dat's sick

I'm a huge fan of Enstrom so I don't think that's a crazy thing to say, but Lidstrom WILL be on that no.1 PP unit. That's as certain as it is that Lundqvist will be our starting goaltender.

Yeah they could work, but I don't like the idea of having our two best playmakers with a guy that isn't exactly a proven goalscorer. Hank+Alfie would be a really good defensively responsible yet offensively dangerous duo though. It's sure fun to think about all the different ways to combine these players. PP-formation: Forsberg-Zetterberg-Holmstrom Lidstrom-Kronwall umm, yes please.

You have to wonder if the Caps aren't just doing this to clear some cap space for a deadline move. They don't need to boost their offense, but they badly need another good d-man. With this and the whole Nylander thing they should have a couple of million in cap space.

You could say "no way Zetterberg and Alfredsson will be 3rd liners". In reality we'll probably have 3 lines that play just as much, not a true 1st, 2nd and 3rd line. Btw, am I the only one completely opposed to Forsberg and Backstrom playing together? Sure, Backstrom is scoring more goals this year, but that's still two guys that want to pass, pass, pass all the time. And I especially don't see Hornqvist being a good enough sniper to take advantage of all the opportunities those two would give him.

Oh no, not another player with a lot of potential that plays bad in the first half of his first NHL season.. Seriously, people are giving up on Leino too damn quickly. But comparing Tatar to Leino isn't very fair. Tatar is much younger and unless he completely stops developing he has much higher potential than Leino does.

I like "The Tonight No-Show".

But why would Washington go after Filatov? The only thing they need is defence.

I know Alfie has only scored 9 goals this year, but he's still a really good sniper. Eriksson can also score goals if he has someone to set him up.

While I like that he speaks his mind, this was immensely stupid by him.. we have Alfredsson who is out like 1-2 months, might even miss the olympics. We have Forsberg, the most injury prone player in the world. Modin, who has played 8 games this season and is also injury prone. The chances that a spot will open up on that team are 99%, and most likely Sammy was the no.1 reserve for Gustafsson. But after this? It's likely that Sammy doesn't have a chance in hell. Which is too bad, cause I'd really want him on that team.

But when we get players back, less pressure will be on Leino to be a top 6 scorer, something he is obviously not ready to be. If we could have a 3rd line of Leino-Flip-Williams I'm pretty sure they'd get something going, but we don't have enough healthy bodies to do that yet.

Vatanen looks SICK.

Yay! I knew Z was close, but I was worried about Big E when they said he was "indefinite". Good news.

January will be such a great month.

Well we have a Nicklas Backstrom of our own Finland has a wealth of goaltending talent though.. Niemi, Rask, Rinne, Nittymaki, Backstrom, Kipper etc. That means they'll be a team to watch even though the rest of their roster isn't as strong as some other teams.

Naslund is playing for Modo right now, I'm not sure if he's said an official "No thank you" to Team Sweden. But he's not one of those exceptional talents like Forsberg who can be away from hockey for a year and come right back and dominate. I'd probably take him over Modin on this team but that's about it. Maybe, but the problem for me is I didn't like him 5-10 years ago when he was in his prime, and this year he's played only 8 games. Gustafsson wants a big body, but I'd rather go with Fredrik Sjostrom who is atleast an awesome penalty killer.

Couldn't it something else, like they want to make someone a healthy scratch for a game or two and give Ritola another chance to show his stuff?? Let's not immidiately think "injury", even though that's the way the season has gone so far..

Btw, Lidstrom was selected to be the Captain. Gustafsson motivated the decision with the quote: "He's a winner and a wonderful human being." Just for fun, some lines I made up: D.Sedin - H.Sedin - Weinhandl (they know eachother perfectly and I'd be shocked if we don't see this line) Backstrom - Zetterberg - Holmstrom (like a swedish version of the euro-twins) Alfredsson - Forsberg - Eriksson (best playmaker in the world with two of this team's best scorers) Hornqvist - Pahlsson - Modin (should be a good checking line that might chip in a few goals) Defense is a little trickier.. hard to say who Gustafsson will go with. Lidstrom - Enstrom Kronwall - Ohlund Murray - Oduya Maybe. Pairing up Kronner and Murray would make for some fun times too. And Lundqvist in net of course.

Liv is the 3rd goalie and it's highly unlikely he'll play a single minute. Why not bring Markström instead to let him watch and learn from one of the best NHL goalies up close? Johansson is not a man for small rinks and physical hockey. He's a good playmaker and I know Gustafsson likes him.. but once again, why not bring Victor Hedman or Hjalmarsson if Johansson's going to be a 7th d-man anyway? They're our future. Modin? I agree, WTF. I guess it's Gustafsson's idea for a replacement for Franzen, but come on. Too bad we couldn't bring Bergfors, he's awesome.. but even Samuelsson would be better imo. Other than that I'm happy with the team. The probability that Franzen will get in any kind of shape in time for the olympics is pretty slim, so I understand his exclusion and I'm not surprised. Ericsson's injury also killed any chance he had of making the team, which was a long-shot to begin with. Hornqvist will be a great 4th liner or even as a hard-working winger with some scoring potential, maybe on a line with the Sedins (will probably be Weinhandl though). Good mix of skilled guys, hard-workers and defensive specialists. But obviously the team would look a million times better if we had the Mule instead of Modin.

Yep. The key here is that Fil has been able to skate all throughout his injury. He might have some stiffness in his wrist that impacts his play in the first game or two, but other than that he should be in gameshape.

Flip's injury was the moment I realized this season was cursed. Such a freak injury. Maybe him coming back will be the end of the curse. We badly need a win here.. you can't lose 4 straight in the Western Conference without being in close proximity to last place.

An ice-surface somewhere between Olympic size and NHL size is optimal imo.. not just for injuries but for entertainment.

I almost forgot what an impressive season Lids had there. 80 points is sick when you consider that he's never sacrificed Defense for Offense. But yeah, Yzerman in 02 was one of those "larger than life" performances.. inspirational to say the least. That and Lemiux's comeback are probably the greatest in my eyes.

I can't believe AHL players can't score on the best team in the league. It just doesn't make sense.

Team Sweden's injury list is starting to look as bad as the Red Wings' is. The hit wasn't that dirty though..