GMRwings1983

I have plenty of hate to direct. Don't you worry. How many of those penalties are the annoying "free hand" call?

Why don't these refs just award Chicago the goal already? Instead of these new hit rules, they should have gotten rid of this stupid "free hand" rule which has turned hockey into a stupid powerplay fest every year. ******* traitor Hossa scores. Too bad he wasn't the guy Smith laid out. I would have named Smith my favorite player on the spot.

Then he can forget about ever having his number retired.

It's just Smith on Smith violence. Chicago signed a bunch of thugs this offseason, so if they don't like it, why don't they do something about it.

No way. Shanny won't forget that Detroit is his former team and where he won Cups.

Finally, some real action. Now we'll hopefully see Abby, Ericsson and Janik goon it up. Grab Kane, Toews, Keith and Hossa and pound away at them boys!

Well, I do always leave one spot open for an enforcer on my dream Wings roster. Nice hit. Shanahan video time.

After the Ericsson contract, I wouldn't be surprised if Kronwall asks for a huge number.

Hey, not my fault you counted Cleary twice.

Do you think all the guys above will play 82 games this season? Would have to be some NHL record for sure. They'll both get significant time with the team this season.

Did you forget the 2009 playoffs already?

Wait, Ericsson is a scrub?

Well, hopefully we'll get to see Exelby and Janik in action. As for the young guys, I want to see how they'll fare playing with NHl plaeyrs, instead of playing together like they'd be doing in GR. This is essentialy GR versus the Blackhawks.

Ummmm.......where are our 6 or 7 best players? I thought rosters were better balanced in the preseason than this.

Well, screw him then! Overpaid bastard.

Who dimmed the lights? Are they playing inside a strip club or something?

Great spontaneous humor. Reminds me of someone I know.

Here's what worries me the most about these suspensions. Guys are going to realize quickly that the easiest way to avoid suspension is to avoid the hit entirely. Guys will be afraid to accidentally hit someone illegally, whether their intentions were legal or not. Therein lies the problem because I don't want hitting out of hockey. Fourth liners and enforcers are guys who play on the edge a lot. Their job is to come out there and spark their team with big hits and aggression. It's difficult to have that mindset but at the same time not go over the edge occasionally and do something stupid. Especially when we're talking about split second decisions. I have no problem with these suspensions, but I can understand how a lot of grinders and checkers in the NHL may be worried about their roles now. This doesn't really affect the star players for the most part, but it gives the other guys a lot to mull over. I just hope the NHL doesn't turn into a sissy league where hitting is greatly diminished.

We need another right handed defenseman from Canada. Sign him Kenny!

Just thought we'd have a fun offseason thread with not much going on right now. I'm looking at many factors when compiling this list, such as: longevity, level of play, stats relative to the era, individual accolades and playoff numbers. I narrowed it down to three players because I thought that would generate the most debate and not get too complicated. At the end of the day (like everything else) this is still highly subjective, but I honestly tried to be as objective as possible. Avalanche/Nordiques 1. Sakic 2. Roy 3. Forsberg Blackhawks 1. Mikita 2. Hull 3. Esposito Blue Jackets 1. Nash 2. Vyborny 3. Mason Blues 1. Hull 2. MacInnis 3. Federko Bruins 1. Orr 2. Bourque 3. Esposito Canadiens 1. Richard 2. Beliveau 3. Lafleur Canucks 1. Bure 2. Naslund 3. Linden Capitals 1. Ovechkin 2. Bondra 3. Gartner Coyotes/Jets 1. Hawerchuk 2. Steen 3. Doan Devils 1. Brodeur 2. Stevens 3. Elias Ducks 1. Selanne 2. Kariya 3. Niedermayer Flames 1. Iginla 2. MacInnis 3. Fleury Flyers 1. Clarke 2. Parent 3. Lindros Hurricanes/Whalers 1. Francis 2. Staal 3. Brind’Amour Islanders 1. Trottier 2. Potvin 3. Bossy Jets/Thrashers 1. Kovalchuk 2. Hossa 3. Kozlov Kings 1. Gretzky 2. Dionne 3. Robitaille Leafs 1. Conacher 2. Apps 3. Mahovlich Lightning 1. St. Louis 2. Lecavalier 3. Richards Oilers 1. Gretzky 2. Messier 3. Coffey Panthers 1. Jokinen 2. Bure 3. Vanbiesbrouck Penguins 1. Lemieux 2. Jagr 3. Crosby Predators 1. Timonen 2. Vokoun 3. Weber Rangers 1. Leetch 2. Gilbert 3. Bathgate Red Wings 1. Howe 2. Lidstrom 3. Yzerman Sabres 1. Hasek 2. Perreault 3. Martin Senators 1. Alfredsson 2. Redden 3. Heatley Sharks 1. Marleau 2. Nabokov 3. Thornton Stars/North Stars 1. Modano 2. Zubov 3. Broten Wild 1. Gaborik 2. Backstrom 3. Koivu

Shanny will be the most hated man in hockey by Halloween.

I highly doubt it. Wisniewski is a guy that can score a lot of points from the blueline. He's overpaid, but guys like him will always have a place in the game because he's a good player. Downie is an ******* and a dirty player, but he spent time on Tampa's top 2 lines last season, and put up good numbers. Cooke is a well liked guy in the Pens lockerroom. These players will always be around whether they get suspended a lot or not, because they are important to the team when in the lineup. As for pure enforcers, they'll be around as long as fighting is allowed in hockey and as long as they're paid cheaply. I want the NHL to be more physical than their European hockey counterparts. That's one of the things that makes me love hockey. I like seeing pure goons fight. What I don't like is people like Ruutu, Cooke, Tootoo, etc. but those players won't ever disappear as long as they can contribute something else to their team. Now a guy like Shelley, I don't mind seeing get punished, because he's a pure goon but he's also a dirty player who has no business being out there. What I really want to see is an elimination of both the instigator rule and the suspension for instigating at the end of games. Then maybe Wisniewski would have challenged Clutterbuck and not tried to take his head off. I think the instigator has resulted in many injuries that could have possibly been avoided. Of course you can still get injured in a fight, but when a guy is blindsided to the head, he has no chance of defending himself.

The comment I responded to was an idiotic thing to say. There were a lot fewer cheapshots 20 or 30 years ago then there are now, despite the fact there were tons more enforcers and fights in those days. Do people not understand that fact? And a guy like Wisniewski isn't even an enforcer, so I don't see how this will deter players like him from playing in the NHL. Guy is going to be Columbus's top D-man this season. It was just a stupid comment. What Wisniewki should have done is fight Clutterbuck, instead of blindside him. That's what fighting is for, if you feel your teammate needs to be defended. Instead, he blindsided the guy. Guys like Cooke, Ruutu and Kaleta are also not going to be eliminated from the game. Those guys can actually take a regular shift, but are dangerous dirty players. They're the ones who have caused the most concussions and injuries over the years. Not the pure goons.

Oh brother.

But he's supposed to be a whiny *****, so that means he's not a great captain in eva's mind. Whether he whined to the refs or not, he had all the characteristics you'd want in a captain and I listed them above. And I wouldn't compare him to Lemieux, since Mario was known as somewhat lazy early one in his career.