Joey v3.4

You know the "Last" button on a control, that flips you between two channels? I have it set, one channel to this game on NBC, and one channel to the Weather Channel. Then I flip between them both, and try to figure out which is more full of s***. -------------- We created a drinking game. The rules were complex. We then simplified them......and the rule is only: Every time they say the word rivalry, we drink. That segment got us hammered. Honestly, I cheated, because I couldn't even keep up.

You know the "Last" button on a control, that flips you between two channels? I have it set, one channel to this game on NBC, and one channel to the Weather Channel. Then I flip between them both, and try to figure out which is more full of s***.

They compared Frazier and Ali, who fought in man to man combat 3 times, as the best boxers in the world. Somehow, Ovi and Crosby is comparable? NBC should suck a c*ck.

Honestly. What is the rivalry thing? Crosby and Ovechkin do not even have a rivalry. I'm pretty sure both of them have no real personal feelings for one another at all.

Typing as I go. So far I'm not impressed. The hype preceding this game, almost makes watching it lackluster as a result. It's hard to feel any emotion for either of these teams. I guess, if you've only been a hockey fan for 1-2 years, it could be exciting, but I s*** you not, if the Fresh Prince was on right now, I would probably just watch that instead. TBS is doing Men in Black reruns, and I keep picking up the controller to change it. Regardless, I'm going to suffer through all 60 minutes of this. Even the fight seemed staged, since as it ended you could read their lips saying "That's enough, hey hey hey!!!" Ovie fell, shows you the stress that the media has put on these guys. They're not playing for 2 points, and certainly not for any type of title, but everyone seems edgy, apprehensive. As though their retirement benefits depend on the success of the broadcast. I'm sure every NBC and HBO big rig, has breathed enough hot air down each teams throats. They turned the great sport of hockey into a reality TV show. That's what I see.

z has basically the same points, goals, and shot percentage as Ovechkin. Our GAA sucks. We need to start winning games with 3 goals. In our defense, Islanders are on their first, and probably only hot streak of the year. They were almost bottom of the league at one point. They're just on a strong motivation stretch. Considering the Wings won 3 straight prior to this, in a crammed schedule, is pretty good. Wings still near the top. Got the point. I call it even, and will now proceed to get so drunk that I don't remember new Years.

Costing more to play is a huge reason there aren't more American Hockey players. Only the rich kids can afford to play competitively. To play hockey you need pads, gear, skates, a stick, arena fees, league fees, etc. Very few schools play hockey below the high school level, and most high schools do not have hockey teams. So you have to play it independantly of school. Keep in mind that in order for a kid to become "good" at hockey he has to play a LOT, and has to have quality, more expensive equipment. It is not uncommon for some parents to pay thousands every year for one kid to play hockey. Meanwhile, you can pick up a basketball for 20 bucks, and 10 kids can play all summer long. All schools have Basketball teams, and football teams. I think the lack of ability to play it growing up, greatly reduces its popularity in places that aren't already hockey oriented (Ie. Canada, heh). Every kid plays basketball or football, but most people in the U.S. have never ever, even once, played ice hockey. Plus you have to learn to skate, and a TON of people cannot skate that well.

Who do you like? On this roster, post two comments about every single player. Post more than one if you like. Positive, Negative. Praise, or demons in the closet. Whatever it be. Zetterberg Datsyuk Lidstrom Cleary Franzen Bertuzzi Rafalski Filppula Kronwall Holmstrom Eaves Stuart Hudler Helm Ericsson Abdelkader Modano Salei Miller Draper Normally I would start a thread like this by posting my own opinions, but honestly I'm so high that correctly spelling all their names was complex. I will respond later. Basically........two comments about each player. Preferable, one positive, one negative, but for freedom of speech reasons, two negatives, and two positives is also acceptable. I guess run on sentences could be allowed, as well

I see this thread is going to be very balanced.....

I don't know if I hinted this well in my first post, but I kind of think the HOF is becoming a joke. Currently, the HOF is filled with names that even knowledgable hockey fans don't know. (I don't care if you're the best fan in the world, unless you're rainman, you will not remember everyone). As it continues to expand, and allow players, for odds and ends reasons, it will become just more and more obscure, and meaningless. To me, Hall of Famers are the guys you randomly look up youtube videos of when you're hammered. I'm sure half the people who read this thread have at one point youtubed a Gretzky video, and sure as s*** an Yzerman video. When you search "Datsyuk" on Youtube, and it says he has 400,000,000 hits, to me that should tell you something.

You explained yourself a lot better that time. I agree, but I'm still going to remain a stoic on the issue

I take it you missed the other 99% of this thread. Haters hate I think you're outvoted in this one, dude.

I thought I deleted this picture of myself long ago. Whoops.

Murphy is probably about as paid as anyone, to advertise No disrespect to murphy, but when you're putting kids through college, and trying to formulate a bunch of money for your family.... People will say anything, if saying it equals cash

When saying I dropped the ball, you should not say: "If he starts scoring like he has been" When he has only been doing it two games. I don't really care that I dropped the ball in your opinion. I still stick with my opinion. You might base your opinion on his last two games. I try to look at the season. A s*** ton of players have scored 2 games in a row, only to go on to be minor league players the next year. I am not a Hudler hater. I honestly think the man has skills. I'm just saying, 2 good games so far in an 82 game season....is not really awe inspiring. Hell, Draper can pull that off. Hell........Miller pulled it off. A goalie could pull off points in two consecutive games, in theory. I never shut my eyes on Hudler. I'm just saying.....he broke out two games....now he's got 40 more to prove. I am not really anti hudler. I am not really Pro Hudler. My stance is more like, "lets ******* see" Oh and when I'm wrong, I got no problem admitting it. I'm wrong more than I'd care to admit, honestly. This thread isn't even about Hudler. I digress.

For some reason it did not add to my original post, thus the original is now being altered. All things said in this post, are found below.

Drape is motivated. He's had a lot of downtime. And he's ending his career. AND, he's the kinda dude that just gives a s***, how his team does. Draper is a class act. Goals by him are always just bonuses. Dude is older, slower, crappier than ever, but he exemplifies a work ethic, that is not paralleled. Even in 2010, 2011, Draper still has a job to do. It's not goal scoring. It's not winning a cup. IMO, Draper is a professor, when it comes to 3rd and 4th line play. He's a champion of those lines. I think he's just trying to show the young guys, how the f*** to do it

George, now we're talking

No. If you suck for 40 games, and do well in two, you are not "redeemed". Lets face it, if you f***ed up 40 things to every 2 things you did well, you'd be fired, disowned, and cast to the curb. This applies even if you were a telemarketer making 8 dollars an hour, let alone a professional hockey player making millions. How is it that we are so forgiving of people making millions? If you paid me 1 million, I would try a tripple flip off a mountain, into a firey lake below. I can't swim, I hate heights, I have no f***in clue how to flip once, let alone triple, and I'm not immune to fire, yet I'd still attempt that s*** for a million. Yet we pay these guys millions, to do....just what? If he can do it for the next 40 games, then he is redeemed. Until then, he still has like 3 goals in 40 games. Good two games. Doesn't mean s*** to me. If he went half a season sucking, and scores in two random games, there is no proof that he will not suck the rest of the season. Redeemed, is a valuable word. Don't waste it on Hudler, unless he actually lives up to that word. That said, I'm glad Huds showed up. I do genuinely have faith in him. I think he's a very skilled player. But I won't be saying "redeemed" for a very long time.

I swear to god, if I see another Seinfeld picture, I will go absolutely postal. I have a crossbow. I cannot shoot it, but do not make me learn how to shoot it, by posting another Seinfeld picture

Oh jeeze, you have too much time on your hands. Goal light is a goal light. If you want a redwings goal light, perhaps you should invent and market it, and make some money off it. That company is just trying to produce a goal light for hockey fans. A general goal light. Nothing on that site implies it is "Detroit" friendly. Give me a break dudes. It's a goal light.

While there is criteria that determines HOF entry, a lot of HOF entries are based exactly on reports like this. Does Ozzie deserve HOF? Well, I say, he deserves to be recognized for his years in the sport, and compared to some HOF inductee's, which is all this article really compared, then yes, he deserves to be in the hall of fame. But it gets more complex than just looking at a few "Favorable" stats, as this article presents. You also have to consider the negatives, not just the accomplishments. And you have to consider the scope of the game that the player was playing in. It's a good article, but it's very biased. I think Osgood SHOULD be HOF material, if you compare him to other HOF inductee's. Fuhr made it. Osgood should surely make it. Based on comparison. That's the dark side of the HOF. Year by year they make exceptions, and soon you have a number of people inducted that actually perform below, the people that follow them. So when the people that follow them do better, the thought is "Well, clearly, Hall of Fame material". Find whatever stats you desire, Osgood didn't accomplish what Sawchuck, or even Roy accomplished. On that account, he isn't the caliber of player that those guys where, so if that is what you think should be inducted into the hall of fame, no, Osgood would not be included. But, they've inducted guys like Fuhr, and in doing so it lowers the overall standards. Not to imply Fuhr wasn't good, but Hall of Fame? In my opinion, the HOF should have stricter rules. Because right now the way that it is, you could make a case for almost ANY career goaltender to make the cut. Osgood, is VERY borderline. But I base that on HOFers that were greats. Not the random inductee's, who were "Above average", yet made it anyway. Osgood has had an "Above average" career. I personally do not think it was a HOF career, but that's based on my opinion of what the HOF should be. Compared to some other goalies in the HOF, then yes he'd likely make it. Then again, when Osgood makes it, ten years from now, someone will pick out a stat like "Look Osgood made it with 400 wins! Our guy has 401! HOF!" Our expectations seem to go up, but our standards seem to drop.

Eaves won't be a top line player, IMO. He does have huge potential as a key situations player though. He did look like a goal scorer out there last night though. I will give him that. An excellent 3rd/4th liner pickup. Possibly skilled enough to crack the 2nd line during injuries and such. Then again, Franzen started much the same way as Eaves. it was like....who is this guy...who is this guy....who is this guy......WHOA, 4 goals in a playoff game, WHO IS THIS GUY!!!? If Eaves goes on a huge point streak, I'd reconsider him as a top line forward, but as it stands right now, he's just about the perfect 3/4th liner.

Then how do you explain Stuarts +7? I love Mindfly's cynicism, though the facts sometimes don't line up with his thesis

I don't know about that. I'd rather have them on separate lines. If you try to stack a defensive line with all the best players, you can end up hurting the other 40 minutes of the game when they are not out. Kronwall could be a 1st pair defense, easily. And he probably will be one day. But right now, I'd rather have him on a 2nd pair. Stuart IS scoring. And he IS handling most of his defensive responsibility. If you view the ice time, Babs has been pretty evenly running people. I think he learned to do this from the injuries last year, when the team was burnt the hell out come playoffs. If you're 2nd defensive pairing is going to get as much ice time as your first defensive pairing (Or close to it), you don't want to ultra stack your top line. it's better to moderate the skill. Put a player who is a 9 with a 6, and a player who is an 8, with a 7. If that makes sense. Assume the numbers are a rating. I'm just making s*** up, but you get my point? I think Kronwall will be 1st line defense when Nick retires, but until then, Babcock is using him for defensive depth. Everyone blabbers on about offensive depth blah blah blah. Nobody ever considers defensive depth. Is Holmstrom a better goal scorer than Franzen, or Cleary? No. But he is a line above them. Hockey is not always about stacking the best people, on the top lines. The very definition of "Depth" (Which is practically a holy word on these forums), implies that you have skill on every line, and that includes defense.