DatsyukianDekes

Brunner looks amazing.

No point now. 1st period is over. Even though it sucks only being able to listen to it on the radio, it really is nice to hear hockey is back and hear familiar names.

Streams ?

Jays didn't buy anyone ? They traded with Miami and Mets. What's to say the Leafs can't do the same to get top talent there, they have some pretty good young guys ? Also, cap space isn't an issue considering they are 12 million under and can make trades. I hate the leafs alot, however Rogers and Bell don't fool around like MLSE and the teachers union did. If you talk to Leaf fans, you know this is not a shocker. People at work today were saying it should have been done 3 years ago and didn't really care much other than wanting to know the replacement.

As I said, in 5 years it probably will be close. Right now it's not. I posted the last 5 drafts with the type of talent coming out of Canada vs the rest of the world. This year as I said it will go MacKinnon - Jones - Drouin as expected, 2 of which are Canadians that are dominating. They already proved they could beat Russia and the USA this year, they just couldn't win when it mattered. (See 2009 Red Wings) the better team doesn't always win (See 2012 NHL Playoffs). If you are able to compile a list of the last 4 WJC teams from USA / Russia or where ever to rival the type of talent that Canadians have put out I would like to see it. I simply don't believe they are close from what list I can put together, please enlighten me. No offense, I still have no clue what your going on about with relation to my post.

He screwed up with his very first try at a GM in Toronto. Kessel for two first round draft picks (Seguin, Hamilton). Burke being fired is not a surprise up here in Toronto, however the timing is what people are confused about. Rogers and Bell now own majority of the Maple Leafs, they are two owners that don't fool around and want results. See the Toronto Blue Jays this off season.

This post has nothing to even do with what I said ? What does twitter comments have to do with Canada putting out the most consistent top talent every year ? I also never said Canada is the only country that plays Hockey good, I said they are ahead of everyone in terms of producing top talented players, I posted pictures to provide examples to my argument. I was naive when i moved here, and said American's were better, and Canada wasn't as good as the Russians anymore but really who was I kidding ?

Considering American's have 10 times the population of Canada, its really a moot point bringing up Canadians love for Hockey. It's the one thing that Canada is actually amazing at and the only thing Canadians care about, that is why it's a nationwide love. As I stated earlier, those players I named were from one area, the GTA (50 KM of toronto radius). The fact that a small portion of Ontario has produced that kind of talent is pretty amazing, there is no reason to discredit how far ahead Canada still is. The top players that come in every year are pretty much Canadians, whether we want to admit it or not. Just recently you have guys like Seguin, Hall, Hopkins, Tavares, Eberle, Duchene, Kane and just recently will be McKinnon, Huberdeau, Drouin I mean thats some serious top level talent. I don't know any recent American list that could match that kind of lineup. I know it's an unrealistic thing to post considering it's just drafts, but it shows Canada still is stacking up the best talent year after year. 2012: 2011: 2010: 2009: 2008: If there is a weakness with the Canadians, it is definitely goaltending. Teams are definitely getting closer, but not even close right now to Canada. edit: sorry about the last picture, it's blurry for some reason.

Regardless of whether teams are catching up they still aren't on par with Canada, even I can admit that as an America that moved to Canada. Canada still produces the best hockey players and it's really not even close. I know within 50 KM of Toronto (GTA), stars like Giroux, Stamkos, Getzlaf, Perry, Duchene, Skinner, Neal, Staal bros, Spezza, Nash have made the NHL just to name a few off the top of my head. The rest of Ontario alone is stacked, then within Canada it's not close. Mackinnon and Drouin for example will go within the top 3 this year in the draft, two of which are Canadian.

Do you guys think the lockout will help us by signing Flip cheap because it will be a small sample size of what he could have done ?

It's no different if Canada beat USA in the gold medal game. There is fans like that everywhere that would post ridiculous things like that, doesn't mean all Canadians think that way. I know most Toronto fans only care about the Men's Olympic team. I don't know anyone in Toronto that watches the Spengler or WC.

I know it was last year, and no one said they didn't win. It's just funny how he kept saying we win Canada over and over, now he turned away from the Canadian media when he was interviewed today.

As a Toronto Blue Jays fan, I really can ignore this year of Hockey and look forward to some actual Baseball worth watching for once. I would rather a deal get done sooner than later however, just so I know going into September that Hockey should be back.

Curious, did you even watch the game ? The refs admitted they tossed out Camara for a clean hit. Lipon deserved to be tossed though, and got a one game suspension. North America plays a different style then Euro's, it's as simple as that. Russians don't like physical play, but Canada plays that style, it's the way they were taught. Yakupuckhog should be more concerned about passing the puck to his teammates instead of trying to be someone he's not (Datsyuk). Hopefully he keeps his head up against the Canadians otherwise things might get ugly.

You are correct.

Looks similar to Giroux's shooutout goal.

Anyone else remember this move ? Bertuzzi should go 2nd imo just incase it doesn't get to the 3rd round.

Not sure if this was posted. But was reading local website here in Toronto and seen this article with Mike Babcock. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/18/red-wings-coach-mike-babcock-nhl-could-end-up-like-bowling He's absolutely right. It took them soo long just to build it to what it was, now they are dropping back 5 steps to where they were before.

How do you know ? Did Babcock show you a draft of the different lines he wants to use ? Why not wait until the season starts (hopefully this year) before saying there is no identity.

So Brunner gets top 6 minutes, but Nyquist gets subbed with TooToo ? Don't think so. Nyquist after playing like he is in the AHL, will either be top 6 (especially since Brunner hasn't even played in NA yet) or on the third line.

He saved the kid from a lot of disappointing years. The truth does hurt sometimes. Maybe it was Brian Burke dressed up as Santa ?

This lockout is boring as hell, I was looking for an interview from the NHLPA regarding the recent talks on youtube and somehow it was linked to a Pavel Datsyuk video (hes amazing, maybe thats why). I watched the video and it was pretty badass, it's pretty amazing to see how many highlights he has compiled over the years. Anyways if your bored and want some Datsyukian fix, heres the video.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/lockout_scoring.php?season=2012&leagueid=&sort=&leagueteam=&nation=&name=&order=TP 4 Red Wings in the top 15 in scoring outside the NHL, pretty impressive. The most surprising is Jan Mursak, I know its in Austria but he's well over a PPG.

Here are the other videos if anyone wants another laugh.