Bring Back The Bruise Bros

4 conferences? Or divisions? 4 divisions, 2 conferences?

What a crock of s***. "Shanaban" has merely continued the trend of letting star players get away with murder. What a ******* joke.

http://www.nesn.com/.m/2011/12/tampa-bay-lightning-microchipped-jerseys-help-increase-season-ticket-sales.html Not sure if this belongs in the political discussion or what, but this s*** is scary.

20+ games into the regular season, fighting has definitely dropped, continuing the trend we saw in the preseason. I wonder if the low numbers in fighting are a result of guys being more cautious about fighting now, or because a lot of scrappers are currently out, or a combination of both? George Parros has been out for a while. Mike Rupp has been injured for a while. B.J. Crombeen hasn't played a regular season game this season. Matt Carkner has been out all year. Additionally, guys like Steve MacIntyre, Eric Godard, Trevor Gillies, and D.J. King are all in the AHL right now, and the only guy I can see realistically being called for a lengthy stay with their NHL team is MacIntyre.

What a hit. Fistric is one of my favorites. He's a wicked hard hitter, but he's an honest guy. He won't take your knees out or any of that Bryan Marchment type s***.

Tootoo was driving to the net, and took a subtle (SUBTLE) shove from Ehroff. He could have slowed down, yes. I don't think he completely could have avoided the contact, though. Lucic went out of his way to smoke Miller, at least Tootoo's contact was in context with the game. Tootoo will get suspended because of his name, which will piss me right off. Can't suspend a guy just because he has a history. In my opinion, in order to be completely fair, you have to look at the individual incident without taking into account WHO it is, and focus on WHAT IT IS that he did. "Shanaban" has done nothing to change anything, he has just continued to treat stars better like Newfy said.

Had they not tossed Tootoo, the refs would have had to deal with scrum after scrum with Buffalo going after him, but I don't think it warrants a suspension. Took a bit (a bit, not much) of a shove from Erhoff on the play. The crowd was in the game from that point on. Although Nashville isn't a hockey hot-bed, they seem to have a good core of passionate fans.

Jordin Tootoo just ran Ryan Miller in the Preds/Sabres game. Tootoo got a charging major and a game misconduct. The way I see it, it is debatable whether Tootoo completely intended to run him. However, I don't think it warrants a suspension. If this doesn't send a message to the Sabres front office that they need to muscle up, I don't know what will. Second time he's got run like this. I'm sure there will be a video up soon.

Was it a borderline hit? Clean?

Busy night for me. How'd we look? Looks like Jim had another solid game.

Brown was having a solid season, too.

A veteran of 1,060 regular season NHL games, Mike Grier has announced his retirement. The Detroit native scored 383 points in his career, and was known for his penalty killing prowess. Another veteran down

Boudreau replaces Carlyle?!?! That's what i'm thinking.

Big changes are on the way in Anaheim.

Best player out there tonight

I'm happy we're winning. We always play well in the regular season. Grit is most important for the postseason because its so important to win the puck battles in the corners, and to wear the opposition's defenseman down physically. Make them get rid of the puck before they want to. When you're passing with a forechecker coming at you, turnovers are more likely to happen. I'm happy we're winning, but the post-season is the real test for the Detroit Red Wings.

Another great game from Howard. We were lights out in the first, sluggish in the second, but closed it out in the 3rd. I think Brunnstrom looked a step behind tonight, though. Pavel looked great. Hudler was buzzing around the net. Had a couple good chances. Good game overall

Haven't had a thread like this is a while. To be honest, our 4th line hasn't looked awful this year. That being said, come playoff time, we're gonna want a few guys that can wear the defense down on the forecheck and win puck battles down low. As far as defense goes, we need guys that will clear the crease, and be able to block shots. I'm sick of having huge pile-ups on top of Howard because of defense just collapses on him. Here is a list of guys I want us to pursue over the summer. Since money likely won't be a problem this offseason, I won't list their current salary. Forwards: Dan Carcillo- 26 years old. 7 points in 19 games coming into tonight. He's found his offensive touch with Chicago this year. Finishes his checks, gets underneath the opposition's skin. Gregory Campbell- 27 years old. 5 points in 22 games this season. Pretty good in the faceoff circle, he's quick, and gritty. Brandon Prust- 27 years old. 5 points in 21 games this season. This guy is a total gamer. Complete team guy. One of my favorite non-Wings. He can play a regular shift, hits everything in sight, and can score here and there. Arron Asham- 33 years old. 6 points in 24 games this year. Solid fighter and good forechecker. He's got playoff experience, but I'd personally like to see us grab a younger guy. Tim Jackman- 30 years old. 4 points in 22 games. One of the better 4th liners in the NHL. Solid hitter. George Parros- 31 years old. 1 point in 11 games this season. Been injured for a while, but he's got playoff experience and he's one of the more experienced scrappers in the league. I'd be surprised if he left Anaheim, though. Travis Moen- 29 years old. 10 points in 24 games. Solid grinder with veteran experience. He's got a nose for the net and is one of Montreal's more consistent offensive players. Sean Avery- 31 years old. 2 points in 10 games since getting re-called. Sure, he's a controversial character, but when he plays his game and keeps his mouth shut, he's awful effective. Wouldn't mind seeing Avery's return to Detroit. Brad Winchester- 30 years old. 4 points in 21 games. big, physical presence who can score on occasion. Wouldn't mind seeing him here to bolster the bottom 6. Tanner Glass- 28 years old. Has had a surprisingly good offensive start to the season. 10 points in 24 games on a line not known for its offensive prowess. This guy is the real deal, folks. Great team guy. Shawn Thornton- 34 years old. 3 points in 22 games. One of the best defensively responsible 4th liners in the game, and he's a good scrapper. Veteran with past playoff success. Zenon Konopka- 30 years old. 4 points in 18 games. Faceoff specialist. Another team guy who can skate pretty well. Matt Martin- 22 years old. RFA after this year. 4 points in 22 games. One of the best hitters in the league. Not afraid to drop the gloves. Jared Boll- 25 years old. RFA after this year. 1 point in 9 games. Can play on the penalty kill and blocks shots. Sticks up for his teammates. Ferocious on the forecheck. Kyle Chipchura- 25 years old. RFA after this year. 3 points in 13 games this season. Decent on the faceoffs from what I know. Would be a good 13th forward. Derek Dorsett- 24 years old. RFA after this year. 5 points in 23 games this season. One of my favorite non-Wings. He's got all the tools to be a legit power forward in this league. Pretty quick skater and a hard hitter. Scrappy combatant indeed, and he's not afraid of anyone. I've discussed this guy with a few different posters here, and he reminds me of McCarty. Kenny, if you're listening, make a trade for this guy. Defensemen: Tim Gleason- 28 years old. 6'0", 217. Michigan native. He's got some playoff experience, and he can put up a few points. In addition, he can throw his body around and block shots. Jim Vandermeer- 31 years old. 6'1", 210. Classic stay-at-home defenseman. Blocks shots. Pretty good scrapper, and kills penalties. Sheldon Brookbank- 31 years old. 6'1", 200. Fiesty guy who will definitely make sure nobody gets in the same zip code as Howard. Clayton Stoner- 26 years old. 6'3", 225. Clears the crease and drops the gloves. Shane O'Brien- 28 years old. 6'3", 230. Big, scrappy defenseman who has grown into a vocal leader on a relatively young Colorado team. Clears the crease, blocks shots, he's the real deal when it comes to stay at home defenseman. Ryan Wilson- 24 years old. 6'1", 207. RFA after this year. Another one who falls into my "Real deal" category. One of the hardest hitting defenders in the league. Additionally, he's put up 12 points this year. Theo Peckham- 6'2", 235. RFA after this year. 24 years old. Hard hitting guy who will keep the opposition honest. Mark Fistric- 6'2", 233. RFA after this year. 25 years old. One of the hardest hitting defensemen in the league, along with Ryan Wilson. One of my favorite defensemen. Barret Jackman is kind of a ******, and he's getting old, but I wouldn't be upset if we picked him up for cheap. Sorry for the obscenely long list. Bored tonight.

You make a good point. It will be interesting to see if he continues to produce on the 3rd line when Morrow comes back. Thing i like about Nystrom is he goes all out every shift. His goals aren't a result of him splitting the D with fancy dekes, they're the result of hard work down low and driving to the net.

Wish I could go!

Not much going on around here, so I figured I'd bump this. Nystrom has scored 8 goals so far for Dallas. Add Nystrom to another gamble that has paid off for them. Scored again last night in the Stars' win in Colorado.

Hudler Emmerton For Nystrom Barch

Also, Lilja had a regular 3rd defensive pairing spot in 2008.

Sucks that he's pretty much been phased out of the Leafs lineup With all the injuries, he will get some time, but it looks like Mike Brown has taken his spot.

Lol okay. Run off now, your moms got a long list of chores for you, chump. I'm done feeding the troll for today.