Ms_Hockey

He didn't say that many Pens fans would agree - he said many Pens fans would disagree with you. They aren't all that enamored with Crosby's play as of late, either. As for the NHL Center Ice commercial, I always get a bit offended when that comes on. Not because there's anything wrong with the commercial and not JUST because I'm a hardcore Wings fan (though I'm sure that comes into play.) The thought of portraying Pittsburgh as if they actually won the Cup is what bothers me. We won. Give us our credit - and that means, don't make hockey commercials and act like the outcome of the SCF was different than it was.

Cool your jets. The article was obviously complete and total sarcasm. Yeesh.

QFT.

While I also don't agree that Crosby was "flailing away" at McLean - he certainly jumped him before McLean had a chance to know what was going on. I didn't watch the clip in this thread. I have no reason to. I don't think Crosby is a bad player. I think he's incredibly talented - I just think he's a better finesse than he is a physical player. If he WANTS to be a physical player, then he should be taught how.

I'm not looking for a fight - and if you're going to be rude, I see no reason to respond. All I'm saying is that Crosby makes a FAR better finesse player than he does a physical player. If he wants to drop the gloves and fight, somebody needs to teach him how first. And I'm not the only person who thinks that. There's been articles about it, as well. For example, from Fox Sports: "If you want to take out your frustrations on the opposition, fine. Just do it like a real hockey player. There's no reason to jump a guy on a faceoff and start flailing away before your man even has a chance to look up. Of course, Sid had a handy excuse ready to explain away his behavior, which netted him 19 minutes in penalties." (Written after a "fight" with Florida's Brett McLean.) Defend him all you want, but he's not a physical player. And if you want to excuse his poor physical skills because of frustration, be my guest. But there's a way to fight someone - and he certainly doesn't do it.

EDIT: Nevermind.

There's no doubt in my mind that the team in front of him helps him out. I mean, Osgood's career stats with this team (bar this season) are pretty good as well. Even given his play THIS season, he has the highest win percentage of NHL goalies. Conklin is a good goalie, but being on our team certainly helps.

Crosby just shouldn't try and play a physical game. He's proven time and time again that he can't handle it. Ovie would've made butter out of him.

I'm not expecting any moves out of Holland - let alone anything major. If he were to make a move, I'd expect to get another defenseman to spark up the PK. But that's about it.

Damn. Why don't they take our entire team?

I honestly found it difficult to judge Howard's skill level as a goalie.. for one reason. Most of our team last night looked so off their game that they didn't help him out at all. Not nearly the way they play when Conklin is in net & they've had a day of rest, for example. He didn't look great out there - but neither did most of our team. I'd have to see Howard in net when the Wings are playing their normal game to judge properly.

Very true.. but I would assume management believes we still can pull ahead in the last stretch before the playoffs.

If we could pull another shut out against them, I'd be euphoric for days.

Well, I can understand the reasoning behind it. The reality of Conklin being a starting goalie for another team next season is very real. After that, we have Osgood, Howard, and Ericsson. (Excuse my spelling if I got it wrong.) Management obviously felt Osgood needed time to just work with a goaltending coach - and they probably wanted to see how Howard would fare in terms of being the backup next season for Osgood. So while Conklin is the best we have right now, the Wings could afford this loss - and they knew that. There's a lot more to think about than just coming out on top during the regular season. We're a solid lock for the playoffs - three points away from San Jose. There wasn't a whole lot to lose.

Howard didn't play well - but most of our team didn't. We were slow, we made sloppy passes, and we didn't seem to wake up until it was too late. I wasn't expecting a lot out of Howard. He had some good saves.. but ultimately, our entire team wasn't up to par. Congratulations to the Wild - they deserved the win & they worked hard for it. Now let's take these three days and get out there to make some Shark food out of San Jose.

Congrats on both the addition to your family and the addition to your goal column!

All I'm saying is that with fighting being looked into for the player's safety as of late, who knows what is going to happen with it from here? I don't understand why you're getting snippy about it. I don't like it anymore than you do. But the reality is that there's major conflict going on over whether fighting should be in the NHL or not - and Bettman's job is to draw more fans into the game. I'm not saying this WILL happen - It's just food for thought. If he starts imposing rules as safety measures, he may water it down so much that there'd be no real NEED for an enforcer because anybody could drop their gloves and skate around each other. I wasn't trying to cause a huge argument, here. I was just saying that I'm interested to see what's going to happen with the rules of engagement.

In reference to the players you brought up, you're talking about a COMPLETELY different era. The Red Wings are based on the loyalty system far more than they ever were. Why do you think we're holding onto Chelios, Maltby, McCarty, Drapes, Osgood? Everyone knows that the Red Wings do not trade away their veteran players. You're the first person I've ever encountered who happens to think they would. Mark my words, Maltby is going nowhere. Nor are any other of the veteran Wings. And if they do - I'll bow down and say you were right.

Calgary.

No wayyyyy. The Red Wings system has been one of loyalty for the longest time. There's no way they'd give away one of their veteran players. They might - but I just don't see that happened. It's not how the organization works.

There's nothing wrong with that notion, I just don't happen to agree.

I didn't mean it as any disrespect to your team. I was just saying that I'm glad we don't have that. But I'm glad the feeling is mutual.

I really don't think it has anything to do with the team losing confidence in the goaltender. Teams just don't function that way. They don't blame their teammates for losing games, the way we do here on the forums. They don't ostracize and pick on Osgood after he lets in pucks. They don't want to serve his head on a silver platter to Gary Bettman, in the hopes of him disappearing for good. They're a team. They win as a team - they lose as a team. I'm sure they ALL know Osgood is struggling.. but I don't think a veteran professional ice hockey player is stupid enough to lose so much confidence in the guy who JUST won them the Stanley Cup that they let it affect their play to the point where they go on losing streaks. The whole idea just sounds too immature to me. They've been in this business for way too long to let it get under their skin like that.

I bet you're just sick with excitement over tonight's game.

Just on a side note: I have to say how happy I am that we don't have issues where our players WANT to be traded. That would just be disappointing, as a Preds fan.