stevkrause

Anyone have any updates on the injury? That makes me nervous that it didn't look that bad, but he didn't come back... those always scare me (Kronwall, Franzen, Flip)

With the way he's been playing, they can NOT sit him anymore... the problem is, Miller doesn't deserve it with his play either... which leaves us back to.............. this board is gonna get ugly for Hudles if this keeps up

for sure, like I said, if you see a players numbers, you give up the hit. period. So, regardless of if a player turns his back into it or not, those are hits that should NEVER be thrown... but the point I was making, is that players need to be taught from a young age to protect themselves better as well...

The consistency of discipline is really a joke... that is another major problem that needs to be addressed... I've always love this, I laugh uncontrollably every time I see it:

If you read my original post, I said that Ritola should have been suspended and I wasn't saying that Moulson was as guilty as a lot of players are of putting themselves in danger by turning away from a check... but, yes, he should have come in at the puck at an angle... the fact is, that Ritola SHOULD have given up the hit and SHOULD have been suspended, but that doesn't mean that Moulson couldn't have prevented himself from being hurt... Even the fault on this one was 90/10 (90 Ritola, 10 Moulson) - the point I was making, was that this is an overall increasing trend and needs to be corrected, for the more frequent 50/50 fault cases.

It's stupid to teach kids and professionals to protect themselves? ok.

I wouldn't call him a classless player based off one classless hit, but that was definitely some poor judgment on his part... hopefully he learns from it...

I have no problem with the suspension for the pure fact that when you see the players number and have a full stride to pull up - you HAVE to give up that hit, those hits do not belong in the game and are incredibly dangerous... With that said, I've made the point on this board several times before, but developmental hockey has GOT to do something about teaching players how to take hits and to STOP from turning their backs to checks - Take your licks like a man and get close to the boards (not ON the boards, but close) and turn INTO your check, even initiating contact when possible... you will be more protected and will also take less brunt of the hit due to the absorption of the initiation... this is how the game is SUPPOSE to be played... I think the NHL needs to take a proactive step against the increasing trend and almost initiate some sort of an unsportsmanlike minor for players that turn their backs, specifically to avoid a check... I know it's kinda an insult to injury situation when a player gets hurt on the play, but they've GOT to make this go away, it is a bad habit and a poor example for youth players and is going to eventually result in someone getting SEVERELY injured, or worse...

The way it should be for the 36 conflicting scheduled games: Red Wings games on FSD - 36, Red Wings games on FSD+ - 0 Pistons games on FSD - 0, Pistons games on FSD+ - 36 that's fair to the viewer... even aside from the fact that the NBA is a HORRIBLE product, the Pistons are downright wretched this year and no one should really be subjected to that...

It seems more personal than business to me... don't you generally want to do what's best for your kids? Better weather and less travel as they are in the EC, plus he gets out of a poorly run organization... seems to me like he just wanted what was best for him

This is the real issue... I shouldn't even have to suffer through regular definition on FSD+, so that a horrible product can be broadcast on FSD.

Carcillo is a ******, but at least has a SHRED of respect to his game... comparing ANYONE to Cooke is one of the biggest insults in the world... Back to Callahan though, I am very excited about his progress and really hope he earns a spot on GR next year and continues to develop at a decent pace...

That's what I'm doing... As a side note, it is BEYOND pathetic that they ONLY have a flash version of this ballot...

Savard is the most obvious choice, he gives them the most cap relief and has obvious injury concerns... the only downside is, that if he returns to form for his new team, Boston will be the clear losers in the trade, as they're not going to get much for him with the risk... HIGH Risk/Reward trade there... Does anyone else think there's a damn good chance Savard ends up in LA?

You know what, I don't know what I was thinking... we should probably trade him for Brian Campbell!

Sounds to me like the as good a reason as any to start a viral online campaign to get Howie on as a write-in... who wants to make the Facebook page and start spreading it to different boards? Where's the nightmare on helm street blogger guy? This sounds like something he should start...

We should probably trade Datsyuk and Zetterberg too... maybe we can get a young North American player with a mean streak!!! or better yet, full roster turn over, it's not like we're 10-3-1 right now or anything... I got it! first, trade Miller and Draper 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 Filppula for Boogard (who needs a soft euro that's defensively responsible and capable of 70+ 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 and Osgood to 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!

even more importantly than the slapper, is that he's seemed to have pretty drastically improved his snapshot ala Nick Lidstrom, to get those quick shots off without the big wind-up when the hole is there... As long as he just keeps playing like he's been, he will be exactly what we had hoped for

Now THAT would be pretty cool... too bad there's way too much bad blood between the leagues for it to ever happen... hell I'd even like to see an AHL-KHL all star game, I think the talent pool in the AHL could take the KHL to be honest...

could not agree more.

There are maybe a handful of pure enforcers in the game today and I do think all the teams carrying them are insane for using the roster spot in today's NHL climate, but I would HARDLY say MOST teams are doing so... Everyone on that list, except maybe Belak, King, Boogard and Boulton offer other tangibles than JUST fighting...

Thank you Doc! Point. Set. Match - Anyone still want to say he's done his job well, or is your foot too far in your mouth to do so?

Not to play Devil's advocate, but all those issues are to be blamed on the BOG, not necessarily Bettman himself... the problem with Bettman is, that he does not know enough/care enough/have the balls to stand up to the BOG when they are making OBVIOUSLY poor decisions and persuade them to do the right thing... he really is just a figure head, the problem is, the league doesn't need a figure head, they need a REAL leader and for THAT, he should be removed... For example - See Roger Goodell and Paul Tagliabue before that... THAT is how a professional sport leagues commissioner should be.

Exactly... ugh, can we PLEASE not go down this road again?!?! politics does not belong on this board in any way, shape or form.

Makes you wonder if your line of thought on this subject might be misguided, doesn't it? As I've said ALL along, what makes Bettman such an abortion of a commissioner has nothing to do with what he does - it's what he doesn't do. A good commissioner will have the stones to tell the owners when they are being idiots and stand up to them to do what's best for the league and convince them to follow his lead, even when they're too scared/stupid to do so on their own... not just roll over and do EXACTLY as the owners tell them to do on ALL issues... Bettman is a sniveling, little turd of a man who is nothing more than a puppet for the owners and doesn't know enough/care enough about the game to make the hard decisions and tough stands when needed. This league needs a STRONG, CONFIDENT leader, to hold the owners hands and convince them to make tough decisions - not a yes man, which Bettman is. Also, anyone who uses the example of the league making money as a sign of his success is VERY short-sighted... that's like selling something and saying, "well, I made $10, so it was a success", even though you could have made $100 on the sale - Just because the NHL is turning profits, doesn't mean they're as profitable as they COULD have been... Combine those missed opportunities with 1.5 years of lost hockey during his tenure and an inability to bridge the gap between the NHLPA and the BOG, and THAT is his real legacy.