55fan

I love fights, especially goalie fights. One-sided beat-downs aren't good fights. Have a penalty for that, not specifically goalie fights. Goalies are people too.

The benches may have cleared, but it looked like most of the Beavers were just standing around watching. I got a kick out of the little kid jumping up and down.

Those are some serious goalie prospects. I wonder what place we'd be in if we were in the west. Higher or lower than third? Just wondering.

Ok, well. I guess it's not anxiety. I'm glad it's not mental. It's hard enough dealing with mental problems in general. I can't imagine dealing with it with cameras in your face. Hope whatever's ailing him gets better.

We know he can't physically play. The question is whether or not he'll participate. That doesn't necessarily mean playing. Maybe- just maybe- something is floating past him or the front office or something, but no one wants to say anything yet because he honestly doesn't know if he'll be able to commit to it at that time or not. Maybe a maybe is just a maybe. Maybe.

We can't use the compliance buy-out until summer. LTIR for now; buyout if it seems like the best option when we actually have the option. If there's a chance that he'll be able to return, give him that chance. We didn't give up on Hank despite back and wrist problems that many said would cut his future career short, nor did we give up on Helm with all his back issues. No reason to give up on Franzen if there's a chance that he can be helped. If it's better for him and the team to part ways, the compliance buy-out is the way to go. Until then, LTIR as long as he needs it.

Yes. As long as he is on LTIR, the team is better financially than if he just retires whether due to injury or just wanting to retire. The days of "ok, I'm done now- wipe me off the books" are over and done thanks to the last lock-out (which people seem to have forgotten even happened). Pronger is a perfect example of this. Both the team and the player have acknowledged that he won't play again, but as long as he is on the books as LTIR, they are allowed to recoup salary as needed in order to get someone up to replace him. With Mule, if he isn't on the team, part (not sure how much) of his salary still haunts us. As long as he is on LTIR, we can use up to his cap hit to replace him. Considering that his cap hit isn't all that high (comparatively speaking) it's almost as though he isn't there. It seems high compared to other years because the cap went down this year, which left us in a tighter bind than usual. Generally we have some to spare. If he retires, we're financially screwed for the rest of his contract. If he goes LTIR, we can salvage things financially. The only point where it is an issue is at the start of the season where there is a day or two between pre-season and regular season where they have to lower the roster but don't count the LTIR guys. When that happens, we just send someone waiver-exempt down to GR on paper and bring them up again. We did it this season for Helm and Eaves. Unfortunately, most people have never dealt with a mental illness and don't see it as the same thing as Helm's back or Eaves' concussion. Neither of those injuries had any sort of time-table for return. Neither was something that an x-ray or MRI could pinpoint precisely. Both were the sort of injury where the treatment depended entirely on how the player felt. If Franzen is suffering from an illness of a mental sort (and I feel compelled to point out that we're all still SPECULATING), his treatment is just as difficult to foresee as the other guys' injuries. In short, LTIR is better for him and the team if he can't play for the foreseeable future.

Actually, he said it about Ericsson too. Doesn't surprise me. He also has said that different players are the best at taping their sticks as well. He meant it to mean that the players pay attention to detail, but I found it funny. EDIT: I did a search to see if I could find where I had read that. Turns out he has said it about Leino, Ericsson, and Helm.

IF this speculation is actually the way that it is, Mule is suffering from a medical condition. He can be put on LTIR.

If he does have this problem, and if he had it in the past, it could be that different circumstances, different medications, or just different life events could change things for him. Since he scored all of those goals he's been thrust into the limelight (which he's always said is not comfortable for him), gotten a new contract, had new expectations thrust upon him, gotten married, had a baby, and had some injuries. Any or all of these things could trigger different issues that could have been addressed in any number of ways. We can sit here and speculate all we want, but IIRC, Babs degree was in sports psychology. If there is an issue, he's probably as good, if not better, than any other coach to deal with things. Anxiety and depression can be treated, but the symptoms and severity often change, and often meds (which often have side effects) have to be changed too. Whatever he's going through, I hope he can get through it and return in good form.

Oh, Stevie... keep us hanging on. Didn't say no outright, but certainly downplayed it. "Haven't given it much thought." "Will be in town." "A lot going on with Olympics, World jr's, Lightning." Looks like we'll have to wait for a firm answer, but it kind of sounds like a no. Of course, I could be wrong...

Looks like Mickey is going to be asking Stevie these same questions at intermission tonight.

Or maybe he hasn't wiped that grin off of his face yet, and Babs wants him to keep that grin on his face and dream of coming back and doing it again.

How about letting the mods decide if people here really want to discuss the Alumni game and Stevie Y? ________________________________ With regards to the topic at hand: I'm looking forward to the Alumni games. I was seriously surprised to hear Shanahan would be involved since he is supposed to be neutral, but I'm glad that he will be. If Stevie chooses not to play because he is busy with Tampa, I can respect that. If he chooses not to play because he can't skate, I can respect that too. I don't think that there's anything wrong with letting him know that he is still loved and revered as one of the greats around here. He's earned that. Those of us who are older love these things. These are the players that we remember well. All too fast, they're disappearing from the game, and soon they'll be gone from our sphere. I'm glad that we have these "homecoming" events to see them again. Sure they're meaningless from a standpoint of making the playoffs, but they're our past and we were a part of that.

It's a battle of Florida. Flip comes in and scores right off the opening face-off. Weiss (in the press box with a sore groin) thinks, "Hell, it may not have been the Bolts, but I used to play for a Florida team." and telepathically wills one in off the stick of Alfredsson. Not to be undone, Stevie Y notes that as a former Wing, he has The Power, and telepathically allows Stamkos to beat Helm in a footrace to the net, the sheer speed of which blinds Howard long enough for the puck to pass him. Meanwhile, back in the press box, Tootoo nudges Sammy and says, "Dude. You used to play for Florida." Sammy pauses to remember everywhere he's played. Tootoo jogs his memory: "Remember? The Panthers? The big ugly cat on the front?" By the middle of the second period, Sammy realizes that he's been trying to jinx a Penguin, makes the proper re-alignment, and causes Zetterberg to tie the game. The rest of the game is played at a fast and furious pace with both teams trying to think of any connections with the state of Florida. With 27.8 seconds left, Dan Cleary becomes the hero when he happens to think, "Not overtime again. I'm too old for this s***. I should just retire and move to Florida." Wings win 3-2 in regulation. And that's how it's gonna go.

I feel the need to correct you on the bolded part. I'm shaking my head at this. Granted, goalies are kind of weird in general, but is having Bryz really going to benefit the kids in Edmonton? Either they're going to be distracted and play worse, or this is going to be some sort of weird cast of characters that actually works. All they need now is a platypus that takes face-offs.

You're kidding, right? If that was the case, she's get 2 minutes for Too Many Men and he'd get 2 minute for Third Man In and they'd just cancel each other out and go on with their lives.

Question for the techies out there: Is there a way that you can use your own car starter to start or shut off your neighbour's car? My neighbour starts her minivan at all hours of the day and night and lets it run for at least 15 minutes. This is normal around these parts in the winter, but she does it in the summer too. Sometimes it is to let it warm up; other times it is to use the stereo as an outdoor stereo system (and a kickin' stereo it is). My bedroom window is about 15-20 feet from her minivan. She shakes my window panes. If the man has been in the van last, the music is earth-shattering rap. If it's the lady, it's metal. I dig metal, but not three hours after I've fallen asleep. Is there any way that I can control their vehicle? I'd just like to shut it off if possible, but if not, I'd like to start it every hour during the night so she knows what it feels like to get jolted out of bed. Not sure I want to actually talk to these people. I'm to old to put myself on the line like that, so it would be good if this was something they couldn't trace.

I'd be shocked if he didn't. Remember Ericsson? Babcock said that he was the best player he had sent down. They had to because he could still clear waivers. It took Smith forever to get up here too. Once the waiver thingie is gone, Nyquist will be up with us. If not then, he most certainly will be for the playoffs. If someone sustains a season-ending injury before that (hopefully not, just throwing out the thought since it is possible), he will be up before that. <off to do anti-jinx stuff>

Won't Almqvist go back down once E is back? That plus Tootoo should make them cap-compliant. Although math was never my strong suit...

Now the circle is complete. When Nill left us, he was but the learner; now he is the master. Not saying Nil is better than Kenny; just quoting the movie.

It could be any number of things- benching, physical injury, illness, even possibly depression of some sort. Any of these things could keep him out. I just hope that they figure it out and find some way to return him to being the Mule.

Thank you. That is exactly what I couldn't remember. Sammy will come off by himself. I'm not sure I understood buying out Cola last summer. He wasn't all that bad. I wonder if we're going to go through the Cleary drama again this summer. If we get Cleary back again, Franzen will almost have to go to make room for Nyquist. Too bad, really. Franzen can be great. He just needs to get back to his roots from before he was a goal scorer and work his butt off. Then he needs to add the goal-scoring to that. Right now he's just scoring the goals. (By right now, I don't mean at this moment. I meant this season.) IOW, he needs to be the Mule again.

Are you drunk already? Sammy will score the GWG and people will still hate on him. Also, don't put thoughts of straddling Sammy's stick in a post that will be seen by a Sammy lover such as myself. Anyway... Wings should win this one. We were tired against Winnipeg after a long road trip.

If I understand correctly, they can be bought out at any time, but there was some sort of a special buy-out of which each team gets two in either of the two years following the lockout. I'm not sure of the dates, but I was under the impression that the special buyouts were for during the off-season. Hopefully one of our resident capologists will set us straight. In any case, I think that if they were going to buy out Franzen, they'd have done it last summer. There was the option of using both buyouts in the same year.