Bring Back The Bruise Bros

ESPN reporting the Rangers' attendance tonight: 51,227

The thing is, what defines a "staged fight"? Many people have differing definitions of this. Personally, I don't think the NHL can't be like "Oh, no you can't fight off a draw" but say "Feel free to scrap after a hit, because that shows emotional ties to the game". I feel either ban it completely, or leave it as it is. Ban it completely, though, and watch the game become a spineless cheapshot frenzy.

I was gonna start a thread on this, beat me to it. I watched the game and it was dead. It looked pretty full in their home opener against Chicago the other night. I'm not sure if they sold that one out.

The flop by Semin last week was ugly too.

You failed to mention that it causes arson, public executions, gun control, and animal abuse, as well. Seems players are finally realizing the consequences of these silly punch in the face contests.

4 pages about Eric Nystrom?

Never said it was off-topic. So Abdelkader makes an ass out of himself by embellishing a hit once, and he's just as big of a piece of s*** as Cooke?

We already went over the fact that he embellished that. If you're comparing Abdelkader to Cooke, in the sense that they're both garbage, there is no comparison. Cooke is a career piece of s***. Makes a living off throwing blindside hits and elbows. Abdelkader DID embellish that hit, but you can't compare Cooke to Abdelkader. I don't expect an intelligent response from you, because I know you post this s*** just to stir trouble on here.

I'd take interest in this if we weren't just talking about Detroit's lineup. Talking about why Hudler should or shouldn't play on the first line gets a little boring after a while. I'd like to discuss lineups of all NHL teams.

With Holmstrom and Bert likely done at the end of the year, hopefully Kenny will pick up someone along the lines of a David Clarkson or Brad Winchester for the 4th line. I'd nut if McGrattan became a Wing.

I'm pretty sure McGrattan made the Ducks roster Hopefully he'll see some time on the 4th line this year.

Well, Huggy Bear played in his first NHL game since getting lit up by Krys Barch last season. Got dropped by Ryan Reaves of the Blues tonight. The battle for "The NHL's Official Punching Bag" is between him and Tom Kostopoulos.

It does seem awful slow around here for the beginning of the regular season. Anyhow, Conklin had a great game. Good to see him back. Our 3rd line looked great again. I'd like to see Bertuzzi stay on the 3rd line, simply because he's got a defined role playing with Helm and Abdelkader, that role being finishing his checks, skating hard on the backcheck, and playing responsible defensively, as well as occasionally chipping in offensively. Drew Miller is starting to grow on me. He looked solid again tonight, and at this point I don't think Babs should sit Miller in favor of Brunnstrom. As far as the attendance in Denver tonight, I thought Ken and Mick mentioned it was sold out. There were some soft penalty calls, especially where O'Brien got an interference for his little push on Cleary in front of the net. I know the call favored us, but wow. That's not what the game needs.

Drew Miller looked good out there tonight. Got in on the forecheck, forced the turnover, and shoveled it out front for the Emmerton goal. Bert played relatively physical, surprisingly. I'm a big fan of the Abdelkader-Helm-Bertuzzi line. Horrible third period, though. We clearly eased up on the gas pedal.

And 4 assists, but somehow manage to be -6.

Troy Bodie released by Winnipeg.

Maple Leafs starting lineup, from HFboards: Lupul-Bozak-Kessel Kulemin-Grabovski-Frattin Dupuis-Steckel-Armstrong Rosehill-Lombardi-Brown Gunnarsson-Phaneuf Liles-Schenn Gardiner-Komisarek Reimer Gustavsson Canadiens starting lineup, from HFboards: Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta Cammalleri-Plekanec-A.Kostitsyn Darche-Desharnais-Cole Moen-Enqvist-Weber Gill-Subban Campoli-Gorges Spacek-Diaz(?) Price Budaj

A few names shocked me when looking at these lists: Brian McGrattan made the Ducks roster? :carrot: D.J. King made the Capitals roster? Zack Stortini made the Preds roster?

Why is he on waivers? This surprises me. He's a defensively responsible 4th line grinder capable of putting up 15 points a year.

Too late? Explain, good man.

I've yet to attend a Wings game at the Joe

I know what you mean, an example of this could be Ottawa. The Sens probably won't have much else going for them this year, but with Chris Neil, Zack Smith, Zenon Konopka, and eventually Matt Carkner in their lineup, they won't be getting pushed around. At the same time, Chicago is a contending team, and we saw them pick up Dan Carcillo and Jamal Mayers, instead of finesse forwards that would have definitely produced more offense, such as Sergei Samsonov, who was available. Los Angeles is a contending team that we saw get Ethan Moreau as opposed to a guy like Brunnstrom (who was available at the time, as well), who clearly has more offensive potential. In addition, Kevin Westgarth just signed a 2-year extension with them. I don't think the GM of a contending team would waste a roster spot and cap space on someone they didn't feel helped the team.

Good deal for Toronto. Darryl Boyce and Joey Crabb were assigned to the AHL yesterday, i believe. It appears Mike Brown has solidified a spot on the 4th line with his solid play in the preseason. I suspect Steckel will center it, and Colton Orr and Jay Rosehill may possibly rotate.

Thank you much, good man. Post any updates, and i'll gladly add them.

Brandon Inge is looking solid tonight Verlander is ******* lights-out. We're wearing fatass down!