bonan78

I'm looking for a big game out of Fish Sticks tonight.

What a shot by JWilly, shades of Stevie Y in '95

I thought that was Leino's goal, my bad. Looks like we finally found our legs, though. We're really pushing it now. Wicked glove by Zaba robs Pare, I thought that was in.

Go Finns!!! Great shot by Flippula, and hard work by Leino, and we're back in business. Sweeet

Kindl is #46 McGrath is #47

I work for NHL Gamecenter, so I can confirm what was said about the blackout restrictions. We will be running a free preview on Oct. 3rd, registration is required but you can sign up and not have to pay anything. And as for the excess traffic, that is caused by other sites hijacking our feeds, not by the amount of traffic on our site. Also, we use the IP address for the computer you are on to determine blackouts, not your billing address, just to clarify. If anyone has any specific quesitons about Gamecenter, feel free to PM me, but before anyone thinks about complaining about the price, blackouts, etc. I only work for them, I do not have any influence over the decision making. Edit: after looking at the HockeyStreams site, I would just like to add that Gamecenter is Mac compatible, has archives and fan chat, and we will also be offering the capability to choose between home and away video (if it is available). Also, the bitrate was available as high as 1200 kbps and may be as high as 2400 kbps this year.

Like most negative experiences, time has helped heal, but it still stings a little when I'm reminded of it. For example, the other night my wife and I had some of her friends over, and they know absolutely nothing about hockey, other than I work for NHL Gamecenter, and he had the nerve to mention that the Red Wings "choked" and how that must make my job harder. I wanted to choke him, then I calmed down and proceeded to explain what actually happened, and I was reminded how the rest of the world sees the Red Wings, even those who do not know hockey, they drink the Kool-Aid, and they believe that Sid the Skid is the Messiah, and so on. I am looking forward to this season to help erase some of the painful memory, but mainly to see how much hungrier our team is going to be.

No offense to the OP, but the logic that went into starting this thread is flawed at best, and non-existent at worst. As was stated by another post earlier, most Wings fans if they follow basketball are Pistons fans, because they either live in Detroit or have relocated but still maintain loyalty to their "hometown" team. I will not risk offending you or incurring the wrath of the mods by stating my opinion of Kobe Bryant as a person, but to compare them as players based on those criteria, you could just as easily compare Kobe to Crosby, or Dwayne Wade to Zach Parise, or any combination of the top 10 scorers in the NBA/NHL. You're obviously a Lakers fan, but I don't think very many on this board have that in common with you, so let's stick to discussing the thing we have in common.

Ice time in Orlando is too rich for my blood, so I'm stuck playing pick-up roller hockey. Thinking about getting a regular game with some co-workers going, though they'll all be wearing their Cindy jerseys, all abumch of flaming bandwagon-jumpers.

Gotta love #64, John Vigilante, that would be one of the all-time great enforcer names, too bad it doesn't look like he drops the gloves much. Edit: #65 Austin Fyten, another good enforcer name.

I now need a new laptop, this one's soaked in Cherry Coke.

I agree that many here are too critical of Zetterberg's shootout prowess. I on the other hand am less than impressed with what I've seen of Williams, I searched Youtube and many other sites to see what JW brings to the table in terms of shootout moves, and frankly I was bored. I would like to see Babcock go with whoever has the hot hand at the time. I would like to see Filppula, Franzen, and Leino get a few cracks at the shootout this year, we all know the Mule has great hands, I've seen Leino's shootout move from last pre-season, and Filppula has some nice moves on breakaways and the penalty shots he took in 07-08. But, I have a feeling Babcock will stick with the same shooters all season regardless of results, and I have a sinking feeling that JW will be the 3rd shooter.

I posted this in another thread, but I have a feeling we are going to see a lot of different line combinations as the season progresses, in fact I would go so far as to say that the only forwards that won't be shuffled are Datsyuk/Zetterberg on the 1st and Franzen/Filppula on the 2nd. There's a very good chance that Holmstrom, Cleary and Bertuzzi will see time on the the top 3 lines, and that Eaves and Williams will be rotated between the bottom 3 lines. Here's what I'd like to see to start with: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom (just to see if he can still hack it, it's really his spot to win or lose) Franzen/Filppula/Bertuzzi (Mule and Bert can take turns crashing the net, and Flip can feed them) Cleary/Helm/Leino (Helm and Cleary will win the battles in the corners, and Leino will find the open areas and create) Williams/Draper/Eaves (nowhere else to put JW, really, and Eaves will have to earn a spot on a higher line) I could also see Williams centering the 3rd line and Helm on the 4th line wing for grinding purposes, Helm/Draper/Eaves can be a killer shut-down line, and it would take some of the pressure off Helm to be a playmaker on the 3rd line. The possibilities are endless, and as someone already said, I was kind of hoping the Oulahen would get a shot to crack the roster and compete with Maltby for the 12/13th forward sport, but the signing of Bertuzzi has rendered that nearly impossible.

Since everyone here is so fond of playing Fantasy Lines, I figured I'd chip in. The only forwards I don't see being separated much this season are Datsyuk/Zetterberg and Franzen/Filppula Other than that, I think we can expect a lot of shuffling, especially at first as Babcock tries to get a feel for how the lines gel together. What I'd like to see most of the time is: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Franzen/Filppula/Cleary Bertuzzi/Helm/Leino Williams/Draper/Eaves Maltby I can also see Bertuzzi or Cleary getting significant top-line minutes especially if Holmstrom spends any time dealing with injuries, most likely Cleary unless Bertuzzi shows some major hop in his step. I hope we can call up a few of the GR kids for more than just spot duty, I'd like to see what the future will look like without having to follow the Griffins all season too.

Thought I'd throw my hat in the ring of Patrick Kane bashing

30 teams in 30 days, NHL.com and NHL Network Hopefully they have something positive to talk about when our day comes on the 11th. This off-season has been particularly brutal IMHO

Sammy 28 goals in Vancouver : Under, not by much though, I think he gets 25, especially if he plays with the twins Huds 56 points in the KHL : Given that theyonly play 56 games, I say under. Datsyuk 100 pts : Over, finally Wings 47 wins : Over, the 50-win streak stays alive Ozzie 50 starts : Over, no way he platoons with Howard Wings under 2.5 goals against per game : Under, nowhere to go but up (in direction, not in numbers) from last year Mule 40 goals : Under, maybe next year Ovie 60 goals : Over Wings 10 fighting majors : Over, they may all come in one or two games though. Crosby 120 pts : Under, although he and Malkin will be all the offense the Penguins have, he will break 100 but not by much. Tavares 20 goals: Over, the only way he doesn't is if he gets hurt. As for Zetterberg winning the Selke, only if Datsyuk gets hurt.

I was surprised he even came back after open heart surgery, but it's good that he is leaving on his own terms instead of being forced into retirement, or worse yet, insisting on still playing long after his physical abilities have betrayed him. I wonder if he is still going to try out for Team Finland for the Olympics.

The best available option IMO Better than Sundin, Bertuzzi, Sykora, WIlliams, especially if we can sign him cheap because of his buyout salary.

Good move, picking up another team's buyout for cheap. Let's hope we can di the same thing with Prospal for around 1 million, that would set us up pretty nicely. I just hope Eaves doesn't try to fight again, he didn't do so good last time. I think the lines should look something like this: ZDH Franzen/Filppula/Prospal Cleary/Helm/Leino Maltby/Draper/Eaves OR ZD/Cleary Franzen/Filppula/Prospal Eaves/Helm/Leino Maltby/Draper/Holmstrom

It would not surprise me one bit to see the Russian squad feature as many players from the KHL as possible, I'm sure they would love to showcase the talent level of home-grown players in their own league on the biggest stage in the world. I'm not saying they are going to pass on guys like Malkin, Ovechkin, and Kovalchuk in favor of some KHL scrub, but a guy like Alexei Morozov who has been one of the biggest stars in the KHL for many years has as good a shot of making the team as someone like Afinogenov. It will be interesting, and no matter what, I feel that the Russians are the team to beat in Vancouver, medal contenders without a doubt. I'll admit that there are names on that list that I have never heard of, but that's only because I haven't really followed the KHL very closely, although I plan on taking a closer look this season, along with the SEL and SM-Liiga. Anyone know when their seasons start?

Is it just me, or is Scotty the only hockey coach they picked to be on the list of "Experts", looks like half of the list is made up of football coaches, and there are some pretty bad ones on there.

What is it with these retreads? These guys didn't work out the first time around, why would they even consider bringint them back. I say we make a trade with Atlanta and bring back Slava Kozlov. He was traded for Hasek, not because he sucks. Bring him back.

I almost didn't recognize him. I thought the caption at the bottom right was his name, my Russian is a little rusty and I was trying to figure out who Ilya Korneev was. Then I saw the next post and realized it was Chris Simon. I don't know if he's the answer, but a guy that plays a similar style without the lapses in judgement would be a great fit to the Red Wings organization.