55fan

As I recall, his wife called 911 because he had ripped a door off (or something) but when the cops got there, she said everything was fine, so he didn't get in any trouble. I'll look for a link with some info to verify this. Be back shortly. Ok, here we go. http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100258 That's the incident I remember, but I thought there was more after they divorced. I can't find anything online, so I must be mis-remembering.

Unless I'm misreading the rules (and I just went back and re-read them), the officials can already give a game misconduct if they feel that it is warranted. Plus there are all sorts of additional penalties- helmet, instigator, fight strap, third man in, leaving the bench, not clearing the area, continuing a fight, etc.- that if it's really a problem, they can throw one of those in as well, which adds to the number of penalty minutes. Or am I wrong?

I'll keep Howard. I really like Miller, and if I could have Howard/Miller, I'd let Mrazek walk (going with a known over an unknown there). Of course, Howard/Miller just isn't going to happen. I'm perfectly content having Howard/Mrazek as our future. If Mrazek turns out to be a stable back-up, that's fine. If we end up with a 1a-1b situation, that's even better.

You cared enough to ask.

Good thing the Avs didn't start the season at Montreal. That torch-passing thing looked the Habs did might have looked too much like the Statue of Liberty.

By rule only three guys can have them on at once on the ice. Either 1 C and 2 A's or 3 A's. Unless you're in Oakland and you're playing baseball, but I've never heard them criticized for it. Oakland must be weird.

Yep- I watched the video and that made me think of having Sammy be our enforcer. Quite valid points he made. As for posting, I'm not sure. Sometimes I get lucky and the video appears.

You'd think that if fighting were to equal getting kicked out of the game that goons would become more prevalent than they are now. If you want to get rid of a Pavel or Z, why send someone after them who could actually play? Why not send out the guy that plays four minutes and throws five punches? Oh, heavens! That's it! Sammy can be our new enforcer! He plays games against players like Crosby- you know, guys with talent- if it looks like we're going to lose, we send him in gloves ablaze. He gets kicked out, and so does the guy with talent. He doesn't have to win fights; he just has to stay standing long enough to get the other guy kicked out! From Whipping Boy to Whooping Boy! I'm a genius!

Not on the Red Wings. It takes five guys to make a power play squad. (Well, technically ten, but you know...) Reminded me of Crawford-Bowman too.

Too bad Mike Vernon didn't go into coaching. Can we hire his as a special assistant for just one game? The one when we play the Avs at the Joe?

Who says the education system is failing? There's a whole group of kids in Canada that can count to six!

Sammy gets a two-day reprieve.

Take him, but assure everyone that he is just your manservant. Then treat him thusly. On second thought, don't you have something to loan him? It seems to me that you have a few items in your closet.

I'm with you on the takedowns. Mano a mano, maybe some sweater-grabbing for balance, but if you're going to take a guy down, don't flip him. I loves me a good fight, but that makes me nervous.

I've actually suggested that since he plays the point on the PP. Mostly I meant having him on the roster as a 7th d-man to help keep us cap compliant, not actually having him play as a d-man.

Bolded part either means that it's October or that the Apocalypse is coming. Also, rumour has it that the Pistons still exist, although I can't find any basketball fans to verify that.

Good news for George. He's a real upstanding guy; he'll be back on his feet soon.

That was my split-second reaction. Quick question (for anyone out there who knows)- How are captains chosen? Who chooses them? Any thoughts that Stevie might have thrown in his two cents after seeing how well things went here with Nick between him and Z?

I never wear socks. It's been at least five years since I wore them, and that was bowling. I have a pair in the drawer in case I really need socks (my sisters call them my bowling socks), but I never actually use them. The person below me would consider dating someone more than 20 years over/under their age (disregard "under" if not legal).

Card. I try not to carry cash since it burns a hole in my pocket. There's too little left of lunch to make it worth saving: Throw it out and waste it or eat it even though you're stuffed?

The part about "death" was just talking heads talking to fill time. Parros had his helmet on, but went down face first. They ran it slow-mo and you could see that he had his eyes closed expecting a punch and aimed for where Orr had been. Since Orr had moved, he went over him and since his hands were tied up with Orr and punching, his face hit the ice without anything to stop it. If anything, this will be evidence to support the need of a cage, but it was a freak accident.

I'm ok with Cleary, Bert, and Sammy in the line-up. I just wish we could have five lines.

Awesome GDT, Mike. In an ideal world, we kick some serious butt. Little Miller scores on Big Miller. Big Miller is sad. Little Miller convinces him to join us at the trade deadline, by which time the Sabres are out of it anyway. We go into the playoffs with a goalie tandem of Howard/Miller (hopefully freshly off US gold). We win the Cup. Not too lofty expectations for the first game of the season, are they?

Exactly. He's earned the top spot and Stamkos is the future. I remember that we had the same thoughts around here when Lids was named Captain. We all knew Z would get it eventually, but Nick was a good follow-up to Stevie. It also takes some of the pressure off of the kid by having a beloved veteran serve as captain between the kid and the long-time face of the franchise.

Certain players have their haters and will be whipping boys even if they get hat tricks every other game. They'll either be scolded for not getting them every game, or their defensive game will be called into question. Haters gonna hate. Some players will have had such lofty expectations thrust upon them either because of past performance or from the predictions of others who have watched them at other levels that they won't be able to live up to them. Some players will just have bad years or go on bad streaks. It happens. Cleary, Bert, Sammy, and Franzen will have to clear the pre-conceived hurdles. This makes them front-runners. I think we'll be expecting too much of Weiss. He's going to be the one. Of course anyone can do it with a little lack of effort, bad luck, and falling out of favour with the herd mentality of LGW.