Opie

GMR I think you are misreading what we are saying, if the wings had a bunch or all stars on all lines we wouldn't care about giving a roster spot up to a goon. The fact that the wings do not have the 97-98 type roster is the reason why I would rather have Drake out there and then a player with a scoring touch as opposed to a straight goon. We can agree though that the instigator rule is s*** and needs to go. And the people you talk about delivering cheap shots, much like Downie, will do it no matter who is on the roster. The wings could have Rampage Jackson on skates and Pronger, Tootoo will still try their crap.

Chelios said similar things about running it is a lot of impact on the knees and so he and others have taken up Biking, it is a lot easier on the knees!

That is some of the most chicken s*** lack of testicular fortitude I have ever seen. Did you you see Downie yelling at the ref to let him go. But then again with a dye streak like that he got what he deserved.

Got to tell you Vladdy16, puck bunny is a gender neutral term in my book. Just because some one has a penis doesn't mean they know s*** about hockey. I think of a puck bunny as someone who thinks their favorite player is the best because they are their favorite.

I am not a big fan of Versus but because they actually put hockey on TV I love them for it, but they are a young network and are trying new things, I think every possible thing has been done with camera angles and they need to stick to the basics. I say never ever should a replay angle be a better overall picture of the ice and the action. It was last night. Live action should IMO be filmed at a wide angle so that all of the little things can be seen and then the replay should be more focused so you can then see a close up on the players skates as they make a move etc.

OK so I understand the puck came up on edge on him, but it seems like Dats is reluctant to use his moves in the shootout. Is he doing that to keep goalies off guard? Last night he just went backhand forehand, and not as well as Huds did it. I know we all come to expect a lot of dats especially when he is in open ice, and by no means am I saying he had a bad game, but why on the shootout attempt does he not undress a relatively slower moving goalie. I mean Z may use that Forsberg move a little too much, but the difference is if the puck stays on his stick he scores every time, he just needs to keep the puck on the toe of his stick. Dats has moves upon moves that no one has seen, why do such an elementary move, well for him at least? Any thoughts?

So the team shouldn't care what lids says, like you said he is only their captain and arguably (no doubt in my mine) the most important player in the winged wheel, but somehow your opinion is important. And I didn't say Lids was saying to the owners get one, it was a reference to a quote that the free press had on Lids reaction to the Downie hit. Anyhow the only reason I said that was because his quote in the article last week was the thing that changed my mind about giving a spot on the roster to Downey, which was discussed vehemently over the off-season on this board. Sorry for assuming that everyone had read those threads and knew what I meant.

Clarification of my last post I think of a fight hater as the people who say fighting has no place in hockey, as opposed to those of us who were saying Downey was not going turn this team around. I think it is funny that some people on here feel the need to label people with different opinions, like every issue is black or white, anti-fighter or pro-fighter, D-Z- Homer or D and Z on separate lines, so on and so on. Most of us weren't in support of the fighter options because this team lacks a definite scoring threat outside of D and Z so we wanted some one who could score and fight. Had a player of Shanny in his prime been available I don't think anyone would have argued that point. It is not that we don't support fighting we just felt the team needed something more than a goon who averages 20 something games a season in the 13th forward spot.

I did love the fact though that Pronger got booed in London. That was funny as hell, people who did not really have a team to claim as there own, booed him. Being the biggest prick in the league will get you booed in any country, and a boo in any language is still a boo!!!

I think a slapper like Rolston used last year would have had Ilya crapping his pants and the rest of us laughing our fool heads off if it worked!!

No it is not, I love a hockey fight, but I do not believe it is essential to winning, as proven by the wings last year. However if Lids wants one on the team than I say get him one.

Oh and I agree NFM I just wanted to discuss what people thought about it. I figured it would be a 5 post thread and done. I guess I should have picked a better title. I still think he is the deadliest open ice player in the game right now. Just wanted to discuss the decision for the shot. I think had the puck stayed flat he may have had a more productive shot. Another thing I noticed was Hasek just flat out going after the puck in the shoot out, especially the third shooter. That and the Duck players seem to go in with a lot less speed. That may be because they are a slower bigger team but they all seem to glide into the zone and wait and wait, like they thought they could be more patient than Hasek and he would make a mistake.

I understand he has to mix it up, it just seems to me over the past year he is more inclined to use those moves on a breakaway as opposed to a shoot out situation. Again I am by no means saying he is a bad player or anything remotely negative, I was just wondering if there was more to it than just keeping goalies off guard. It didn't even look like he deked once, but I guess maybe it is because he needs to mix it up like you said. But I would think the first one of the season he would want to really stick it home to get the team on a good start.

No real concern here, as others have said it takes time to build up chemistry. They did look real good though, just missing on a few passes.

LOL Hey man I love a good hockey fight as much as anybody, my argument was always why have an enforcer just to have one. Then Liddy changed my opinion about the necessity of it. Here is my question is Downey still necessary?

Doc Holliday, and then when someone feels like being a ***** against the wings he can skate up to them and say, "I'm your Huckleberry!"

Hey man I understand if you want to wear a shield to protect you from a puck, we all saw how quickly Yzerman went to the shield after taking that puck in the playoffs. But seriously dude, if you are going to fight remove the damn thing from your head, or you are officially a big fat hairy *****!!!!! That is weak at best. And then to top it all off just as Drake goes to remove his, uh you throw a punch, WTF?!?!?!?!?!?! This is the same mentality that went into his cheap shot to start the fight, an overall lack of respect. I hope next time the play Drake gets him in the cross hairs with his head down and the puck on his stick, Stevens/Kariya-esque!!!

They signed him with Sopel, LOL

We would be making it sound like you are condoning his hit because on your first post on this forum you wrote the following: So that would be why some of us may think you are condoning his hit. But that is just my opinion we welcome yours!

Honestly with this team I think the letters are a formality, I think there are plenty of veteran guys with great leadership qualities. Who is the better leader will work itself out in the locker room, and it could even end up being a veteran guy like Drake. Who won't wear any letter but definitely would command respect. Cheli, Lids, Rafalski, Zetterberg, Draper, Drake, Maltby, Datsyuk, and Homer are all guys that have been in the league long enough to know what it takes to win and will share that with the youth.

Ummmm because he is the 13th forward and will see maybe 25-30 games this season, which will definitely not include opening day.

I bet a lot of the decision was made based on the height of the player, to be more specific the size of their mid section. With the new Jerseys and the lack of space on them shorter players will have a hard time getting an 'A' or 'C' due to the fact their jersey will have less room for the letter. That is probably the whole reason right there, but hey I bet it makes them 8% better leaders!!

Quoted For Truth Took me a while to get that one myself!

Retarted= Having been tarted one more time. "This pastry is not tart enough!" "Have you tried having it retarted?" Sorry I couldn't resist!!!

Patrice Tardif 65 games played in the NHL.