Opie

I was close, but that is still pretty incredible two of his SO wins are Shootouts, I thought the other C-bus one was a shootout loss with no goals scored, but I guess not.

2 of his three shutouts have been against Columbus and have been 0-0 ties decided by the SO, I believe he also has a 1-0 SO loss.

Three names I am glad to see: Abdelkader of course, May deserves this, will see the ice I believe, and Janik. I think Lilja back spells the end for Janik, but I am glad he is back.

IMO he was the (North)Stars Yzerman/Sakic. That team owed him more than ripping the C off of his chest, I think if they leave him with it, he retires in Dallas. Not sure at this age I want him in the Winged wheel, but I used to dream of it! That man could and still can skate better than 90% of the league!

NOT TRYING TO START A FLAME SESSION: I would have thought this game would have gone to Ozzie and let J-ho have the Chicago game. Any word on another Ozzie start (aka will he start the Chi game)?

Regardless of what the team thought, the man should have never lost the 'C', imo he was to the Stars what Yzerman was to the Wings.

Jimmy Howard gp 61 gs 59 wins 35 (9th) Losses 15 OTL 10 GA 139 GAA 2.31(7th) SA 1798 SV 1659 SV% .923 (5th) SO 2 I put the ranks on those three for obvious reasons, and also to make this statement, whatever shakiness or rebound control J-Ho has shown this season, I will take it all as long as the Red Wings netminder ranks top 10 in those three categories!

My link Puck Daddy posted this, I agree with the announcer this is straight out of the refs training video for dirty hit to the head, this almost ranks up there with McLaren and Zednik, sure the end result of McLaren's was worse because of the clothesline effect he got, but in both instances you can clearly see the player raise his arm to make the hit to the head. I don't think 2 games was enough, your thoughts? BTW call on the ice, 2 mins for Holding. The league suspended him 2 games. Delete this if I missed the other thread!

Nothing more to say!

Igor gets less credit for the greatness of that team than he deserves, sure the team was unstoppable, but that top line was a major reason why, I think they are all 3 now in the HOF. That team had top shelf talent all over it, but none greater than the KLM line, and lots of people argue about the best player on that line. OR Maybe I am a sentimentalist and just can not give Pavel (my fav wing btw) the nod over Igor.

To me that was a clear cut attempt to hit a player in the head/face. If he lights him up ala Stuart did Umberger I post this link to a huge hit and rant and rave about Perreault needing to look both ways before crossing the street type joke. Here he clearly did not see the hit coming, his fault, but clearly Armstrong raises his arm and goes right at Perreault's head/face with his forearm. I am not sure where to draw the line, is it only a major suspension when a major injury results? Well that just promotes diving and people acting like the were absolutely destroyed when they barely got touched? Or is any hit that takes that form a major suspension?

AHHH good point, I change my opinion now! Zettie while Crosby did not when the Calder you are correct, the comparison to him for any rookie other than AO, Malkin, Kane is still ridiculous in my mind!

So the following is not a direct quote from the ESPN article????: I agree he only says he won't be his first choice, the only other thing he says is that his age is the reason. He mentions him in the running for Vezina, well why in the hell would Vezina candidate not win over another player who is not a candidate for any award? NO Myers talk in the Norris, Hart, Pearson, Selke...etc (I know due to position he is not available for half of the awards I listed, just stating the only trophy he is in line for is the Calder) yet Howard is being talked about as a potential Vezina candidate, which Lebrun has no problem with, but he will not get his vote for Calder, and why? You read a little and tell me if his article on ESPN.com says any other reason than J-Ho's age. He doesn't mention the Wings skill, doesn't mention playing behind the world's greatest D, nothing but his age. So you tell me what I am supposed to infer from the article, that Howard is second because Myers has better rebound control? How he is ok with him in the Vezina talk as the best goalie in the league but them is unhappy about him qualifying for Calder, because he is 4 years older than Sid when he won, and that the "20 year old Myers", if everything Lebrun writes in the article references age, how do you get that age is not his main point?

Wait, when did Downie become anything more than a thug with good linemates? The man has had one good season, in any league, other than that he has been okay, while breaking rules, bones, teammates faces, and getting severe suspensions. He has a Hart finalist and a potential future HOFer on his line, and that is just St Louis. And BTW I love the he only gets 14 minutes and Stamkos and St Louis get more argument, he must play with other lines. UMM NO! That means his line plays with another winger half of the time. Why could that be? Could it be like Cheechoo and Michalek and many many others, he is making a living off of their linemates? NO, it has to be because Downie is so good, that playing him anything more than 15 minutes would be illegal, actually I read some where that the league told Tampa, if he reaches the 15 mpg average Tampa has to forfeit all of their games! Here is the reason for this thread, LGW gets a boner for enforcers, Downie is a goon, who due to his linemates is productive. Seriously, next season I want to be on St. Louis and Stamkos line, I will play for free, and I guarantee you I score 10+ just by listening to Mickey and stopping at the net with my stick on the ice. BTW I suck at Hockey. The other reason, LGW gets a boner for Canadians, and Downie being a Canadien thug who probably shouldn't even be allowed in the league anymore, gets LGW a raging hard on. Don't blame me those are just the facts! I mean the guy puts up Sammy/Hudler numbers and is a god, while those guys were scrubs, hmmm could that be because they are not Canadian, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRITTTTTT!

OK Comparing two of the best young forwards to come into the game in the last 5 years is a little bit of a stretch there Pierre! How about other winners, like say, oh I don't know, Nabby. You know just because they play the same position, are nearly identical in age at time of rookie season, and are much much more comparable than say, oh I don't know two of the top forwards drafted in the last 5 years. People should realize that making comparisons to Crosby and another Rookie's first years is ridiculous, regardless of the general opinion of the kid on here, he, Malkin, and AO are some of the most talented players to come out of the draft in a long time. Once you compare some one to Sid, imo, you have failed, especially when it is a Goalie! Stupid article in general, I have a distinct problem with the voting process in all sports. For example, Howard by all standards is a rookie, the NHL sets those standards and the voters vote, BASED ON THOSE STANDARDS, not their own. Whether or not Lebrun thinks J-Ho is too old is not his decision and has no barring on the award. Another example is Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken in baseball, tell me why those guys should not have been 100% voted for into the HOF (Baseball) on the first ballot. The writers association will tell you that it is because Babe Ruth was never Unanimously inducted and if any one deserved it he did. So "Purists" won't vote for certain guys because of that Bias. Reporters have become over important in their own minds because they have a vote, they see it as their chance to take a stance against some form of injustice. Instead what they are really being asked for is their informed opinion, back in the day the only way to have an informed opinion was to be at all of the teams games, or read it in the newspaper, the only people at every game were the reporters, MLB needed their vote to determine the awards. Now I would be happier if the League gave it out with no voting. At least I know the league Biases, and understand their motives are for selling the game, not selling their article or themselves. Today I can be an informed fan and never read a single article online or in the paper, because I can easily watch every game on any given night (I love you Internet and always will!).

Face off specialist, how many times does this guy take a face off, win it and then head to bench. He is the perfect person to come off of the bench in a situation where it is a close game, face off in the own zone, put him out as a winger or as the primary face off guy, he wins it, moves to the bench. Draper may not often make it to the box score, but he does a lot for this team. Arguably the best line for a better part of the season was Draper, Helm, Eaves.

Igor was a part of one of the best lines to ever play in world competition, imo, he wins hands down.

Bingo! Doc I can always count on you, other than 08 I have only heard people questioning his abilities, he is a decent 3-4 d-man, A Brad Stuart if you will, excels with great partners, decent offense and solid d. I would probably take Stuart over Phanuef right now, only because I am kind of partial to Stuart and I think he compliments so many Red Wings D-men that he just fits here too well to replace. Not that anyone was suggesting a trade I just made the comparison.

Sorry read your post a little better and realized what you were saying!

Wow another completely useless trash Osgood goalie war thread, didn't see this coming after an Osgood start at all!

What he means is division winners are always the top 3 in rankings, so we can not pass Van, otherwise Pho would have already. The highest the Wings can get Mathematically is 5th I beleive. With games in hand they may catch Pho if they lost every game the rest of the year maybe, but I would have to check again.

Deal I guess. I only did it because I never go to the first page to look, and I figured some one else was lazy like me too!

As long as the Wings keep playing like this, you know all 60 minutes, they will be a tough match up for anyone. Sure Vancouver would be tough, same with San Jose and Chicago, but look at the Wings record this year against those teams, they are doing really well against them. In fact the teams the Wings have had trouble with will actually all be watching or golfing.

SV% T. Rask | BOS .930 R. Miller | BUF .928 T. Vokoun | FLA .926 J. Howard | DET .925 J. Halak | MTL .923 GAA T. Rask 1.99 R. Miller | BUF 2.22 A. Niemi | CHI 2.24 M. Kiprusoff | CGY 2.26 J. Howard | DET 2.27 9th in Wins win 34 (Brodeur has 41) Just to update the stats.

Wait isn't one of the biggest hits on Bettman getting Hockey on national TV, now we are going to complain about what teams they choose? In case you forgot that is the Defending Champs, and in my opinion defending champs should always be on national TV more than any others. This is another example of this boards new infatuation with just being pissed off, pissed off it is not the wings, pissed off it is Crosby or the Pens, pissed off if some one says Chicago is better, pissed off when Z is not mentioned for Calder, pissed off all of the time for no reason. I have an idea, just watch the friggin game, you may find out you enjoy it.