dat's sick

Hart: Bryzgalov (H.Sedin, Miller) - Ovie's probably gonna be at the very least nominated, but he's been suspended a few times and missed some games and Washington have arguably played better without him so I don't think he deserves the Hart this year. Besides he's got a much stronger supporting cast than Bryzgalov, Miller and even Sedin. Miller has more hype than Bryz so he could win this, but Bryz would be my choice. Selke: Datsyuk (Kesler, M.Richards) - could very well go to Kesler, but this late-season surge by both the Wings and Pavel might be enough to give him his 3rd straight. Byng: St.Louis (Datsyuk, B.Richards) Adams: Tippet - Babs will be nominated for this I think, as long as the Wings make the playoffs, but Tippet seems like a shoe-in for the win. Vezina: Miller (Bryzgalov, Quick) Calder: Myers (Howard, Duchene) - not at all impossible for Howard to take this. Myers is the favorite, but goaltenders often seem to have the edge in calder voting. Norris: Keith (Lidstrom, Doughty) - maybe I'm optimistic that Lids will get a nomination, there are so many d-men who have had great seasons. But I think he deserves it. Masterton: Chelios

Heh, didn't know that about his son. It must have been destiny that Raffi would eventually play for the Wings.

YES!! Love ya Minny!

dang. come on Wild, don't fall apart now.

Very cool, definitely gets you pumped for the playoffs.

I have one of each and love them both, obviously. But I kinda think the Red one is more iconic so I'll have to go with that one.

I'm officially embarrassed. I blame my brain being tired from hours of studying for finals, I do usually know how to spell Jiri's name.

That was a great watch. I hate that Mac was cut off when he was gonna talk about what Lemieux said to him in Dallas though.

I had Fetisov in there first, but then I got to thinking how much I would have wanted for Fisher to be able to keep playing so I put him in there instead..

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Kozlov-Larionov-Fedorov Shanahan-Yzerman-Hull McCarty-Draper-Maltby Helm Lidstrom-Murphy Kronwall-Konstantinov Lilja-Fisher Chelios Osgood Hasek Vernon

Indeed, that's the same vid I posted back on page 1 And yeah his stick is crazy long. But it seems to work.

Detroit: Zetterberg Franzen Datsyuk Oilers: Nilsson

They're right-handed but shoot left.. is it not like that in north-america? Stronger hand = upper hand on stick?

People knew about him but because of his size he wasn't drafted. When they saw how he handled himself on small rinks against Pronger, Suter, Chara etc. in the Olympics they realized he could make it in the NHL. And while the Olympics are a small sample size, he has two great seasons in the SEL behind him. The comparison to Dominichelli is uncalled for. First of all he wasn't very impressive in Vancouver, and he has had his chance in the NHL and failed. He's also much older. Totally different player, totally different situation.

We're not really a soft this season though. I know we don't see a lot of fighting, but we're 9th in the league in hits.. adding Hudler and/or Zuccarello and getting rid of Williams and/or Bertuzzi/Maltby would not make us a much softer team, just a bit smaller but also more skilled. And there were "softies" on the 97-98 roster as well.

That video does not do this kid justice. Watch the vid I posted instead: Also look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1vqoKoAGks#t=6m25s That's against Slovakia in the Olympics. He chases down a puck and scores a nice goal. A little bit later in the vid you see Norway's 2nd goal where he makes a great play from his knees. Quality is poor as someone has filmed their TV, but regardless, that's small rinks and high-quality opposition. If he can handle himself on that level, I'd say he's got a good shot at being atleast a decent NHLer. And he is absolutely not "a bit slow". Every time commentators mention him they say "the speedy Zuccarello". Yzerman's comment during the Olympics? "Every time I've seen Norway I say, god that little 48 is good".

Good points. I don't think we have a terribly small team now, size is not what I think Holland should go after for next season. We need more skill really. Leino didn't work out but I don't think that should make us afraid to go after undrafted skilled euros. As mentioned, the reward is so much greater than the risk. Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Hudler-Filppula-Franzen Zuccarello-Abdelkader-Bertuzzi Draper-Helm-Eaves Miller That looks like a well-balanced line-up to me.

Friday: Minnesota @ Columbus San Jose @ Calgary Detroit @ Edmonton [x2] NY Islanders @ Anaheim Saturday: Carolina @ Pittsburgh Ottawa @ Dallas Montreal @ Toronto St Louis @ New Jersey Philadelphia @ Atlanta Buffalo @ Florida Washington @ Tampa Bay Columbus @ Nashville Chicago @ Phoenix Detroit @ Vancouver NY Islanders @ Los Angeles Sunday: NY Rangers @ Boston Calgary @ Minnesota Buffalo @ Carolina Tampa Bay @ Florida Nashville @ St Louis Atlanta @ Philadelphia Phoenix @ Dallas San Jose @ Edmonton Colorado @ Anaheim

He did just fine against Chara and Pronger in the Olympics.

Dude, he is NOT slow.

This! He's a small guy, but I think he could really make it in the NHL. Unlike Leino, he has good speed and is not afraid to go into the tough areas. In the Olympics he was extremely impressive.. the way Yzerman was talking about him during those games indicates that the Wings have a real interest in him. While we're at it, talk Forsberg out of what seems like his retirment plans, the two of them were tearing it up together at the end of the season.

He's been uneven. Amazing for the first half of the season, pretty much carrying the defense himself it seemed like. After christmas until the Olympic break he was kinda terrible, but after the break he has got it together again and is playing solid. But he's definitely not the least valuable player in the league. Two of the biggest things he does for us, hits and blocked shots, are not taken into account there.

Yep. 25+ goals and 70+ points would be pretty good imo considering his slow start and all the injuries we've had. I really hope Z can match those numbers as well, especially in terms of goals. We need him to start scoring if we're gonna go anywhere in the playoffs (assuming we get there).

I would be surprised if we ever saw someone else wearing #96 for the Red Wings.. definitely see it becoming an unofficial jersey-retirement.

Quality post. Watching Datsyuk play is the closest thing sports come to an artform in my eyes. When he plays like he did last season and like has since the Olympic break, yeah I don't think there's any question he is the most complete player in the league. That takeaway you're talking about, I think he scored on Pekka Rinne. It was beautiful and was heavily featured on NHL.com. That and the one he scored against Chicago when he stole the puck from Kane are the kind of plays that could very well lead to him winning the Selke again. Everyone knows he has a lot of takeaways, but when he manages to convert them into goals they get so much more attention and sort of make people realize what a special player he is.