hooon

How do you feel about Ericsson? I still very much disagree with you about Kopecky. Let's see how he does without inflated PP minutes on lines with Toews and Hossa. I don't want to hijack this thread and turn into a Kopecky debate, but just because you and Dale Tallon think he will be good on the Panthers doesn't mean he actually will be. I'm sure you have a statistic to prove me wrong, though.

I honestly think Eva just chooses the most hated and ridiculed players and then defends them because no one else will. Hudler, Kopecky, Williams...

Ah gotcha. Totally forgot about that. However that Z goal was in 02-03 when Babs was coaching the Ducks, no? Funny how it all works out, he's all ours now.

For some reason my Hawks fan friends here in Chicago are actually excited about the Carcillo signing.

Then why is it called "list of top ten rookies/prospects"?

I get that. Hence my original post. Just didn't understand Red Wings Addict's response to my post where he implied Babs was the Wings AHL coach at the time. Oh well, color me confused.

Some people actually like the Preds logo, but personally I think its pretty laughable. Its like some awful Saturday morning cartoon.

Huh? Babs was coaching the Ducks during that game, hence my comment. Babcock never coached the Wings AHL affiliate. Or am I completely missing something about your post? Wouldn't be the first time.

Also more than half of those guys aren't rookies or even close to rookies. Van Riemsdyk? He's played two full seasons already, how could he possibly be included on a list of rookies and prospects?

Weird seeing hockey on ESPN. Also funny how they talk about Babcock for a while in that vid, how he was giving praise to the Wings scouting staff. He was still coaching the Ducks.

Agreed. I hate the Hawks but their logo is classic. Cool colors in it and a lot of detail. The Wings logo is just so sleek and classy, though.

We had more injuries in the 09 playoffs because we PLAYED MORE GAMES THAN ANY OTHER TEAM besides Pittsburgh. Do you really think a team that gets knocked out in the first or second round will have more injuries than the teams that go the distance? Using very basic and simple logic, it is quite reasonable to assume that the teams in the cup finals will be the most beat up.

The Panthers will love what he brings to their team in 2012-2013.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, however one could make the argument that the differences in career longevity between the two directly correlates to their style of play. I think it speaks to Lidstrom's credit that he has been so healthy for so much of his career, is able to avoid nonstop physicality and still be as dominant as he is, all while staying healthy and maintaining his level of skill over many years. Orr was never able to maintain that longevity due to his style of play. That is why I've never bought into the theory that Orr is unanimously better simply because he "would have" won more had he stayed healthy. The fact is... he didn't. He wasn't physically capable of it. It was his own style of play that led to his injuries, whereas Lidstrom's style of play has led to his preservation. I don't think that should be overlooked in the comparison.

Laviolette is a coach, not a GM.

Sounds to me like hes just whining about not being in the top 6, which he didn't deserve anyway. Complaining that players who make less money than you are getting more minutes? Give me a break. He makes it seem like there's some evil dark conspiracy against him. Laviolette is a coach, and a smart coach at that, and is simply icing the best team he can.

The Datsyuk/Kozlov #13 through me off for a while too. They even kind of skated the same way.

Lets just pile Hudler and Ericsson in the goal crease. They can't be much worse at goalie than their normal positions.

Ew 22 just makes me think Lebderp. It'll be weird seeing someone else in the #18 jersey as well.

Goalie is way too fickle a position to have lengthy contracts. Look at Luongo and how Vancouver is stuck with him for the next decade, or DiPietro in NY. Things can change so quickly with goaltenders, it makes sense keep their contracts pretty short.

Toews at 3 is a joke. So is Z at 14. Toews has broken 70 points only once in his career and is nowhere near as skilled defensively as Z. I don't like the list, but no matter what its too subjective a topic to judge with any consistency.

I'll miss his speed. He was huge for us in the 08 cup run. Always brought his best to the ice. Glad he was able to mentor the youngsters too. With him and Ozzie leaving, the locker room just got a lot less funny. One of the classic Wings players, thanks Drapes.

One stat everyone keeps failing to mention - A few years ago the Dallas Ice Girls voted on the cutest goalie in the league. Yep that's right. Osgood won it. Look at any of the other goalies in the HoF. None of them have that particular distinguished accomplishment on their career resumes.

Are circular blue logos becoming mandatory in the NHL these days? Seems like every team is introducing a logo like this.

He's not nearly as bad as some people claim he is, but we really just don't need him at all. He doesn't bring anything that we don't already have.