ManLuv4Clears

Sweet, Versus.

Someone in a GDT the other day mentioned that maybe they were playing Leino more as well as putting him in the shoot-out early to try and promote him for a trade. That may have been a good assumption after reading that Spectors article.

This could be very likely as well. Mick does mis-speak at times.

Though only 9, they are still soft Euros as they couldn't drop the gloves or lids to scrap.

I have to agree with you on the Bab's throwing him into the shootout early theory. I would have gotten off his back if he scored there, but unfortunately he didn't. Miller did, which pretty much sells me on that guy, not that I wasn't pretty much for him over Ville anyway. People are saying give Leino a summer to allow him to build up and I agree that wouldn't hurt. However, he gave himself high hopes coming into this year just to disappoint all parties involved, so it could happen again.

What's even more funny is that if you took 30 seconds to read the first post you'd know that is has nothing to do with last nights game and is in response to Ansar Khan's MLive article. edit: and I thought Leino looked better last night than usual

For discussion purposes, would anyone change their vote if it was losing Leino on waivers?

I know, and then there's some random old lady taking a dip in the background...

Maybe we can get a Mod in here to adjust it to "who do you keep while losing the other one to waivers" to make this more interesting, though the outcome might be exactly the same.

I neglected to disclose my vote, which was Miller. Leino has been a bust in my mind.

How clear is number one really? Do you have credible links to back up that statement? Or are you just painting the NHL fan base with a wide brush? Maybe for the "new" NHL fans that Bettman has targeted who enjoy only scoring and the circus side show that is the shootout, but how about the fans he's alienated? I feel I am one of them. I prefer a hard fought 2-1 hockey game with plenty of great saves, checks, scoring chances, and emotion with the occasional donny brook over a 7-3 blowout with the occasional "sweet deke." But again that's just me, I'll take watching guys like Cleary, Helm, and Eaves bust there ass and play with their heart on their sleeve over watching the one dimensional Hudler's and Leino's of the world who may have a better chance of scoring with no other up side. To each is his own I guess, but I wouldn't go to the point of posting that you like the game for the same reasons as I.

Babs realized Meech has tied him for a team leading -9 and figured he needs to get some more PT to take over the top spot again.

Nice hit, he tried to avoid him the best he could. Should be perfectly fine to run a goaltender if they choose to venture out that far to play the puck.

Good post.

He sure did

He had 11 minutes of ice time according to NHL.com. You probably only saw him once because he was invisible out there for a majority of his playing time.

Somewhere Jiri Hudler is shaking in his skates finding out this is allowed in the KHL.

Yes, are robbing "talent" like Jiri Hudler. Darn, I guess we'll have to watch North American players play instead.

Profits may be up, but does that have anything to do with the Salary Cap? I mean, the Wings payroll is half of what it used to be and ticket prices and merchandise sales have probably stayed consistent. Hence more revenue which in turn is now shared across the league. I'd be interested to see where popularity and attendance is nowadays versus profit. The league is now broadcast on a third tier network and has had many sports surpass it in terms of popularity versus where it was in the 90's when it was arguably a top 4 or 5 sport and now it is top 7 or 8.

I have to agree with the size of the players in general. I noticed this especially after watching the Toronto vs. Detroit clip posted above. The goalies and their equipment look tiny and the players all seem to be in roughly the same size range. One thing I noticed as well is how open the ice looks in the clip, guys could skate all over the place with out being touched. Granted there was a little clutching and interference with players not near the puck (which I don't mind), but the game seemed more open with the hitting and rough housing that a lot of people love.

That's his point. The fans who grew up loving the sport, love it for what it is. Great goaltending, defense, hits, fights, and the drama of a 1-0 overtime game are just a number of great things that are equal to scoring. We could give two s***s about goal scoring. It's the "new" NHL where Bettman thinks the only thing people care about is scoring, and he would have a great argument if he frequented these boards.

Couldn't agree more. These tic-tac calls are slowing the game more than before. Someone posted an article about young Canadian fans slowly going away from Hockey as well. I wonder if this is any correlation to Bettman's regime? Oh well, at least he implemented the shoot out.

Leino..... almost killed.

Have no fear, we have Ville Leino.

Are you talking about the clip where Kevin Maguire goes after Stevie when there's already a fight on the ice? If so, you should post it, it's a great clip. It shows how Steve Yzerman, a team's top skill player was singled out by another team's top goon and he dropped his gloves and went toe to toe with him and held his own. I seem to remember Probie going and knocking the guy into tomorrow afterwards as well. So, in regard to the post you were responding to, he does have a point. Players back then, no matter their status on the team would stick up for themselves. Certain Wings players these days don't, which is fine, but in a sport where fighting and intimidation is allowed and considered part of the game it doesn't hurt to have a little "fire" in your game.