kipwinger

Beat me to it.

Pulkkinen is a 5'10, 195 lb. skill player. Not really sure why you'd think he's a "piano puller" (ugh, I hate using that phrase).

Sure, so long as your fantasy is grounded in some reality. Mainly that Babs would only play him as a fourth line winger, give him the fewest number of shifts on the team, and say he's not "heavy" enough.

I've been waiting all day for that haha. In my defense, I created that account ENTIRELY to troll Ansar Khan. Everyone else is just collateral damage.

That guy's not having a good playoffs or anything is he?

I'm not sure if I'm not being clear or if you're being obtuse on purpose. The "Jarnkrok back to Sweden" rumor didn't amount to s***. It was predicated on hearsay and was debunked by the Wings assistant general manager, as well as Jarnkrok himself. Are we on the same page now? I'm not sure how much more obviously and clearly I can make that point. If you choose to believe it, and base your opinion of the trade off of it, I don't know what to tell you.

I don't think I'm being clear. I know that Babs isn't leaving. He said so. But there are rumors to the contrary anyway. Much like there are rumors that Jarnkrok would leave for Sweden despite his publicly stating the contrary. So why believe the rumor in Jarnkrok's case and not Babcock's? The only credible person who reported Jarnkrok leaving was Bob McKenzie, who said Jarnkrok "may" go back to Sweden. Later that day Wings Assistant GM Ryan Martin told Steve Ambrose of Fox17 that he'd never heard Jarnkrok wanted out of the organization. Why believe McKenzie and not the assistant general manager of the team? The point about the Iginla trade was to suggest that EVEN IF a credible person reports it, in this case Aaron Ward, they sometimes still get it wrong. Ward reported that Iginla to Boston was a done deal, when in reality he had blocked the Boston trade and picked the Pens. Basing your opinion of the Jarnkrok-Legwand trade on this rumor, which has zero corroborating evidence, is stupid. And since you're not a stupid guy, you should probably reconsider using it as the basis for your evaluation of the trade. Doesn't mean your position on the trade is wrong, it's just based on a faulty premise.

A year ago Jerome Iginla "allegedly" had signed with the Bruins too. That, right before donning that Penguins sweater. Hard to put that much stock in a comment that has no known source. I don't know why you'd choose to believe this and the the myriad other rumors which go unfounded each and every season. For instance, have you heard Babcock doesn't want to resign with Detroit and may instead be headed to Toronto? Yeah, neither did anyone else. But it's been alleged.

I'm fairly sure that this guy is the same troll who frequents Mlive. There's a guy over there who constantly rants about getting Ovechkin and moving Ericsson and Smith to forward. It's super clever.

Dude whatever. Ovie sucks. No way could some bum, who doesn't play defense, is notoriously selfish, and and only stands around looking for the one-timer, help us. Even if he's good on the PP. Wait...what's that?...You've got a picture for me...oh. FML.

But I don't really see how Blysma riding Crosby all season is bad coaching, but Babs riding Nyquist into the playoffs is good coaching. In neither case was there some genius level strategy involved. Also, if you're going to (erroneously) discount Blysma's coaching because he's got (one of) the best teams around, then you should probably also discount everything Babs did between 2005-2009, since he CLEARLY had the most talented team in the world during that span. And if you're (erroneously) excluding that, then it begs the question "What's Babs ever done anyway?". Malkin (missed 22), Neal (missed 23), and Dupuis (missed 43) all missed twenty or more games. That's three of their top six fowards. Letang and Martin both missed more than half the season. That's literally their entire top pair of defensmen gone for half a season. Our injuries weren't worse. If anything, we'll say it's a draw.

Babcock deserves the Jack Adams for coaching a team with a bunch of injuries into the playoffs, but Blysma coached a team with more injuries into a better playoff position AND won a round and he didn't even get nominated? I don't get it.

Don't feed the troll.

Why?

For a long time, I've always regarded P.K. Subban as a class act. Often, I believe people confuse his swagger on the ice, for arrogance off the ice...something I've never seen out of him. He's a competitive guy, and a young guy, and that shows when he plays. But if you ever needed proof that he's got class, here's this quote about the racist tweets and insults hurled at him from Boston fans. Atta boy P.K.! "It's completely unfair for anybody to point the finger at the organization or the fan base," Subban said. "They have passionate fans here, a great fan base and since I've been in the league it's been awesome. I've come to Boston many times, my family has come here, and it's been great." Subban said Saturday that what people say on Twitter or social media is not a reflection of the league or the Bruins. He went on to say that it is unfortunate when the attention is taken away from the game being played on the ice. "You know what the funny thing is, is that we get stronger as a league, you see how people come together and it's great," Subban said. "And it's not just about me. The NHL has tons of players from different backgrounds, from different places around the world and that's what makes this league so special and that's what makes sports so special, it brings everybody together."

Your love of Hampus Melen is one of your more adorable traits.

Is it just me, or are half the dudes on that list not gritty at all? Eller? Setoguchi? Those dude are big, sure, but they're cream puffs.

If I recall correctly the buyout period ended two or three days before free agency last year. I don't know if it will be the same this year though.

Yeah you were pretty much dead on with all of those. Atta boy.

Ok perhaps "zero effect" was a misstatement. Zero effect on the success of the team. Of course it had an effect...Chris Illitch would have to sell a hell of a lot less pizzas had they all disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle a year ago.

Haha, well played.

I'm going to defend her. I grew up in rural Michigan. I'd like to say that Wings fans wouldn't do this, but sadly A LOT of them would. Don't think so? Spend about an hour in any dive bar in Osceola County Michigan.

Kindl and Lashoff got it pretty bad down the stretch. But I'm going to say it was the triumvirate of Bert, Sammy, and Cleary. Despite having almost ZERO effect on our team (good or bad), they still managed to get blamed for everything all the time. Go back and look at the GDTs. Never have three guys been blamed for so much after playing so little.

We need the personnel to match the philosophy. Holland wants a highly skilled team but doesn't want to pay to get the talent. Likewise, Babs wants a plucky, fast, and responsible defensive team but doesn't have the personnel. Barring any changes to the roster, a guy like Alain Vingeault would maximize this teams skillset. Conversely, Babcock would probably have won a Stanley Cup with Columbus' team.

Agreed. That's my point. Our team doesn't maximize offensive talent because we don't have the philosophy or system to do so. Load the team up with offensively talented players and they'll all factor into each other's production. It's no secret that Datsyuk's two best offensive years were when he had highly talented wingers to pass to. It's also no secret that Zetterberg's best offensive year was when he was the one "being passed to". If you're not willing to get those types of guys, or play those types of guys, then you're not going to optimize offensive potential, which is exactly the point I'm trying to make. Doesn't mean you can't win, just means you better win the New Jersey way.