stevkrause

that's a pretty blanket statement - he's facing NHL'ers - playing in a lesser league, when he's 17... that by no means, means that he sucks... he's just not there NOW

I knew there wasnt going to be commentary, but I though they were still going to have ice sound - I'm getting no sound at all... too bad... I like hearing crowd and ice noise

give Cleary his credit for the screen

international rules I believe - basically all the rules are the same, excpet no-touch icing...

just one exhibition game, but Bert looks quick so far, surprisingly quick... that's encouraging

yea... so, there's that, haha didn't really do the math right in the first place...

agreed, but moreso than he is here...

oh, don't you remember - it took us 18 total wins to win in 08... after Pit went down 2-0, Bettman changed it to a best of 9 to better their chances of coming back... I'm surprised you don't remember that

this dissapoints me... for a guy that almost made the team outright after camp in 07, it's pretty pathetic that he isn't willing to pay his dues - guess he'd rather be a big fish in a little pond, it's too bad he didn't take a page from the Ericsson playbook and put in his time - coulda been on this roster full time by next season with a good showing...

it's also possible that Bert's "groin" is his back and that Cleary's "groin" is his knee... media coverage and the NHL's loose injury report rules I'm sure have something to do with why we have so many...

actually, I found neither yours nor mindfly's comments to derail this thread this time, it was the "North American bravery" comment that confused me.... and I also disagree about Lidstrom - he is one of the best PK d-men in the game...

I'm in this boat with you - I think he'd be a perfect fit in Toronto with the youth there...

how the f did this take the turn to the "toughness" debate??! this has NOTHING to do with North American or European or Asian or African - it has to do with desire and will, which we have plenty of... it's all about execution... I, as much as the next guy, can see the purpose of a guy that can stand up for teammates, but this has NOTHING to do with the PK and has no place in this thread... it's getting really annoying how every single thread on this board gets hijacked to a debate of toughness...

I think he'd fit in amazingly with a young team like the Leafs or Blues, who could use some secondary scoring and cheap depth, plus a veteran who can talk to the kids about how easy it is to fall into the wrong lifestyle and thus mentor them on living the NHL life the right way, by comparison of what he did wrong...

I'm iffy on McCrimmon too... Cheli needs to just retire already and take a position here, then in a few years of seasoning, step in as the D coach...

I agree 100% - I've never been a fan of a collapsing box, or a diamond formation - I think the best option for a PK is a large box, cuts off the down low passes and the point shots, the only real risk to this is opening up the slot, but as long as they cycle the box properly and have guys with quick legs and intensity (ie. Helm, Zetterberg) who will hound their men and get the clear, you'll be fine... another key to good penalty killing is faceoffs... you control those and you cut 5-10 seconds off of every PK per draw taken... I also agree that they need to stick to 2 set pairs of D-men on the kill and 3 set pairs of forwards - Penalty Killers should ALWAYS be: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Helm, Draper, Filpulla, Eaves/Maltby Lidstrom, Ericsson, Stuart, Kronwall/Lilja (when healthy) As for Osgood, give him clean looks and get rid of the screens and he'll be fine... Stick to this and you're gold.

Best - Section 109-112 : Rows 8-12 Worst - Any corner, upper deck past row 5 - Section 225 stands out in my mind...

Raping girls and banging hookers... oh wait, you asked about Lang, not Butsayev and Hudler

GF: 260-270 GA: 190-200

first, trade Lebda and Meech to Washington for Ovechkin and Backstrom, then trade Howard to Vancouver for Luongo, then bring Gerard Gallant out of retirement and trade him to Calgary for Jerome Iginla... trade Stuart and Rafalski's no trade clauses (not the players themselves, but actually trade their no trade clauses for a bag of pucks - this frees the player up to then be traded), then trade Rafalski for Atlanta's next 12 first round picks and Stuart to Tampa Bay for Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis... then trade Filpulla for Boogard (who needs a soft euro that's defensively responsible and capable of 80 pt seasons??!!? - we need toughness!) promote McCollum, Kindl, Brendan Smith and a 14 year old prospect from BC - because he won a ton of fights in Bantam AAA and we really need that grit on the back end... force Holmstrom, Draper, Lilja, Maltby and Osgood to all retire... finally, get everyone to restructure their contracts (even though the CBA doesn't allow contract restructuring - they'll make an exception!) for league minimum Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Ovechkin Franzen-Backstrom-Iginla Cleary-Lecavalier-St.Louis Abdelkader-Helm-Boogard Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Kindl Smith-14 year old prospect Luongo McCollum what an infusion of vets and prospects!

exactly - I don't think anything is a certainty, but I definitely think he has the POTENTIAL to eventually hit that mark...

how is thinking unrealistic acquisitions and impossible trades are ANYWHERE near the same as having high expectations of a player's potential? you're comparing apples to oranges and you're really grasping at straws here...

sorry... and fire all the coaches, resurrect Toe Blake, and bring Scotty Bowman and Al Arbour out of retirement for the coaching staff... how's that?

then your post serves no purpose but to be a sorry, angry, internet curmudgeon...

be prepared to eat crow.