Antilles328

Dats is a road warrior and a Blue Jacket swatter. Dats 1 G 2 A Wings Roll 5-2

Correct me if I'm wrong but Datsyuk has a tendency for road points in the playoffs. Last year he had 6 points (1G 5A) at home and 17 points (9G 8A) on the road. Home/Away was split 11 games a piece. I'm assuming it's because he typically is used defensively against the other teams top line when we have the benefit of last change at home. On the road, the other coaches try to get Datsyuk away from their top line and as a result Datsyuk can take more of an offensive role, resulting in more points. So Datsyuk has 1 G, 2 A tonight. Wings roll 5-2. Go Wings!

Current Standings 01. y-San Jose 115 Points 3 GTG 02. y-Detroit 109 P 4 GTG 03. x-Calgary 94 P 4 GTG 04. x-Chicago 97 P 4 GTG 05. x-Vancouver 94 P 3 GTG 06. Columbus 90 P 3 GTG 07. Anaheim 88 P 2 GTG 08. Nashville 86 P 3 GTG ------------------------------------------ 09. St. Louis 86 P 3 GTG 10. Minnesota 83 P G 3 11. Edmonton 83 P G 3 We could end up playing Columbus, Anaheim, St. Louis, Nashville, Minnesota, or Edmonton in the 1st round. Ranking them in order of who I would like to play 1. St. Louis 2. Nashville 3. Minnesota (Goalie, low-scoring games don't favor Wings) 4. Columbus (Goalie, Rick Nash always scores against us) 5. Edmonton (Cross Country) 6. Anaheim (Red Hot, Cross Country) Best Case 01. Detroit 02. San Jose 03. Calgary 04. Chicago 05. Vancouver 06. Columbus 07. Anaheim 08. St. Louis ------------------------------------------ 09. Nashville 10. Minnesota 11. Edmonton This would make it so we didn't have to play both Anaheim and SJ which would require cross country travel and we would have home ice advantage. An Columbus/SJ series wouldn't be bad either since Mason seems primed to steal a series. Worst Case 01. San Jose 02. Detroit 03. Calgary 04. Chicago 05. Columbus 06. Vancouver 07. Anaheim 08. St. Louis ------------------------------------------ 09. Nashville 10. Minnesota 11. Edmonton

I think I would rather have Franzen. He's putting up similar numbers to Hossa (slightly less) for significantly less money. And he appears to have the legs to be a significant March/April/May contributor. The choice isn't between Franzen and Hossa. It's between Franzen an 2/3 mil and Hossa.

Based on statistics over their career Some things that stand out. -Z has more goals in nearly 100 less games. -Dats is a better playmaker with significantly more assists. (.7 /game vs .5 /game) -Dats has a slight edge in Regular Season production .992 PPG vs. .941 -Z has a clear edge in Playoff Production .839 vs. .659. He might be considered more "clutch" or a better playoff performer. -Very comparible +/- per game in both Regular Season and Playoffs (Balance offense vs. defense) I think it's safe to say that statistically they are very comparable. Dats has been having a better 2009 season but Z has been able to step it up the playoffs in the past. Playoffs are what people remember. Both are incredible players, though. I wonder how many of Zs goals were Dats assisted and vice versa. As a side note, Franzen has more play-off game winning goals and a better +/- than both Dats and Z in only 40 games. This might be a result of D and Z being a huge liability defensively when they were paired with Hull.

There are really only a few options. You can't have 1 or 2 overpaid superstars who take up 30% of you cap and then split the remaining 70% between the other 23 guys and still expect to win the cup. For the other 23 guys, you get what you pay for. No one is going to be willing to take a hit because the top guys get paid so much. The exception to this rule is the occassional year where your young stars are playing in the final year of their first contract and you have 7 mil/yr talent playing for 2.5/3. Keeping this team together is impossible for more than a year. The Wings, however, have instilled a culture of winning on their team. Every one of the top guys is playing at a discounted rate. Lidstrom, Dats, Z, Hossa, Rafalski, all are taking less money in exchange for winning and being a part of the Wings organization. If everyone is taking less money, do you want to be the guy that demands more? Or do you then realize that if everyone on the team takes an average of 250,000 less money then you can sign an extra 6 mil/year in players for which you can get a Hossa/Dats/Z type difference maker if they are willing to sacrifice for the good of the team. Federov wasn't willing to play that game which is why Federov stopped playing in Detroit.

I hate ESPN Burnside and Lebrun talking about the Wings. "Speaking of being surrounded by talent, what about Pavel Datsyuk for the Hart? His numbers are spectacular and that's hard to do on a balanced Wings team that doesn't need to overplay its stars. Burnside: I agree Datsyuk is a rare talent, but I don't think he's got what it takes to be a Hart guy. And I think your prejudice against goalies is a bit misguided. I agree you shouldn't throw them into the Hart mix just for fun, but I also think, in rare cases, they deserve some love, and what Mason has done, as a rookie not expected to be part of the Blue Jackets' immediate plans to boot, is worthy of consideration." And "How about the Norris to wrap things up? They might as well call this trophy "The Lidstrom" given Nicklas Lidstrom's domination for most of the last decade, but I think this is the year that run ends. My guess is Mike Green has impressed enough voters with his offensive genius (he leads all defensemen with 63 points, 15 more than Lidstrom, and is plus-24, which is meaningless, but I threw it in there anyway). Other candidates? Dan Boyle, and I like Nashville's Shea Weber, who has 19 goals and has been a big part of a Predators team that just won't quit." I think the Wings have been too good for too long. Everyone takes everything they do for granted. If any other player in the league had seasons like they do year in and year out, the media would love them. You hear everything about Crosby, Malkin, and AO but Datsyuk gets forgotten about. It just pisses me off. I guess we will just have to settle for winning the cup again.

Why doesn't Datsyuk get the same press as AO and Sidney Crosby? Out of the Top 10 point scorers. Points Per Minute Played (If everyone played 1000 minutes, who would score the most points) 1. Pavel Datsyuk 2. Evgeni Malkin 3. Zach Parise 4. Patrik Elias 5. Sidney Crosby 6. Marc Savard 7. Alexander Ovechkin 8. Ryan Getzlaf 9. Jeff Carter 10. Jarome Iginla +/- 1. Pavel Datsyuk 2. Marc Savard 3. Zach Parise 4. Evgeni Malkin 5. Patrik Elias 6. Jeff Carter 7. Alexander Ovechkin 8. Ryan Getzlaf 9. Sidney Crosby 10. Jarome Iginla Penalty Minutes 1. Pavel Datsyuk 2. Zach Parise 3. Jarome Iginla 4. Patrik Elias 5. Jeff Carter 6. Marc Savard 7. Evgeni Malkin 8. Alexander Ovechkin 9. Sidney Crosby 10. Ryan Getzlaf Shooting % 1. Pavel Datsyuk 2. Jeff Carter 3. Zach Parise 4. Marc Savard 5. Sidney Crosby 6. Patrik Elias 7. Evgeni Malkin 8. Alexander Ovechkin 9. Jarome Iginla 10. Ryan Getzlaf Face-off % 1. Pavel Datsyuk 2. Jarome Iginla 3. Ryan Getzlaf 4. Marc Savard 5. Sidney Crosby 6. Jeff Carter 7. Zach Parise 8. Evgeni Malkin 9. Patrik Elias 10. Alexander Ovechkin He might not score the most goals but Datsyuk definitely does more to put his team in a position to win than any other player in the league. He scores more often, more efficiently, while managing to play better defense with fewer penalties. If Datsyuk isn't clearly the best forward in the league then he should be at least tied at the top. All I ever hear is Crosby/AO/Thorton/Malkin...

Yes, we are the only team not represented now...

Both Datsyuk and Lidstrom are "injured." Rather than adding Zetterberg or Hossa which would make every team still have a player, they add Marleau and Robidas. Can't say I'm mad that we are getting our rest but I find it laughable that the Stanley Cup winners have 0 representation in the all-star game. Link

I was flipping through this weeks Sports Illustrated and the Pierre McGuire's "In the Crease" mentions the following "Inspired by the energy of the 40,000-plus fans at the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field Red Wings G.M. Ken Holland will propose that the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals be played at a neutral site with promotional rights sold for millions of dollars. This could creat a Super Bowl-like environment at the star of the finals and potentially expand the NHL fanbase." I'm assuming this means that the remaing 5 games would be 2-2-1. I think this is going to go over like a glowing puck...

The strange thing is that its Holland proposing the idea not Bettman or some other idiot unaware of what fans want.

Can we also cut our entire 4th line? There have to be some guys in GR that will try.

Did they get rid of players in the crease before the puck?

The turtle is back! Claude Lemieux signs with San Jose

How many 1 goal games are they going to have by the end of the year. Maybe they are focusing on late game rallies. They've already figured out how to do everything else. Hopefully, next year will be the fighting practice season. Datsyuk is growing a little vicious streak.

I was looking through the team stats on ESPN.com and I found an interesting stat regarding Penalty minutes for/against. Detroit has won all these games, despite having 19 more penalty minutes called against them than for them. San Jose however, has had the advantage of 84 more minutes (the equivalent of 42 more penalties or 2 extra PPs a game) I have a feeling if this 103 PM discrepancy was evened out, San Jose is behind Detroit in the rankings. As a side note. Anaheim is the dirtiest team in the league. Who would have guessed? Oh wait, everyone.

Looking at the box score... Lebda -2 McCarty -1 Draper -1 Maltby -1 Hmmmmmm.....

The "new" NHL.com has not impressed me at all. Frankly, the old video player worked better, loaded faster, allowed more responsive replay, allowed goal by goal jumping, etc. The new highlights are annoying to watch, the sound doesn't match up and it stops to buffer every 5-10 seconds. I want the old NHL.com back!

Haha, I think they would just cancel the season then. I think at that point our 3rd line would be as good as any other teams 1st line.

Zets, Dats, Hossa? Granted I don't see anyway we actually get to overtime (that would require the other team scoring as many goals as we do right?) If something happened would this be the line-up we used? Anybody know Hossa shoot-out record?

I head KH makes all of his trade offers through NHL 07.

Dats was 4 for 10 Zets was 3 for 10 Hudler was 4 for 8 !!! And of course the Mule 1 for 1= 100% Hudler, Dats, and (Franzen, Zets, or Hossa?)

Yikes, Hossa was 2 for 10 last year.... Zets, Dats, Franzen?

That was lame... But at least we have the cup!