Nev

This. And for the Swedish league to allow a new Jokerit team to form.

Honestly, I thought Abdelkader did a realgud job on the top line in the last month of the season. He caused so many turnovers with his forechecking, and went straight to the front of the net once we had the puck. He wasn't always rewarded with a goal or assist, but he was a key component in Z + Dats heating up down the stretch.. What was frustrating was his poor shooting and passing, but then again if he had a set of hands like Bertuzzi he'd be a premier power forward, rather like a young Bertuzzi.

Wow, late to this party. I said 3 months ago I would be happy re-signing Cleary for 1 year, on a cheap contract - if he was in the 4th line rotation, playing limited minutes, then wheel him out for the playoffs. But, as others have said, if we lose Tatar because of Cleary/Eaves/Emmerton/Miller/Bertuzzi/Samuelsson...

Daniel, is that you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXuCgD4cbHs

Jagr is/was a far superior player. 90s Jagr is one of the greatest players all-time, 8th all-time in points despite never playing in the 80s (unlike 6 of the 7 in front of him) and spending most of his career in the DPE.

If they wanted to grow the game in the UK, they could start by getting it on TV. Following a year with no TV coverage at all, after the lockout it went onto an obscure satellite channel that costs a fortune to get. Compared to back in the late 90s mid-2000s when there were 2 live games a week plus extended highlights on a free-to-air terrestrial channel. Anyway, not a fan of the World Cup of Hockey, especially as its by their own admission just another way of earning cash. Olympics every 4 years is special, and world championships, whilst not a big deal in America, are a big deal in Europe.

*cough* Pittsburgh *cough*

With a double groin tear too.

Well, first of all, thankyou Dan Cleary for all you did for us, for laying your body on the line for us, and for being a heart and soul Red Wing. Second of all, what a terrible deal for Philly. Not just a massive overpayment, but a contract that's 2 years too long for a guy whose playing style has wrecked his body.

Smith. He has to play with confidence and show his undoubted talent. If he continues to treat the puck like a hand grenade, and panic every time he is forechecked, his NHL career will be short. Both the ducks and the Hawks realised this and pressured him relentlessly, and the teams in the East will continue to do the same until he learns to calm down.

Because he's rich?

Such an idiot he's used F1 to make himself a billionaire 3rd worst, lets not forget Blatter He's not as eye-gougingly rich as Ecclestone, but he takes corruption to a whole new level. BTW, I'm shocked at how "little" Goodell makes. Considering the NFL is viewed around the world as the model sport in terms of how to make bucketfulls of cash.

To go back to my earlier point, if Bernie Ecclestone was in charge of the NHL, not only would the small teams be losing money the big teams would too, because Bernie would push up his fees for the "priviledge" of hosting an NHL team to such exorbitant levels that only the likes of Philly and NYR would be able to (just) cope. When the likes of Phoenix started struggling, he would squeeze them for every last cent, then as soon as they went bust he would cast around for a new city to host the franchise and pay a nice fat fee. He would own the TV rights. He would own the TV company that made the TV pictures that the TV companies used. He would own some of the arenas. 50% of ALL revenue would go straight to him before the teams even saw a cent. The point being, that despite 3 lockouts, the dead puck era, and generally being a slimeball new york lawyer with small man syndrome - it could actually be a lot worse than Bettman.

Well, at the time I very much got the impression that KH was warned off by Sammy's agent, and when the likes of Khaaaaaaaaaaan started reporting that Sammy could file a grievance with the NHLPA he clearly wasn't making it up, either KH or the agent had briefed him off the record. I did laugh at this quote though, straight outta the Babcock playbook

Much as I begrudge him every penny, Bettman is a rank amateur when it comes to lining his pockets with his sports money. Sepp Blatter and Bernie Ecclestone wouldn't bother getting out of bed for $8.3M

Helm. If he's healthy he completely transforms our bottom six, not to mention our PK. The one game he played last season (which coincidentally Bert also played in) we suddenly had a balanced line-up. For me, he is easily our 3rd most important forward.

I would just like to point out Franzen is being paid $5M this season. It's his cap hit which is $4M, thanks to the couple of bogus years on the end of his contract which will come back and bite us on the ass if and when he retires early.

There was an interesting thread recently on HFboards asking people to list their top-20 current defencemen. What I found interesting was it gave the perspectives of fans around the league on Kronwall not long after we had a thread on here asking where Kronwall ranked amongst current defenceman. Every poster on that list had Kronwall between 10 and 20. Which tells me several things. Firstly, Kronwall is a bona fide #1 defenceman. If there's only 10-15 guys ahead of you in a 30 team league, you're a #1. Secondly he is not a franchise defenceman which is what too many posters round here mean when they talk about a #1, but there's only a handful of those guys - Weber, Chara. He's not even elite, but in that group just below. But that doesn't make him a bad player. Our current D-corps sure throws into perspective the Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart era and all the hate that Rafalski and Stuart got for "sucking".

We're relying on two things 1) Smith, Kindl and DeKeyser to play well and continue to develop for 82 games 2) No injuries. Our 7th D is Lashoff. If (when) we go 2 defenceman down, I'm concerned. We have a glut of forwards, and a glut of similar type forward prospects, so the potential for a 3 or 4 for 1 trade is there.

There is a thread for this in the Griffins forum, but since no-one goes there, and no-one has seemingly seen it, I hope the mods allow this thread to remain. The Griffins did an HBO 24/7 style "behind the benches" series of videos for each round of their playoff run, which are frankly amazing. The production values are incredible and they offer a fascinating insight. The links are for the 2 videos from the finals, but all the previous rounds are linked beneath the videos. Several things spring to mind watching them. Blashill is mini-Babcock. Very cool and proffesional. Ferraro has a mouth and an agitating style to match Maltby, and drops the gloves to boot. Tatar is a VERY confident individual, borderline arrogance and I can see why he rubs some Wings fans the wrong way. He's going to really wind the opposition up. The importance of the veterans on that team. Some round here would I think like every player on the Griffins to be under-21, but its clear guys like Hoggan and Grant were hugely important on and off the ice. Best line of the series - Triston Grant on being complimented on his playoff beard "Thanks, I have my mothers genes"

Hahaha My personal fave was during the '08 finals. For some reason the NHL stops giving us the CBC/Versus/NBC/local feed during the finals and gives us a special "international" commentary that treats the viewers like idiots. Anyway, the intermission interviews are always a Euro from each team and they always finish the interview by saying "would you like to say something in you native tongue for the folks back home?" and the player will give a line in whatever language. So one game it was Sammy for Detroit. Dave Strader: Mikael, one last thing, would you like to say something in your native tongue for the folks back home? Samuelsson: Not really *walks away*

Memory is a funny thing isn't it? In my minds eye I picture MAF diving full length and Lidstrom's blast hitting him on the logo, then I watch a replay and he kinda slides/falls over to stop it But you're right, there wasn't much net to look at. You know what really galls me about that? Crosby won the Olympic Gold with a scuffed shot along the ice. Hockey isn't always fair. To be fair, he was present and did his job superbly in games 1 + 2. Once he stopped letting in softies we just didn't have enough left to get the job done.

What I remember is that he was brutally honest - Vancouver simply offered the most money, and Sammy said so. It was always my favourite thing about him, his interviews were always honest and he didn't deal in empty platitudes just to please the fans like so many players do (and so many fans fall for). He's never hidden the fact that he is a proffesional hockey player i.e. playing hockey is his job, not his hobby.

He was never as bad as his critics made out first time round, although he could be infuriating as a flipped between being average and clutch. But 2nd time round, 2 years with a NTC for a 35+ depth forward, when we alreadyhad another 35+ depth forward on a 2 year deal with a NTC......not to mention a bunch of kids knocking on the door in GR......it was just a bad contract. A 1 year deal to bridge the gap whilst we fed in the kids would have been fine.

Lidstrom can live to be 100, win 5 consecutive terms as Swedish Prime Minister, be awarded the Nobel Prizes for Peace, Medicine and Literature, win the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Gustavos Alophus in Sean Avery's 9 hour epic "The 30 Years War", be raised to Sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church, all to go with his 4 Stanley Cups, Olympic Gold, World Championship gold, 12 All-Star appearances, 7 Norris Trophies, and 1 Conn Smythe. And on his deathbed, all he will be able to think about is that last second shot that he fired straight into MAF's chest.