Doggy

Hopefully Mac doesn't completely blow. I miss that guy when he was good.

I doubt it. I hope they do though. Vanluongo is a much bigger threat.

Hahaha! Funny post. Are you John Handzel from Sunnyvale??

No, it's Floppa. Don't be dim.

Aaaaahahahahahahaha!! What a moron. Clearly this guy has looked at the standings and suddenly had an opinion on hockey. I can't stop laughing. Must be embarrassing to be a complete idiot.

How embarrassing to let in a 5 on 3 shortie.

Michalek sucks. Kunitz and Meszaros should be in the next level. BTW... just kidding, Michalek doesn't suck.

I just watched the game against the Blues and I have to say it boggles the mind how they can have missed the playoffs at all let alone by such a long way. They a much better team than Edmonton, Nashville, Columbus and Chicago and they're as good as Colorado and Vancouver. Do they just play well against Detroit or what??

Okay. Is that what happened with Tlusty?

Why would a team want to? Who knocks back a good player for no good reason? I mean, you wouldn't even want to make room for another import or overage player until the offseason so why else?

Granted I didn't get to see this game but I can't disagree more. They've been playing okay but are very sloppy. Far from great. They've been extraordinarily lucky to get this close. They're definitely not a playoff calibre team. That being said, they might make it but needing other teams to lose is certainly not an ideal situation to be in.

Many probably haven't heard of him but I was very disappointed in Hugh Jessiman. He is a Rangers prospect playing for Hartford. I really thought he'd make a big impact and be a solid power forward. So far, he hasn't even been able to crack the NHL. I really thought he would have well and truly by now.

This is a good question HDnH. I believe the NHL and CHL (that is OHL, WHL and QMJHL) have a private agreement in place whereby a junior player contracted to an NHL team can only play for an AHL team if he is 20 by 31 Dec that year. The Wings (as well as all NHL teams) have many players playing junior hockey in the CHL (Emmerton and Mursak come to mind) in addition to those in NCAA and in Europe (Axelsson, Grigorenko and the MSU hero, Justin Abdelkader). The CHL has drafts just like the NHL. As far as I know there is currently no agreement between European leagues, NCAA and NHL in place limiting the age of players moving up to AHL. Ie. You must be 18 before mid-Sept, which is the AHL's own age requirement. The CHL's leagues begin their season mid-Sept and playoffs began about a week ago. The AHL's schedule covers more or less the same time-frame as the NHL's. I think it finishes a week earlier. I hope this answers a few questions.

It's interesting you say that. I agree that it has de-railed them but can't understand why. I mean, it really shouldn't. They're a professional hockey club (and a good one too). They just have no mental toughness and no character. I've completely written them off this season. The culture at that club needs to change.

Ottawa's pretty bad these days. But blowouts in the East are as common as days ending in 'y'.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. However, sometimes they are clearly wrong. This is one of those times.

Yeah really. To even consider the possibility of maybe giving some thought to the idea that you might one day dream about commenting that Crosby has been a disappointment is wrong.

Not even close. Either way I think both are capable of taking this exceptional team all the way. I'm just trying to point out the gap isn't that large. And what does that face even mean??

Let's not forget that Dom's disgusting start to the season are going to skew his stats a little. He's not as much of a slouch as some of you claim.

Ugh! This is the third thread made about this.

Canadiens won't win the Cup. Koivu is still right.

Gonchar didn't step it up after Crosby got hurt. He was just as good. Staal has pretty much had a shocking year. Hossa has been there like a month. None of them pertained to my argument.

It doesn't have to be hockey does it?

I'll puke if Luongo gets it. Good thing he won't.

When this game is over the Isles will be eliminated from contention. Edit: Goodnight Islanders... 4-1 loss to Philly.