Carman

He is 3rd on the team in takeaways, he is 5th in Giveaways, he is one of the leader in hits on the team, he's missed 20 less shots than Zetterberg, he is 2nd on the team in shots taken, he has 8 minor penalties tied with Maltby/Homer and behind Kronwall, and 11th in TOI ALL FOR 1.5 MILLION. That's not bad. Kopecky is doing much worse and making more and that's just one example. There are a lot worse contracts right now in the league. Whatever you think you are seeing on the ice is distorted by some sense that Bertuzzi does everything wrong. He does a lot of good things out there and is rewarded for it by playing with Datsyuk. You don't think if he was as bad as you think he is Babcock would of demoted or even sat him like he did Leino. Maybe you should reevaluate what is actually an issue for this team. Bertuzzi happens to be a 3rd liner that has to play on the first line because of injuries. Miller, Matlby, May, Draper, Leino are not viable options over Bertuzzi face it.

He was brought here to play hockey for 1.5 million dollars. For his point production, hitting, and experience it is not a bad contract at all. Your expectations are not very close to reality he is not Franzen, he is not Hossa his shooting % is not going to be over 10% if it was we would be paying him over 4 million. We stack the first PP and that needs to score, Bertuzzi is not on that line that's a bigger problem on offense. I don't know Babcock personally, but I'm adept at picking up on his decisions. It doesn't take a genius to look at the roster and see what the team can realistically do. Until Flippula gets back we are stuck with Bertuzzi playing a role he cannot quite fill, that's life for a team going through tough injuries.

Don't you dare tempt me by saying that.

He has been as physical as anyone on our team besides Stuart, Abdelkader, or Helm. You are wrong. Babcock thinks he is a better option. Do you know who Babcock is? We have no depth up the middle, Zetterberg and Helm are both centers. It's not worth losing depth down the middle to try and fish for another winger. Bertuzzi is doing his job, you are off base and need to learn to watch hockey not the names on the back of the jerseys.

There are always exceptions.

If only there was some way we could get the guy in your avatar... He is exactly what we need on defense.

Geez since when can we not theoretically talk about our team when fully healthy... Is there a rule on that or something? If you don't want to participate just don't post in the thread...

Except Filatov was over here to begin with and displayed very poor work ethic and defensive zone attention. That's a major difference. And It's not exactly rocket science, Europeans are not as physical as North Americans.

Then you must not read many of my posts, I'm just very opinionated when it comes to Pittsburgh as they are my 2nd favorite team... I suppose I can't appreciate some great NHLers because of my home team? That doesn't seem very fair. I was also I huge Sakic fan, and a big Lindros fan guess that makes me less of a Wing fan too? Geez.

They were older, and not every soft premaddona Euro turns into Datsyuk/Zetterberg.

I know I've been cheering for Abdelkader for ever. He cross-checked me in the neck when he played with Mona... That and just scored like 4 goals against us. It's always fun seeing people you played against make it in the NHL. *insert cheer for Matt Rust*

Zetterberg isn't injured? Nah but Zetterberg has a Conn Smythe and will be the next captain after Lidstrom, that's who I would go with.

He is one of the team leaders in hits and takeaways. You keep saying stuff like this in an imperceptive attempt to a wish that it magically becomes true. I'm sorry, but you don't contribute anything of value and your negativity through your interaction on the board seems like a desperate attempt to salvage a sort of reinsurance, security and understanding in hopes that you can normally involve yourself with social situations. I pity you.

I'd hope Abdelkader is a permanent fixture. We absolutely need his physical play on this team. He is one of the leaders in the league in Hits/game, not to mention just our team. He has played great and is getting enough minutes to still develop. I think the situation is fine for him right now, I don't see him doing that much more in the AHL that he is already doing in the NHL.

Well it was a theoretical question, or at least I hope it was. There is a long time to go, but you can only hope that we will be getting better once we start getting healthier.

The KHL is great in terms of skill and puck development. But usually these Russian prospects need to develop physcially and mentally. The benefits of playing in the AHL is it's practically a direct translation to the NHL game in terms of rinks, language, officiating, and physical play. Filatov for example needed to improve defensive zone coverage, board play, physical presence, and taking bad penalities. That was the only thing stopping him from playing top line minutes, and instead of going to the AHL to develop in these area's he chose to go back to something he is used to and playing on international ice will not help him play along the boards, the game is a lot more spread out(I'm not going to say it's less physical, but the proximity of NHL ice leads to a more physical type game), and a huge difference in officiating. I would not be happy if we had Tatar for example go and play in the KHL. Also the simple fact that he is no longer playing under our guidance directly. We have proven staff in the AHL that their job is to develop your game to you can succeed in NHL hockey.

In the playoffs I'd definititely run ZD hopefully H or C we have enough depth down the center when healthy to play them together. The second line should be very responsible defensively and have net presence, passer, and scorer. Very very good second line The 3rd and 4th lines are pretty much equal both have a good mix of speed and pkers. Bertuzzi and Helm both create plenty of chances, Eaves can shoot, Bertuzzi has good net presence and can make some passes. I don't see us having one set line-up once fully healthy, depending on the opponet May can step in for toughness, Miller for better speed and PK, Maltby for veteran experience and PK, and Leino for added offense(Hopefully he can start to play better, but if the playoffs started today and we had no injuries I doubt Babcock would play him right now). We have plenty of options. Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom Franzen-Flippula-Cleary Bertuzzi-Helm-Eaves Draper-Abdelkader-Williams Leino May Miller Maltby Defense is pretty much set now, hopefully Lilja is back but I'm not holding my breath. Janik has been very very solid in GR this year and I would trust him much more then Kindl. The only way I see Kindl going down is if Rafalski cannot play that's the only real role he could fit in right now on the Wing's. Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Janik HOPEFULLY LILJA =P Kindl Lebda Meech And goaltending is set up per usual. Osgood-Howard Osgood is the playoff master. Overall if we can get into the playoffs 90-100% healthy we can surely do a lot of damage no matter what seed we are. There is not going to be a team looking at the schedule and see they are versing the Red Wing's and feel safe. The experience and talent on this team is enough to win a playoff series, and anything can happen in that 24ish game stretch.

Howard is proving me wrong so far this season. Still not putting up great numbers, but he is getting the most important stat - Wins. So I can't complain. I'm impressed with all of our young guys, they are bringing the energy each and every night. Although It's killing me seeing Helm create so many opportunities and is just missing I can tell he just needs one to go in. But that gives me hope, a lot of teams would die to have the ability our team still has with puck control and chances. Just got to keep our head above water and salvage some points until we can get Flippula back so we can start experimenting with lines more.

Yeah yeah, but it's still a clutch goal.

No one on the Wing's was

But he would have to have been "sucking" in the first place. He has been great.

That's a shame he was playing really well too. Man the injuries just keep on adding up.

Of course! HART TROPHY INCOMING.

Zetterberg is a much better playoff performer than Datsyuk just saying. I also think he is a better defensive player in the regular season as well. Datsyuk is more flashy and damn good though.

I'm just saying I put more emphasis on players that play center because of the added responsibilities.