Datsyerberger

But Datsyuk likes to dangle-dangle!

Gahaha, I'm glad I'm not the only one that has crap like that go through his head. On a side note, it's sorta odd to be cheering for one team yet to be cheering for someone on said's team ass to get kicked.

Hopefully Pekka Rinne continues to be hot and shuts them down, but suffers a season-ending but not career-threatening injury with 1 second left in the game so we don't have to deal with him any more this season.

Well, let's say he scores at a rate of 55 per season until he's 35, and then drops off 10 goals a year every year after that and plays until he's 40 (even though that may not be accurate). That would come out around 1000 goals. There's no way to really know, though.

If Flip were in, this is what I'd want to see as an experiment, personally: Franzen - Datsyuk - Hossa: Kicked ass the other night and what's not to like about 18-19 minutes worth of Dats setting up 2 30+ goalscorers? Flip - Zetterberg - Cleary: Flip maybe gets some extra confidence playing with Zetterberg. Cleary always seems to play well with Z. This line also has great defense. Hudler - Kopecky - Sammy: Might as well play the hot hand around the net in Kopecky. Hudler is a serious offensive threat on the third line, because it's so hard for most other teams to match up against him when their top shutdown players are already dedicated to messing with the top 2 lines. If nothing else, some LGWers will be happy if a Sammy shot injures Kopecky. Maltby - Draper - Meech: Well, do we really want to see any of them on the 3rd line? Without Flip: same 1st line Kopecky - Z - Hudler: Kind of an odd one, but Kopecky's been a hot hand lately, and maybe playing with him and Z boosts Hudler's confidence a bit. Maltby - Cleary - Sammy: Well, it's got defense. Sammy occasionally generates scoring chances on his own. Meech - Draper - Lebda: But first, find a way to collect energy from skates contacting ice. Make a killing selling the electricity, distribute the wealth, raise the salary cap, re-sign everyone. SUCCESS!!

Dropped the ball? I thought that thurrr hockey sport was played with that puck thingermajig

Sammy with Dats? With the amount of set-up shots that are going to occur, I predict broken glass or a goalie that looks like John Hurt's character in Alien.

My thoughts: I need to make more bets with you.

He's like a more motivated, less fat (and hopefully less overpaid) Dustin Penner.

Special? No. Exceptional? Yes. Poor playmaker, not a very good passer, but good defense and a fairly gifted goalscoring touch. Also quite clutch.

I noticed, Opie. I made a big reply to it. Think its near the top of this page, or something. Or maybe last page. But I responded to all your points, I think.

No, but I've heard Ben Eager is.

Well, if we can manage to lose only in OT in the upcoming 11 games San Jose style, you've got 200 bucks, but I wouldn't make a bet on your bet, lol.

I seriously hope these guys somehow fall to 8th place so we can face Quennville in the 1st round.

Well, you've got Nashville finally developing some offensive punch and Pekka Rinne. Chicago has Kane, Keith, Toews, and that whole group. C-Bus has Mason, Nash, and a roster that's developing well. Now look at the Blues: (Potential line-ups next year): Perron/Kariya - A-mac/Berglund - Boyes (A-Mac and Kariya not on the same line) Kariya/Perron - Berglund/A-mac - Oshie Steen - Tkachuk - Backes Winchester/Hinote/Janssen - McClement - Crombeen Yowza, that's some young depth at forward, and some of them are locked up several years on ridiculously small contracts for their production. Good veterans in A-Mac, Kariya, and Tkachuk, too. If EJ and Brewer recover well: EJ - Brewer Woywitka/Colaiacovo - Polak Colaiacovo/Woywitka - Jackman Plus a couple decent guys on backup. Can't even fit McKee into that, and having to put Jackman on the 3rd pairing was surprising. Decent defensive depth, too. And now you have Chris Mason who's determined to prove himself as the more worthy of the two Masons, and some frigging skyscraper backing him up. Gotta give the Blues org some serious credit, some of the better scouting and development in the league for sure. These guys are gonna be a ***** next year.

Is that how they say it politely these days?

Being a bit optimistic with that one, eva?

I've got a couple "2009, business as usual" "2009, our goaltending will be our demise in the playoffs again, right? Oh wait.."

Gee, I wonder why the GM of Jeff Finger would want that.

Heh. Naw.

I think that's a hilarious Freudian slip.

He's not elite, but Mason with a good 1B would be a good tandem if his current play keeps up (all good options, there). I really don't see them moving Brewer. Never mind that he's their captain, he's also not worth as much because of his contract (and with all their best young players locked up long term, contracts aren't really a concern next year). I think they'll probably move someone like Woywitka or Colaiacovo, since they'll have a number of offensive d-men and they should be able to get a decent return with their performance this year. They're definitely challenging Chicago for strongest young core in the conference, next year.

What tubes?

No way in hell Hudler goes for 1.5 million. I think we already used all our karma points on Z at 6. Sammy might, though. Helm will be here for sure. Abkadoodle I'm not sure on. I'd just as soon see Downey on a permanent (and cheaper) roster spot to give Abkadoodle another year to develop. Swap him and Maltby out depending on who we're playing. In my opinion, Flip won't get traded, but IF he does, it's because Hossa's willing to sign around the 6 region and Franzen around 3 (unlikely, but I'd hope for it). Abdelkader wouldn't fit on that contract-wise anyhow, but Downey would.

Well, debate aside and for a bit of homerism for a moment, Datsyuk got that beautiful assist (EN as it might be) without a stick! XD