Nev

.If we sign him, whose spot will he take on the roster? Kronwall and Ericsson seem to be the only certainties on D. Kindl has improved out of sight, Lashoff has been way better than anyone expected. Smith remains the Great White Hope on D. Quincey hasn't been near as bad as his critics make out, White is our only other offensive D after Kronwall. That's 7. Colo is made of glass and surplus to requirements now and Huskins is little more than an injury plug so they can be discounted. So we sign this kid, he has to bump 2 of that 7 out the line-up, and it without seeing him play, he sounds like another big-bodied defensive defenseman a' la Ericsson, Lashoff, Quincey and even Kindl as he goes through his Babcockian make-over.

I miss Jiri As for media frequenting LGW, I doubt that the big names do that - they have low paid researchers to do that for them

And of course, replacing the #2 colour guy will see the ratings shoot up? I hate it when management give BS excuses to staff.

250 goals, 500 assists

Just read that last nights goal was his 671st - incredible! Didn't realise he had quite that many goals. Incredible to think what his totals might be without having to suffer 3 lockouts and play his best years in the Dead Puck era.

Hey, the guy is a first ballot Hall of Famer, but "easily" top 3 all time? Thats some pretty tough company. Most folks would have Roy + Hasek in there, but after that its a real crowd - Sawchuk, Tretiak etc.

Yeah, hopefully that will begin the re-habilitation of Sergei as a Wing. I always hated it when he got booed when he came back to the Joe - way to thank someone for the good times, no matter how the relationship ended. On topic - go Pav! And thanks Uncle Gary for denying us ~110 games of Datsyukian brilliance! If he retires <100 points from 1000 career, we know who to thank.

I don't think its hate, I just think its concern that he isn't going to be able to translate his undoubted talent into an effective NHL game. His skill level is unquestioned, but all the tricks and dipsy-doodles that he could get away with in college and the AHL don't work against NHL level goalies and defencemen - unless your name starts with "Pav" and ends in "yuk". Hopefully his taste of the NHL this season and last will make him realise what he needs to do on and off the ice to make it happen in the big league.

I agree with those who think Andersson will take the 4th line centre spot. He's clearly established himself as a Babcock favourite, and its been a problem position for a while.

More like "wow, can't believe Ruslan is gone" Helm is the absolute key to our bottom 6, and our 3rd most important forward. The one game he played this season our whole line-up looked so much more balanced. He's massive on our PK, means we don't have to play Abdelkader as the 3rd line centre (although the emergence of Andersson has saved us from that, even if it means escaped from goblins to be caught by wolves playing him on Pavs wing).

Well, him Dats and Z all started like a house on fire before slowing down. I wonder if they hit the ground running because they had their legs, lungs and timing from playing in Europe. Now that the rest of the NHL is match-fit they no longer have that advantage. Not to mention that most rookies hit a wall at some point in their first NHL season. It is a grind, and all those high-intensity games in a short period, with all the travel, they take their toll on those who haven't experienced it before.

No goals in 8 or 9 games, and he's not a Babcock favourite.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2013 Detroit BiPolars!

I don't doubt it, but they are still better known names, and more easily identifiable than Norris, Smythe, Patrick and Adams. And why should those 4 guys get a division, and a trophy named after them - spread the love!

If I had come to this forum before going to NHL.com to check the result, I would have concluded we had lost - based upon the top half dozen threads all being of the trade/buyout/sack everybody type. This season has been the worst for knee-jerk reaction threads after every loss. If we're going to get a glut of knee-jerk reaction threads after every win, well, lets just say there aren't enough facepalms in all the world for that

Drives me mad!

I'm all for history and tradition, but no. Confusing even for the hockey fan, even worse for the casual fan. At least make them more contemporary - Orr, Lemieux, Gretzky, Hull (Bobby). Gives you an all-time great from a team in each division.

Mediocre is too strong. Average is more like it.

1) But surely the same line of reasoning applies to Bowman as to Babcock? And Mike agress with you btw - two of his favourite mantras for winning in the playoffs are "your best players gotta be your best players" and "you gotta be healthy" 2) Everyone was injured in 2009. Dats, Hossa, Cleary, Rafalski, Lidstrom, Homer...

Exactly, how many of their goals game off turnovers when we were trying to break out? 4? OK, one of them was a lack of effort from Franzen, but still.

By your line of reasoning Bowman was only a great coach because of all his great players - Montreal were only good because they had Gainey and Lafleur and Robinson and Shutt and Lemaire and Dryden. And the Pens, they only won the cup with Bowman because they had Lemiuex and Jagr and Francis and Coffey. And Bowman's Wings? Well, they had Lidstrom and Yzerman and Shanahan and Murphy and Larionov and Konstantinov and Fetisov, right? I agree with the poster above - I wonder if he's simply been here too long, and he and Holland aren't on the same page anymore.

I'm too confused to hate him for it. Its like Bizarro world

Definately. And teams have figured that out now, so they can forecheck our D hard, knowing they are unlikely to get burned for it. Oft times its all we can do to just chip it out to centre-ice. And then of course the puck comes straight back... But to answer the OP - yeah, we're not going to get a top-pairing guy for Colo, Sammy and a 4th. Despite what the Holland bashers may think.

Pav is playing down to their level now, he was a complete non-entity yesterday. Only time he ever plays like that normally is when he's injured.