Doggy

Arrrggghhhh!!! Nom nom nom!! BTW, that reminds me. HEY MINDFLY!! Good call on Osgood being a useless turd this year. Just another display of your seemingly limitless ineptitude.

No it's about a minute in.

Don't call people 'turd'. It makes you look stupid. Oh wait... ...carry on.

I gotta ask -- from where does your own self-image that you aren't wrong about almost everything you predict derive? You're like that little puppy that wants to take on a Pitbull. You're self-awareness is completely non-existent.

http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nhl-icehockey/460...d-2009-a-2.html

Have you read anymore of my posts by any chance??

Definitely. Isn't that a rule in other leagues or for international comps with juniors?

You seem to have missed the times I've mentioned that I don't mind a hit like that at the NHL-level. They're all bigger, stronger and smarter. It's still not a legal IMO, but it's part of the game. They know (or at least should know) how to protect themselves. That video you posted has as much to do with my contention as a scene from 'Debbie Does Dallas'. In my view, this stuff is completely unnecessary in a developmental league with 16 year olds skating around. It's a recipe for disaster when you've got these hulking, skill-less 20 year olds floating around with underagers that are still growing and learning the game. If these guys decide to flatten a player who isn't quite cagey enough to protect himself properly, that kid gets flattened. The results were made more unfortunate by the fact his helmet came off on impact but luckily, this is NOT the worst that could've happened. He could be dead right now. Doc, you don't agree. That's fine. But try to absorb what I'm saying here because you're missing my point entirely. I'm aware that hockey's a dangerous sport. It always will be. It's the nature of the game and it's part of what makes it the best sport on Earth. But protecting players, in particular kids, should never be disregarded.

Immaturely attacking posters. The harshest word I used was "trivial". In a reply to a post that called my comment "assinine". And I'm immature huh? Sorry 'bout that.

The play had been reversed. The puck was gone.

Okay so this was my first ever pumpkin. No-one told me it had to be real mean-like. So mine was a friendly Halloween pumpkin. And my less than impressive first Halloween dress-up. Maybe I'll get the hang of it next year.

How?

You know what I meant. I knew the only way to save face would be to draw attention something as trivial as that.

Well he went in there trying to demolish him. Mission accomplished. I'll ask the question again -- who benefitted from it?

That's easy to say on a message board. But when you see the family of a teen who is fighting for his life, you learn that this really has nothing to do with hockey. Getting on 5 years ago, I watched my best friends' mother cry at his funeral and it changed me.

Being strong and physical is an addition to a good young players other assets. It can be the reason you are drafted in the first round and not the third. But it's never the reason you are drafted. D#1fan sums up my feelings for this hit. And frankly, if a guy that appreciates the physical side of the game as much as he can says that, for me that's saying a lot. Liambas was not busting his arse. He wasn't finishing his check. He wasn't skating whistle to whistle. He put someone out, probably for life. How is that helping your team? It's sure not helping yourself. Ask Liambas now if he still thinks he should've gone that hard at Fanelli. I'll bet he disagrees with you and wishes he had've let up a little.

I'm looking at it from strictly the league's POV. They certainly need to make sure their players, particularly the underage ones, are well-protected. Now from a player's POV... I'll tell you one thing with certainty. No NHL club will sign nor draft a junior player for his hitting. If they want to sign a grinder they look for experienced players in the AHL. You don't add grit from the CHL. Finishing your checks is fine, but if you wanna get drafted I suggest you concentrate on your stick-handling, positioning, shooting, face-offs, pokechecking, shot-blocking, stick-lifting, play-reading, skating, passing, conditioning, size, strength, power, vision, poise, teamwork, leadership, etc. This is the s*** junior players should be learning. Anyone can finish a check like that guy just did. Who can poke-check like Nick, dangle like Datsyuk, deflect like Homer, see the ice like Thornton, shoot like AO, protect the puck like Hank, backhand like Sundin, slap it like Chara, win a draw like Perrault, etc... ? An 18 year old that thinks making a hit like that will get him on an NHL scouts shortlist is kidding himself. That's not what the CHL is about. At all.

Thanks for those posts. This is why I didn't like the hit. It's a 16 year old kid. These guys are trying to improve their game and become great hockey players. They don't need to be fighting or laying hits like this. It's the CHL, not the NHL. They can play tough, but not like this. Particularly when there are 16 year olds out there. The size difference between the average male at 20 and the average male at 16 is huge. Dangerously big, and this demonstrates that. Furthermore, these guys are still learning and developing their hockey senses. They will make mistakes like Fanelli made. It's just incredibly sad the price he has to pay is so high. It shouldn't have to happen. If the CHL teaches its players to play tough without crossing the fine line into dirty, as well as encourages respect for your opponent it will translate to a new, better type of grit in the NHL. I'm not saying there is no place for hitting in the game, because there most certainly is. I'm also not saying that the result of this incident was entirely Liambas fault. But the hit was unnecessary. Let the kids play hockey. Let them learn and develop and become the Ovechkin's, Crosby's and Tavares' we love to watch now. Leave the fighting and huge hits for the mature leagues where they're (usually) fully developed and most importantly, know how to protect themselves.

He's a 16 year old kid. He'll learn not to do that again, that's for sure.

He didn't hit him between the numbers or anything. I dunno. The only reason I don't like this hit is because it's on a 16 year old. He charged him, but if it was in the NHL, I probably wouldn't be fussed about it.

Okay, so I got that job. Which means the financial situation has greatly improved. I should be able to make the trek down to Detroit by the months end.

Probably the same way 90% of all the other NHL goalies did.

I'd rather go for the Cup than help an indiviual develop at the expense of team success. If Howard had progressed in any way, shape or form in GR -- he would've been Ozzie's backup last year. But he forced Holland to make a move to ensure the Wings remained competitive. I guess for me, the question becomes -- why does Jimmy Howard seem to have this birthright where he doesn't need to earn a roster spot like everyone else?

I'm not tryin to bash Tom McCollum but it might be a little premature to compare him to Fleury or Mason. Players like that I would consider more like exceptions to the rule. Further to that, they're were brought into teams that didn't have Cup-winning goaltending. Fleury was brought up because the situation (particularly in goal) in Pittsburgh was horrible so having a kid let 3-7 goals every game didn't matter. BTW that's exactly what he did -- I watched MAF with great interest that season. Mason was brought up because he'd been outstanding as a junior and Columbus had injuries in net.

Nylander won't need to clear waivers if it's a conditioning assingment.