stevkrause

scary stuff... from the looks of it, it appeared to just be a wrong place, wrong time scenario and bad luck... I hope Nylander makes a quick recovery and hopefully this doesn't make Smith lose any edge... it can really mess with someone's head when they hurt someone that bad...

Kindl has looked good offensively, but he has made more mental gaffs than Ericsson has been accustomed to... when everyone is healthy, I would love to see Babs go with: Lidstrom-Kronwall Stuart-Rafalski Ericsson-Salei Then swap in Kindl if E has a bad game and vice versa...

Projected attendance: the players wives/girlfriends, a hobo who wandered in off the streets and a set of local radio contest winners who were told it was an MLS game

change for change's sake is never good, if this were a major issue, then yes, it would be worth trying to improve... like I said earlier, short of something very minor, like swapping Cleary and Hudler's wings on the line just to shake them up a little, there's no sense in messing with 3 lines that are playing great to fix one that isn't...

ba-da-ba-ding

exactly... LGW - Where even when things are going well... something needs to change. Here, let me solve the forward lines: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi Cleary-Modano-Hudler Abdelkader/Miller-Helm-Eaves oh... wait...

12 bagillion!!!!

your username is the quintessential definition of an oxymoron

I think at the end of the day, it's not the south that's the issue, it's the markets they chose... I don't think they did their due diligence before putting teams down there - Tampa Bay, Dallas and Carolina(hate them by the way, so it sucks to admit it) have all been very viable markets, but South Beach, Phoenix and Atlanta were poor choices and even with winning teams, would just be fads anyway with no sustainable fanbase and as soon as the teams started losing again, the fans would leave (see Florida after making it to the SCF and losing all their fans within 2 years after) The fact of the matter is, more teams belong in Canada one way or another and it simply makes poor business sense to keep trying to cram a square peg in a round hole, when you have markets foaming at the mouth to pay obscene amounts of money for your product that you're trying to sell to people who don't want it... as the old saying goes - go where the money is.

ouch... Just driving the point home that these teams need to migrate to the great white north... as already covered, give Winnipeg their Jets back and move Atlanta to Quebec to start... as a side note, I really miss this jersey:

Seriously... what games have you been watching with Salei?!?! He's been great on the PK and is a stay at home, physical defenseman on the 3rd pairing - not a point producer... he's done everything he was expected to do and has been very solid thus far... haha, we were basically posting the same point at the same time! you're dead on though, there's really no other option and this is a great problem to have...

this is a good problem to have... as long as we're winning and the other 3 lines are going good, you leave it as is and let them work through the bumps... The only slight tweak I would even consider is to maybe change things up a little just to get them out of their own heads, and swap the wings on them - Hudler on the right and Cleary on the left - like I said, very minor, but when a player sees the ice from a different perspective it can get them out of their own head, especially when they start gripping the stick too tight and over-thinking their shifts...

Kane, Bogosian, Little, Slater, Oduya, Enstrom... am I the only one here that thinks they have a good, exciting, young team?!?

You're dead on when it comes to this topic...

I don't think I've ever agreed with you so thoroughly on a point before... this could not be better stated.

Your point is moot - you can not be "given" a job, when there is no one to compete for it in the first place... You cannot "forget waivers or emergency call ups or all other technicalities"- they exist and it is FACT, so to argue a hypothetical against a reality is just that. moot. Abs is a better player, with more upside and more edge - something we need and he is JUST as defensively responsible as Miller... once again, barring injuries he WILL beat Miller out for a job, in practice and in games... and feel free to "bump" this if I am wrong, as I always have on this board, I will humbly eat crow if I'm wrong, but as I already said - mark my words - within a week of Abs being cleared by doctors AND barring more injuries, Abs will be in, in place of Miller.

no need to panic?

Do you just chose to not read, or....???? Once Ericsson is back, they will HAVE TO SEND JANIK BACK DOWN DUE TO HIS EMERGENCY CALL UP STATUS - otherwise he'd be exposed to waivers... that's not being "given" a spot, that's just the way it is. Ericsson is a roster player, Janik is not. period. Once again... Barring more injuries: Abs will beat Miller out for that spot within a week of being cleared by doctors - mark my words.

Didn't Phoenix have a game last season with some astoundingly low attendance like 3500 or something? Hockey failed in Atlanta before, I don't know why they thought it would thrive this time... that franchise needs to go elsewhere... it's a shame too, because they actually have a pretty exciting, young team...

the color scheme is what makes it so great in my mind, he could have done a ton of different designs and it would have looked just as great, who knows, maybe better... I just wish that Jimmy had thought of this first... imagine the Winged wheel in gray tones on a flat white backdrop mask... how amazing would that have looked?

Ericsson will not be "given" a spot either, the only reason he will get on the ice when he gets back, is that he is a roster player, Janik is not... while Rafalski and Ericsson is hurt, Janik is up on emergency basis... as soon as Ericsson is cleared, Janik has to go back down, and we only have 6... once everyone is healthy, I don't believe Ericsson will just be given his spot back, he'll have to take it away from Kindl, who doesn't look to be letting go of it right now... Abs will beat Miller out for that spot within a week of being cleared by doctors - mark my words.

It's basically utilizing negative space... very original and the design looks amazing...

They're different style players, so it's an apples to oranges comparison - Salei has done exactly what has been asked of him and has been very solid on the PK, also, Ericsson is most effective when he can join the rush and has a solid defense first partner with him... same for Kindl... I think we can all agree, that our best roster is each d pairing having one offensive minded d-man and one defensive (except for the freak which is Nick Lidstrom, which can do it all, while saving a baby from a burning building, performing open heart surgery and curing cancer) and 2 of those offensive roles are already taken (Rafalski, Kronwall) Barring an injury, we do not want Ericsson AND Kindl in, unless we have to... Also, Kronwall has been pretty solid so far, so I'm not sure what you're seeing that's making you think otherwise...

He better get back and put in some real solid games, because with how Kindl's been looking, E may end up being the odd man out when Raffi gets back with how Kindl has looked...

This better be sarcasm...