Shady Ultima

Last year, when he and Franzen played together in game 7 against Phoenix and the two just dominated I saw potential. The two have some chemistry that should really propel that second line. I'm happy to see Bert getting some confidence in his game and playing well again.

The new design is alright, I actually think it looks pretty good. I've always noticed his mask looks a little bit different than most other NHL goalies. Is the open part cut a bit differently? I've never seen another mask that looks like it.

They actually allowed something that stupid to be posted? The ignorance of the whole post is ridiculous.

I don't quite know how to get to Drum's stream. Is there another link?

So were goalie helmets....

Bert doesn't have a cup, which is part of why he wants to win one here. Modano won the cup with Dallas in 99. Miller won with Anaheim. I THINK Eaves won the cup with Carolina.

Oh really? I never knew that.

They made a mistake letting Phaneuf go I think.

When the glass breaks like that, it sure as hell LOOKS sharp to me... how is it that they aren't?

I would hate to pay however much to get front row tickets, and then have glass come flying at me.. They may want to look into doing something with that glass, maybe adding a second layer an inch or so apart to protect the fans?

The problem with that is that the NHL wants to GROW the sport. By only focusing on teams that are big markets NOW, you lose out on teams that COULD be big markets. As much as I hate it, the success of the Pens, Hawks and to a lesser extant LA and Washington have created growing markets. In 2003, Pittsburgh would have folded, now they're in the top of the league in terms of income. With a revenue sharing luxury tax system, teams like Detroit help to build competitive teams in markets that otherwise may fold. There will always be teams that won't do well financially, but Winnipeg or Quebec would be able to grow a team with this, while not damaging the teams who are already strong. By fostering the weaker teams, the NHL becomes stronger by having more competitive teams, instead of the same 5 or so.

I was pretty sure that our team, with Meech, Kindl, Ritola, Miller and Draper penciled as possibles for 7th D or 13th/14th forward were barely over, and since Meech and one of Ritola/Miller won't be here, we'd be under far enough to have Drapes retire and have Miller or Ritola replace him. I may have made a mistake though.

Charly Horses and Groin injuries tend to be common in preseason, especially among vets. The other players aren't on the team and aside from a miracle, only Ritola has a chance at cracking the lineup.

We have the cap space to have Draper retire. We just don't have the roster space. I have a feeling, Draper might go on LTIR for a while this season..

After seeing that video, I hope Crosby makes it to the finals every year for the rest of his career and loses. That's a pathetic, whiny commercial. It's not even like he is saying "I gotta work harder, we have to be better" With fire in his heart. It sounds like he's crying. I hate the Pens... I'm probably one of the few who likes MOST of the Blackhawks team, but I HATE their fans. That's the problem with the Hawks. They have a good team, their fans suddenly are hardcore and they're a dynasty... We are the only remaining dynasty in the NHL. And Bettman hates Detroit because of it. A dynasty represents the failure of his even-ground ideas.

I don't see how that would change things at all. I mean, if Toronto (just an example) stinks for the first few months, they tank the season, and are the first ones who have no possibility of playoff contention. UNLESS you mean that the first pick goes to the team who was seeded #17 overall, just missing the playoffs. Which would be interesting, as a kind of reward for doing the best the team can. But you know that a decent team will try to JUST miss the playoffs if a 'NEXT GRETZKY' player comes along. As far as everything else, I like the idea of getting 3 forward, 2 defence and 1 goalie at a discount for being homegrown. Say 75% of their salary affects the cap. We'd probably choose Z, Dats and Franzen, Lids and Kronner, and (this season) Osgood. The amount of money saved would have given us almost enough room to sign Kovalchuk. That's where I see a problem coming in. A lot of teams will get their 6 players with the discount, and then splurge, and still fill the rest of their roster with league minimum players.

That article is pretty enlightening. I'm sure there are many players who do, and he has a point, you can build a lot of leg muscle using steroids, making you that much quicker and stronger on the ice.

That's brilliant. I actually can imagine the goalie just s***ting his pants as an entire team shoots pucks at him...

Well then I claim royalty rights for my Aunt Sue... heh Anyways, this is the most ridiculous thing. If you don't make it, you work harder or you give up. It's that simple... but hey. Maybe I should go back and sue all those battle of the bands I've been in where I didn't win...

In the thread about Babcock's extension, someone noted that Babcock was groomed to be the coach of the Red Wings. I think when Holland retires, it is a sure thing that Yzerman will be coming back here. He knows that this is his home, and he belongs with the Red and White. I loved that he almost said he was "in it to win it", but now I have that damned Kid Rock song in my head.

Thanks. I had forgotten about that. Osgood took us the rest of the way, and was a major reason that we won.

Lidstrom hardly 'lost a step' (as so many say) last year. He was still extremely solid and scored closed to 50 points, all while playing for a team that was essentially Grand Rapids for half the year. To look at two different games is silly. Things like that happen all the time. If you look back at any of the teams in last years playoffs, you'll probably find that most of them had a high scoring game, followed by at least one low scoring game. Detroit has been the model for consistency for a long time. Age has nothing to do with it. We have about 5 players who are old, the rest are in their prime, or are young players, just entering their prime. Have you missed the massive list of players who Chicago lost? They lost about 7 players. Sure, most were bottom liners, but the fact is, you don't win a cup with just 2 lines. You need to have four lines, all working hard. Chicago will make the playoffs, but they won't make it past the second round (if they make it past the first) Take this from one of the few people on here who actually LIKE the Hawks as a team (I hate 90% of their fans though) There aren't a whole lot of different players from that team from 3 years ago. Goalies: 07/08 - Osgood/Hasek (Howard was #3) 10/11 - Howard/Osgood Not much change there. Hasek didn't even play in the playoffs, and Howard showed last year he has the potential to be amazing. Much better than Fleury... Defense: 07/08 - Lilja, Quincey, Lidstrom, Meech, Lebda, Stuart, Chelios, Rafalski, Stafford, Kindl, Ericsson, Kronwall 10/11 - Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, Ericsson, Salei, Kindl Again, not much difference. Most of the players we had in 08 that are gone, either were not very good (Meech, Lebda and Quincey at the time), old (Chelios). I don't even KNOW who Stafford is, so I doubt he was very important at all. Offense: 07/08 - Abdelkader, Cleary, Drake, Maltby, Downey, McCarty, Hudler, Samuelsson, Helm, Kopecky, Franzen, Holmstrom, Datsyuk, Draper, Zetterberg, Ritola, Hartigan, Filppula 10/11 - Abdelkader, Andersson, Bertuzzi, Callahan, Cleary, Coetzee, Datsyuk, Draper, Eaves, I.Filppula, V.Filppula, Franzen, Helm, Holmstrom, Hudler, Johnson, Maltby, Miller, Minard, Modano, Owens, Ritola, Tardif, Tatar, Zetterberg This year's lineup includes a few new faces. Many of whom I know nothing about, and includes many GR prospects who won't see much playing time. The only real differences are: Gone - Drake, Downey, McCarty, Samuelsson, Kopecky, Hartigan Come - Bertuzzi, Eaves, Miller, Modano Aside from the fighters, we haven't lost much. Modano is at least as good as Drake was, Eaves/Miller are both very good PKer's who also add more offense than any of the players except Sammy, and Bert is a solid player. So, aside from Sammy, we haven't lost anyone who hasn't been replaced, OR upgraded. You're very right. We're not the 07/08 Wings. We're much, MUCH better. I'd say the only Wings line-up that was better would be the 02 lineup, but in the salary cap days, NO team has had 3 scoring lines as good as this years team. Our third line is better than many team's second lines. I'd say everyone in the world would take Lidstrom alone over the entire Pen's D core. Lidstrom has been the most dominant defensemen in recent history, and one of the best ever. Rafalski is still a top-notch offensive D-man. Many knock him for his defensive zone play, but that was never his strength. He showed at the Olympics, and during our post-olympic run that he still has what it takes to play. Add on top of that Stuart and Kronwall, who are as good or better than some other teams first pairing. Salei and E are a bit of a question mark, especially Ericsson. The guy has potential to be a very, very good d-man, top 4 material for sure, he just has to get going. We've seen him at his best before, and he was amazing. Last year was a let down, sure, but it was his real rookie year. He's only getting better.

There's actually a guy named Bergfors? At first I thought you somehow messed up Forsberg...

Oh, god yes. They were both amazing. Lets hope that kind of play is more consistent this year. I think all the lines look good, top to bottom. Our biggest question mark this year is definitely Howard, who may be awesome, or may have a slump. I think he'll do good, because he has one of the best mentors available. Osgood may never get the recognition he deserves, but he is a solid goalie because of his mind game, more so than his physical game. If Howard can take that from him, and never be rattled, the kid will do fine. Other than goal, as long as we remain relatively healthy, and can play consistently through the entire season, I can see really, really good things for this team.