Deke

2004-2005. Best Leafs season ever.

I think ESPN is trying to sell shoes with neon colors and lights on them, and hockey doesn't have fans who buy that kind of crap. Watching ESPN lowers your IQ by 10%.

But if the team never get's to start their offensive possesion in Detroit's zone, then Dats has played defense. And that means he's played it better than anyone in the defensive zone because the opposing team's offense never got started. That crushes momentum and moral when you can't get it into the offensive zone. It gives your fowards more rest not having to skate up and down the full length of the ice. It's puck control and puck control is the number one rule of defense. And I don't agree that those fowards you listed are better in the Defensive zone than Dats. If there is anyone I trust the most to stop a breakaway without taking a penalty it's Datsyuk. Part of playing Defensively in your own zone also includes getting the puck out, which means taking it smartly into the neautral zone making AND connecting smart passes. The only thing Dats doesn't do really is block shots. And while that is a defensive area he lacks in, I don't want him to start. I prefer his smart style of hockey. Wait for the right moment, lift the stick, Now you see the puck, now you don't. Bop means theif in Russian. That's what I call him.

Why do you guys think Mac won't be secondary scoring? Sure he's not going to make the ice surfaced covered in hats, but the dude can score goals. He scored a pretty one to win a cup once. Sure he's not going to be playing at that level just yet, but why don't you boys watch him play his first game before you decide how he's going to play his game. McCarty said in an interview during sunday's game that the wing's organization priorities are to win games and win cups and he's just there to help out with that. So I think he's going to rack up a few points respectable to his time on the ice. I don't think he's going to roll around smashing people's face in. I think he'll play a Franzen type physical game. Use his strength, but smart and controlled. But I'll reserve judgement until I see his first shift and how fired up Babcock is when he puts him in. If Babcock is on his 5th piece of gum in the first period when Mac hits the ice, we'll know he's there to put the fear into someone.

I agree with the skating. But Drake just skates it in behind the net or dumps it to the corner, loses the puck and races back to the neutral zone. Downey isn't exactly a play maker either, but at least he drives to the net when he doesn't have the puck trying to make stuff happen. I liked Drake quite a bit at the begining of the season. He was always smiling ear to ear just happy to be playing hockey for the wings. Doesn't matter if he was getting punched in the face, doing some punching of his own, or playing a physical game. Then his jaw broke and he hasn't been the same ever since. To me, he seems like he's out there just rest his forwards and probably counts the seconds until his shift ends.

Getting hockey news from ESPN.com is like getting financial advice from Sesame Street.

I'd like to agree with you because Nicky is probably my favorite player in the NHL, but I don't agree that he should win the Hart. The Hart is hard for someone like Lidstrom, or anyone on a complete team like Detroit to win. The way I look at it, and it's just my opinion, but the Hart should go to someone who basically carries the team by themselves. Nicky certainly contributes more to the Detroit organization than anyone else, but Detroit would still have several top notch defensemen and great fowards. There's no doubt that Nicky would be missed in Detroit and wouldn't be the top notch team they are today, but they wouldn't instantly drop to last place without him. Nicky holds down the defense like no other, but Detroit could still field defense without him. He makes a lot of offensive plays, but at the end of the day, it was likely someone else that put the puck in the back of the net after Nicky made the play. A player like Alexender Ovechkin though, he basically is the Capitals. If he's not scoring and generating offense, they probably aren't winning. He carries the team and I think therefore deserves the Hart more than Nicky. It's just too hard for a player like Nicky who has other brilliant team mates to earn the Hart. Allthough he's still the best player in the NHL.

Right, it's for the best Defensemen in the NHL. As in the player. It's not awarded to the player who just played defense the best, but for the best performance as a defensemen. Defensemen do not just play defense, they are expected to shoot the puck at the point and often QB power plays. Part of being a good defensemen includes offensive awareness and capitalizing on offensive opportunities, but not at the expense of your defensive awareness. Great defemsemen don't let generating offense get in the way of their defense. But they can still do ti. Lidstrom is great at defense because: He doesn't get caught out of position. He is fantastic at holding the puck in his offensive zone. He passes tape to tape everytime. He see's the ice and plays as they unfold. If he commits a penalty, it was either accidental or was likely a smart penalty that prevented a goal. Try and take him 1on1 and you won't out skate him, you won't out manuevar him and you'll be lucky if you get a pass off to a team mate. He puts 100% into every minute of every shift. Offense he can fire the puck on target, he knows when to time a shot so it doesn't get blocked and the screen is effectively used. He fires it perfectly to be tipped. He commands the blue line and walks it like no other. His passes are perfect and often generate great plays. He keeps the plays going by keeping the puck onsides. And he does all of that without sacrificing a single bit on defense. That's why he's the best defensemen, because he's the most complete player in the NHL.

Jovanoski for the Norris? Hah, he's a good defensemen but he doesn't see the ice like Nikcy. He doesn't stop plays like Nicky. He doesn't stay out of the box like Nicky. He's just not Norris material. He doesn't shoot the puck like Nicky and he definietly does not feed the helpers like Nikcy. Datsyuk Deserves the Norris more than Jovanovski and he isn't even eligible for it. All this Norris trophy talk is pretty suprising to me. There's no way that it can't go to Nicky again at this point. Just no way. It's not even worth talking about. The only way the NHL could give away the Norris to another person is if they made a new defensive trophy that was awarded to the "Defensemen who was even better than the defensemen who won the Norris trophy." I propose this trophy be called the Lidstrom trophy.

I think more like Homer was watching Franzen play yesterday and got competative that someone took his front office.

That's another pointless arguement. If a player has to basically go outside the lines of the rules to draw penalties, then they aren't playing hockey. Would you really want your team to win a cup on a BS penalty call from drawing a questionable penalty? I know that would cheapen the win for me. But I guess if you're a fan of Tootoo that's how you like your hockey, even if you can call what he plays hockey. I don't. Err, I don't see you're point. You're comparing apples to oranges. Stuart -- Defensemen and came from a different team. Draper -- Injured part of the season, and he's one of the most defensive fowards to ever play the game. With the trophys to back that up. He's almost 100% special teams. If you'd rather have Tootoo than drapes on your team, you're insane. Lilja -- Defensemen Downey is the only valid comparison here and yea, his numbers pretty much suck. Which is why the wings are looking to replace him with Darren McCarty. But to Downey's credit he's a sherrif type enforcer. He doesn't elbow people or throw cheap shots. He makes sure you're gloves are off and want to fight before he throws a punch. He's not some punk ass kid with a bone to pick with everyone and who doesn't care if he ruins someone's career. Tootoo is athletically gifted, there's no doubt. If he focused on generating smart offense rather than smashing skulls, he'd probably be pretty good.

That's what they seem to do at the end of every season. Let the vets stay healthy, let the kids get divisional experience. It's not like the wings can't afford to lose a game here or there. There is little doubt homer would play through it if babcock told him he needed to. But why bother when there are young kids who can fill in while he gets some rest.

He has 15 points, -9 +/- and 83 pims, that's pretty terrible for anyone that's not supposed to be a so-called enforcer. If the coach wanted offense, there is no reason for any coach to play him with the numbers he puts up. You could put just about any other young player in and get better production with a whole lot less pims. I mean samuelson is 3 times better for f***s sake. And that's not saying much. The only thing he contributes is intimidation. Other players are always looking for tootoo on the ice either to avoid him or hit him. If your line is concentrating on tootoo instead of the play, they won't perform at 100%. He's a fan favorite whether you want to admit it or not and that's why he gets ice time.

I can't do five: Steve Yzerman Nicklas Lidstrom Paul Coffee Eddie Belfour Paval Datsyuk Pavel Bure Henrik Zetterberg

Fan's don't dictate play, you're right. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think Tootoo would be playing for Nashville if he wasn't a fan favorite in Nashville. They yell TOO TOO! and blow whistles everytime he hits someone cheap or not. It's sad. The arguement I'm making is that if tootoo wasn't a fan favorite and therefore didn't sell seats, he wouldn't have a spot on the preds team. Either that or the coach doesn't have the balls to sit him until he plays right. Tootoo's only contribution is smashing people and intimidation. Without that he's nothing and couldn't even earn a spot on a CHL team.

I blame the Nashville fans (some of the worst in the NHL if you ask me) for at least half of what Tootoo does. Them and their retarded Tootoo whistles everytime he does something stupid. I'm sure there are some good hockey fans in Nashville, but I get the impression that most of them are Nascar watching typical TV watching Americans who just want to see blood. It's the same reason why NASCAR is so popular, because of the wrecks. The Nashville owners know this and they know that Tootoo is a fan favorite. They know he sells seats to people who just want to see someone's face get kicked in over seeing a pretty tic tac toe pass one timer goal or a Datsyukian Toe Drag breakaway. His background is no excuse for his inability to play the game of hockey as it is designed to be played. His lack of hockey skills are substituted by aggression and stupid antics. If anything his inuit background should make him more humble and willing to appreciate that he has the phyiscal genes and ability to play professional hockey and all the benefits being a professional athelete comes with. Instead he's just a goon.

There is a hell of a lot more respect in hockey than in other sports if you ask me. In most interviews between periods or after the game, some of the sports casters ask players how they felt about a goal or the game ect. MOST players will often credit their team long before they'll take the credit themselves. Listen to Stevie Y's retirement speech for the ULTIMATE lesson in class and respect. In other sports, say basketball or football, the player would be more like "Yea, I was on fire out there and I wanna thank my baby's mama and jesus for my touchdown." But because there is so much passion and physical play in hockey, the situations like the above can happen with certain players. It's either the heat of the moment and the player will come to their senses later. Most great goon to goon rivalaries, the goons actually are friends in the end. But at that moment they just want to beat the crap out of eachother. If the hatred and actions like you mentioned in the original post continue off the ice then they do not belong in hockey. Or in proffesional sports. Period. But to answer your overall question that players respect eachother? Hell yea they do. More than any other sport easy.

I bet Grigorenko would have been better.

I'm not talking about the fans hating him, I think he's great. I'm just trying to figure out why so many NHL players cheap shot him night in and night out. He's gotta be one of the most picked on players in the game.

From the article: What if you flood the game with fouls? Commit 100 fouls per game on purpose knowing the officials are only going to nail you for 6 or 7 or 8 because calling much more than that would slow the game down into un-watchability. Way to ruin hockey. Rules are there because they are meant to constrain the game so that only the game that was intended can be played. Getting around this with by frusterating the refs is flat out disgusting to the sport.

Gretzky once said "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". It's obvious Gretzky never met Samuelson and Samuelson obviously took this advice too seriously. If you are a goalie and you see samuelson coming into your offenfensive zone, just face him. He'll hit you in the chest every damn time. Samuelson doesn't really shoot the puck, he just moves it in the general direction of the goalie. Sammy also has an attitude problem. I remember a goal a while back when he shot it from the point, but homer knocked it in. The camera showed a funny shot afterward of him pouting about it like it should have been his goal. If Sammuelson would just fake the shot and pass every now and then he'd fake out every goalie in the league and rack up the assists. Either that or he needs to shoot low off the blockers and generate some rebounds. Last year in the playoffs he did exactly that. I can't remember the game, but instead of shooting it he faked a wrister and then turned his stick to make a nifty wrister pass to another foward who scored. It's funny, I can't remember which series it was or the goal scorer because the fact that Sammy actually PASSED overshadows the entire event. What I don't get is why Babcock gives him so much ice time. Or trusts that guy on the point with the puck on PP. He's ALWAYS out of position when the other man on the point tries to clear it over to him to get out of pressure. Then the puck bounces off the boards and out of the zone while sammy is looking like a deer in headlights. If I were Babcock I'd tell samuelson for every shot he fires I'm going to fine him 1,000 dollars. For every pass he makes I'll give him 100 dollars. For every assist I'll give him another 1,000 dollars. He'd shape up quick and stop taking retarded shots that he'll never make.

That he hits in the face with Phaneuf and Pronger voodoo dolls? Hasek needs to Hasek* Kopecky in practice one day. Teach him to keep his head up. Hasek: Pronunciation: (Haw-Check, see Haczech) 1. Verb To upend and flip a player breaking for the puck by diving into his feet while said player's head is down.

Czechoslovakia I guess it's all divided now into slovakia and the czech republic now. . . It's like calling someone from Tawain, Tawainese instead of Chinese, even though they are technically both. Either way, it doesn't explain why a lot of NHL players seem out to hurt kopecky intentionaly.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=231328&hubname=nhl That was last night. One of many open ice hits where he was no where near the puck over the course of the last few months. Pronger... Phanueff... big guys, little guys, everyone wants to smack Kopecky around. Maybe kopecky just doesn't keep his head up.

Since when did single guys get their teams to playoffs? You know hockey is played with a team right? Usually 3 forwards, 2 defenders and 1 goalie at one time on the ice. Or 12 fowards 6 Defensemen and 2 goalies total. I mention this because you sound like you haven't seen a hockey game in a while, you might have forgotten how it's played. It is not the Sydney Penguins there pal. Have you even heard of a guy named Malkin? You may be suprised to learn he plays for the Pittsburg Crosbys too! He had 85 points last year, his rookie year. Sure Crosby got 120, but 70% of those (84) were assists. 85 points you say? Why, that's more than Crosby's rookie year of 63! All that really means is that sid touched the puck before one of his team mates decided to put it in the net for him. *JOHN MADDEN* Ya seeee, the team with the most goals scored, wins the hockey game. BAM! *JOHN MADDEN* You'll notice that Mr. Madden said goals, not assists. Another stat: The penguins have 3.10 avg goals for without crosby and 2.87 goals with. Let's face it, if Crosby was the second coming of christ like you kids are making him out to be, the Penguins would have fallen apart and lost their playoff hopes while he was gone. Now they are #1 in the east. Crosby contributes, but you guys act like he's IS the penguins. Look, in all intarwebz arguements aside, the penguins are a great team and Crosby is definetly a factor. He's a brilliant leader for his age, and plays with a ton of heart. All things I said like 3 pages and 2 trolls ago. But you guys don't watch enough hockey if you really think he's the best. The fact is arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics. Even when you win, you're still retarded. I'm just slightly less retarded than you.