hooon

So "no intent to injure" is claimed by Lucic... ...and somehow this one claim alone outweighs the fact that A. it was an illegal play; B. Lucic is a repeat offender; C. Miller was injured and concussed on the play; D. the player made no attempt to play the puck; E. there was contact with the head; F. he was laughing about it right afterwards.... Seems pretty textbook if you ask me. I was a fan of Shanny's work to start the season, but since that time it has been as confusingly inconsistent as ever.

Its amazing how many folks in this thread either don't understand or refuse to acknowledge the rules regarding goalies in the NHL. I can't believe anyone here is defending Lucic. And claiming that Miller is faking it is one of the dumbest things I've ever read online, congrats.

Just based on last year, the Stars were one of the top teams in the standings for most of the first half of the season. Then reality set in, and they had an insanely bad second half, eventually missing the playoffs. They have a similar and arguably worse lineup than they did last year. I tend to think this season will turn out pretty similar for them, but hopefully (for them) they can manage to at least make the playoffs. Benn and Eriksson, though. Those guys are beasts.

Probably unwise for Miller to be so forward about how he feels, but I have to agree it was a pretty stupid thing to do by Lucic. Too bad there wasn't anyone on the ice who'd fight him, that coulda been fun.

Howard's been great. I love the shutouts, and honestly he would have a couple more if the D/refs hadn't choked in a few games. Definitely an underrated goalie in this league. Keep up the good work, Jimmy.

Love seeing the pylon John Scott getting rocked. Hate to say it, but that hit on Zetterberg the other night was a beauty.

Definitely want another game like the other night. All four lines playing hard for 60. The fourth line last game looked great, I hope they can keep it up. I don't care who scores, just get a win.

Agreed. What those teams have in high end scoring, they lack in offensive or defensive depth. Wings had a ton of guys last season with 10 or more goals, and its really nice to know that any line can score. Its nice having 40 or 50 goal guys but not at the expense of depth.

Flip is right there on your second line, but Helm is the player missing, I assume he will be the third line center.

Canucks powerplay was lethal tonight. Can't say I mind seeing Chicago get blown out.

Ducks complaining about getting a goal taken away against the Wings??? Oh, the irony... Anyway, great game by the Wings, that is how I want them playing every night. Helm looked great as usual, and Lidstrom is just unbelievable. The fourth line played really well, all lines seemed to have more chemistry than the past few efforts. Good game, boys, keep it up!

I'd rate Howard a little higher, personally. While it might not show on the scoreboard, he's been the best player most nights and he was robbed of a few games. And even though Mule is leading us in goals, given his play the past few games I might demote him a little. Good assessment overall.

Lame that he's back to GR so soon, he barely got a chance to do anything, and with the little time he did have he made actually made a few decent plays. Its not like anyone else is really competing for that spot right now.

I haven't really watched them either. How has Thomas been? If he isn't playing well I can see why that team would falter a bit.

I like seeing the kids do well, but I seriously don't think this will be sustained over a season. Remember how last year the Aves were one of the top teams in the league for the first 20 games or so? Still fun to watch them, I wish I got to see more of their games.

Horrible call. Why can't GI calls on potential goals be reviewable? Every other instance of the puck crossing the line is reviewable except for this one. If the review shows the player CLEARLY out of the crease, then it should be a no-brainer. That would of course assume that anything the NHL did operated under any form of standard logic whatsoever.

Some great answers here so far. Yzerman any time in the early 90s, Konstantinov, Hasek, Sawchuck. Any of these guys were great. I'll have to go with the guy who was my favorite player growing up, Darren McCarty circa 1997. He was far from the best player in the organization, but he was a heart and soul type of guy, scored clutch goals, and took care of his teammates. I miss DMac! Not to mention he scored one of the prettiest goals of all time, which will always go down as one of the best memories I've ever had watching hockey.

I like the shakeup in the bottom 6, but Pav and Z really need to get to scoring.

Again, it is not Conklin's fault the Wings lost these last two games. Sure he played poorly, but he was one of MANY Red Wings who played poorly. The Wings would have lost both games regardless of who played goal, because they simply didn't play as good as their opponents did.

Not Conklin's fault at all that the Wings allowed 31 shots against to the Bluejackets.

Hope Conks rebounds and has a great game like his first of the season. The Wings passing was sooooo bad last game, just sloppy mental errors that that are easily correctable if they focus for 60. LGW!!!

Hope he's alright, personally. So much more satisfying beating these guys on the ice and the scoreboard than seeing them go down with a fluke injury. Not sure why Bertuzzi is being brought up at all...

Devils - Parise Rangers - Callahan, Dubinski Islanders - Grabner Flyers - Giroux Penguins - Neal Leafs - Grabovski Habs - Price Bruins - Thomas, Lucic Senators - Alfredsson Sabers - Miller Capitals - Vokoun, Backstrom Lightning - MSL, Stamkos Panthers - Weiss Hurricanes - Ward, Skinner Jets - Ladd, Kane Hawks - Bolland Blues - Stewart Predators - Rinne, Weber, Suter Jackets - Prospal Aves - Stastny Canucks - Booth Wild - Koivu Flames - Iginla Edmonton - Eberle Stars - Benn Kings - Quick Ducks - Getzlaf Yotes - Yandle Sharks - Havlat

You're assuming the Wings will still be fully healthy when Mursak gets back.

I do kind of wish that Babs had started Conklin last night against CBJ and kept Howard for tonight. Oh well, as long as the defense plays as strong as it can, Conklin should be fine. I agree with one of the above posters - Pav and Z need to be at their best tonight. Cleary could stand a goal. Helmer too. Great matchup, though. I really just want to see good skating and 60 minutes of effort. LGW!!!!!!!!!!!!