Shaman

For the love of all that is hockey, let the off season end!

Gordie Howe Arena... Please.

This will save me so much money on new TVs.

That would be wonderful, but probably not realistic.

Because beating the hell out of your own teammates is a great way to build a since of teamwork... Good policy, all any team needs is two good prospects injuring each other in a vain attempt to make the big club.

Fans need a whipping boy. Re: Lebda, Lang, and Williams.

Stuart purely (against my pro euro bias) because they need a NA Alt Captain I believe Stuart deserves the third.

Pulu: I think 8.0D was a pretty good rank for him, hes for sure not a lock for first line, but if he makes the NHL hes going to be a top 6 sniper, there is no middle ground for him. Almqvist: SEL is a weird league, numbers aren't as telling as they are in other leagues, it really takes looking at everything to understand if they progressed or not, my problem is that Marshall had one good season at the USHL, but that doesn't mean much because the USHL isn't a great league, I would rank it far below the European men's and jr leagues, and below the Canadian Jr leagues for level of play. Ferraro: I just don't see it, hes had two s*** seasons, and has shown no signs of taking that next step in development. In fact I would argue hes regressed since he was drafted, he isn't even top 15 in my mind.

Why did Pulu get downgraded rank wise after a killer season in Finland? The ranks and lists are s***, I hate to be so blunt, but I won't sugar coat it, Marshall and Ferraro top ten? Alqvist not? Pulu going from 8 to 7.5 and both being D? I could see that one if he was a 7.5B, but he blew everyone's expectations out of the water last season, and is having a strong preseason this year.

I could have made it in the NHL if I hadn't blown out my shoulder in the military (played in High school, but got caught up at 17 with the post 9/11 patriotism and enlisted on my 17th birthday).

He has also told the Wings Russian scouts hes very interested in playing in N. America in 2 years so hopefully the Russian Factor won't come into this. I love this pick, a very sexy choice for a 7th rounder, definitely great defensively, and could easily put up 30 pts a year in the NHL if he cracks the top 4.

The Wings have 9 great guys for the bottom 6, but only 5 players that are legit top 6 guys. Conner won't make the team, he will be in GR this season mentoring the young guys.

Helm has no business playing Wing on the second line, it negates his strengths, especially his excellent defensive play. He is the third line center, unless Filpulla gets demoted.

Not unless Brunnstrom is making 8 million dollars next season. They will have to move someone in that case because of roster limits not cap space.

Next question: Which would you rather lose, your right leg or left?

Everyone here knows the cure for cancer is Z's beard hair mixed with some of Dat's stick tape, applied liberally to the area. This also is an ancient Chinese cure for impotence. Bold predictions: Hudler scores 52 pts all from 3rd line minutes (plus a couple from his time in the box served for bench minors). Filpulla (and 1st and 4th) is traded at the deadline for Praise, Z and D for C goes catatonic. Zetterberg scores 40 goals again, and nears 100 points. Dats scores 99 again, justifies this by setting assists records in the playoffs. Tells the media 'I take regular season off, stay rested for cup' then looks at Z awkwardly making sure he said it right. Lidstrom puts up 50+ points, is +20 and wins another Norris.

I think even with all the accolades Lids has he is severely underrated in just how good he was. He went out and quietly (for his first ten years) played Norris level defense, quarterbacked a dangerous team's powerplay, but was never noticed because until Coffey and Borque (among others of the old 1980s guard) were out of the league he went unnoticed. I would argue that if not for the fact that it took so long for people to notice Lidstrom he would have 10 Norris trophies by now.

Lebda is great... hes going to singlehandly make Weber and Suter look a lot better defensively, raising their price tags and giving Detroit a better chance to sign them.

Sure that is what he's making this year but whats his cap hit?

Size and speed are overrated, see Dats and Z for examples of what elite vision and ability can do in a frame that is under 1,85cm.

The only knock on his skating is his speed, his mechanics are just fine, there is way too much put on speed, especially with wingers, with centres speed is a lot more important, but again if you watch him hes a strong skater, just not fast, again think Zetterberg, Z is strong on his skates, but he is not that fast. Hes like the anti-Filpulla, Flip has pretty good forward speed, but hes easily knocked off his skates and off the puck, when you want Pulu you'll see the opposite, hes very strong on the puck, but hes not that quick.

You really haven't followed him have you? Hes actually plays in the dirty areas pretty well, his skating isn't as bad as most people say it is (think Zetterberg), hes a winger, so speed isn't as important as many people think is, he has really good playmaking abilities and has both a massive slapshot (both heavy and accurate) and a pretty underrated wrist shot. Very few people think he will be a 2nd liner, hes a boom or bust player, and most analysts would agree with his skill set he could very well be a 40 goal scorer. To prove this he was 5th in one of the top leagues in the world outside of the NHL (a lot of people would rank the Finnish League 2nd or 3rd and stylistically the closest to the NHL of any of the European Leagues). And my final point is he broke a few of Selanne's rookie records while being a full 2 1/2 years younger at the time.

Jarnkrok and Pulu will be the next steals of the decade. Count on it. Again I think people really don't understand why Pulkkinen fell so far, but it was purely because he had two injuries that made him a huge question mark whether he would be able to come back and play at a high level. Prior to the injuries he was ranked #4 overall in the 2010 draft projections with a lot of talk of him being #1 overall. Should he continue his dominant play he will be a player that everyone will lament passing over. I mean he was top 5 in scoring as a teenager in a mens league.

Ozzie set to retire tomorrow

Adjusted stats from their respective leagues to the NHL. Teemu is 6th, Jarnkrok is 12th overall. The draft rank next to them is their position among all other forwards drafted. Pretty damn good for a guy drafted 70th among forwards, and 111th overall.