GMRwings1983

Nevermind. I forgot who I was arguing with about Franzen. I may as well ask DraperFan (is he still around?) how he feels about Todd Bertuzzi.

He was injured in the Dallas series. He had a great chance of winning the Conn Smythe that year if he posted 15+ goals. Even though Zettterberg was so clutch on both sides of the ice, those kind of goal scoring numbers would be hard to ignore.

Daniel Bryan is back performing in the WWE. That means Green will be back as well.

Once again, you're comparing different eras and styles of play. It doesn't matter how Robitaille would skate in 2008. I don't want to diminish what Franzen accomplished, but yes he did pad his stats playing against Theodore, who was god awful in that series.

Their goaltending is terrible and always has been since Hextall retired. They had Bobrovsky but let him go (though he's not a playoff performer either). Also, that SOB Gudas needs to be let go. He's either a mole for the Penguins or is just a terrible defenseman.

I was talking about the season as a whole. Not just the playoffs. Both Robitaille and Hull had 30 goal seasons that year. I'm well aware of Franzen's postseason. His goal scoring playoff run was probably better than any Wings player, including a prime Yzerman, Zetterberg, or Fedorov. Still, we're talking about the season as a whole. Let's be honest here. The only roster spot a Samuelsson, Hudler, or Filppula would have in 2002 would be either Datsyuk's or Deveraux's. Otherwise, they don't regularly start for that roster. Your talk of a 200 foot game is irrelevant when comparing eras. I think the 2018 Wings would play a better 200 foot game than the 1952 Wings.

No s**t. That Avs team would have smoked the 2008 Predators and 2008 Stars. The rosters were not comparable. Yep. Pretty sure Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille had better numbers in 2002 than Filppula, Samuelsson, Hudler or Franzen had in 2008.

Maybe. The 2002 Avalanche finished with 99 points and allowed the fewest goals of any team in the league. Before that sounds like a small accomplishment, please remember that they played the entire regular season without Peter Forsberg. That team was loaded with talent all over the lineup. They'd be a tough out for any team. Even though I hated them immensely, time has allowed me to appreciate those teams more for how good they were.

Outside of Chicago, the league doesn't have any big market teams playing in the Western Conference. LA may be the second biggest city in the US, but do they really generate big TV ratings for the league if they're making a deep playoff run? The Western Conference has always had that issue except when the Red Wings or Blackhawks were making the Finals in the last 20 years.

I disagree. Teams like the Heat, Magic, Timberwolves and Hornets all joined the league before Jordan even won a championship. The only teams that joined the league in the 90's were the two Canadian teams. The Hornets then moved to New Orleans and the Grizzlies moved to Memphis. Jordan didn't have any effect on this. Sure he made the game more popular, but the NBA's best ratings were in the 80's during the Lakers/Celtics/Pistons rivalries. I can't say the league expanded in the US because of Jordan. Gretzky, on the other hand went to the Kings right before the NHL started expanding and moving into new markets in the South. Whether that's all because of him is debatable, but there's certainly an argument to be made there.

I want to see Vegas in the Finals, just to see what their ice conditions will be like. I've been to Vegas before in June, and it's very HOT.

He was upset at the way Russians were portrayed by the American media, so he left. Not like he went to play for the Bruins or something.

Did expansion to smaller markets in the South happen because of Jordan, though? The NBA had a big boom in the 80's because of Magic and Bird.

What about the idea that he saved hockey by going to LA, as after that move, the NHL greatly expanded to non-traditional markets. Is that all B.S?

Seriously? Gretzky didn't have any contribution to hockey besides numbers?