kipwinger

I believe it. We did the same thing last year when Pulkkinen first got called up. Guys were force feeding him the puck. At the end of the day, I don't really think there's an effective way to shut down Ovechkin. If there was, he wouldn't be as good as he is. I think you play him just like you would any other good right shooter, and hope the goalie sees the puck and anticipates the shot well. Which Mrazek did. If, in doing that, he gets 15 shots then so be it. As you've correctly pointed out, that probably means the rest of the team isn't doing much, and you might steal one.

Everybody is lucky he doesn't score 2 goals on them. Many times he does. There just isn't a good way to shut the guy down. None.

Abby is like Dan Cleary 2.0. He's a heart and soul guy who's inauspicious start will yield a very productive player for the next handful of years. After which time we'll renegotiate as he declines. I haven't felt this good about talent management since Dolph Ziggler cashed in Money in the Bank on Del Rio. And we all know that turned out just fine.

I like the contract. Takes his through his prime years, but not by much. And you get to renegotiate with him when he's 35 and on the down swing of his career. I don't love 7 year contracts for non-stars, but at least you're signing this one while he's still in his 20's. Good deal.

What's wrong with the strategy? If you haven't notice, no other strategies seem to stop him from scoring either, so at the very least it's a wash. It's Ovechkin, there's really not much that can be done with him. We shut him out, once, so for the time being I'd say we handled him just fine.

I agree...sort of. Not 4 months ago LGW resoundingly supported the claim that "Toews is overrated" but many go apes*** for Kopitar, who is probably not as good defensively (but only marginally) and a little better offensively (but only marginally). Both are elite level talents, but neither are the best centers of their generation. Yet only Kopitar gets recognized for being as good as he is. Actually, now that I think about it, I think Toews is just undervalued. But that's another discussion.

AA reminds me exactly of Ryan Kesler. And everybody know how I feel about that guy.

Used our speed to get to lose pucks, battled hard, had good active sticks. I liked our defensive game tonight.

Marchenko looked strong tonight. So did Kindl. Smith better be careful or he might find himself the odd man out.

Mrazek standing tall!

Huge kill here.

We are absolute puck hounds tonight. Our breakouts look really good too. Nice effort so far boys. Let's keep it up.

AA!

How in the world do we only have 18 shots? We have been dominant.

Who are these two guys playing for Detroit and wearing 70s numbers? They're pretty quick eh?

Wings are dominant right now, gotta think theyll break through soon if they keep this up.

Rumor mill says the Islanders and Kyle Okposo aren't even close to an extension. That's the kind of guy I'd look to acquire. You'd have to give someone legit to get him, but he's big, strong, tough, and provides quality offense. Don't know what the Isles need, considering they're good, but I'd certainly be finding out if I was Kenny.

Wrong, I just don't fetishize guys who's only job is to take penalties. It's retarded. I've repeatedly said we need big, tough, guys, like Drew Stafford or Troy Brouwer, to be as good as our team can be. I'm all for toughness, as long as the guys can contribute on the score sheet as well. But people like you always ignore that and pretend like I don't like tough players. Which is a crock. Stop distorting what I say to fit your narrative and you might find out what kind of players I actually do think we need.

When Datsyuk gets back I'd like to see him, z, and sheahan at center with Larkin, Tatar,and Nyquist as the skill guys on the wing, and Abby, Player X, and Helm as the muckrs on the other wings.

I disagree with the notion that we need a goal scorer. I think we need somebody that drives possession and can compliment skill players. Something like Washington did getting Oshie and Williams. Guys that are physically tough and can chip in 40-50 points. I want a battler, we've got enough guys that can finish if we could just maintain offensive zone time.

He's still a small, skilled, forward. I mean, Tatar is more gritty than the other two as well, but that doesn't make him something different. They're all just differing degrees of the same thing. When I say I want a big forward, I'm talking about another Abby type guy who can put up 40-50 points. At this point it's all about HOW they score, not HOW MUCH.

I think Pulkkinen has been reasonably successful given what is expected of him. I'd still trade him in a heartbeat for a big winger for the top six. We don't need ALL of Larkin, Tatar, Nyquist, and Pulkkinen in the lineup every night. What was it that Scotty said, "a little less pretty and a lot more gritty"? Something like that.

So is it safe to say the Jak is back?

I completely forgot teemu pulkkinen was on this team until the just said his name.

I'll tell you why I feel the need to chime in on Babcock. And this is only from my point of view. I don't "hate" the guy. Or even "dislike" the guy. I read his book, and I actually think that many of his general philosophies about life are spot on (with regard to putting in honest effort and holding yourself accountable). What I can't stand about Mike Babcock, is this tendency to lionize him. I don't like it when anybody becomes larger than life. It's the same reason I always make sure to mention his unpaid taxes when anybody gets too crazy with the "Mike Ilitch is Detroit's savior" stuff. It's the same reason I said Crosby is the better player in the Ovechkin thread that I started. Idol worship isn't really my thing. And sometimes, here on LGW, discussions of Mike tend to trend that way. Anyway, that's why I feel the need to talk about him. Can't speak for anyone else.