titanium2

Jordan Pearce. Anybody know anything about him? http://www.freep.com/article/20090410/SPOR...0063/1053/rss17 The Red Wings today signed goaltender Jordan Pearce to a two-year entry-level deal, beginning with the 2009-10 season. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. Pearce, 22, spent the past four seasons with Notre Dame and was a finalist for CCHA player of the year this season. He finished the year 30-6-3 with a 1.68 goals-against average, .931 save percentage and eight shutouts. He led the nation in wins and shutouts, was second in goals-against average and fifth in save percentage. Pearce is currently with the Grand Rapids Griffins on an amateur tryout. He is scheduled to back up Jimmy Howard against Hamilton tonight at Van Andel Arena.

Not if Bettman can help it. I'm sure he'll do every little thing he can to make the games intensely competitive to draw ratings and pay the bills.

What?? ... Why?? I'm pretty sure I disagree with whatever the reasoning is behind that. Helm didn't start in last year's playoffs either but still... This makes no sense.

Why was he available in the first place? Did he enter the draft at all? Or did he just not get into to any med school?

Or maybe Larsson is in to backup Osgood next year and Howard's going to turn into a 3rd round pick.

"Your heart is happy every morning when you come to work." -Jealous.

Maybe both. I'm not sure if they have a Salary Cap for the whole 50-man roster or whatever but Ilitch isn't really shy about spending money on players.

http://www.und.com/sports/m-hockey/mtt/pearce_jordan00.html He's 6-1, at 206, so hopefully he's not undersized for a goalie. He's also from Anchorage, AK. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/fe...ame-hockeyfeb09 Notre Dame hockey stands behind its quiet man, Jordan Pearce Pearce's demeanor once a drawback, now driving Irish By Brian Hamilton February 09, 2009 SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Jordan Pearce is competitive, he swears, even if it took two years for nearly everyone involved with Notre Dame hockey to be convinced of that and even if he carries himself with all the zest and fury of corn flakes. But he is competitive. Just take, for example, the Irish goalie's enduring and unquenchable rage over ... uh, a biochemistry test. "I hadn't seen the problem before, and I was just so angry at the teacher," Pearce said. "I was like, where did this come from? This question came out of left field. I was so rattled. I couldn't get over it. I don't think I've ever seen someone get zero on a partial-credit question, but I got it." The man who is frustrated by misplaced negative signs on math problems has become an indispensable positive for a 21-5-3 team ranked No. 2 nationally after a seven-week reign at the top of the polls thanks to what was at one point a 20-game unbeaten streak. Pearce, with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage, has become a Hobey Baker Award candidate not two seasons after a perceived lack of intensity and urgency left coach Jeff Jackson entirely unconvinced he had a stalwart backstop on hand. "Two or three years ago, I would never have predicted where he is today," Jackson said. "So he has made me a believer. He has earned it. What he has accomplished "he's one of the best goaltenders if not the best in the country. And he's a 3.9 pre-med student. So go figure." The renewal of confidence in that relationship is at the heart of Pearce's rise. Very matter of factly, remarkably so given the usual tiptoeing around controversy, Pearce described his interaction with Jackson as "real strained" during his first two seasons. The crux of the issue: The Anchorage native is not predisposed to outbursts. Jackson, meanwhile, didn't see the edge he wanted and couldn't discern whether that was because of Pearce's backup status, his pre-med class load or his personality. "I'm not going to pound the ice, I'm not cussing up a storm or banging my stick if I let up bad goals," Pearce said. "He saw my low-key [attitude] and thought I was lacking intensity or lacking competitiveness. But I think he has learned that's just my personality. I'm not going to get riled up. I keep stuff internalized." The slightly less complex version is this: Once Pearce knew the starting job was his to lose as a junior, he thrived, more or less carrying the Irish to an appearance in the national title game. "You can just tell when a goalie competes hard," Jackson said. "They're battling to get rebounds and fighting through screens and deflections, and he didn't always compete that hard in that capacity. "But now he has some confidence, and he really competes hard. His personality in some ways helps him, because he has such a low-key demeanor. He never lets anything affect him." The consistency and calmness have infiltrated his performance this season. There are not as many soft goals. Rebounds don't escape Pearce as often. In turn, the Irish play freely in front of him. There is a touch of irony in that, with the goaltender once doubted for his even-keel approach now infusing that ease to everyone else. "Any time we're making mistakes, we know the other team still has to go through Pearcey," defenseman Kyle Lawson said. "It's a huge calming influence to have a guy like that back there." bchamilton@tribune.com

I feel like Z hasn't scored a goal in a long time. I just want him to have a linemate with above average passing ability that can set him up for some goals so that Z doesn't have to be the primary puckhandler all the time. Some days I think Fil can be that guy. Other days I really wonder where his confidence went.

It's an interesting statistic. But I'm more interested as to how did those teams do defensively the year after they won the cup? Because I think that as far as being the defending champs and stanley cup hangover and whatever that the numbers the year after is a more valid comparison and assessment.

A dribbler? What's that? And why is that kind of style mutually exclusive from being a hard worker? In other words, why can't Dick be both a dribbler and a hard worker? Still doubt if he can play on a scoring line in the NHL?

How do you think Ritola's playmaking ability would fit on a line with Zetterberg and Franzen? Those two can really shoot the puck and so I think if they had someone who can set them up from time to time then you'd have a line that could be quite dangerous. Think he'll make the team next year?

Any link to a box score or Dick's stat line? You probably have easier access to that being in Sweden. I have some pretty high hopes for him. He said he wants to stay another year, possibly two. And I read somewhere that Joakim Andersson wants to stay another two years as well with Frolunda, which is apparently a rival of Farjestad. Those two should see each other a lot for the next couple of years before they could potentially be teammates.

Yes, Big E can fight, but only if needed. Like many of their players that have high-end skill with the puck, you just don't want those hands fighting. I think the main hope is that those users who still choose to live in the Probert and Kocur days will have more peace of mind if/when Justin Abdelkader becomes a full time Red Wing. This is a guy straight from Michigan who grew up idolizing Steve Yzerman and a guy who on rumor said that if he got a chance to play a game in last year's Stanley Cup Finals that he would've instigated Crosby to a fight just to beat the crap out of him. He's going to have quite the image if or when his time comes.

Well, they'll also need to convince Babcock to let go of the only d-man who provides (Babs words, not mine) good old fashioned North American toughness. Even with Ericsson's progress, I doubt it'll happen.

I like the pairing. Something that I hope Big E learns from Nick before he retires is conditioning and keeping that big body in game shape to mitigate any ticky tack injuries. In general, If Big E can learn a thing or two about being durable like Nick, it'll pay great dividends for both him and the Red Wings.

Zetterberg did it last year. Can you activate HTML on these forums in order to embed videos from NHL.com? Anyone?

This one is a better version of his toe drag against Atlanta. Original audio and no glitches.

For sure, I'm just adding more to the fire. I mean, he went at him with his face presented and the visor out of the way, which makes Edzo look even dumber for singling Sammy out. For all intents and purposes, that 'shield' wasn't on. In general, it's just a shame that color commentary and analysis is for the leftovers who just aren't good enough to coach and through color analysis they are able to displace their frustrations on the teams that wouldn't offer them job opportunities in the first place.

ErRIGcsson. I thought he said he didn't like that name. I'm just going along with Babs and calling him Big E.

Nice hit by Filppula. Almost like Datsyuk. This might sound stupid but if you look at it again, Sammy's helmet was up and his visor was above his head. He went after that guy with his face presented.

You were much closer than a lot of Wings fans who misspell his name. It has two Ss, Ericsson, but no K like Loui Eriksson.

I can definitely see the amazement in individual efforts. Yet, in saying that, I think that with everything considered it's more difficult to get the kind of chemistry you need to pull off that kind of puck on a string play not to mention have a finish with the Nilsson-Forsberg-Zetterberg-Jokinen move.

Pav's goal was a real team work of art. It reminded me of the chess games in which my Dad would constantly stay 12 steps ahead and kick my ass like no other. Campoli - Definitely funny. I kind of want to say that he should've gotten two goals for that.