kipwinger

He would have been the 1D on most NHL teams between 2009 and 2014. Sure there were some better 1D in the league, but not that many. I'd say he was somewhere between the 10th and 15th best defenseman in the league over that period. He wasn't elite, no, but neither are a lot of 1D.

Except that Sweden didn't expressly choose worse players like the US did. Lombardi even said so. Nobody thinks Abby is better than Kessel, including the people who picked him. He's worse, but tougher, and that apparently is what Lombardi's dumb ass wanted. Sweden presumably chose their best, and Nyquist wasn't one of them. Though admittedly, he probably would have made Team Europe.

Tatar and Nyquist are pretty much the same player. I mean one of them wasn't good enough to play for Sweden's national team, and the other just roasted that same Swedish team for two goals. Pretty much dead even to me lol.

Nah, they'll be better than they were a year ago; provided they get the roster and usage issues sorted out. We're a little weak on defense, but our forward corps and goalie situation are in good shape. I'd expect bounce back seasons from Tatar, Nyquist, Green (although he wasn't bad), a step forward from Larkin and AA, and about the same from Z, Abby, Neilsein, and Vanek. I'm really curious about whether getting Helm back in the middle will help, and how Sheahan will look on the wing though.

Agreed. It's fashionable to paint Kronwall as a career #2 guy who was in above his head, but that definitely wasn't the case. His defense, point production, and powerplay contributions easily made him a legit #1 for a few years there. If you can man the powerplay, play 20+ minutes a night, and score 40+ points a season you're a legit top defenseman. Was he as good as Doughty, or Keith, or Subban? No, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a top guy.

Nyquist, Ouellet/Sproul, 1st. That's all I offer. And I don't think the Jets want forwards, so I doubt they do it.

Posting this here, because it's related to international hockey, although it isn't from the World Cup. Check out this MASSIVE hit from the Swedish league. Unreal. AND totally legal. http://www2.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?SHL%2bdefenceman%2bdelivers%2bearth%2bshattering%2bhit%252c%2bthen%2btalks%2bsmack&id=590104

Serious question. In what sense do you think they're equals?

The last time the wings won the Cup our best players were Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Holmstrom, Kronwall, Samuelson, Hudler, and Filppula. Then again we did have Stuart and Rafalski. I guess their North American-ness was really the glue that held that squad together. Edit: Shiiiiiiiit I forgot. If it weren't for Dallas Drake's grit we wouldn't have won that Cup. I take it back. We need more North Americans pronto!

4-1. GRIT!!!!!!

John Cooper is also a fairly viable alternative to Tortorella. He's currently assistant coach for Team NA for some reason.

My ideal lineup with the guys we have: Z-Neilsen-Vanek Tatar-Larkin-Abby Nyquist-AA-Mantha Glendening-Helm-Sheahan Jurco Frk Callahan or Bertuzzi as first call ups if a fourth liner gets hurt. Jurco and Frk draw in with Mantha if he struggles and/or there's an injury to a top 9 winger and either Mantha or Nyquist need to move up.

As much as I'd love to see Team NA win it, I think they'd get slaughtered by Canada. I actually think they'll get beat by Russia. I was reading an article about the Russia/NA game coming up, and Evgeny Kuztesov made a good point. He said the NA team is only good when they've got the puck and don't play well without it. Russia has a bunch of guys who hold the puck well, and Canada is WAY better than that. Team NA will have a hard time with that IMO.

I don't care how much Ott wanted to be a Red Wing. I still hate this signing. I remember a few years ago when Cleary was still on the team and the overriding sentiment was that he was better than any AHL alternative would have been. Then he went to the AHL and was just as bad as he was in the NHL. That's exactly how I feel about Ott. He's pretty much washed up. I'd MUCH rather have Callahan in that spot. He can do everything Ott can do, but more cheaply. AND he'd probably score more given how underrated his offense is.

The last time I was in Russia I was talking with some locals and told them I was from Detroit. They all immediately said "Datsyuk". I realize that it's just an anecdote, but I got the impression he's a pretty big star.

That's because Ovechkin's not a quitter.

I know right? What better way to validate fighting in hockey than to rely on the testimony of the enforcers themselves and some obscure Canadian actor? Way to make a strong case in the face of opposition from medical doctors, league executives (including Yzerman, Shero, Rutherford, and Scotty Bowman), and sports analysts. The fighters are clearly as bad at winning the public relations war as they are at playing hockey lol.

How is this not better? Oh that's right, they don't block enough shots for dumb s*** Tortorella. Parise-Pavelski-Kane Pacioretty-Stepan-Kessel Ryan-T. Johnson-Wheeler Oshie-Dubinsky-Palmieri Suter-Byfuglien McDonagh-Carlson Yandle-Niskanen Team USA has comparable talent to Canada, Sweden, and Russia on the wings, and at defense. We're definitely weaker down the middle but there's nothing we can do about that. I can't wait until Eichel, Matthews, and Larkin can play down the middle for team USA. Maybe in the 2018 Olympics.

Boy the Americans are starting out strong. Ugh. I thought "grit" was a winning recipe? Apparently skill matters a little more eh? Things that are inexplicable to me about team USA: 1. Tortorella is the coach. 2. Byfuglien is playing offense in general, and scratched in particular. 3. None of Yandle, Kessel, Tyler Johnson, or Ryan are on the team.

While I agree with your overall sentiment, I think we've actually got a fair amount of shooters. Nyquist, Tatar, and Vanek are all pretty good shooters. Z and Neilsen are adequate. People (not you) talk all the time about how Detroit doesn't have a "sniper". Aside from that being a goofy bucket term I don't agree with, look at the goals Tatar scored a year ago and tell me he can't pick a corner as well as most players in the league. At least 10 of these goals are pretty much pure "sniper" goals.

That's true. It may just be a perception thing. And you're right, when I hear "net front" I do totally think of the Homer-esque sense of the term. But it's not completely off base for me to think so. Abby, Helm, and Sheahan have all been asked to play almost the exact same way on the PP as Homer did. Stand there, screen the goalie, tip shots, and bang home rebounds. Part of that may be that they're not really skilled enough to do much else though. If Mantha is used like Franzen, as you said, or like Vanek and Kesler have been over their careers (down low, but not necessarily glued to the crease) then I have less of a problem with it for sure.

Ideally I'd like to see Abby as the net front on one PP unit and Sheahan on the other. Abby Vanek-Neilsen-Nyquist Kronwall Sheahan Larkin-Zetterberg-Tatar Green

This is good to see. Aside from Borkowski (who I know nothing about) we got scoring from all the guys we want to be getting scoring from.

Also can we please, PLEASE, stop forcing every big guy to be a "net front presence"? From Khan's "Mantha" article: "Last year was a good first year for me to do net-front. It was the first time for me practicing it," Mantha said. "I worked on tips a lot during practices, just getting the feel of being in the right position in front of the goalie's eyes. It could be a good advantage for me, being 6-4, 6-5." This kid is a skilled shooter. I don't care that he's big. You're taking his best weapon (shot) away from him by sticking him in the crease. Let unskilled guys bang in rebounds. You don't see Rick Nash, Blake Wheeler, or James Neal standing in front of the net on the PP just because they're big.

So based on Helene St. James' "Helm" article, it sounds like Blash wants Helm to start the season as a 3rd line center. Pair that with the fact that Holland said Zetterberg would start on Neilsen's wing, and that Larkin would be a center, and it looks like our forward lines are starting to come together a little bit. It will be interesting to see how the rest fills out, but we can reasonable expect to see this based on what we've heard. Zetterberg-Neilsen-? ?-Larkin-? ?-Helm-? ?-Glendening-?