kipwinger

I don't have a problem with Mitch getting a call-up but your post is a little bit off base. Glendening, Emmerton, Sheahan, and Ferraro are all centers, which is why they've all been called up (minus Ferraro), and their presence has no effect on Callahan who is a winger. Callahan has been behind Nyquist (at the beginning of the season) and Jurco as far as winger depth, and he's clearly not as well established as either one of them at the AHL level, let alone the NHL level. You do have a point about Eaves getting the call up over Callahan. I assume that Eaves is probably the better player overall, but why not give Mitch a try for a game or two.

You guys (and Johnson too) are basing all of this off an article that was specifically written to drum up controversy. There are a million things about the selection process that Burnside could have focused on, he chose to include quote after quote about player evals...and almost exclusively negative evals I might add. Narry a mention in there about why a particular player is a stud and exceeding expectations, but lots about why guys aren't. Point is, Richards almost certainly had a lot of good things to say about Johnson. Who wouldn't? Johnson is a good player. But at the end of the day, my guess is that anything good was glossed over because the "Johnson snubbed by Team USA" story was too good to pass up. Same with Burke and Ryan, Burnside conveniently leaves out the part where Burke picks him but definitely leaves in the part where Burke criticizes him.

Dude, Jones and Josi are both really good defensemen, I'd love either of them on our team haha. I know what you're saying, their team is bad, and they never score, and Rhinne is out. All of that is true, and I'm certainly not saying that Weber is junk or anything. I'm just saying that for his contract (7.8 million cap hit, and over 25 million dollars in salary and bonuses for the next three years regardless of his play) you better be Ray Bourque. Weber hasn't ever been the best all around defenseman in the NHL, but he sure gets paid for like it. I'd rather have someone who puts up a little less offense, plays a lot more defense, and gets paid like a human.

Don't get me wrong, Weber is a good defenseman. But not for his money. The guy is an abysmal -13. I realize that it's an imperfect stat, but Weber's got ten goals by himself and he's still a -13. That's horrible for a #1 defenseman making the money that he is. Lots of guys I'd rather have than Weber with that contract.

I agree with you, I have no idea why Hedman isn't on the roster. I can only assume that it's because he was injured up until recently. As for Tallinder, I'd be really surprised if he ever hit the ice. He's got to be the depth d-man. If he actually plays I'll be amazed.

Has he really played all that much with Datsyuk lately though? I mean, I know he did earlier but it seems like that's sort of a dated complaint lately.

Wait, what part is true again? I'm getting confused.

Yeah after you posted that, I spent a good amount of time at work watching Backes dropping the hammer on pretty much everybody ever. He's an o.k. fighter, but he bodychecks like a fricken freight train.

I mean, they can't be taking post season collapses too seriously if they chose Luongo as their starter right?

I think in that scenario Jimmy stands tall. There's no way he lets down the Stars and Bars like that.

Franzen leads our team in regular season goals almost every year. Kinda hard to say he "doesn't do anything until the playoffs".

Dude, Sidney Crosby "sh*t-barking" is nowhere near as intimidating as an orc.

Awwww shiiiiiit man. You shouldn't have done that. You even know who you're messing with? Do you have any idea what they'll do to you? Can you even imagine the kind of hell they will bring you? Prepare to meet your maker! Prepare to face fear itself! There is only terror! Fear it! Fear them! DOOOOOOM!

I don't think anybody has ever disagreed with you that Franzen would be a tradable asset. I think it's clear a lot of teams would be happy to trade for him. I think the question has always been whether the Wings should trade him, to which there is still some debate. As far as playing with the Sedins, of course he'll have chemistry. They literally make everyone else they play with look good. But considering that, chemistry with them would likely not be the deciding factor for Vancouver on the trade from. If everyone plays better with your two stars, then you get someone your organization needs, and not someone that has to complement the Sedins necessarily.

I fail to see the problem. I responded to someone else, and they liked what I said. I'm just not really sure what you're bothered about? Also, perhaps the reason you're seeing so much Olympic talk from me is because there are currently three different Olympic threads that are active. So again, if you object so anything I'm saying then by all means stop reading and responding to it. Or not so subtly denigrate me on a personal level like you did above. That's pretty cool too.

Wow dude, first I'm "mad" and now I'm "insecure"? Way to "debunk" me by attacking me personally. Keep classing it up.

Don't like my posts? Don't read or respond to them. The person I was talking to "liked" my response, so clearly it struck a chord with the person it was intended to.

Don't be too sure. Canada and Sweden are good, but the USA is better than 2010 and we didn't look too shabby then. Russia won't even medal. Every year everyone thinks they'll place because of their forward corps, but in reality they've only got like 4 or 5 quality forwards with shaky goaltending and a horrible defense. The US team has a little less scoring than Canada or Sweden, but is faster than both, grittier than both, and as good or better defensively than both. Plus our goaltending is studly right now. Don't sleep on the Americans, lean and mean baby.

Dude, is it just me or did another Team USA fan finally make his presence known? For two days I've had to defend the USA squad alone. Welcome aboard buddy.

I'm so glad that we don't have to play against him anymore. I seriously love David Backes, always have, and it sucked so bad to both have to pretend like I didn't like him as well as watch him obliterate our guys on a constant basis. But seriously, how badass is it to start your Olympic intimidation efforts during NHL games. How many Canadians did he end up fighting anyway?

And you would be correct. Oduya is a stay at home guy and Larsson is a puck mover. However, to be fair Larsson plays a real good good two-way game so it's a little unfair to call him a PMD considering he's grown beyond that, but that's definitely what he started as. Oduya conversely has never been known to consistently produce any kind of offense and has never really been expected to.

I didn't realize it was "spewing propaganda" to be a fan of the country you're from. Particularly when they played pretty damn well the last time around. And because they've improved since then. And because the larger ice is to their advantage. And because the only team that beat them last time has lost some pretty important pieces. Sooo, any Team Canada fans have anything to say about the topic that doesn't involve A) Calling me names, B) Accusing me of "propagandizing", or C) Knee-jerk belittling anyone who dares suggest that another team could possibly be good at hockey too? I know there are some pretty decent people out there who happen to want Canada to win gold, unfortunately they're being over-shadowed by their more...thoughtless...peers.

You've got to be careful about that though because while Canada's got (easily) the best NHL roster, the international game is totally different. For instance: There are far fewer penalties in the international game. So guys who have tons of PP points in the NHL are going to be less effective when that's factored in. Also, guys who are the recipients of good systems play and/or really good linemates in the NHL are going to be less effective at the Olympics. So, for instance players for a team like Boston who's system is almost completely formulated for the NHL game, might not play so well internationally. Obviously, these limitations are the same for every team in the Olympics, but it's not simply as cut and dry as looking at guys who are studs in the NHL and assuming that they'll work well together in Sochi. In my opinion, and admittedly it's just mine, the teams that play a full 60 minute game do better in the Olympics. Fast teams that keep the pressure on tend to perform well which is why not an Olympics goes by when some team like the Czecks or Slovaks don't upset somebody with a far better NHL caliber roster because they out skate them.

Were you expecting a lot of fights at the Olympics? Because in no other way is Lucic a better hockey player than a guy like Backes, and he's infinitely less suited for the Olympics than any of the big forwards that Canada chose (Benn, Carter, Nash, Marleau, Perry, or Getzlaf).

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, so I'll just assume since this is LGW that you are.