Buppy

It's a stretch. Moreover, a stretch I already addressed. There is massive precedent in the US legal system for 'common sense' law enforcement. Police are perfectly within their rights to issue warnings or just look the other way when no harm is caused. If the NHL even tried that, which I doubt they would, they would likely find themselves facing sanctions for frivolous litigation. Possibly even a counter-suit for harassment from the city of Detroit. By all means, please continue to hate Bettman. Just be sure to hate the DPD too (if they actually decide to enforce this).

The NHL can request anything it wants, it is still up to the police/DA to enforce it or not. It's not like the NHL could do anything if the DPD said no. It's not dangerous or so disruptive that they could make a case of dereliction of duty.

I don't want to break up a good ol' Bettman hatin', but he's the NHL commissioner. Perhaps I missed a memo but I don't believe that gives him any authority over of the justice system in Detroit. I really doubt he even has the authority to tell JLA security to eject people. The only thing Bettman can do is tell the refs to enforce the bench minor for objects thrown on the ice. If this whole 'crusade against Octopus tossing' is even true, which I doubt, the city of Detroit and/or JLA management is the perpetrator. More likely is that it isn't true at all, or at worst the guy got a ticket for being a drunken ****** and is now trying to raise a big stink to cover his own idiocy.

My uncle lives outside Phoenix and will be at game 3. In red.

Pushing the limits of my meager photoshop skillz...

I had one with just two penalties in the game. Salei and Klesla...both for clipping. Nick got called for charging once. Few dives. Charging. Spearing... Like they purposely picked the least likely penalties. Franzen for roughing.

Anyone know how this draft class is looking deptch-wise? St.Louis ended up 11th, so that pick goes to the Avs. Maybe not enough to even up the Stewart trade considering they're giving up the 32 pick, but it's something.

Nick is ironman. Averages over 40 minutes a game. He racked up 52:50 in one OT game. That puss Rafalski only plays about 1 1/2 minutes or less. At least you can dress 20+ skaters in a game though.

When I think youth-movement, backup goalie isn't really the position that jumps to mind... It's not like we have a good young goalie in the AHL. Neither McCollum nor Pearce seem ready. MacDonald is ok, but he's also 31 and I wouldn't put him in the same class as a healthy Ozzie. Plus we can still likely keep him for GR, and call him up again if Ozzie gets hurt. I'd say unless we're getting someone who can seriously challenge Jimmy then it's not worth bringing in anyone new. Backup goalie isn't going to keep any of our kids from making the team. If we were talking about Draper and Modano (as I'm sure we will soon enough) then you'd have more of a point.

Thought the smiley made the joke obvious. I thought it was funny. Like the bolded above... Ribbing aside, I disagree with the idea that the refs can't get any better. Make-up/balance calls still happen. Calls based on player rep or team rep. 'Home-team' calls. Refs are swayed by injuries, fans, and players. Whole games when refs practically swallow the whistles... I can see one ref having a bad night, but 4 officials all going blind in the same game only to have one finally open their eyes to call a hook on some glove tap that didn't have an effect on the play. A ref missing something or thinking he saw something that didn't actually happen is one thing. But these things can't be explained away by game-speed or poor angles or poor perception. Well, I suppose you could but it would be a pretty profound coincidence if it was all just poor perception by the refs. But beyond that even, 'understanding' does not mean you just let every mistake go blameless. If a ref f***s up, he should be called on it, and should be man enough to say 'I f***ed up'. You can understand that refs aren't going to be perfect without excusing every mistake, as you seem to do. 100% correct needs to be the standard. You seem to want to lower the standard. Can't blame the refs, it's not possible to catch everything. So you lower the standard to 90% and say that's the 'best' anyone can do. But then the same logic applies to that standard. If the best is 90%, and refs are flawed humans, they can't be the best all the time...so then you have to drop to 80%...you're basically saying refs don't ever have to get anything right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...we get it. You've done some reffing and now you're a ref apologist. I've played some hockey. But I'm not going to excuse every s***ty play because hockey is hard. No one expects the refs to be perfect. It is a tough job and mistakes will be made. But when a mistake is made people should ***** about it. NHL refs should be the best in the business. They should be striving for perfection. Should always be trying to improve. If no one complains about the mistakes; if everything is always 'good enough' as you always seem to suggest, there's no incentive for improvement. If you just accept any mistake you remove any responsibility from the refs; then things are only going to get worse. I don't even blame the refs themselves really. It's mostly the Bettman regime. There doesn't seem to be any expectation of improvement. They refuse to change stupid rules like 'intent to blow'. Goal reviews are wrong half the time. There seems to be a league mandate to make sure all the chinciest s*** gets called at least a few times each game; probably what is distracting the refs from noticing major stuff like blatant high-sticks and elbows. And I don't think anyone, anywhere, really even knows what interference is...or maybe the actual definition does change shift to shift. Heh. At least the inconsistency proves that you're a real ref.

Technically, Dallas needs to win in regulation or OT. SO win does them no good.

Nope. If we win, we get Phoenix no matter what. If Chicago wins we get Nashville. Top 4 seeds are set: 1. Van 2. SJ 3. Det 4. Ana Chicago wins: 5. Chi 6. Nsh 7. Phx 8. LA Chicago lose in OT/SO: 5. Nsh 6. Phx 7. Chi 8. LA Chicago lose in regulation: 5. Nsh 6. Phx 7. LA 8. Chi or Dal (If Dallas wins in regulation/OT) The only part that might be off is if Chicago wins in a SO, it's a three-way tie with Phoenix and Nashville. Chicago has the best point% in games against them, so they would still get 5th. I'm not sure if three-way rules would still apply to to Phoenix and Nashville or if they'd then revert to a regular tiebreaker. In three-way rules, Phoenix beats Nashville.

Simpler than that even. Phoenix gets a point and Chicago wins, we play Chicago. I don't know why you're all afraid of certain teams. If we play the way we have been, we'll lose no matter what. If we play well, we can beat anyone...at least anyone we'll play in the first round.

Phoenix is only ahead because they'd played 1 less game. Nasville wins a tiebreaker with Phoenix based on goal differential.

Actually Dallas wins the head-head tiebreaker. Chicago is currently up by 1 win and 2 points, so Dallas is in so long as they gain 2+ points and 1+ Reg/OT win more than Chicago gets (or 3+ more points regardless of Reg/OT wins). Phoenix, Nashville, Chicago, Anaheim, and Dallas can all potentially end up tied in points. Ducks win any tiebreaker by virtue of wins. The other 4 could all end up tied in wins. All have 37 now except Dallas with 36. For head-head tiebreakers: Phoenix won against Dallas, tied both Nashville and Chicago Nashville tied Phoenix and Dallas, lost against Chicago Chicago won against Nashville, lost against Dallas, tied Phoenix Dallas won against Chicago, lost against Phoenix, tied Nashville Goal-differential for Head-head ties: Barring completely epic defensive meltdowns by Nashville and Chicago, Phoenix would lose both Nashville would beat Dallas barring any massive wins/losses 3 (or 4) way ties get confusing, but generally Phoenix gets in, Nashville is out unless against Phoenix & Dallas. Dallas is in except against Phoenix & Nashville. Chicago gets in except against Phoenix & Dallas. All 4 tie, Nashville is out. (That's assuming all tie in wins, Dallas and Chicago could both have up to 38 wins at 97 points, Dallas could be as low as 36.)

After seeing this I'm even more surprised that this was ruled a goal on the ice. How is that ref anywhere near a good position to say that puck was in?

I really doubt it would have been possible for the ref to conclusively see Conklin knock the puck in. Not at game speed. Between the net and the glove, there's just too much there obscuring the detail. The most realistic scenario is that the ref thought it was conclusively in before Conklin grabbed it. Probably should have been ruled no-goal on the ice for the kick, but the ref may have thought Hossa grazed it with his stick, or didn't catch the kick.

Glad you said it. I thought maybe I missed a memo explaining some new Wings insider joke...

I'm glad they won. It makes the scenario that keeps them out that much sweeter from a Wing's fan perspective: Anaheim hangs on and beats SJ tonight. Of course we hate seeing the Ducks win, but at least beating the Sharks is good. Plus it would officially eliminate Calgary. (Despite the VS announcers saying the Flames are already done, they're technically still alive.) This would give the Ducks 95 points and they win a tiebreaker against the Hawks. [CHECK] Tomorrow, Dallas beats the Avs in regulation/OT. The rivalry maybe dead but still kind of fun to see the Avs lose. [CHECK] Friday, Wings beat the Hawks in regulation. Self-explanatory. [bOO! ok, not the end of the world...] Dallas beats Colorado again in regulation/OT. Again, fun. This give Dallas 95 points and keeps them in striking distance. [CHECK] Well now we need Anaheim to pick up 2 points. [CHECK] And if Friday [CHECK] AND Saturday [bOO] Phoenix manages to beat the Sharks (with the Sharks getting no more than 1 point)[No bonus...]. This puts Phoenix in. [CHECK] We need the Preds to get a point [CHECK], and it sets up the coup de gras... Wings beat the Hawks, in regulation, in Chicago, not officially eliminating them from the playoffs but paving the way [CHECK]. We then become huge Dallas fans as a Reg/OT win [RATS...] puts them in the playoffs and eliminates the Hawks.

Looks like Hank will be sitting out. If the Sharks win tonight I'd bet there's a fair chance either Lidstrom or Kronwall sit too. Wouldn't surprise me to see Pav rest as well. Keeping them out would be like a bonus playoff series win for me, and I hope they win tonight just to be right on the edge. But I really don't see it happening.

Except he couldn't really sign with anyone. He could only sign a contract then hope that none of the other 29 teams grab him. So kind of the opposite of unrestricted. It's a dick rule by the NHL to try to keep players out the KHL and other Euro leagues. Had he decided to play in the AHL and subsequently been released he wouldn't have had to pass waivers either. Same situation, but for some reason playing in Europe means that the team that wants you enough to sign you, and you want to play for most, somehow has the least right to do so.

I wouldn't completely count out Dallas. They have 2 against Colorado and finish at Minnesota. They also win a head-to-head tiebreaker against Chicago if they tie in wins. (With the win tonight, they're one win and two points back, so definitely feasible.) Calgary has pretty much no chance. 95 points max and they can't win a tiebreaker against anyone. Anaheim wins every potential tiebreaker, they just need a few points. LA is a practical lock. They play Phoenix, then 2 against Anaheim. Those three games produce 35 possible point combinations for those three teams. LA makes the playoffs in 33 of them. They also clinch if Dallas loses a game (as do Anaheim and Phoenix). Nashville is all but locked with their win tonight. They'd need to lose both remaining games, have Dallas win out (all in regulation/OT) and have Chicago and Anaheim both gain at least 4 of 6 points (with Chicago needing at least one Reg/OT win or 5 points). I think SJ is on a mission to stay ahead of us, and I don't think we care enough. So I'll say: Van SJ Det LA Nas (maybe flipped with LA) Phx Chi Ana

'Steps-up' is pretty liberal for a guy that has barely even started his career in the NHL. He's had a couple good moments. But whatever. You're welcome to it. And no, if a team has to decide between that line and something like ZDH/C then I'd bet they'll take their chances with Mule. The thing is, if you spread all the talent out you could just water down all the lines to the point that other teams aren't even worried about matchups. Finally, Abby isn't 'producing'. He had a two-goal game. Then he followed it up with a decent but 0 point game. I suppose you can be liberal with that definition too, but the truth is all we can really say is he had a couple good games.

I didn't say he was bad. You act like I'm saying we should wish him into the cornfield. I want him to play. I even said keep the line together for now. Just saying that like all the other flavor-of-the-month lines it's probably not going to last and we'll move to something more logical. There's still three games left in the regular season. Pretty good chance the BAM line falters and everyone hops off bandwagon. Or BAMwagon. Of course, now that I've named them, I hope they stay together.