Hockey Convert

This, and I can't state it strongly enough. I never saw much of Kelly in Ottawa, but I've watched since he came over to Boston last year. He was pretty quiet in the regular season last year as he got used to the Bruins system, but he works hard EVERY shift. Even so, Bruins fans were starting to ask, "why the hell did we get this guy?" Then the playoffs started. The questions stopped. You want to talk about a heart-and-soul guy and a playoff performer, Kelly is your guy. He's been key in both sets of playoffs now for Boston; this year's series against Washington, the third line centered by Kelly has been by FAR the most productive, and his wingers are Benoit Pouliot, who was dumped by Montreal last off-season, and Brian Rolston who everyone swore was too old and done. Anyway, I have become a huge Chris Kelly fan. I would be surprised if Boston didn't find a way to re-sign him, as I believe Claude Julien and the Bruins' front office love him, but if he's available I would be comfortable giving a LOT to get him in Detroit. Exactly the kind of character and player you want in the locker room.

"I wish we were the biggest, toughest, ugliest team in organized hockey... That's not how we're built, so you coach what you got." - Mike Babcock, Jan. 2012

LOL. Seriously, does anyone else picture "Edzo" walking out to his car to find a note that says, "I caught you a delicious bass!"?

I'd put it at about 60% blame to horrible defensive breakdowns, 40% to Conklin. Opinion will probably vary on that, though.

Ugh, yeah; pretty textbook boarding. Not good.

It kills me that it's open season on the Wings players all around; but too many fans, as well as Holland, are OK with it. So that's just the way it is.

Agreed, they're not giving up on the play which is nice to see. They're going hard, and managing to hang in there. I just wish they could tighten up the team defense as a whole. Kindl seems pretty solid for having missed so much time, and only playing half the games before that.

Yeah, he's looking more and more comfortable with the pace of the game, and making some good plays. Even if everyone were healthy today, how do you bench Nyquist now? Guess we'll just have to see how it goes.

Lol, I thought the same thing! This game is crazy.

Yeah, I'm interested to see what happens. It seems like he could go either way; just be a shut-down guy, or maybe he develops the offense too. I hope so!

The video is actually up on hockeyfights (his last few before that do not have a video, though). I'll warn you, it is NOT pretty for em-cee. Since I can't watch the GR games, I'm not sure how good he is overall; some videos on there he seems to wallop some people, others like that last one... yikes.

I can't even bring myself to look. Any board with a bunch of Flyer fans is just... a thing to behold. Anyway; lots of line-juggling tonight. I thought Mursak-Emmerton-Conner looked pretty good. Early in the game, they used Holmstrom-Helm-Franzen at least a few times. And I NEVER thought I'd say it, but they did seem to generate some chances. I can't even believe I just said that. Gotta find a way to score and hold a lead, though.

Man, gotta give Franzen credit for pulling the trigger when it's there. Yes, it's one he *should* hit, I guess, but nice to see him finally just not hesitate and roof it.

Yeah, he really did keep his arm tucked, no jump, no follow-through. I worry that "head is the principle point of contact" might come out, though. Just have to see.

You're both right! Obviously it's my lack of education and hockey experience that's holding me back! Can you teach me? I can't pay much because I work as a janitor, at least when I can figure out how to put on my shoes... Damn, there is a lot of sensitivity in here tonight. I'll buy everyone a pint of ice cream and you can cry it out. Crying takes the sad out of you!

Absolutely agree; I've been saying this in one form or another all year. Abby tries, but even not considering his fighting skill he just doesn't have the demeanor for it. We need someone mean.

Go watch full metal jousting, you'll love it. Wish you could decline penalties in the NHL like they can in the NFL.

I'm sorry, but there is no need for that kind of hit. At all. Far more probability of injury than any five fights.

Yep; and the Hawks aren't the only team that does it. Drives me crazy.

Yeah, Conner is solid, and I didn't mean to imply above that I had any problem with him per se; was just surprised after they've twice tried to give Tatar a look, and now opted for Conner. Thinking about it today, though, I'm wondering if they want to have some extra speed against Chicago. Conner definitely gets on guys fast on the backcheck, and always brings some energy. I've appreciated that much the couple times he's been up.

Not just overripe but rotted, fermented, drunk by a hobo and turned to urine, apparently. Oh well.

According to freepwings on Twitter, they've recalled Chris Conner.

I don't know much about the Wild and can't seem to find any info on their lineup; how accurate is the projected lineup for them above? Are they really benching Kassian after he scored two goals last night?

No one is panicking, but some are dissatisfied. Indeed, arguably no teams did improve, including the Wings who have lost in the second round two years running. Some fans seem to be satisfied with that; I am not one. There have been opportunities to improve the team with the resources we have, and I don't think Holland capitalized on them appropriately.

I don't know; I think I'd still prefer that to giving Canucks fans validation. They're insufferable now; if they won it all, I can't even imagine the magnitude of the cloud of Smug that would envelop the land...