Free_Candy

It would be more sensible to make an analysis of a team in say March or April instead of splitting hairs on a game by game basis. In the end it's a marathon season and even then, you have the playoffs which is another beast altogether.

Yeah, that commercial is pretty legendary in our circles. You know it's serious business when it ends up on Jay Leno.

I don't know, the way things are going, I have a feeling that Semin won't be with the Caps long term. I could be wrong, but something just doesn't quite seem right with him, at least as far as doing a long term contract with the Caps goes. He's a hell of a player when he puts his mind to it, but lately from what I've gathered, he's been struggling quite a bit and fans have really been throwing him under the bus for taking lazy/careless penalties and not playing like he should. The name escapes me but one of his teammates indirectly called him out in an interview after losing to the Devils. Now I know he's very good friends with Ovechkin, but with some of the things going on added up and if some other team is willing to wave enough money at him and the Caps aren't willing to match it, something tells me he might end up playing somewhere else. I could definitely see Backstrom taking a discount and staying on long-term, though.

The irony is that there was more about the play on the NHL site than there actually was on the Penguins site. I think league puts Crosby out there a lot as the visible, safe North American boy for the Billy-Joe Jim-Bobs that normally watch football and might get an interest in hockey if Nascar isn't on. I don't think they are trying to push Crosby on the hockey fans that are already dedicated longtime fans that have a team and players they follow for years on end. I thnk a lot of the exposure was compounded by the fact that Crosby was the first major talent to arrive right after the lockout. Now it doesn't really bother me if people feel Ovechkin would fit the bill better, everyone has a right to their opinion and I don't get in on the whole AO vs. Sid pissing contest because I'm tired of it. But I disagree in that by no means should the NHL have one "face." I don't believe it should be an "either/or" argument, there's plenty of room for more than one talent in the league. But I do suspect that marketers and sponsors for whatever reason don't really know what to do about European talents at times. I don't know if it's because they have a bias, or if they go by "focus groups", or what. But that is what it seems like to me. There's a balance that needs to be kept in the league when walking the line between gaining new fans, and keeping the old ones happy. I understand why people get pissed off about it, and on the flip side there are some Pens fans like me that get tired of the whole thing, the backlash, the ensuing pissing matches about it, everything. I just don't bother responding to a lot of it, I don't see the point. Now for me, sometimes it's irritating trying to talk to some non-Penguin friends about hockey (mostly they are fellow East/Atlantic division fans) without them piping up about Crosby from the get-go when I just want to know how their team is doing, who they think will make the playoffs/win the Cup/etc. I realize I'm "in another person's house" so to speak, on another team's board, so I try to be respectful and selective of what I say, generally try not to post anything unless I can offer something somewhat insightful and something I feel strongly about. /Just my 2 cents. /Not wearing a powder blue Mr. Hockey jersey. Promise.

D'oh...never mind!

You won't find too many pics of it because he got injured the first game he wore it, he hasn't worn it since and probably won't wear it ever again! Toskala's mask is probably my favorite, though the old school masks will always be the best in the creepy department.

At that time, they were. Pens did well in October and November (at least on record, but they were showing signs of impending trouble and weren't playing 60 minutes of hockey very consistently). The s*** hit the fan in early December, and from then until February it was putrid. I think they slipped out of the playoff picture around mid January until mid February when they fired Therrien. It's an interesting theory, but I don't know if 8 to 38 really holds a lot of water. For a while in the east, it was Boston/Washington/New Jersey/Philly as safe bets, but for the other 4 slots it was one big happy horse racin' crapshoot between several teams, it could have gone a lot of different ways.

Congratulations to Mr. Lidstrom!

Yes, it was a sick save and it made me sick. When Cam Ward is on, he is a pain in the ass to play against and he did amazing tonight. Did not think we'd get the 2 points when this went to shootout.

I can't believe the question is even being raised right now. Jesus.

I'd say there's a budding rivalry for now. But it's hard for an east-west rivalry to be sustainable in most circumstances like divisional or conference rivalries are.

I don't envy you too much for having to travel so far away for the exhibition games like we did last year. But Wings are so loved in Sweden you at least have that going for you, and that makes being there special. But the travel and jet lag and the whole experience as far as a team trying to find their rhythm is just weird, it might even be that way even for a little while when they get back, I wouldn't take a lot of stock into these couple of games.

Honestly, coming from someone on the other side of the fence, it's not like that kind of hype and talk really does us any favors. We probably won't crash and burn but any hockey realist knows that repeating these days is VERY difficult. What talking heads say and write has no bearing on what happens in June. I've never been big on predicting Cup winners before the trade deadline anyway. A lot can happen in a season and sometimes that extra player or two is the tipping point in one's favor.

For what it's worth, Sykora did OK with us in Pittsburgh, and finally got himself a hat trick last fall. Then his play went off a cliff when Bylsma came aboard. There was an article out of a Czech publication that quoted him throwing Bylsma under the bus, though his agent denied it later on. I suspect he might have said something but didn't really think it would catch on and wanted to save face. In any case there is the possibility that he resented being in a coach-player situation with a former teammate. Or it simply might be that he doesn't play well with more aggressive uptempo systems. Which in that case, for Detroit, buyer beware. I still think Sykie is a great locker room guy to have around but I don't blame you for not wanting. He might have something left in the tank but wouldn't be worth it beyond a certain price.

You obviously skipped the part where I said there was nothing wrong with good-natured ribbing. If that's all it is, I don't have a problem with it. But to the point where someone loathes coming back to their job in the fall and wants to make their lives miserable? Okay, then.

...with your own students. Unless it's just good natured ribbing on occasion it's not a big deal, but come on. This ain't a Pens/Wings thing here -- I don't care what hockey team anyone roots for -- as a teacher be an adult and show a little more professionalism instead of trash talking with the minors you're supposed to be teaching, and then going and posting on the internet about how much you want to make them miserable just because they don't root for the same team you do. They're kids under your supervision, not fellow adult hockey fans you're up against in a bar or at a game.

That crying Sharks kid's dad is my personal hero. That kid should send his dad to their GM's office to have a word with him. "You are giving the league the 2x4 to beat you with and my son has lost his god damn brains! You are making an ass of your team for all eternity!"

I do think the Wings are better off without him. I still am not sure how Chicago's going to make all of that work financially -- but it is more money than he'd be getting than he would be in Detroit, but Chicago's competitive enough that he'd still be happy. The whole thing does make sense to him, I'm just not sure how much sense it will make to Chicago.

As far as the waiting around goes, yes. Some of us understood his decision last year, but would have rather he made it sooner rather than later (however, to be fair I've never been a pro hockey player mulling a multimillion dollar contract!) -- ...so I can understand the frustrations people might feel about the waiting game.

Yeah, he's a great guy. He's been a good fit. Considering he was making $4.5m last year, then $2m is pretty good. He worked out pretty well for a conditional pick.

I hate to beat a dead horssa, but if you're referring to Penguin fans, your circumstances and ours were somewhat different. If he was a vital part of your playoff run, had a great postseason, said things to the press indicating a willingness to stay and then signed with the Penguins at the last minute, I bet there would be some upset Wings fans. I personally never referred to him as a "traitor" as far as his actual decision was concerned. But I think it's a lot easier for you guys to let him go without any hard feelings as far as how your team is built (having components that won the cup without him) and considering his lackluster postseason. Probably as good as monkeys flying out of my butt. We couldn't afford him without moving guys and I doubt Shero would want to go back in that direction at this point. I think it would be interesting to see where he would go if it wasn't with Detroit.

It will be Pittsburgh if he takes a discount anywhere. Otherwise, hello Finger money.

I think that is a pretty fair assessment. I tend to think a lot of players are viewed with rosier shades years later after the fact moreso than when they are actually playing, especially when they are in the early part of their careers. History will be the judge of Crosby or any of the young elites in the league. I can think of a few players I hated back in the 90s but miss watching them play now.

Fedex delivers! Seriously, he started out slow with us but things pulled together fairly well with him and Malkin. Shero is pretty fond of him so I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed in Pittsburgh for a couple more years. Sykora and Satan will probably be let go. Brooks Orpik's office

I would not recommend Sykora. He is on the downside and has been in decline. He did ok with Therrien's trap system but did not adjust well when we went more aggressive and uptempo so I don't know how that would fare in Detroit. I guess they could try him out and I think he's a great guy but I wouldn't expect much from him.