lomekian

Amen....the NHL has shown lip service rather than leadership on this one...

Of course the stats geeks can't factor in everything...hence the very word intangibles, and its easy to take pot shots from a laptop rather than out on the ice - but the no skill goon enforces make their argument easy for them. As i said before, Prust, Lucic, McCarty, Probert, Tie Domi etc...yes please....McGratten, Biznasty etc no thanks.

He also made a perfect pass under pressure to give Nyquist a tap in. His bones are creaking, and he can't cover for any mistakes he makes like he used to, but he's still smarter than most of the guys out there. Sadly his shot has deteriorated a lot, which is why he is works well with Nyquist. He'd be looking better if Cole could play and if Franzen were providing depth. Two big losses.

My bad...engage brain before fingers....

Helm got beat for speed both times by one of the only faster skaters in the league. Sure Helm could have tripped him, but he wasn't the last man. Ericsson was the last man, who had he been positioned correctly would have prevented the chance and even when he wasn't he should have put his stick in the skates when helm was beaten. But he skated slowly into a dead zone, marking nobody. Agreed helm's mistake started the first goal, but Ercisson had plenty of opportunity to rectify the situation

Not recovered from being sucker punched in the head at Dallas...form has tailed off badly since then.

Lets hope Glendenning is ok for the next one..it was his absence that caused different matchups that completely screwed our mojo. But yeah, this game's on Ericsson more than the dirty play on G-dog. the first goal was just inexcusable. trip the guy and take a PK. That said, another example of the wings taking their foot off the opposition throat. And whisper it to all the nay-sayers, just like last year Smith has been twice the player in the post season than in the regular. Arguably our best D-man tonight. Imagine 6 months ago how many people would have anticipated that come the playoffs a line of Miller, Glendenning and Ferraro being arguably our best line; Mrazek being 2 mins away from back to back shutouts in the playoffs as first choice starter; Smith looking as good as anyone on our D; and Abdelkader basically being a key first line forward. Such a shame Cole got hurt as he brings so much of what would improve this team on the front end. Also a shame that because everyone in the NHL knows we need D, and most want to see us crash and burn, that the asking price for the wings to fix their problems is higher than for our rivals. Man, if Suter hadn't had man love with Parise our D would be sorted and we'd be challenging right at the top again. even Niskanen would have made a massive difference...

Quite a few suggestions that Glendenning was injured deliberately...even if were so, the NHL won't do a damn thing, so spilt milk. We just need to do the same to Johnson in the next game. I do get frustrated about how other teams do go out to injure our players, and the NHL continues to do f*** all.

Hedman injured Glendenning during that after whistle bundle, changed the game. Sneaker cheating f***ers

Bollocks. The lightning would be half they team they are without Victor Hedman, what a beast. Today we found a way to lose a game we totally deserved to win. Whenever we have the wrong match-up against their speedy 2nd line they kill us.

Imagine how i feel at 2.45 am local time....;-)

The iron has been against us today and now it comes back to bite us....suddenly switched off at the back end and got caught twice

Without wishing to piss on Mr Grimes parade, there is a massive difference between talented enforcers and goons, and the guys featured in this video (in which Biznasty comes across well as does orr to a degree) just don't the talent to stick in the faster paced NHL of today. To make a roster these days with regularity as a fighter/tough guy you've either got to have some offensive impact (see Reeves this year/Tootoo/Chris Neil/Carcillo/Gregory Campbell/Prust/Gaustad/Dorsett) or be defensively responsible (Campbell/Prust/Gaustad/ even John Scott has tightened up in this area, which is why he still has a job). This is not to undervalue toughness or fighting. There is a reason the likes of Lucic/Prust and others earn more cheese than their points totals would support. A clean living Probert or even a Prust would be fantastic for this team, but these guys don't go on trees, and the overall level of skill, tactical awareness and speed has changed so much in the NHL in the last 15 years. if our own Mike Mckee could put up any points he'd be fast-tracked to be given a chance, as he's a physical beast, skates well, dominates fights and is defensively sound at his level. But he has no offence. Looking further back, Jiri Fisher would have been absolute money for this roster had things turned out differently. But I do agree that the demise of professional goons might encourage a needed change to the instigator rule, as when there are no more guys who have to fight to justify their ice time, fighting can be used as a method of policing again. Hell even the Hanson/Carlson brothers in 'Slapshot' put up points both fictionally and in their professional careers.

Accidental delay of game is such a bulls*** penalty with all the headshots they let go...

That was worse than a Luiz Saurez football dive. his head and body went in different directions in a way not anatomically possible with the contact. If that is not embellishment I don't know what is.

Its fairly simple. Smith's in for 2 reasons. Marchenko's not been great and has shown rookie playoff mistakes. Also Smith is probably the best skater, along with DD, that the wings have on the back end, and TBL are seriously quick as a roster. This is a reason why Ericsson/Zidlcky on the 3rd line is scary, but at least they both know their role and Big Rig plays better on the left side. As for Smith, we all know the deal...he has the talent to be a comfortable top 4 d-man, and sometimes plays like it, but the earlier monkey tricycle for brains comment is sadly apt at times. Personally i like him with Kronner NK55 isn't actually as quick on his skates as he was and Ericsson just kills the offence at the moment. At least smith makes things happen, and Kronner is probably the only d-man at this moment with the smarts to both enhance that skillset and cover for him. Either way, the most important thing is DD and KQ back together as they have become for the most part a steady eddie pair, with just enough skill not to completely handcuff the forwards. As we know, this roster is seriously short of D-men, which is hardly surprising when one considers who has retired and who has left in recent seasons, and the striking out in FA. We all know that Kronner is basically a number 2 d-man having to play above himself, and then we have DD who is a top 4 guy with a little upside, and then the rest are 4-6 men who can be good on the second pair when on form and can be at press box level when not. The problem we have is that Marchenko, Oullette, Jensen and Sproul are not quite NHL regular ready and all have the upside of being 3-6 D-men at best. I still find it astounding that we've struck out so badly in FA, as surely any D-man out there worth their salt can see a potential career as 1-3 d-man for the next 5-7 years at a franchise that always looks after its players and is determined to ice a playoff team every year.

Best contribution to the thread. Re the wider discussion, scores have declined somewhat in the last 20 years in most sports with a similar scoring system. Professionalism and money. If winning is worth millions and is watched by millions and gives you a 1 in a million social status, whether player or coach, you're going to make sure you get the margins right. Fitness, training, psychology, tactical preparation have all been transformed.

That said, the wings were also awful during those 4 minutes, and the one correct call, too many men, had me leave when I tried to give the game a second chance...amateur hour.

Tuned in. Saw 4 minutes of appalling officiating. Tuned out. Watching the NHL is almost becoming pointless. The standard of officiating the last 2 or 3 years is an embarrassment. Not going to fully invest in watching games from an unfriendly timezone until they sort it out. I have essentially lost faith in the sport a little.

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Helm Tatar - Mcdavid - Abdelkader Nyquist - Sheahan - Pulks Miller - Glendenning - Jurco Making Weiss expendable and giving a nice problem if Franzen comes back...I could live with that! ;-)

One thing some of the nay-Sayers are forgetting...we are right up against the contract limit and not a million miles away from the prospect limit, so seeing as backman was taking up a contract and janmark wa either going to need another this summer or remain an unused prospect, this and the departure of Cleary and gus will make sure we actually have the room to both sign some of the other flourishing prospects in the system and do a bit of shopping in the FA market without having to waive other players closer to the big league. I had high hopes for both prospects, but backman sort of burnt his bridges and janmark hasn't massively kicked on since we drafted him, and as outlined above we were going to lose them or someone else for nothing this summer anyway if we didn't move them. It's potentially a good move for Dallas, but might end up being a poor one for them unless both players can put on weight in a noticeable way. As for the wings, we got a player that improves some of weaknesses for a return that will only really coat us if we get to the ecf and he contributes, as for a variety of practical reasons neither prospect was likely do do anything here. And perhaps we'll just find another European FA this summer like Nosek!

I'd gone...every time I watch a wings game, the refs do their best to make it a farce. I'm pretty close to just giving up on the NHL now as I can no longer tell what the rules are.

And of course they score off the bulls*** call after another ******* lucky bounce. Had no luck tonight and same as every other game, the refs having more influence than half the players....

While being excellent at drawing penalties. NHL refs are just impossible to read at this stage....it all seems random

Nashville are really playing chippy, trying to leave little dirty hits and tangles everywhere...just as well the wings are so disciplined.