Casey

That's exactly it. There's something more here than $570,000 for Nabokov. There has to be something more in play, or he wouldn't make it past New Jersey. I could see Nabokov saying he wouldn't play elsewhere, which is the one way I can make it work.

There's something going behind the scenes. Perhaps Nabokov's agent is saying he'd refuse to play elsewhere, so the team to claim him would lose a roster spot and the cash if they did.

Did Nabokov play this season, though?

Sneaky, dirty, and yet genius.

MAKE IT SO, number one. I can buy the idea that Detroit is leaning a bit to make sure that they get Nabokov. In the old days of NASCAR, the Petty family did the same. If they said they wanted to sign a guy to the team, nobody, and I mean nobody would touch them. It was never spoken, but it would be two kisses on the cheeks, Don Corleone style. There would be blood.

We're planning on going to one of the Meijer promotions with Helm, and I'd like to get my jersey signed. Now I know the basic black Sharpie is the classic, but is it the best for the signature? I'm probably going to sign one of my sets of scrubs, and see how the Sharpie holds up.

I wasn't looking to wash it often, but I figured washing my scrubs after signing could simulate years of wear.

Why not MacDonald? He's given up 1 goal in his last 2 games, and 1 shootout goal.

Looks pretty solid. I'm going to make a note of that one.

I'd gladly take a Kronwallian shot just for the honor of such. Happy Birthday, Viking!

What I'd love to see is Crosby get into a fight with one of the league heavies- Perry, Pronger, any of the bruisers. Getting his ass handed to him would do my heart good. Even Datsyuk would probably destroy him- better balance, leads to being much harder to take down.

Pick him up for league minimum, change his number to 64, start calling him Brainiac. Maybe we can at least make an interesting villain out of him.

New Jersey would seem to have the worst off-season in recent memory, in that Kovalev is doing them absolutely no good. He's on pace for fewer points than many defensemen, and simply hasn't shown his worth. Chicago's off-season is nearly as bad, though they were in a bad situation with their salary-cap issues. Chicago's loss of role players was underappreciated at the time, but I think will make itself felt through the rest of the season, as well as the playoffs provided Chicago gets there. At this point they are not projected to get there, and while it is still in their grasp they would have to improve. Personally, I question if they can do it with their lack of experienced players. Detroit stayed put in this off-season which for them I think was the best move. While it would've been nice for Detroit to make some moves, their depth is sufficient even with the number of injuries that they presently have, but they are still able to contend for the title in the West.

Mmmmm... waffle. Flathead or Phillips?

Hey, Michigan finally forced a three and out!

Doesn't look that way, at least via the Freep.

Almonds, I suppose. Not a huge fan of either. Tornado or hurricane?

Yeah, and now the longest active streak is the Kings with 4. Dallas had 4, lost in #5.

I'd love to see a Draper-Mursak-Helm line for a game. When Draper's the slow guy in the list, that's one hell of a fast line.

They seriously have to lock up Eaves. God, the line potentials. ZDH, ZDC, BFF, ZDE (nominating this as the Zed line), FFC, and I haven't even put Helm, Hudler, Modano, Miller, Abdelkader, or Draper in any of those. This team could be scary good for a very long time. Even assuming Modano's a one-and-done and Draper retires, Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Cleary Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi Holmstrom-Helm-Eaves Miller-Hudler-Abdelkader Mursak, Tatar, whomever as the 13th. Each has a strong center (or two, for the first line), a net-crasher, and should work as a good defensive trio. That's a hell of a setup.

Hey, I rock one.

So being tenth in wins all-time is average now?

I've a finely tuned sarcasmometer. TPBM has had a good workout recently.

He has 8 points in 31 games. Ericsson and Abdelkader have 8 in 28 each, Modano has 8 in 20. He's tied for 10th among Wing forwards with Modano and Abdelkader having the same production in fewer games. His 8 would be good for 5th amongst defensemen. Shot percentage is 16th. +/- is dead last with a five-point margin over next place Miller and Modano. I'll wait until he cracks the top-six in scoring before saying he's a top-six forward. Hell, with Dats and Cleary out a month, it should be easy, if he's on the tear you say he is.

#400! Welcome to the Hall, Oz!