Datsyerberger

Call me negative, but I'll probably end cheering against teams with people I don't like rather than cheering for those which I do. After all, the Canadians have Stevie and Babs, the Americans have... American people... the Russians have Dats and Ovy, and the Red Wings.. er, Sweden.. have Nick, Z, Mule, etc. On the other hand.. The Canadians winning with Crosby would be intolerable. The Russians playing politics with all those crappy KHL players is annoying The Americans, while Burke is going through a tough time, I don't want a medal added to his 'GM cred' So I could see myself going for the Swedes, Finns, Czechs, or Slovaks

Yea, sure, he might miss a few games a year, but where else are you going to find a d-man that can put up 50 points and deliver big center ice hits for 3 mil a year?

Also, he's lazy and he sucks.

+1

If there's any bit of truth to that, it's not happening until after the Olympic break.. and a lot can change in two weeks.

We'll see him again come playoff time, I reckon.

Though I agree on the streak of contrarianism, we're hating on this partcular article because it's just brutal. There are legitimate criticisms of Bert, and some of them are included in it. However, the article in question is loaded with hyperbole that completely devalues any legitimate evaluation therein.

I'll take a crack at that, just because it's so brutally wrong. First, regarding Malkin: he plays first line minutes. That's a fact easily verified before you post. Further, actual knowledge of the subject at hand would lead to realization that the Pens use a 1A/1B line setup because of their center depth, rather than a 1st and 2nd line proper. Secondly, Marleau is and has been playing on the wing with Joe and Heater the entire year. Fleischmann is the only example appropriate to the discussion. No wonder they're tired of debating with you; your use of incorrect facts which could easily be verified in a half minute check in 2/3 of your example does all the work for them. Actually, I'll address this one, too: Because ideally, for the caliber of player we would want to acquire with a player like Flip, we would be looking for a young or at least not aged goalscorer on a multi-year contract. A player as such would not be available normally except on a rebuilding team, which would more likely be looking for draft picks and prospects if they're trading young goalscorers of 2nd line or better caliber. Thus, while Flip would be excellent trade bait, he's not the best for what we're looking for.

Article should've ended there. Or maybe there, where the writer uses +/- without context and proves well enough for me his or her inadequacies in comparison to the above.

I fail to see how that relates to my post. Him returning for the playoffs this year does not necessitate him signing a new contract.

Ouch, not really the way I'd want to see Malts go out, but given that he knows he's a spare forward at best, and if the surgery's important, it's probably the best option for both him and the Wings. However, he WOULD be back for the playoffs, provided the Wings make it, so he COULD go out on a high note in that case.

...Fixed. Barker has been increasingly brutal for them.

Pray tell, with what cap space? Lubo is 5.6 worth of salary; considering part of this trade involves freeing up cap space for Lilja, that means you'd be sending out 6+ mil in cap space to the Oils. Not one of Cleary, Stuart, Rafalski, or any sane person would waive their NTC to go to the Oils. That means you'd have to trade these TWO to do such: Kronwall Filppula or THREE: Kronwall or Flip Williams Bert Unlikely.

I'd love to toke up sometime with the sources that think goaltending is still Detroit's problem.

Well, let's look at some things here. First, our likely top 6 for next year: Datsyuk Zetterberg Franzen Filppula Holmstrom Cleary Possible resigns: Bert Williams (return of Hudler?) Pure bottom 6: Helm Eaves Draper Miller Abdelkader Ritola (Other possibilites from GR that could slot into a 4th line, such as the oft-forgotten Oulahen) If just 1 of the possible resigns is back next year, you've got a 13 forward roster. That means 1 of the bolded is going to be sitting. Quite frankly, none of those players deserves to sit, the young guys need the playing time and Drapes isn't that bad yet. In other words, we can do to shave off either a bottom 6 player (and it won't be Draper), or a top 6 player. If 2 or even all 3 of those 'possibles' is here next year, there's definitely spare parts. There is the possibility of Homer retiring for the sake of his body, but he can still do his job. There's a glut, in any case. You've got to wonder if the Wings want to acquire a top 6 goalscorer either on FA or even possibly via a trade. We definitely have trade parts. Suppose Williams isn't traded (scoring depth is NOT what we need to lose right now, particularly a right handed shot on our powerplay), and re-signs. Suppose Bert also re-signs. Let's say the Wings land a goalscoring winger on a cheap contract. What will they look like next year and what are their assets? (Ordering by value, not by lines) Dats - Z - Franzen Bert/Homer - Flip - Goalscorer? Bert/Homer - Helm - Cleary Williams - Abdelkader - Eaves Miller Draper Ritola OR (assuming Babs prefers Dats and Z split, forcing me to count them both as centers Goalscorer? - Dats - Franzen Bert - Z - Homer Cleary - Flip - Williams Abdelkader - Helm - Eaves Miller Draper Ritola Even taking out the goalscorer option, there's a glut here. Throw that in, though, and some of the other assets there will be gone. The easiest ones to move will be the ones that look like solid young bottom 6'ers: Helm, Eaves, Abdelkader, Miller, Ritola. If we're trading for a goalscorer, that means he's 1: going to be on a likely non-contender, and 2: low salary (unless we move someone unexpected). This means Meech (since he's an RFA) is more attractive than Lebda. Maybe I'm nuts, but I smell Afinogenov. He's cheap, fast (our top 6 is not the speediest bunch no matter how you look at it), and really, I don't think Atlanta has any illusions of re-signing him after trading Kovy. Could we see something like: Miller, Meech, and a 3rd or 2nd to ATL for Afinogenov, + waive May.. or something of a similar scope? Even bigger: What if Flip is considered 3rd in depth because of Dats - Z down the middle preference, and his current value is at a high? What if it meant something like Flip, one of those young bottom 6'ers and a d-man for a high quality winger that's on a bargain (multi year) contract. While it's unlikely...would you be willing to accept that? Guess who won't be sleeping easy tonight. I leave you with this final possibility: Franzen - Dats - Afinogenov Bert - Z - Homer Cleary - Flip - Williams Draper - Helm - Eaves Maltby (Abs, Ritola) Lids - Raffi Stuart - Kronwall Lilja - Ericsson Lebda (or Janik) (Kindl)

Nothing to complain about in this game, really. Wings were getting robbed like hell by Nabby and still managed to take the #1 team in the league to OT and get a point out of it. The important thing to me is the Red Wings looked like the goddamned Red wings tonight.

Epic post. (Double epic if that's actually close to the truth)

He was on there last night, as well.

...Why are we giving Cherry 5 pages worth of attention?

While the contact of the hit itself was clean shoulder to (mostly) shoulder, it was a blindside hit, about which a number of NHL GMs and others have voiced their displeasure.

Poker? With how bad the Wings have been about giving up leads, this sounds like a good way to make an easy buck to me.

No, you were watching a Pens game.

Wouldn't even need to be half.. removing just a handful would greatly increase the average talent level. Just for amusement's sake.. Remove 6 teams: Ottawa Calgary Anaheim Florida Atlanta Islanders Or Buffalo (NY doesn't need two teams; this isn't baseball -- nor does the state need 3) 6 divisions: East-- 1: Washington Columbus Pittsburgh Philadelphia 2: Buffalo or Isles New Jersey New York Boston 3: Detroit Montreal Chicago Toronto West-- 1: Tampa Bay Nashville St. Louis Carolina 2: Vancouver Colorado Minnesota Edmonton 3: San Jose Los Angeles Dallas Phoenix Kay, I've had my fun. Also, yay Caps!

And now the Pens get another PP off of a Semin high stick on Gonchar that's the result of Gonchar's own stick work.. Edit: And now a 5 on 3 because Crosby gets knocked down.