Datsyerberger

Dunno about him, but I have to pay extra to get VS. in HD. Which I'm not doing, seeing as I'm already paying enough money to be advertised to.

Took a shot in the back of the leg or something. Maybe just stung a bit, but I just saw Lilja out with Raffi, so we'll see.

Well, technically, Brodeur already went on a tear.. or atleast his elbow did. He's perfectly capable of it. Then again, the hockey world should be so used to Brodeur dragging NJ kicking and screaming into the POs that yea... nevermind Hart consideration for that.

And yet those people won't say the same thing about Brodeur, who, as I pointed out above, had similar (a little better) stats on an even more defensive minded team than Detroit. For the love of god, I'm not arguing against Brodeur here.. just the idiocy in applying those arguments to Ozzie.

I'm still feeling a goalie for Hart this year.. either Luongo or Brodeur if their team goes on a tear after they return, or Mason if he drags that craptastic Columbus team into the playoffs.

Good call.

I'm just going to email him his article.

If you look back at HHOF history, there seems to be on average 5 goaltenders per era that get inducted, except the mid 80s-early 90s, of which Grant Fuhr and Billy Smith are the only survivors. "Dead Puck" era inductees. (Will likely have a handful, due to the rising skill level of 'tenders) 1. Roy 2. Hasek 3. Brodeur 4. Belfour 5. Osgood 6. Cujo 5/6 of those are or will be top 10 wins all time. Belfour currently stands at 3rd, Cujo at 4th, and Osgood has the potential to finish his career at 5th. Osgood has been statistically better than both of them. Belfour and Roy "partially" belong to the late 80s/early 90s era, so you could make a case that's 4 for that era, 4 for the "dead puck" era.. but you get my drift.

He wouldn't be the worst goalie in the HOF, not by a long shot.

Nobody notices Osgood -- which is why the "Oooosssssgoooood" chant is possibly the most widespread chant in the league. To be honest, I don't care what sort of a tear the team is on, anyone that doesn't notice a goalie after 1.55 GAA, .930 SV% in the playoffs and 2 shutouts in the opening of the SCF for not his 1st but his 2nd cup as a starter is.. well, allow me to demonstrate with a graphic. ------------------------------------- Homer | Unbiased | Anti-Homer They're all the way to the right, with both of the ends being negative and the middle being positive.

I'd say TB would be morons to give Lecavalier up, but given the current ownership, that'd be evidence to a trade. I don't think Montreal has anything they both can and would give up that would make this worth it for TB. It's not just that TB would need picks and prospects, they'd need a leader and star (of which Marty is too old to do for long).

Actually, I wouldn't call Datsyuk a power forward, on second thought... not because he lacks the skills to be one, but has skills that normally aren't associated with power forwards.. amazing stick handling, awesome defensive play, great pokecheck. I think "complete forward" describes Pavel better.

I wish I could make posts with valid points that short.

Just what we need, another arena full of suits.

I feel good things from this one. Then again, I usually do if the Wings play against either Turco or Quennville. I'd steal some thunder and say 14-3, but frankly, I don't see Dallas scoring that many.

I actually don't expect Ovy to win the Hart this year. The team around him doesn't suck enough. If either Brodeur or Luongo come back from injury and their team vaults back up in the standings, bank on one of them.

Seems like everyone shares rather similar sentiments at the moment.

To tell you the truth, I'm willing to bet that players in the league in the last year or two respect Datsyuk's physicality more than, say, hfboards posters.

I would ask you to compare two goalies of the same era who have played on the two biggest defensive powerhouses of the last 15 seasons: Osgood: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/stats?playerId=700 Brodeur: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/stats?playerId=108 You'll notice that, besides a stint with godawful NYI and STL teams that Brodeur didn't have to go through, they have relatively similar SV%s and GAA. Furthermore, Osgood has faced, on average, more shots per minute than Brodeur. Brodeur gets a slight edge on Osgood in all categories, while playing, on average, on a more defensive team. Stats aren't everything; analysis of play would show many highlight saves and the occasional real stinker from both. They're both known for having excellent gloves. Osgood has regularly split time with HOF goaltenders (Vernon, Hasek). Brodeur's higher GP may be due to this, or, for the benefit of the doubt, endurance. Overall, I hold the opinion that Brodeur that is the better goaltender.. but not by very damned much. In fact, I put Osgood as the 4th best goaltender of his era, taking both numbers and career into account (Say roughly 1990-present). Maybe 4th best shouldn't get consideration, until you examine who the 3 above him are. Hasek Roy Brodeur 3 top 10 goaltenders of all time, of who 2 are regularly argued as #1. Playing in the same era as Hasek and Roy will deplete your trophy case a bit. Now let's look at wins. Partially a team stat, but even the best teams don't get wins if their goaltender stinks it up: 377 W, 197 L. 13th all time now? Arguably, he's on pace for as high as #5 by the end of his career, and is pretty much guaranteed top 10. 3 Stanley Cups, 2 as a starter. Oh, speaking of cups, take a look at his playoff perfomance numbers. You'll notice he's really ******* clutch, behind only a handful of players who have had a full career in SV% and GAA .. most of whom have multiple Stanleys, like Mr. Osgood. The years in which his team won a cup, he was on fire. When you take career, numbers, and cups into account, Osgood projects to be a top 20 goaltender of all time.. maybe even top 15. The only thing he lacks is an expansive trophy case, which is understandable considering the competing talent. Besides, he has 3 of the trophy that matters most. Compared to a lot of players that are currently in the Hall, not inducting Osgood would be no less than a ******* travesty, profanity quite necessary. Edit: One more thing I feel worth mentioning. Among the top goaltenders of all time, perhaps none are known as being as much of a team player as Osgood. Certainly not Roy or Hasek -- though I'd like to think Ozzie rubbed off a bit on Hasek in the end.

Edit: Nevermind, lol.

Thanks for pointing this out, YG. Furthermore, if you point out the high possession time Detroit has when Datsyuk is on the ice, and his 47 takeaways, it pretty much paints a picture that if he doesn't have the puck, he's a constant threat to either strip it or deliver a hit to the carrier. Couple that with 12 PIM in 40 games with ~19:50 TOI/G! On average, he's racking up about 1 point, 1 TA, and 1 hit per game. And he's a leader. He gets involved in scraps, too. Almost.. sounds like a power forward. With finesse! Or is regular cheapshotting a prerequisite of being a power forward nowadays?

Wasn't really my intent. I was pointing out the uniqueness of the stat as he's one of only two players who has those sort of TA/GA numbers, AND plays against the other team's top lines regularly, the other being Kesler. A testament to the abilities of both players. I hope it's not otherwise necessary to point out what Datsyuk is good at defensively. As for the latter, Ovy's team made the playoffs, and he scored about 1/4 of his team's goals. That team has a more ordinary first liner (say, Spezza or Heatley) and they're fishing for draft picks.

With the only one among that list head and shoulders above the others defensively being Alfredsson. Yes, please.

It's my personal opinion that Datsyuk is the best active forward in all of hockey, and the 3rd best player behind only Lidstrom (a 6 time Norris winner who still kicks ass) and Brodeur (a top 10 goalie of all time who showed no signs of slowing down before his injury this year). I've grown to enjoy the hell I sometimes catch for this opinion, because I enjoy watching Datsyuk dominate the ice even more. To clarify: Regularly among the league leaders in points, lead the Wings for several seasons. Reigning Selke winner. Nowadays, hits (hard!) on the rare occasion that he needs to. More often he or the Wings possess the puck when he's on the ice, and he uses the body very well in these situations. Frequently comes out of battles against multiple players with the puck. Lead the Wings forwards last year in SB. (Again, not a stat he has to partake in often) A very solid shooting % that's a testament to his tricky shots. Superb vision. Fast and extremely agile skater. Arguably the best stickhandler in the league, even more so at full speed. A leader (else he wouldn't have an A in the Wings org, bank on it). Well above average faceoff man. Shootout monster, and also arguably the scariest player in one on one situations. Probably the cleanest player in the game per ATOI. Spirited, humble, and funny as hell. My only real knock on Datsyuk is that he sometimes tries to get too complicated with his playmaking, but imagine how many Datsyuk setup highlights would've never happened if he didn't.

Your point on Meech is well taken. I threw him in because we've been seeing more and more of him lately, and he was even playing Kronner's spot on the PP last night! But an N/A for him is more than reasonable as well. Trust me, I want to give Ozzie a higher grade than a C. He's one of my favorite Wings all-time. But, I need to see a continuance in his current level of play before bumping his grade up.