GMRwings1983

You must be a relative of Patrick Sharp's.

I actually don't think Montreal should be in the top 5, and I don't see them getting past the 2nd round. I'd move the Rangers up on that list, and would switch Anaheim with San Jose. The power rankings are based on recent play, so there's no way I expected Anaheim to be higher , but I still think they're the team to beat.

Hell yes! That was the picture I vowed to use for my avatar several months ago. Tootoo, Phaneuf and Pronger better watch out.

Thanks for that. I didn't know about Legwand's injury, but they still have skilled players like Arnott, Erat, Dumont, Radulov. We're still better on paper, but that doesn't mean squat. However, as someone already posted, if we can't beat Nashville then something is seriously wrong with this team.

Well, I guess it's almost unanimous on this thread, and my new avatar agrees. Lebda should sit, and PAIN TRAIN should play when Stuart returns. Hopefully, Babcock agrees with us.

I hate to say it, but this is starting to remind me of last year. Let's hope that changes soon. Also, does anyone know what Nashville's injury situation is like. I know Sullivan has been out all year, but I don't know what the rest of their roster is like health wise.

If they really wanted to sign someone who knows what it takes to win a Cup, they should have gotten Anders Eriksson. In all seriousness, I've never thought of Feds as a leader, in Detroit or outside of it. This is the first time he's been to the playoffs since he left Hockeytown, and it doesn't look like he inspired his other teams to make it to the playoffs. They way Ovechkin and Huet played to end the season, althoutgh Feds contributed, those guys should take most of the credit.

It sounds like it's true here on LGW, but I think Babcock is fond of Lebda, much like he is of Sammy. As far as I know, Lebda hasn't been in Babcock's doghouse as often as Lilja has. Also, whoever plays will be paired with Chelli, and him and Lebda have played together for a while now. Besides, he can make up for how slow Chelli is. With that said, I'm still sticking to my original decision to play Lilja.

I doubt that Gaborik was so willing to fight Lappy. He's not that stupid. And it shouldn't be a non-fighter's job to have to stand up for himself against an enforcer. That's suicide, besides, that's why teams have enforcers on their team, to do jobs like that. Lappy knew that, yet he still insisted on fighting Gaborik, instead of somebody else. It was a cowardly move on his part, and I wouldn't want to see other fighters around the league start pulling that crap. As far as the Gretzky and Lemieux talk, I was just saying that the code throughout the years has been for enforcers not to fight the other team's skilled, non-fighters. I'd like to see it remain that way.

Fun goonery? Probert never started a fight with Gretzky or Lemieux as far as I know. There's a difference when an enforcer bodychecks a star player, as opposed to an enforcer fighting a star player. I can't wait till the Wild's enforcers start having some "fun goonery" with Lappy's ugly face. Then all the divealanche fans are going to be up in arms screaming murder.

Lebda's speed doesn't amount to much in the scoring department. He just flies into the offensive zone, and then when he finds nowhere to go, he just dumps it in. Speed means nothing if the guy doesn't translate it into goals or breaking down the other team's defense. Honestly, I don't think him being scratched would hinder this team's play in any way.

Since your title didn't say NHL players, then shouldn't Grigorenko and Yashin be on that list?

Forget the Boogeyman. Lappy, Simon is going to "stomp you out."

Lappy is probably crapping his pants right now in the coaches office asking him to dress Parker for the playoffs. He probably feels like the guy who beat up the mafia boss's son, without knowing who he was. R.I.P. Lappy.

Rumor has it that Lilja is angry that Lidstrom plays 30 minutes a night instead of him, and is even more angry that Downey is being asked to do all the fighting instead of him.

That'd be great, because I see us storming through Nashville and the divealanche in less than 10 games.

The league needs us in the Finals, so we better have calls go our way. Think what a Wings/Rangers final would look like. Or how about Wings/Canadiens? Or even Wings/Penguins, with Crosby in the Finals. No other team in the West can draw any interest besides the Wings. Everyone knows what kind of ratings the NHL finals have gotten in recent memory.

Where are those stupid divealanche fans to come onto this board now and tell us that Lappy is a great guy, and that he didn't really mean it? I still hope that punk winds up hospitalized just like Steve Moore. Hopefully Simon will be the one to do it. He broke every code in the book with that crap right there. How would divealanche fans like it if Boogaard KO'd Sakic or Forsberg for no reason. The only good news here, is that Joel Queerville will be forced to dress Parker now to defend Lappy and all the other pansies on that team.

You're right! He kept the goalies so busy at the other end, that the puck never got to our side of the ice, hence increasing the chances of winning the Jennings trophy.

They should buy Lilja a rolex. He's responsible for the Jennings trophy all by himself.

Why should Lidstrom have many nicknames, yet Lilja only has one?

Hordichuk fights wide open, but I don't think any of the top enforcers are afraid to fight him.

Eva, nobody who isn't a Red Wings fan thinks that Ozzie should be in the HOF. If you showed these debates to fans around the league, they'd probably laugh at it. He's never stolen a playoff series in his career, which is what I always think of when I think of HOF goalies. Yeah, HOF goalies played with great players, but when those players struggled, those goalies could step it up and win it for their team. Ozzie has never done that. In 1998, this team won the Cup in spite of him, and not because of him.

You're right! I probably need to go back and edit my post now.

I know teams can do whatever they want, but as a fan of the game, I wouldn't want teams to retire numbers right and left, just based on longevity. That's what would happen if Linden's number was retired.