Theophany

Er, Modano is not faster than those three. I do agree that he needs to play and Abdelkader needs to sit.

Er, they're not "nominated," they're finalists. The winner has already been chosen. Babcock was a finalist in 2008, BTW.

You mean Hudler, the guy that's been more effective for most of the season than Modano? Mo knew going in that he was a depth signing.

The son joins the father? If his son has half his talent, I wouldn't object at all. It would be weird seeing "N. Lidstrom" and "K. Lidstrom" on the back of their jerseys, though.

Forgot where I found this, but... BABCOCK EXPRESSION GUIDE!

My main question is "how the f**k is Boucher not a finalist?" Seriously, the guy takes Tampa Bay from a pretty awful team and makes them into a Cup contender and gets less credit than Bylsma? Awful voting, but then again, I could probably say that about every award.

He's repeatedly stated that he'd like to keep playing as long as he has a passion for the game and the DRW can compete at an elite level. Him being a Norris finalist this year and the team competing in the playoffs means that he's likely to come back next year, Cup or no Cup. He's also said that he'd like to keep playing as long as he's a top-4 defenseman, which will be a really freaking long time unless he declines rapidly.

Draper and Modano scratched, per Twitter:

He also teaches people how to be ripped, apparently.

Absolutely.

Let's see if we can get some revenge for last year; they played a long series, we played a short and easy one.

As much as I would like Chicago to win to shut up Canuck fans, I think Vancouver wins tonight. I honestly don't care who we play, since I think either series will be extremely tough (not to mention the WCF, if we make it).

How the hell are people shocked that Visnovsky and Yandle didn't make it when it took Mike Green 30+ goals to make it? Something in common with all three of the names I've listed: all played ~0:30 of PK time per game. Lidstrom takes this if there's any justice in the world. Writers who vote for Weber or Chara do so because they compare this year of Lidstrom's to past years he's had and say "well, he's clearly taken a step backwards." Lidtsrom at 90% is still at least 5% better than every other defenseman in the league.

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Hudler-Filppula-Franzen Cleary-Abdelkader-Bertuzzi Draper-Helm-Eaves These lines seem completely reasonable, and I think Babcock will at least start Zetterberg on the wing until he's sure that he can center a line. He's also less likely to split the euro twins up unless the other team has legitimate first line scoring potential on their second line like Pittsburgh did in 08 and 09. Against the Canucks, I could see splitting Z and Dats, same with against the Blackhawks. Against Nashville, Anaheim, or LA/San Jose? Eh, very unlikely IMO.

You can't vote against anyone, but honestly? Is this really a thread? Datsyuk was a game-changer, more than anyone in the playoffs so far.

That's not the point, and it's a straw man argument that you're making. You're saying that being a baseball PBP guy compared to a hockey PBP guy for less money is a dumb career move? Get real. Most people would of course rather do something they like to do over a s***ty job that pays a lot more, but that's not what the discussion was about. Here's the options in your suppositional world: 20% less money to do PBP for NBC/Versus, or doing PBP for the Tigers (or whatever baseball team you follow). Keep in mind working for NBC/Versus you wouldn't get to choose which teams you would cover, and your schedule would be much more hectic (commercial flights more likely as opposed to private flights working with the Tigers).

I would doubt it. An NFL schedule doesn't prove anything, as you still need to rule out MLB stadiums and college stadiums as well.

No. You think ESPN didn't think of this when they were talking about getting the NHL deal? ESPN just has more stuff they can carry (college football/basketball would take over). Besides, the odds of the NFL and the NBA both going to a lockout is highly unlikely. Too much money would be lost to lose an entire season. Hockey is a niche sport in the US just like soccer, lacrosse, etc. Most people on the street couldn't care less about it. The NBC/Versus deal makes sense and it's a great deal for the NHL because of the reach Comcast has between internet services and viewership. For the record, out here ESPN is channel 623, ESPN2 is 624, the Golf channel is 625, and Versus is 626 (the NHL channel is 631). If you're not an idiot, it's pretty easy to find the programming you're looking for.

Read the entire post, comprehend it, and then post. You're skipping step #2.

No, money doesn't mean everything to me. But it means that I can provide a better education for my kids, have a nicer house in a nicer area, go on better vacations, drive a nicer car, etc.

Comcast is the biggest telecom company in the US, with the most viewers, and Versus is on every single Comcast box. So, you're wrong. Also, DirecTV has Versus as well, and IIRC they're right up there with Comcast.

I was hoping one of Abby, Bert, Eaves, or especially Ericsson would just go for it. I'd love to see him sitting in the box and have one of our grinders sitting as well. Doan is too much of a ***** to go for it, though.

IMO: Dats/Z/Homer Bert/Abby/Cleary Hudler/Fil/Mule Miller/Helm/Eaves The second line has been really good on forechecking and backchecking to provide pressure on both ends of the ice, and I think the third would be a pretty beastly line. And flat-out, Miller has been far better than Draper has, so Draper sits when Z is back. But you have to reunite ZDH unless there are legit scoring threats that you need to shut down on multiple lines, like the Pens with Crosby and Malkin. Edit: you can flip the order of the second and third lines, I'd imagine they'd get similar playing time in the game anyway.

No you wouldn't. Let's say hypothetically, you get paid $100,000 a year to broadcast baseball (I have no idea what PBP guys get paid, it's just a round number). Are you really going to pass up $20,000 a year just so you can call hockey games? I sure as hell wouldn't, and I don't know too many people that would.

Comcast owns both NBC and Versus; they've stated that they're rebranding the Versus network (and changing the name), and they're going to try to turn Versus into a TV network that will compete with ESPN. With Comcast/NBC that focused on putting a big sports channel on the air and with the NHL a main part of that, we can only hope that they start showing more NHL and less retarded rodeos and crap like that.