No.9

It took 19 years, and an all-star career.....it took four Stanley cups, and six Norris Trophies....
But at long last, Nick got some.....
CURLY FRIES!!!!!!
(Or Jr Roast Beef)

Proud to say I tossed my first hat on the Joe Louis Arena ice tonight. Had some great seats and a brand new hat (tonight was the first time I've had a chance to wear it) -- it went to a worthy cause!
Thanks Nick!

Current dorm room white-board:

Proportional to their roles, who had a better effort tonight? Howard in goal or the offense?
Did the offense generate a lot of chances, put a lot of pressure on Quick, put a lot of shots on goal, etc...? The offense posted a very solid effort that on any other night easily would've translated to at the very least 2-3 goals if not more. Quick robbed them, pure and simple. He played as close to perfect as possible and we tested him HARD. I don't hold this loss against them. I don't blame them. It's a stupid thing to do on a night like this.
Meanwhile, Howard let 5 goals in, many of which were softer in nature. There's absolutely something to be said for Howard not coming up with a big save to keep it close. That 3rd goal sealed it. When you're playing a goalie who's having a great game and you give up a quick one right off the bat in the 3rd to allow for a 3-goal lead, the game's pretty much over. But again, we didn't score, so it's also pretty stupid to blame Howard for this loss. At the same time, though, he did play pretty bad.
To me, it's not that the Wings lost this game. It wasn't that simple.
The real story: Quick won this game.

I say take Orpik out, because I'm a die hard Red Wings fan, and the mule has always been one of my favorites. That being said I didn't get a good look at the hit, and as far as I've searched have not found a replay. I can say, though, that I wished that "hip injury" Cindy sustained, which I'm sure was a minor bruise, would have took him out for the season.

"With a sellout crowd of 18,087 and both teams using much of their "A" lineups, the $321 million arena opened with an almost regular-season intensity."
Much of their "A" lineups? Err, we were missing Hudler, Datsyuk, and Zetterberg, and played Ozzie in net.
That's not really our "A" lineup.

That's very mature... Come on, nobody should ever try to intentionally injure another player... period... Even if it's Sydney Crosby or Brooks Orpik. That kind of behavior is reprehensible. Now a good beatdown on the ice... or perhaps Kronwall lining him up some day... That's hockey.

Why does the NHL not make a serious effort to market anyone but Crosby and Ovechkin? This HBO thing is just more proof of that.
I know they're the two best players in the league and are the only household names in hockey amongst the general public. However, in other sports, it's more than just 2 players who are household names, and it's because those leagues try to make a real effort towards marketing those players. The NHL refuses to do so and I don't understand why. Isn't it better for the league if more players are marketed to the general public, instead of just showing Crosby and Ovechkin commercials all the time?
I remember last year after the Caps and Pens were eliminated, I heard many sportswriters complaining that they stopped caring about the playoffs because the two best players were gone, and I was infuriated by their stupidity and lack of knowledge about hockey. At the same time, I realized the league was responsible for this indifference, because it wasn't trying hard enough to market any other players.
I'm not saying the league should lay off these two superstars, but they need to acknowledge that there's other great stars in the game. That's what all the other sports leagues are doing and I think it will be better for hockey in the long run.

The headline on ESPN for the game reads this:
Crosby leads Pens before leaving with hip injury
That is why they are a joke when it comes to hockey.

I like Babcock calling the league out a tiny bit there with the quote about "The league wouldn't be happy if we did that to...(Crybaby) or (Big Nose)"

The modmins, I believe.
BTW, f*** Crosby. If he broke both his kneecaps in a tragic kneecap-breaking accident, I would feel no pity. I'm so over that flaming pile of crud. He's the Justin Bieber of the NHL.

I mentioned it several times on this board before, but it was probably about 6 or 7 years ago, I went a game at the Joe and Pavel had really just started bursting onto the scene (it was only like his 3rd or 4th season with the Wings full time), well anyways, like I said, he had been with the Wings for several years, so I was fully aware of who he was and was just starting to get an idea of just HOW good he was/could be... we went to the game early for warm-ups and after almost everyone else was done with warm-ups and skating back off, he skated into the crease at about the top of the crease and repeatedly (at least 20 times in a row) shot the puck so that it hit the side post, then crossbar, then back down to his stick *ding, ding, dink* , like a double bank shot in billiards...
Like I said he did this about 20 times WITHOUT FAIL and without barely moving his stick more than 2 inches each time to adjust to where the puck landed... I was absolutely awe-struck at his control and hands...
Fast forward to today and all the CONTINUED highlight moves and I can confidently say, WITHOUT hesitation, that Pavel Datsyuk has the single greatest puck control/hands in the history of the game... go ahead and try and argue who is/has been better? It's like the guy LITERALLY has the puck attached to his stick by a string and is a once in a lifetime (possibly history) that you will ever see a player with that ability... and DAMN are we lucky it is happening in the Winged Wheel...

I've been watching replay casts and playing NHL 10 for months now. Finally cracked today, and joined the forum. Com'on pre-season!!!

I've been watching replay casts and playing NHL 10 for months now. Finally cracked today, and joined the forum. Com'on pre-season!!!

I've been watching replay casts and playing NHL 10 for months now. Finally cracked today, and joined the forum. Com'on pre-season!!!

now this is what im talking about.....very last words "he also got a facefull of knuckles compliments of Justin Abdelkader." lol