Bring Back The Bruise Bros

I agree with you to a certain extent. I agree that Philly isn't the biggest and meanest team in the league anymore. However, they're not pushovers. Scott Hartnell plays a physical style. Wayne Simmonds is a legitimate power forward. The Schenn brothers are pretty physical. Zac Rinaldo hits like a truck and is more than willing to drop the gloves. Nicklas Grossman is gritty on their blueline. Again, they're not the meanest team, but they're by no means an easy team to play against.

The only thing you can do is laugh. This is ridiculous.

They're a hard-working team. Hard work goes a long way. Their bottom 6 is full of hard-working, physical players. Jared Boll, Derek MacKenzie, Derek Dorsett (Who is out for the remainder of the year) and Colton Gillies make the Jackets difficult to play against. Their offense doesn't really scare anyone on paper. Artem Anisimov has struggled. Brandon Dubinsky has been average. R.J. Umberger has been average, at best. Mark Letestu has been a pleasant surprise, though. Sergei Bobrovsky has been utterly stellar. Personally, I hope they can continue to play well, but their offense is really gonna need to pick it up. Bobrovsky can't carry the team by himself.

I'd be cool with trading Filppula, but I don't want us giving him away for nothing. I'd trade him for Nathan Horton. Both are UFAs at the end of the season. From the sounds of it, Filppula is gonna want upwards of $5 mil/year, an amount I don't feel he's worth. He's likely hit his peak and he's a bit older. Boston probably won't go for it at this point in the season, though. Guys like Horton are the kind of guys we need to be targeting with us moving to the east.

Happy that Detroit will be in the east next year. However, we're gonna need to get significantly harder to play against over the offseason in order to play against teams like Boston and Philadelphia.

I wonder if Quincey will come back with a visor.

Tootoo better not be benched again. There is no justifiable reason for benching a guy that literally gives it all out there every shift. He's not half the defensive liability that Emmerton is.

Brooks Orpik wore a visor for the first time in his career earlier tonight, citing Staal's injury as the reason for him wearing one. I hate Orpik, but its something different to talk about besides how mediocre we are.

I don't see the problem. Once Bertuzzi and Samuelsson get back, we'll be back in playoff form. Cleary has played great with Datsyuk. Also, benching Tootoo was a solid move by Babs last night. Guys that play with energy on every shift are useless. I like our team, too. No moves need to be made right now. If anything, re-sign Filppula for $5 mil/year, since he's definitely earned it with his stellar play.

Tootoo is scratched, while Eaves and Emmerton are in? Dafuq?

Late hit. Perry's a ******, but I don't think that hit is worth a 4 game suspension.

I've always liked Dubinsky. Not sure what Columbus would be looking for in return.

Adrian Aucoin

Will Mike Brown be in Edmonton's lineup? He was just acquired a few days ago. LGW

It should be the players choice, really. I don't mind it being mandatory in the minor leagues, but grown men should be able to make that choice for themselves.

Agreed.Hope he can find a place to play. Mark Fraser took his spot and hasn't looked back. Who would be willing to take his contract? Yikes.

2 minutes for playing the way the game was meant to be played.

You've got to be kidding. He's one of biggest spotpickers in the league. He's fought guys like Datsyuk, Rafalski, Jay McLement, Brent Burns, Derek Morris, and Gilbert Brule. Fought Stephane Robidas earlier in the season. Robidas has like 10 career fights and he's played over 800 games. Scoring goals and occasionally smacking a finesse guy with your purse doesn't make you a power forward. Perry is a fraud. He's gifted with the puck, no doubt, but no way in hell is he a power forward. I'm not just a fan of the Wings. So this isn't just blind hate for Perry. I watch all teams. Power forwards are guys like David Clarkson, Ryane Clowe, and Wayne Simmonds.

Another blown lead. Cleary looked awful today. Made several plays that had me scratching my head. Franzen played like garbage. Turned the puck over numerous times. I was happy to see Edzo and Pierre pointing out Franzen's general lack of effort. Howard was the only reason the game was tied after the first. Tatar needs to stay up. Brunner had another good game. Bummer of a loss.

Howard has been the best player out there for us so far.

I like what O'Reilly brings to the table, but he's worth nowhere near $5 mil/year. Greedy prick. Whose spot will he take when he returns?

5 and a game was more than enough. Jeezuz.

The refs really need to step up and start penalizing obvious embellishment.

McLaren has actually looked good. He has provided much more than a physical presence out there. He made a huge ****** out of himself last time they played Montreal when he was laughing at Josh Gorges as they fought.

I want Tim Gleason. Pretty sure he has a NTC, though. Maybe Jay Harrison?