Broken 16

Lol... what?

Nice spin... but WHERE they are has nothing to do with anything. These two aren't the only people on the face of the planet that have expectations placed on them from their place of employment. Sure... the All-Star game may be a joke in the big picture. It may have been handled poorly. But Lidstrom and Datsyuk are, arguably, the best players in their respective positions in the entire league. Not to mention part of the defending Stanley Cup champion team. Unless they require surgery, they should be there in my opinion. Its only in their best interest to participate and try and bolster the league. To me, this comes off as arrogance and I don't like it. Sorry.

He hasn't "earned" any such thing. He's an all-star. He gets paid to be an all-star. So go be an all-star for ONE day and do what you have to do... even if its just go make a couple of appearances. Thats the price of fame and money sometimes.

Are you implying that these guys can't hop onto a plane at a moments notice, whenever they want? C'mon. God forbid Nick has to cancel his trip to Chuck E. Cheese with his kids at the last minute. Poor guy.

This is ridiculous. Get off your f***in asses and go represent the league that that fills your bank account with millions of dollars every year. Are we honestly supposed to feel sorry for Lidstrom and Datsyuk because they have minor injuries? These guys live like kings and have opportunities with their families that most of us can only dream of and we're supposed to feel sorry for poor Nick because he wants to see his kids and his elbow hurts? Un-f***in-believable. Seriously... this s*** sickens me. All they have to do is go represent for ONE f***IN DAY!!! They don't even have to play. I find it laughable and embarassing to our team. Queue the Red Wing slappies to tell me what an ******* I am...

I say we dump them both and see what kind of shape Jimmy Carson is in...

I'm not saying that its Z vs D, but I would be suprised if Holland wasn't using Pavels salary as one of his leverage tools to get Z to agree to as low a contract as possible.

Cuz I'm a drunk ass... fixed.

I saw Slava slam Adam Foote's face against the glass hard enough to make him bleed like a stuffed pig. Thats physical enough for me.

True

I don't know... I kinda see Sammy and Kozlov canceling each other out.

Thats very convenient for Z. Unfortunately, if Dats continues to carry the load of this teams offense while still being considered for the Selki, Z's 7+ is going to look awfully bloated, playoff performer/alleged future captain or not, compared to D's 6.7... dontcha think? Pavel Datsyuk is a stand out player amongst the league. If I were Holland, I wouldn't even think of offering Z more than D at this point. Thank God I'm not Holland... right?

Shanny shouldn't even be mentioned in this thread. [/end personal pet peeve] Fedorov was ridiculous in his prime. If I remember correctly, he scored 5 goals against the Kings (?) back around '96. The 5th being an overtime winner. No sense in regurgitating numbers that have already been posted in this thread, but if I had my choice of players in their prime... I take Fedorov over Dats and Z in a heartbeat. He was THAT dominant. I never got all worked about the regular season when it came to Fedorov because he saved his best hockey for when it counted most. Pavs and Z are awesome, but at this point they may as well be Fedorov's stick boys. Time will tell on Pavs and Z. They're off to an awesome start. But neither are capable of putting the team on their back and carrying them the way Fedorov was able to. Fedorov was literally able to win games BY HIMSELF. (ok, figuratively... but you get the point)

Agreed. They are smart enough to not try and completely mirror the Wings. Their approach is based on their personnel. Thats why they have the best record in the West.

Dude, I dig the Sharks. They're my go-to team when the Wings fall. I've had respect for the Sharks since they upset us in the first round back in 93-94. That was a rough loss for Ozzy.

I thought for sure the next line from you was gonna say: "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" I've accepted it a majority of the time, the Wings lose in the playoffs more years than they win. Its no big deal. You'll see if the Sharks can muster up the balls to win a Cup. Till then you'll just have to take my word for it. Bottom line is that the Sharks are chasing the Wings until the Sharks win a Cup, till then they may very well be a flash in the pan... can YOU handle THAT? When I said that the Sharks were mirroring the Wings, I wasn't comparing road records... The Sharks organization is doing everything in their power to replicate the Wings formula for success (where do you think your new head coach came from... hello?). Don't feel bad, a lot of teams are examining the Wings closely... not just the Sharks.

Not to be a dick, but there is no off season when it comes to discussing what a joke the Lions are. It's a year round celebration...

This is a huge hit for me. I loved that station. I even learned to tolerate Rome when I had to. I remember back in the day back around the 90's Cups, listening to Art Regner after big Wings games.

I'm fine with going into the playoffs with a multiple Cup winner as our starter and the guy who carried a Stanley Cup finalist for a large chunk of the season last year as his back-up. Even Pen fans admit that Conklin was a huge factor in their success last year.

Seems like everytime I take a rest room break, the Wings score. Sometimes, when the Wings REALLY need a goal, I'll sit on the toilet and pretend I'm pooping. I only bring this one out in the playoffs.

And deservedly so. The Wings have been a dominant organization since the early 90's. San Jose hasn't accomplished anything aside from doing their best to mirror the Wings organization in almost every aspect. You gotta earn media coverage (unless you're the Pens), the Sharks haven't earned squat yet. There's a reason why the playoffs is often referred to as "The Second Season"... the second season is the one that gives a team their identity.

What little love the Wings recieve is greatly overshadowed by the Criesby love fest. On a sidenote... I found some good reading material for my fellow Wings fans on this board.

I wouldn't overreact to any of these road trip games. Especially going into the All-Star break. This team will be ready for the playoffs. As is. Osgood will start (only won the Cup last year) and all will be well.

Until there is a clear definition of what "to an extent" means, any attempt to make goalies "fair game" will fail miserably. Furthermore, players will continue to push the envelope until, ultimately, a goalie is injured. Your a goalie, you know that they don't grow on trees. Telling refs that goalies are fair game "to an extent"... do you really want to put more judgement calls in the refs hands? Awful idea.

Define nudge... Thats an even bigger gray area. I'm pretty sure a nudge coming from Hudler would be a little different than a nudge coming from, say... Hossa or Franzen. Not only that, every ref will have a different definition of nudge. The goal here is consistency. Best not to complicate things any further for the refs. Most of em can barely handle a game now... even with two of em watching. Allowing goalies to be nudged and bumped on any level will eventually lead to pandemonium and confusion on most nights.