Opie

I think what he was getting at is there are several other players as skilled (notice he didn't say more skilled forwards, rather he said other skilled) but he’s more intense, Works harder, chases the puck...

Shawn Thorton did a piece with Comcast Sports Net New England and they followed him in an offseason workout. He boxed but said it had a lot more to do with Cardio than it did fighting. Saying a hockey fight does not resemble boxing.

A win that includes giving 3 up to LA in the last what, 5 minutes? A loss in OT to Pho in which they were up by three. The win loss record and the fact that they are in 2nd in the west does not eliminate the over all lack of 60 minute games.

If they play a complete game like they did against Was and Col(I meant blue jackets but looking at it, kinda looks like colorado) I am not worried about any team. However if they play like they have for the better part of the season since the all star game. I am worried about all teams beating the wings.

It will be interesting to see what the league gives Marchand for his hit on Umberger as in my mind the Heatley hit was a worse infraction. He went out of his way to elbow Ott, and Marchand seemed to let up at the end. Either way both are suspension worthy hits, one is a star player the other is a rookie role guy.

off of his head

So was Z's goal weak? Same distance, Z had no screener, and went glove side. Ovie went through a defenseman's leg, blocker side. Both absolute roof jobs. As the announcer just said that was a dart to the top shelf.

I use Hockeystreams and love it. Having said that, there are questions about the "legality" of the site. It is less expensive than Center Ice and there are many options for stream types (silver light, WMV, iStream) you can even set it up to run on your xbox or PS3. There is almost always an HD feed, and on most cases they will have one feed be the DRW feed and one the other team. If not usually they use the DRW feed.

It is not the NFL lockout that will help hockey, as it will be taken care of by the time October roles around. The real chance for growth is the potential NBA lockout. The NBA has a far weaker fan base, and is ripe for the taking. With no Basketball, fans will be looking for something to watch, the NHL and the NBA schedules are much closer (in time of year) than NFL and NHL. The NBA is on 4 or 5 different stations (ESPN and ESPN 2 being considered the same network), plus the local stations. The NBA is on national TV almost every night. If the NBA locks the players out they could have more problems coming back than the NHL did. Basketball has been losing fans for years now, and with all of the Major talent spreading themselves out to a handful of teams, the small market teams are struggling. Multiple teams are losing money and the league has taken over the Hornets. I know this is similar to the NHL, however the NHL got in this spot after a lockout. If they lockout the players and have no games I could see them struggling mightily to get back their fans.

As much as it pains me to say this, UMaine is not going to be a contender any time soon, therefore I do not see Gustav winning a Hobey Baker. He would put up good numbers again and be in the conversation, but not a winner. He can always finish his education in the offseason if he chooses. Some guys just like the college scene though (NCAA Football Leinhart and others stayed for 4 years), although SoCal is much nicer than Orono Maine, trust me! I see him signing with GR and playing there for 2-3 seasons, then getting the call up. I am very interested in seeing him play with the likes of Tatar, Pulkkinen, and Iron Hook! The future of this team APPEARS bright and talented. Hope it all transfers to the NHL level.

Some of the B's reporters on local shows were saying that if this happens on the other side of the rink it is 2 for interference. I don't see the intent to injure here. I see an interference, Chara was beat, tries to body Pacs into the boards and the stanchion is there. I don't see a suspension coming, would it surprise me if he got 1-2 games, no because I understand the heat of a rivalry/bad hit argument. I just personally think it was bad luck and bad timing.

I agree good to see a little emotion at the end there. He was fired up and he played real well. To lose like that was a bit of a pisser.

Ana did to the Red Wings PP what they always do, stay tight to to the slot, making Homer ineffective and blocking a lot of the point shot lanes and shot attempts. It forces the Wings to play to the outside, which in turn starts that too cute style of play the Wings resort too. Carlyle knows this, he has faced the Wings enough. The Ducks picked a strategy that is known to work against the Wings, and once again it worked. The PP needs to adapt to what is going on. Howard played great, the D for the most part played great, the pp and offense was off tonight. A bouncing puck on Hudler, a few posts here and there, and you have a 2-1 loss.

The one argument I would raise to counter yours would be that when Dats wants someone to help him in an interview/post game presser he leans on Z. Z does a lot more than what we see on the ice.

As much as I loved Pre-Cap Hockey, this is the future and good for the league, 20 + teams competing for playoff spots. Defensemen are going to be at a premium for a few years to come as Defense will set teams apart/ Parity rules in today's sports world.

Stamkos, Doughty, or Weber. Of the players on the list.... Nash.

Redwings tv has the whole shootout if you are looking for it Doc.

02 had more talent, however 97 would have pummeled them into submission! 97 was only slightly less talented and way more physical. The 97 D was stacked.

He has been very stout on the back line, the plus minus was glaring to me because it seemed like he wasn't playing like a even or minus player. I think he has had a very good season, great if you consider his age, but in my biased opinion he is the Norris winner so far.

Versus crew (Eddie O specifically) say he is lucky not to get 8 games. Good to see the chin strap theory is only used by some one familiar with things strapped on!

Hey why not loan him to a Finnish team? What's that you said, every team there already has better d-men. oops. And whats with all the ginger hate? Edit: spelling

Good get that f***** off of my TV!

No, my examples prove you are wrong, I said I would want him to get his face dented. I am anti lets fight at the drop of the puck for no reason, anti lets fight because we are losing by 5, but I am pro Turtle busted Draper's face and needs his head busted in. Just because I didn't think Downey fit this roster or Shawn Thornton, I am labeled anti enforcer. But I thought May (and definitely Drake) fit this team much better. You said, if Stuart played for the B's TK would have left in an ambulance and you are wrong and I proved that with recent games.

Esteef, What happened when Jody Shelley boarded McQuaid earlier this year, was he taken out in an ambulance? No, the officials walked him away, no one did a thing to him. Your over generalizations while comical are not true! What happened after Cooke cleaned Savard's clock, or when Bergeroen was boarded? Would I have liked to see dents put into TK's face by a guy like Mac, sure, but that does not add validation to your statement. Just another chance for the enforcer crowd to jump up and scream: "See, what did we tell you!"

I love you guys, in the short term (2 games like that is any kind of sample) you are referring to Howard has had two goals go in off of teammates sticks, another one that was deflected at least two times before it got to him. The one goal that you could put on Howard in the PHI game if it was Mule who scored it every one would be ranting about how well he goes top shelf. The team has showed up in the third period of most games lately. Could it be the fact that they have played so many games in the past month, where as they got a lot of rest earlier in the season? The team is still one of the tops in Hockey, the just need to get their s*** together. All of them. Edit: Missing Dats and Cleary is not helping at all, the offense looks stagnant and lucky to keep the zone at times. The second line should be carrying this team right now.