number9

fights after clean hits are dumb. fighting is less functional now, but still functional. if it wasnt fucntional at all ppl wouldnt do it. if we returned to pre-lockout attiudes it would be much more functional. i dont like where hockey is heading. less fighting and more diving.

Entertainment: fans want to see fights. it's one of the things that hockey has that no other sport has (besides boxing/UFC). it makes hockey unique and it often intensifies rivalries and puts fans in seats. Traditional: getting rid of fighting in hockey is like making american football 2 hand touch Protection: turtling rarely happens, and when it does it's seen as quite shameful. at least in pre-lockout hockey you usually had to answer for dirty plays one way or another. heavyweight bouts are more of a sideshow, but do bring in fans and thus money. a win in a fight often boosts the energy and attitude of a team as well, occasionally changing the course of a game. heavy suspensions for fighting is bad because it would change many dynamics of the game. i believe refs should return to their pre-lockout attitude of allowing enforcers to make dirty players "pay" thus curtailing many dirty plays. now the nhl is suspending players instead of letting enforcers do their jobs. as a result the number of dives r increasing because players kno they can get others suspended for long periods of time. if enforcers were allowed to perform their jobs, the only thing a dive would accomplish is maybe a pp, and the one not diving getting his butt kicked. personally i think they should allow enforcers to beat on divers. fighting is very much a sideshow but also very functional

i almost forgot how much of a jerk scott stevens was... http://wickerpedia.org/ this is the detroit red wings, not the panthers. realistically nyquist probably has at least 2 seasons in the AHL ahead of him. edit: /NCAA

Zberg - Dats - Parise

Flips - Zberg - Mule Huds - Dats - Cleary Tuzzi - Helm - Eaves Homer - Abby - Miller Brunnstrom flips and mule should be on the same line. they tend to have good chemistry. then u have the typical huds, dats, clearly line that has been working well. 3rd line can check, but score as well. i think tuzzi's presence on the 3rd line will really help eaves and helm. the 4th line has abby but he can definitely move up if he plays well. homer as a pp specialist. brunnstrom to fill in for injuries or replace someone on a bad streak (like hudler).

2 points... 1. The NHL should be more relaxed about fighting. Theyre giving out all these crazy suspensions to try and curb dirty hits, when the way to curb dirty hits is with fear. Not fear of missing a few games, but fear that your going to have your face pounded in if u make that dirty play. Reality is hockey is a fast high impact sport. Players are going to leave their feet, use their size (especially if they dont have the skill), and lose their cool. 2. If shanny has anything to do with fighting leaving the game gordie will kill him. plain and simple. i kno shanny is a tough guy but he should legitimately fear for his life if gordie comes looking for him. so its in his best interest not to get rid of fighting.

i agree. roloson is an underrated vet. gagnes gone now, but its not like he did much in tampa anyway. still a TON of firepower thou. washington will come out ahead thou as long as vokoun lives up to his potential and ovi and backstrom bounce back (even if they all play like s*** theyll still be good). and i think carlson will turn out to be better than hedman.

montreal will make the playoffs. max pac, price, and subban r only getting better. gomez and cammi will have better seasons than last as well. no way they dont make it.

i dont think we do, the dudes 28. but maybe, im not 100%. hed prolly have to clear waivers or something to get to the nhl

Over the summer when discussing FA's many people made it clear how soft he was. I actually thought he would be a good option at the beginning of the off season (to replace raffi's offense), till LGW discussed picking him up. I don't remember specifics, but i got that the general message was he's softer than kaberle, and because of this unique level of softness he is not "defensively sound". thou hell, we shoulda just got em, i mean its not like E or kindl can do their job either

if he just keeps believing in himself, and we all believe with him, maybe, just maybe, he'll one day overcome and make it to Detroit!!! but seriously good luck to him. I'll have to keep watching him this year to see if he keeps it up, i totally wrote him off. never say never. (<-- i've got bieber fever)

http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=2856 Just saw this on NHL.com, I don't follow collegiate hockey too much myself but it seems big because NHL.com I feel like never reports on college hockey. Anyway, the kid is from Rochester, MI, and he seems like he would rather play for Michigan than get drafted and play for Kitchener, which is cool for college hockey. I'm not sure if Michigan lost any big players after their final appearance last year (damn deluth), but now that they have this kid do you think they'll be able to make another championship run?

NO PITKANEN. Ive heard he may or may not be the softest defense man out there right now. yandles legit thou lol

dont the hawks have some one two punches? hossa/kane? toews/sharp? sorry i dont pay attention to the hawks those could be completely wrong lol

WHOA dont obsess about the word troll. you dont have to be a troll to go trolling. he made an inciting remark to someone who was just stating there opinion. if u wanna complain that i used the word troll incorrectly, thats fine, its beneath my point. fact is, wings made a constructive comment, popular or not, and mmamolo teased, attacked, incited, or whatever you wanna call it. he offered no explanation, he just called him a whiner. and that is flat wrong. period. feel free to replace the word troll with "one-time instigator" if you like, my argument remains the same. and ill just leave it at that.

I'm sure hes a great guy and knos alot about hockey, but in this instance hes trolling. boo-hoo contributes nothing to the topic and the poster hes quoting only feels attacked... its asking for a fight. it's annoying to click on a topic to read what ppl have to say about it, but instead you find a dick measuring contest bc somebody just hadddddd to make some small inflammatory remark. if you ask me that's a lot more annoying than the "whining"... which i dont believe wings was doing anyway. i calls it likes i sees it.

wings stated his opinion and he got attacked for it. i calls it likes i sees it.

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hopefully. for the 12th spot thou i think miller has him defensively beat

I think you should definately add conner to the equation, but take emmerton out of the equation and replace him with jan.

Kind of random, but I saw Kesler at the tigers game today. I was kinda surprised about how skinny he was. I mean he was REALLY thin. Like a twig. Skin and bone. He had a bad limp too, which I assume is from the hip surgery he just had. Maybe he lost weight from the surgery? Or maybe he's always been that thin and just looks bigger in his pads? i dont really kno, but with the style of game he plays im assuming he had to have lost a lot of weight over the summer. Glad to see hes still a tigers fan thou

haha yeah ive seen him with his shirt off b4 in locker room interviews (no homo) and i was really surprised. im sure he was still ripped, just looked like he lost some size in his legs and arms this summer. he'll prolly be back in the gym soon thou.

i have no idea where he was sitting. i saw him in the street in front of comerica as everyone was leaving the stadium. me and a friend of mine were like two of the very few ppl who recognized him. he does a good job of playing it low key, thou hes got a very distinct face, and after the finals it was easy for a hockey nerd to recognize him lol.

ull have to trust me on this one, i didnt get a pic with him.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=585584&navid=mod-rr-headlines