kipwinger

No I suggested it would be stupid to trade our leading scorer for Shawn Horcroff, which you had stated you'd be happy to do. Please stop misquoting me in an attempt to justify yourself post hoc. Also, again with the name calling. Isn't that supposed to be frowned upon around here (as well as in the better part of adult human society).

Why?

Haha, I have a feeling you could keep going with this all day long.

Vinny is a more likely buyout candidate, and I'd love to see that guy hit the market.

Yeah I watched these earlier this year, they were really interesting. I think the thing I liked the most was seeing just how hard these guys work in the off season. It's no wonder that Kindl put on like 15 lbs of muscle in the off season. Gives me a lot of hope for guys like Nyquist, Brunner, and Smith, who are all a bit skinny for their respective heights.

Good god. When you post saying "I'll never bring it up again if Franzen outscores Hossa or if the Wings win", you're bringing it up. Which you did, a few short weeks ago. Again, I don't "love" hockey players. I love my dog Oliver. The fact that you keep saying it, along with your litany of additional name calling, doesn't make it so. But I do appreciate the mature debate.

Nobody bashes Hossa. I never said Franzen was "great". I never said Franzen was a better player. You're the only one that says things like a player "is great" or he "sucks". And you brought up "the choice" during the Chicago series which wasn't exactly "a while" ago. It's impossible to discuss anything with someone who makes one gross exaggeration after the next and frequently puts words in people's mouths.

I agree that there probably won't be any HUGE signings, any serious changes are likely to come about via trade (if at all). But there really could be signings which have a big impact. Such as letting Filppula walk and signing Steven Weiss, who would cost about as much but scores more goals. The net effect would be roughly the same, except that we'd add another goal scoring threat to a team that desperately needs them. Ryder would do the same thing and wouldn't cost much as well. We wouldn't break the bank on them the way we would for Clarkson or Horton, but they'd probably help a ton.

Yeah, I don't really expect Smith, Nyquist, or Kindl to top 1.5 million. Brunner won't top 3, and Andersson won't top 1.2 million. The bigger concern is with the number of roster spots available which dwindles to nothing the second we resign our RFAs. Sammy is an ideal buyout candidate, Gustavsson will stay and probably be better than he was, and Tootoo doesn't cost much. However, resigning Val, Cleary, and Miller will be an issue unless someone else is moved out via trade or waivers, in which case I'd imagine Emmerton would be the guy to go via waivers and (maybe) Quincey or Carlo via trade.

You're right, he's got twenty points in 27 games. Obviously ten points over three years is the difference between a superstar and a loser who should be playing in Sweden right now. Also, nobody ever said Hossa sucks...ever. You're the guy who repeatedly says that Franzen sucks, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, and then calls everyone "slappies" or says we're in love with the guy when we suggest that maybe he's a much better hockey player than you make him out to be.

Yeah I guess that's true, he's a bit more like Helm with scoring ability than he is pesty like Marchand. Still, I think it's fair to call Helm a pest (between the whistles). I'd take it if that's how he pans out.

What a loser Franzen is, he should be more like your boy Hossa. That guy's a playoff monster. In his last 27 playoff games (three seasons) he's produced a whopping 11 points. Apparently the difference between a good player and bad player in your eyes is one assist. That's a pretty narrow margin of error for a guy who's supposedly giving Franzen a fair shake.

I wonder if Landon Ferraro has it in him to play like Marchand. From what I've seen, which is admittedly a small sample, they play a similar style of game.

Right. How could I fail to notice your open mindedness in between calling for him to be traded and feminizing his name (Franzine) for the last 3 years. You obviously give him a fair shake each year and he fails you by scoring more goals than anyone else on the team. I know this may come as a surprise to you, but the fact that I can objectively look at a hockey player and come to the conclusion that he's a valuable contributor to his team does not mean I "love" him. I determine a player's worth based on his contributions to the team's success, while you (apparently) base it on some gut level love/hate dynamic.

I know, on pace to have a career high in points and still led the team in goals. But then again, he disappears for long stretches all the time, which is why his longest goal scoring drought (7 games) is so much more unforgivable than Datsyuk's (11 games) or Zetterbergs (11 games). What a rapid decline!

Yep, those 14 goals and 31 points in 41 games were pathetic. We should probably trade him for Shawn Horcroff.

Anybody know anything about Blake Wheeler? I mean, whether or not he's going to test free agency or whether he's a lock to be resigned by Winnipeg? Seems like the kind of guy that could help us, and might fly under the radar. I know there hasn't been much discussion about him so far. Edit: Nevermind, he's and RFA so it's pretty unlikely he's going anywhere. Damn.

It's crazy because Andersson isn't exactly fleet of foot, but he's so good positionally that he's really effective on the pk. If that guy had even Drew Miller's speed he'd be an absolute force.

Damn is Jurco slick, I cannot wait until this kid has another full year of AHL play under his belt. He's going to be a good one.

That's true, but the average height and weight for Chicago included huge guys that never touched the ice against Detroit, including Bollig, Mayers, and Hayes. Also, they have plenty of pretty big guys who play a finesse game also, such as Hjalmarsson, Stalberg, and Frolik. Actually, Bickell and Seabrook are the only guys on that team that are both big, and play a rugged big guy game. For example: While being big, Hossa only had 12 hits this season which was good for 19th on the team. By comparison Franzen had 43 which was good for eighth on the team, and Kindl had 46. Three different guys, all big, with varying levels of physicality. If one can count Franzen and Kindl's "not playing big" against the average height and weight, then you'd have to do the same for Hossa, Frolik, Stalberg, and Hjalmarsson, all of whom had fewer hits than Franzen (except Stalberg who had the same amount). Also, Franzen and Kindl both had more blocked shots than any of the guys I mentioned as well. So I'm not really sure how they're any less physical than Chicago's big bodies are.

Wow, I just watched it for the first time. Talk about having no puck luck, Chara wasn't even looking at Malkin when he did it. I guess you make your own breaks in this league, but damn.

This reminds me of Donny Baker on "The Bob and Tom Show". "He probably hits from the red tees, I swear to god man".

I was going to make a football lineup, but then I decided they'd be terrible no matter how I organized them because Brendan Smith would lead the league in fumbles.

Yeah good call, we should trade our leading goal scorer every year for a guy who's never scored more than 22 goals in his life. Nothing wrong with that idea.

Every team says this about every team they don't like. You're no different. You make it seem like there's some sort of scientific evidence to support this idea or something. Wanna know what Chicago fans were saying after that goal was waved off in the waning seconds of game 7? "Detroit gets special treatment from the league". It's wrong, boring, and an obvious attempt to pander to the lowest common denominator. I'd love to just ignore it, except that ever thread inevitably leads to this silly crap the second penalties, Penguins, Bettman, the league, diving, 2009, Crosby, or anything else gets brought up. Which is fairly frequently when you consider this is a hockey forum. Sidney Crosby is the most marketable player in the NHL. Deal with it. BUT, the fact that Sidney Crosby is the most marketable player in the NHL in no way suggests that there's some sort of absurd conspiracy to make him win championships...particularly when you consider that Pittsburgh doesn't win all that many important games in the playoffs anyway. So please, just stop already. Beyond saying the same illogical thing over and over and over again, it's just boring, which is sorta worse when you consider this is supposed to be something we all do for fun.