Nev

Not when everyone is healthy he isn't.

Wow, 47 is no kind of age And now my screen has gone all blurry

Oh, and I should add that pretty much every vet is reported to have clashed with Babcock over the years. Remember when Hull said Pav wasn't going to re-sign with the Wings cos he hated Babcock? And then Pav re-signed with the Wings.....

No, you are dead right, that is exactly what Shanahan said, that he felt like it wasn't his team anymore. He also said subsequently that his decision to sign with New York was in large part impacted by trying to build a foundation for his post-playing career. He was thinking of the media, turns out it led to working for the NHL. If he had stayed, and continued playing on Pavs wing and retired a Wing, then he would have serious consideration to have #14 retired. Lest we forget he'd just potted the quietest 40 goal season in NHL history thanks to Datsyuk's playmaking. As it is, he is way below Fedorov and Osgood on the retirement ladder, and they aren't going up any time soon.

The big test for Kindl is now to at the very least maintain that level of play. It's unfortunate that we bought out Colo, because with Lashoff as the 7th D, there is now no real competetion for his spot.

Good one

Superb. This needs to be posted on the main board, not enough people visit this sub-forum.

Then Crosby might have to actually, y'know, shake Lidstrom's hand. Anyway, what's more interesting to me is trying to predict which random, obscure Wings alumni will be present at the retirement ceremony? Y'know, that guy you'd even forgotten was a Wing. Kyle Calder? Matt Ellis? Sheldon Kennedy? GMR is usually good at this kind of game.

Pah, you think that's bad, Sky Sports News in the UK devotes 55 minutes of every 60 to football (soccer). Into the other 5 minutes must go every other sport - Cricket, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Tennis, Golf, Formula One...all sports that Sky hold the rights too, but they'd rather devote the airtime to the latest transfer news at Northampton Town, or where Wayne and Coleen Rooney are going on holiday this summer.....

Really? I agree that he doesn't care about the logo on his jersey, but his proffesionalism and off-ice work ethic are well known. At 41 he just scored 16 goals in 45 games - more than anyone on the Wings btw. More than Franzen, more than Brunner, more than Z. You can't do that with a bad attitude.

I don't care if Tatar is a ****** or arrogant or full of himself. The only thing that matters - the ONLY thing - is that he performs on the ice. Everything else is secondary.

I don't have too much of a problem with the Alfie deal, I just prefer Jagr, and it is a better deal.

Honestly, I think I'd rather have Jagr than Alfie, given their respective deals.

As I said in another thread, Jagr loves 2 things. Money, and playing hockey. Don't let his love of the former blind you to his love of the latter.

This was inspired by me and GMR jesting in another thread about how important Dmitri Bykov was to Lidstrom's 3rd Norris trophy, and it got me thinking to the um, variable, quality of his partners, particularly in his Norris years. So here is my attempt to compile a season by season list. I do require you guys help to fill in the gaps in my fading memory. Please note I am not looking for every partner he played with that year, just his main even strength partner. Names in Bold are Norris years, names in Italics indicate a career year for that partner. 91-92: McCrimmon 92-93: ?/Coffey? 93-94: Coffey? 94-95: Bettman / Coffey (won Norris) 95-96: Coffey 96-97: ?/Murphy 97-98: Murphy 98-99: Murphy 99-00: Murphy 00-01: Dandenault 01-02: Olausson 02-03: Bykov 03-04: Schneider 04-05: Bettman 05-06: Schneider 06-07: Markov 07-08: Rafalski 08-09: Rafalski 09-10: Rafalski 10-11: Rafalski 11-12:White Have at it guys, I'll edit this post with updates and corrections as we go. Thanks

What I found interesting as I was compiling the list was 3 things. Firstly, how much of his career was spent paired with a puck-moving defenceman - HOFers like Coffey and Murphy and very good players in Rafalski and Schneider. And Ian White. Secondly, that he had 6 different partners in his 7 Norris seasons, of varying quality! Rafalski>Schneider>Markov, Olausson>Bykov, Dandenault. Thirdly, the number of guys who had career years partnered with Lidstrom, even right up to the end with White.

Difference between Ilitch and the 3 you mention is that he isn't a publicity *****. He is the perfect owner - he puts up the money, he puts the right people in the right places, and then he stands back and lets them get on with it. This franchise was a joke when Ilitch took over, and remained a standing joke for years while he worked his ass off to turn it around. Now they are a model of unprecedented success under a system that actively works to undermine constant success. No-one calls them the Dead-Things anymore.

Eva still posts on HFboards, and still the same unique combination of irrational man-love for Chiasson, Hudler and Kopecky, obscure statistical justifications, and well thought out, rational posts For Buffalo, did you consider Mogilny? Only 4 seasons, but one of the greatest goal scoring seasons in NHL history. Only real question for Detroit is Sawchuk or Lindsay. I think I'd go for Sawchuk personally, although when John Buccigross did this a few years ago he actually had Mike Ilitch on there, which is a great shout IMO.

Word. No way Lids three-peats as Norris winner without Dmitri.

This And you would be correct, just on the basis of India's 1 billion plus cricket worshipping fanatics.

Sheesh, between him, Dekeyser and Miller I think we have the 3 skinniest players in the NHL

I can see why they would want to take down the old pictures and stuff - to try and take away the pressure caused by the weight of expectation BUT Brian Clough famously tried something similar at Leeds United in the 70s and it was a spectacular failure.

Are you talking about this statistical analysis in particular, or hockey in general? I think "luck" is the wrong word to use anyway, "chance" or some variation thereof may be better. Fact is, hockey IS a game of percentages - the more you do right things, the more you'll win. BUT, you can do everything right, and still lose. eg If there's a 10% chance you score on a 90mph slap shot from the blue line with traffic in front, when that 1 time in 10 occurs is down to chance. It could be when you're up 5-1 in a game, or in the last minute when you're down 2-1.

OK, that made me spit my breakfast out!

Kronwall and Abdelkader, and Abs is the most effective. When he got stuck on the top line he created so many turnovers with his forechecking, using his speed and size to separate defencemen from the puck.