kipwinger

Tatar for Yandle maybe, but not for a guy with 8 points on the season. No thanks. For the life of me I don't know what people's obsession with Tyler Myers is. Honestly, I'd target Green at the deadline. If we can't get him for reasonably cheap, then make due with what we have and sign Green in the offseason without losing anything other than money. If we could move Green and Ouellet in, and dump Smith and Kindl I'd be thrilled our puck moving ability would dramatically improve WITHOUT losing anything as serious as Tatar. Kronwall-Ericsson Quellet-Dekeyser Green-Quincey Now that's a defense corps I could get behind. Then, after next year, start thinking about transitioning some of Marchenko, Sproul, and Jensen into the sixth and seventh spots.

Doesn't matter if he can score or not. For Babs scoring is only of secondary importance. How's his defense? If its still not great then Babs will hate him and his time will be short.

Whose twitter did you see it on? Anyone reputable?

If its Tatar I'll shoot Ken Holland.

Thanks for the recap. It's easy to look up the stats, but I'm usually more interested in finding out HOW we got the stats we did (i.e. who carried the play, who looked good, did the goalie stand on his head, etc.).

So, aside from all the "Player X sucks" stuff that usually happens after a loss, anyone want to give me a recap? I missed the game last night, though I see that it was basically another 2-1 game until the empty netters. Also, Helen St. James was just talking about trading Tatar for Tyler Myers. Lol.

Yeah, I'd be interested to see that stat as well. I've never heard that. However, we do get the most powerplays in the league (or in the top two or three), and we're good on the pk, so I could see how it could be (theoretically) possible that we're not great 5 on 5 but end up with very few shots...as opposing teams aren't getting much on the pk, and aren't getting shots at all while we're on all those powerplays. But again, I'd really like to see the stats to back this up.

Ok, one of those games had to have the lowest ratings. They couldn't all set records. Chicago and Washington are two larger market teams, which is why they were chosen, They each sell a lot of tickets. But other than that there was nothing special about the game. So the ratings were low. Again, not every Winter Classic can be between rivalry teams in traditional markets. If the league did that then they'd be doing exactly what you're lamenting (i.e. too many of the same teams).

Surely you're not comparing the 2002 team to ANY post cap team? Because I know you're smarter than that. It's a cap world, you can't just acquire players willy nilly. And again, Perron isn't necessarily better. He's not as good as Nyquist and Tatar, who would be his primary competition for top six playing time.

If you agree that Babcock wouldn't use him, then why are you so pissed off at Holland for not pursuing him?

Perron, given his skill set, would not have been competing for a spot with Franzen and Abby. He would have been competing with Nyquist and Tatar...both of whom are better. Babcock likes a big bodied puck retrieval type guy on each line ideally. So even if we got Perron, he'd still keep Abby and/or Franzen in the top six. Do you honestly think Mike Babcock would put Perron on one wing and Tatar or Nyquist on the other? Keep dreaming dude. I get that you've got a lot wrapped up in this "Holland is stupid and lazy" thing, but he shouldn't pursue EVERY available player just because he could, theoretically, beat the best offer. If it doesn't address a need then he shouldn't do it. And Perron doesn't address a need. I'd be with you if it were a good puck mover, or a big forward. But what does Perron do that Tatar, Nyquist, and Weiss don't do better? And like I said, given Babs' preferences, those are the guys he'd be competing with for a spot in the top six. Not Helm, Abby, or Franzen.

Why the hell would the Wings want David Perron? You guys are acting like we've lost out on some huge need here. Perron is a good player, but he's not some big, goal scoring, power forward. He's an smallish, offensive, skilled player. We've got so many of those that Stephen Weiss is currently playing on the fourth line. We have ZERO need for David Perron, so lets not cry over spilled milk.

So far, so good, I guess. I mean, we're competitive in the division and conference standings, so that's good. But then I remember the team that couldn't score against Boston in the playoffs, and that's bad. Most of the time I don't know what to think about this team. Obviously limiting other teams' shots is really important. And obviously we're good at doing it. But I think there's a difference between limiting shots because you've got the puck all the time (which we don't), and limiting shots because you clog up the neutral zone, and trap teams into oblivion (which we do). Generally speaking I like the former (because you play in the o-zone more), and don't like the later (because it rarely works in the playoffs). Right now, I see this strategy getting us pinned into our zone against good teams, and ultimately stifling our offense. But maybe a trade and/or a promotion will change all that.

No Alumni game for this year's classic because Peter Bondra couldn't play every position on the ice for the Caps and Dale Hunter is still not welcome in most NHL cities...including Washington. Without those two they're short on quality alumni in the Nation's Capital.

Did you think they would set an attendance record every year? Some game had to have the lowest. This was it. Not sure why you're treating it like a calamity. Also, does your Boston obsession include the city and its bands now too lol? You're bitching that Bettman is diverging from tried and true methods of promoting the game, and in the same breath you advocate having an opening act?

Aaaaand Ferraro scores two in a minute and a half. Ferraro? What the hell just happened to Ferraro? Did he black out?

Aaaaand Pulkkinen ties it up.

Those are the kinds of goals I want to see him scoring. I'm glad when he gets on the score board cleaning up trash in front of the crease, but I want to see him developing his shot at the pro level. Any big body can bang in a rebound, but a big body that can bang in rebounds AND pick the corners is lethal. Just ask Rick Nash and Jeff Carter.

When you've got elite level centers you don't need (or want) guys like Kunitz carrying the puck anyway. You want guys that can find open ice and finish scoring changes, which Kunitz does. Either way, it was a good trade for Pittsburgh obviously. They're 2015 pick isn't going to be too high as their record is pretty good, and Perron is another capable winger who'll fit nicely with their big guns (or even with Sutter). He'll give them real scoring depth and they basically gave up a second round pick to get him. Solid trade. I never put those two together, but you're absolutely right. Which center looks most like them? Tarasenko maybe? Imagine a line of all three.

Why does everybody always say that Crosby needs a winger? Chris Kunitz is really good. He was a 20+ goal a year player BEFORE playing with Crosby, and he's consistently been one after playing with Crosby. Did people think when he got put on a line with Crosby that he'd score 50? And is that what Pittsburgh needs in order to win? Because having two 90-100 point players and a bunch of guys that can score 15-25 goals ought to be enough...if your defense and goalie arent' terrible anyway.

Totally agree about Abby. He has been great.

Yep. That's what it is. Our guys weren't working hard enough. Gotta work real hard and get that goals against down, because god knows we are lethal in those close games.

I don't think any reasonable person thinks we are terrible. But I do think that its fair to ask "what's going on" when you get manhandled by a non playoff team who's missing two of its best players. Its a bit of a false dichotomy to act like the choices are either "everything is fine" or else "everything is terrible".

Nah, he's the best. The strategy of playing your checkers more than your goal scorers IS genius. Our guys just didn't want it bad enough last night...er...they didn't play heavy enough...er...they didn't play with pace. Whatever the reason, its clearly not the strategy or game plan. If they'd just execute properly the datsyuk line and the glendening line should be enough to beat anyone most nights.

There was a time when Kris Draper was one of the best faceoff men in the league. I don't remember him playing significantly more minutes than the guys doing all the scoring. Bowman would send him out to win important faceoffs too, but that didn't translate into minutes more TOI than your best even strength goal scorer and guys scoring at point per game clips.