Doc Holiday

I don't understand why prospects want to go back to their homeland and spend even less time adapting to the North American game. Do they think that the ice is better in Russia, or what?

Jake Ryan is probably having fits now.

Maybe the enforcers are afraid of a Roman Polak to score on them again during the PP if they do something dirty.

I've missed you Outsider.

When you get your ass handed to you over and over again 15 years straight you are going to be excited when you do well against them for once. And "doing well" is a gigantic understatement. Detroit is playing like crap, Howard is getting boned by this team, and the Wings are making Jmmy D laugh look like the smartest man alive.

And can magically predict injuries to this team.

And I'm sure the goaltender feels like he needs to be completely perfect every night when the team in front of him doesn't know what a goal is.

Couldn't Osgood have gotten an empty net goal or something? This guy is just dragging the team down.

He is overpaid. The only asset he gives to this team now is offense. He has no such thing as a defensive game anymore.

His stance was wide. He never moved his leg, only his shoulder.

Yup, instead of actually being objective when looking at a specific situation, lets assume he was doing a cheapshot since he has had some borderline plays in his career.

Once again, 40 goals in the regular season. If you can do that you can score in the playoffs. And maybe he will, maybe he won't. I don't have a crystal ball, here. That isn't what you said. You said "at least he plays on the PK." Franzen has a solid defensive game and has played on the PK. By that logic we should sign Jagr to a 12 year contract considering the type of past he had.

If we are talking about 2008 playoffs Franzen didn't play with Zetterberg and Datsyuk that year. Unless I am mistaken. Either way Datsyuk and Zetterberg aren't in the same level offensively as Crosby and Malkin are. Especially when it comes to playmaking. So basically you are saying he went from 40 goals in 82 to 6 in 23 (in three games those goals were scored) simply because his injury "got worse"? I'm sure that was the case. Don't mind that he scored in every game 3 of the first three rounds, so wouldn't his goal production in that regard GO DOWN? Because we all know statistics tell the whole story.

That had nothing to do with the kind of centers he was playing with? Or the fact that most of the attention was put on Crosby that year? Hossa had 40 goals in the regular season with that same injury. No way you can use that injury as an indicator of anything. And completely outplayed? You are kidding, right?

Yeah, if only Holland had used his crystal ball and predicted all the injuries this team would get. This team was not going to have great depth going into the season, and the only way it would be a competitive team is if they had little to no injuries. Instead the worst happened. One of the top goal scorers out for the year, powerplay point man out for a few weeks, top defensive forward out for a few weeks, top 4 defenseman out for a few weeks, etc. Not good at all. Especially in the areas that needed to have healthy players.

What? Hossa f***ed up in the playoffs last year. For 7.4 million. Franzen did not. For change in comparison. He hasn't been a playoff machine and for the salary he was making (and would have made compared to Franzen) he would have had to have a playoff year comparable to Crosby and Malkin. Franzen was a defensive third line forward until he broke out in 08. How exactly can he not play on the PK? And how exactly does Detroit's commitment to scoring and not defense the previous year help the notion he is a better defensive player? Physicality is pretty much a wash. Neither are overly physical players. Point being? Franzen, like I said before, was a third line plugger for two and a half years before being promoted to the top six. Hard to score when your entire job is to be a defensive forward. In the regular season, sure. I'd still take Franzen when salaries are included.

Eh, I don't think it was THAT bad. Oh well, it happens out there.

Crosby for Bertuzzi straight up?

I think every problem the team has can be chalked up to Chris Osgood.

No, when he actually deserved a suspension.

Am I the only one who is hoping for the Hawks (assuming the Wings don't make it to the Finals this year) to pull it off just to shut up the Hossa haters? Honestly, I cannot stand the "traitor" bulls*** and other names that are associated with the guy.

Dear god not this again. Players don't deserve injuries in this league. If the NHL learned how to punish players properly (such as suspending Kronwall when he DID deserve it, or at least fining him) then there wouldn't be so many discussions about if said player deserved to get injured.

My bad. Spot on. Don't forget Quennville's record against Detroit. You don't have to make so many compliments to the Wings but once again, spot on. Spot on again. The team is much better depth-wise also. Very excellent points. Chicago is a huge threat to win the Stanley Cup this year and unlike the Sharks can hack it in the playoffs (consider this was their first year with Toews and Kane in the playoffs and they made it all the way to the Conference Finals). All in all, good to have a reasonable fan with some great understanding about the two teams in question.

Both fields require amazing dedication and skill. Though engineers need a lot more knowledge in the technical sense. Amazing what I've seen engineers do.