PavelValerievichDatsyuk

I think this recent trend has to do with goaltending. Howard has struggled since coming back. Hopefully he can get back to way he was playing. As for Monster's game, it's always an adventure with him. 3 goals against was his norm last year (2.63 GAA). He was in his first game after coming back anyway. You have to contextualize this slight problem further. The team, they've done well without Z, Franzen, Quincey, and Helm (last game). Beating the best team in the league with those injuries. Maintaining your place in the standing without your captain and point leader (was when he went down). All during one of the hardest stretches of the season. These are accomplishments that should overshadow the less-than- ideal way we've won some of them.

Your overuse of negatives tempts me to claim this as further evidence against your cause... Just teasing, You're alright with me

disagree. we wouldn't win if we start playing their game. losing composure would just playig into them getting us off our game. This Kane guy is Really annoying. He puts emphasis on all weird words in his sentences. Almost Walkenesque. At least that's JUST.....my opinion.

Can someone tell me what happened to Helm??

Damn! I didn't know this was an early start. Looks like I missed a good 1st period!

Yes!, let's make this another fighting discussion!

That's what I thought too. After the play, though, it's hard to tell where he's hurt. He's kind of writhing around and holding his head, but I'm pretty sure his head didn't hit the ice. Hopefully he's alright. It might have just been a "wind knocked out of him" situation. As of this game I like our defence. KIndl's playing well and contributing offensively. Q has played great this year so hopefully he gets back soon. Ericsson has also improved from his early season struggles. Marchenko has slotted in nicely with Smith. Also love the Glensyuk backhander!! Sleep!!!

LGW! Would love to see Nyquist turn on goose mode and score a couple!

It was the shortage of endorsements that would be available and the limited visibility in the Quebec market. He wanted to play in a major market where he could make more money of endorsements and be a big star. I'm sure the fact that the team was struggling was a part of it, though.

But this one wasn't even a hit - It was a crosscheck. You'd have to make a zero tolerance policy for any contact from behind to stop this one which would be ridiculous. I think this was just an awkward fall and an unlikely break (sorry for the horrible pun).

The like going to the Bar/Restaurant Cobo Joe's before the game. It's a little rougher, but great atmosphere of fans. Bartenders spit fire also and it's really close to the arena.

I think 4 pro scouts is around the norm. I did some random checks to see: Habs have 3 http://www.gohabs.com/staff.htm Looks like Pens have 2 http://penguins.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=56530 Not sure why you would need more. Every NHL game is televised - you would pull tape any player you're targeting. If it's during the season send them to watch the one player intently for a while. Having a scouting dedicated to watching every NHL and AHL seems overkill. We have enough arms in the organization that they'll know most players in both leagues. I mean, the coaching is watching tape preparing for each game and Blashill and company are doing the same in the AHL. As for the players you mentioned, we knew them quite well. Sammy obviously played here and Babs coached Commodore. We knew what we were getting. Injuries made the these signing a lot worse, but that's not a fault of scouting - we definitely would have known Coliacovo's history of injuries. They were signings made with limited options and I think that has to be taken into account.

Something tells me that roboturner will make a visit to the site tonight.

Oh please let this be a thing. Someone should make a take off of that "like a girl" super bowl commercial with everything changed to like a maple leaf. Or like a Morgan Reilly if you want to personalize it.

Somebody had a rough Valentine's Day.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. If you reread my post you'll see that I was talking about the it from the angle of media and fanbase. Detroit has a large hockey community that is supportive of the team, but lacks the overly intrusive media of some other hockey cities. I didn't say that on the whole it would be an attractive destination. I said, for those reasons, it would be attractive. Of Course, there are reasons why it would be unattractive to certain players - Such as a lower level of corporate endorsements availablethan if you lived in NY or LA. For many, the city does have a stigma and would be a negative. It depends on each player's individual motivations which reasons sway them in their decisions. I think a huge reason (much bigger than any "Detroit factor") for us missing out on players last year was the perception of our franchise as fading rather than rising. With the injuries to D and Z and Weiss, and our unproven young players, there was a lot of uncertainty. I think that would have been the most glaring thing staring back at UFAs. I think a different impression will confront UFAs this year.

As a Montrealer, I welcome you Frank. You would be very surprised with how bilingual the city is. I've lived here 10 years, for the first 4 i was in school and barely spoke a word of french - It's quite easy to get along. Everyone greets you with "Bonjour, Hello" at stores. The media would be a huge turn off for players, though. It's one reason why I actually like Khan and St. James. When you have media that really presses the players and organization, I don't see a whole lot of positives that come out of it. Of course, I am incredibly biased, but these are reasons why I think Detroit would be very attractive to players. It's a real hockey city with a great history, but without the level of media pressure and high profile of players in Toronto, Montreal, NY, etc. Think of Datsyuk. A player of his caliber was able to fly under the radar for a long time here as far as media coverage. Just think of how they would have treated him in Toronto.

http://griffinshockey.com/news/releases/?article_id=2991 This says he's playing in Grand Rapids now. Maybe it was just when Marchenko and Ouellet were both up with the wings.

Alright, I'm sharing my very small Emmerton connection. My grandma lives next to Emmerton's grandma. She doesn't have a tv so she'd watch some Red Wings games with my Grandparents. Somewhere along the line it was passed along that I was a huge Red Wings fan. He passed along an autographed card for me. He seemed like a really good hardworking guy. Hope everything is alright with him after the fight and concussion.

Abby's role wasn't necessarily to score. He dug the puck out in corners and got D and Z the puck and created space for them. The line produced even though he didn't score. That's why he kept his spot. Agree on Jurco. Can they still send him down? I know technically they can, but I'm not sure it's really a good thing now. Hopefully he can find his form again.

I've never bought the "you'll open the floodgates" argument. Shanny would be the next to consider, but - to me - there's a huge difference between Shanny and Feds. Shanny was here 9 years. His legacy is split with his 8 years with the Blues and Devils. maybe NYR as well. Feds was here 13 years. Started his career here. Had almost all of his prime years here. Is near the top of most all-time categories for the franchise. As for Ozzy, I (and many others) don't think he was truly great. Don't want to start that debate too much, but i think the fact that it's still often a debate says a lot.

Yeah, Actually Eichel's listed at 194. My bad. McDavid's 187. I thought I remembered them being listed at less a while ago. And, yeah, my point was that a size cutoff of 200lbs would exclude a lot of skill players especially since they would be young and could put pounds on later.

McDavid's off the table for you then. And Eichel, and pretty much most of young draft eligible players

Jurco hasn't shown that he'd be productive on the top line. But agree, the line are a little messed up. Getting Glendening in Andersson's spot and Weiss on the 3rd line are the most important moves in my opinion. Also think having Franzen back would help. (attack me at will)

Agreed, neither have been preferred destinations. But no doubt they'd prefer to be on the #1 team in the league rather than stuck in Toronto (which was the original opinion that you responded to.) To me, that's not typical LGW at all. Typical LGW is: "Why can't Holland make deals like this! (even though nobody would want him to pay the price that was payed). He's just booting the tires while wasting the rest of Dats and Z's careers..." To be fair, Quincey came hear with an expiring contract, but he would be an RFA so we knew we'd have him for more than the rental period. Franson is purely a rental at the time of this trade - It's a much higher price to pay for the return.