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No hockey tough is not Pavel Datsyuk. Ben Eager is much tougher then he is. Datsyuk is fairly tough because of what he can take but Eager is the type of guy who will sit there and give it to Datsyuk or another skilled player all game long and take it right back. Dats can take a hit and give one half decent. Eager can throw a big hit, take a big hit and fight. I know youre gonna come back and say something stupid that makes it seem like Datsyuk is tough or a big hitter or soemthing but he just plain isn't a tough player. Hockey tough players dish it out and give it, players like Datsyuk can just take alot.

Anyone listening to Bettman talking to Ron Maclean. He started tweaking on Maclean just because he asked about franchise situations. Theyre absolutely going at it, Bettman is a huge ******.

Kabanov will be another Zherdev. Zherdev went ahead of guys like Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler. He's a stuck up russian player with skill that has his head to far up his ass to be a good player.

Stanley cup finals I doubt they would back down in the regular season.

Don't get your hopes up. Kenny is going to sign a guy who can play a regular shift this year and there are a lot of decent scrappy players who can play a shift this year. It would be sweet to have Boogard but don't get your hopes up. Get your hopes up for Nystrom, Burish or Winchester

I'm saying Mcilrath. He is projected to go right around where we pick, he fills a serious need in our system and Kenny had him on that list earlier this year.

Lecalvier is better then Filpulla, Downie is better then Cleary and has way more potential. Yzerman would never take this deal.

No kidding thats does suck, I woulda loved him here. Anyone know the numbers on his contract? Getting walker would be unreal

There are better free agents then Mair out there who provide everything he does and more.

No kidding, Ron Maclean was cool and collected but Bettman was acting like a twirp. I don't often throw around the term twirp but it suits Bettamn nicely. He was actually like yelling at Maclean during the interview. Huge ***

If Holland wanted to toughen up the team he could do it by letting Lilja go and signing Brookbank and signing a guy like Nystrom. Brookbank is actually a solid defenseman, add mystrom and Abdelkader and our team is actually respectably tough. It would be sweet if Lilja decided to go so we signed Brookbank and a tough forward, we could do both.

Thank you. Yeah Datsyuk can take a lot but that doesn't mean he is hockey tough. And when People are talking about the NHL they are talking about hockey tough players not guys who can take a lot in the corners or absorb a check. A tough hockey player has the defense looking over their shoulder, will stick up for teammates and will hit. Hitting, fighting and blocking shots are really the three things I use to say if a player is tough or not. Homer can take a lot sure, but he isn't a tough guy. Datsyuk can dig in the corners but to say he's as tough as Drake or Eager is stupid. Actually this year is a good year for signing decent 4th line tough guys compared to eyars past. If Holland says he wants a gritty guy thats tough to play against this is the year he could do it. I think most people agree Nystrom is the best fit out there for the wings,but he might get paid too much.

I think hes talking about the goal where Hudler went soft to the puck and just kinda floated in there. A prime example of how Hudler scoring 60 points doesn't mean hes a top 6 player. He's making plays like that against other teams bottom 6, I'd love to see him pull that in a head to head match up with Getzlaf.

Datsyuk is tough but isn't tough to play against. Kenny says he wants the team to add a guy who is tough to play against. He wants a guy who can dish it out instead of guys who are tough enough to take it. Comparing Eager to Patrick kaleta is stupid. Eager will fight heavyweights when he does fight. I never said getting in fights was the be all end all, but when a guy can play 9 minutes a night, fight and chip in some goals like Eager can then he's probably a better 4th line player then Drew Miller who scores at the same pace, does not hit hard and doesn't fight at all. Eager may be a bad fighter when it comes to regular fighters but thats not the point here. He WILL fight which theres barely anyone on our team who will, he can take on heavies, he lays big hits and he can chip in. Patrick kaleta is a cheap shot artist and thats about all.

You mean arguably top 3 on the wings right? Lidstrom is still a great player but you guys need to take off your wing coloured homer glasses. Lidstrom is on the decline and was not one of the top 3 players in the league last year.

Watch Paul Kariya then. Wong has a goofy last anem of course he's going to get made fun of. Its a slang term for penis for gods sake. Noone wants to hear you whine and Wong won't make the NHL.

I really wanna see Emmerton get some games next year. He's got the hockey sense to be a great player he just needs to put it all together.

And potential to hit 15 goals a year.

Miller is not faster, has had a 2 goal and a 4 goal season and they are roughly the same age. Eager has put up more goals then Miller has, hits way harder and is obviously a much better fighter. Eager isn't bad defensively. Miller really brings nothing to this team, he doesn't hit, fight, score and plays an average PK. Ok what does equal toughness? Drake and Eager are what I would call even when it comes to hitting. So if hitting is toughness then they are equal, to break the tie you go to fighting. Eager is a much better fighter then Drake. And seriously if you think fighting doesn't equal toughness you need to give your head a shake. Sure there are other types of toughness but a guy who can take punches in the head for a living is definitely tough.

Nystrom

Did Holland actually say he wanted toughness or did he say gritty player or something like that?

Eager has beat up Ivanans(heavyweight), Konopka, Rypien, beat cam janssen, Boll and dropped Kevin Bieksa. Drake lost to Ott, and even Adam Mair for gods sake. The most fights Drake had in his career was 5 with the wings his last season. Eager is 26 and every season he has had more then that. Eager is definitely no question the tougher fighter. They are both huge hitters and would call it fairly close as to who hits harder. Eager backs his hits up with better fighting though.

Drake topped out at 20 goals. he was more around 12-15 per year though I think giving Nystrom 2 years he could hit that easily and he is tougher then Drake was. I'm not downplaying Drake he was a great player. Eager has hit 11 goals already and is also tougher and a bigger hitter. Eager won't have quite the offense drake did but he's still only 5 goals off pretty much I'm just saying guys like Drake aren't all that hard to find, or at least guys that can fill the role fairly well. As wings fans we just aren't used to seeing it, teams like Chicago and Philly have a few guys who can fill this role.

Umm I would consider taking Chara yeah. Seriously people Lids is a great defenseman still, but he is 40 and is clearly on the decline. I'm not saying he sucks, but people claiming he is worth the league maximum are just as dumb as the people saying he's only worth 4 million. Signing anywhere between 5.5 and 6.5 million is a reasonable cap hit, no lower and no higher. You don't get paid for how good you were in teh past,Lids is not a league maximum player.