed, and being congratulated for taking himself out of the lineup! Seriously though, if it had worked out differently we would be crucifying Kopecky right now, regardless of whether the Kopecky-for-Beauchemin trade is a good one. I also have a hard time believing this was a conscious effort to eliminate one of their top D-men for 5 minutes, but I guess it's possible. It worked out fine this time, but I'd just as soon not have that happen again. And Downey, now that you're back, please give Kopecky some lessons ... that was brutal.

Yup, the announcers actually mentioned this during the game ... they said Babs thought Z and D didn't play particularly well together earlier in the year, and that coupled with Draper's absence made him reluctant to put them together.

I'm sorry for reading this thread.

Really, I think you're the only one obsessing over this. Why do you start threads about Rafalski and then say you wish fans would stop talking about him? See the irony? Settle down, drink a beer, and stop posting every thought that comes into your head ...

Dammit! How did Lebda sneak into the lineup? Back to the bench, Brett! (Fixed it ... thanks!)

Yup ... very excited to see a top 6 of Lidstrom-Rafalski-Kronwall-Stuart-Lilja-Ericsson for hopefully a full year next year ... size, speed, and skill!

Come on, dude ... you subtitled this thread "Don't Kill Me, Please... ". That means there was a little voice somewhere inside you that told you this was a bad idea. Listen to that voice! The series is 2-1, it is not time to be thinking about next year, much less sharing those thoughts.