kipwinger

obviously point production is only half the story for a defenseman, but Quincey has real close to the same point production as Ian White, averaged about the same amount of ice time, but has a worse plus/minus (on a much s***tier team). So I guess I'd have to wonder whether or not anybody here would be bitching if we gave a first rounder for Ian White given how well he's played? I like this Quincey thing, but I agree, I don't think we're done.

You're absolutely right, and maybe there's nothing to be done about it. There really are no easy answers, which is tough when a problem is easy to identify

Now that Filppula is cooling off a bit on the scoring and Zetterberg is just getting warmed up, maybe it's would help to switch the two at wing and center. Don't know if this will help, but Zetterberg is definitely the better shooter of the two. Might give him some higher quality chances while not sacrificing a lot of offense from Filppula. Plus, it may help Zetterberg offense rebound, if Filppula is carrying the puck into the zone from here on out. Don't know if this is the only fix, or even if it would work, just something I thought of. Like you said, maybe bring Cleary up and Huds or Fil down, but I'd hate to lose their offense.

Lame. I had a couple more zingers lined up before the refs stopped the fight. Anyway, hopefully we'll see a return to form once he's back.

Who said they were playing bad? I said Pavel's numbers are down lately, WHICH THEY ARE, and maybe fixing his knee will bring them back up...WHICH WOULD BE GOOD. It's an accurate observation, not a criticism. I'm not exactly sure what your problem is with that, but it's sure as hell maddening that you're continuing on with it.

Jesus Christ. The point I've been trying to make from the beginning is that IF he has been playing injured (as we both agree he has), and he's getting it taken care of now, then maybe we'll see his numbers return to over a point a game like they were Nov, Dec, and Jan. It's not a criticism of Datsyuk, its a hope that this will fix what is obviously a (smallish) problem. The fact that the team is playing better should only increase the likelihood of Pavel's scoring. Also, he had more ice time in the last ten games, which should increase his production as well. The fact is that his production is down (slightly), I'd say that this injury is probably having some effect. Now that they're taking care of it, maybe it won't be a problem anymore, which was my point to begin with.

Sort of just seems like you're in the mood to argue. Miller and Zetterberg scoring more doesn't mean that Datsyuk HAS to score less. It's not a zero sum game. Here's a simple question, do you think he's been as good since the all star break as he was before it?

yeah, you're right. But when you can look at all five guys on a unit and see some consistency in their +/- then it's still troubling. The stat is helpful, just not for an individual player.

Hey I'm not saying the guy isn't good, he's always a threat. But so far, February has been his worst month (since his beginning of the season slump). He's less than a point a game in Feb, and was a point a game or more in Nov., Dec., and Jan. Also, Feb. is the first month since Oct. that's he's posted a minus (granted, only -2). Still effective, but less effective over the last 10 games or so.

Hopefully this explains (and remedies) his recent slump in point production and failure to take faceoffs. Definitely need both of those to come back before the playoffs.

When was the last time that Hank, Pav, or Lidstrom missed a game because someone took a run at them, mugged them, or otherwise hurt them? I object to the idea that we should change our already good lineup around in order to protect against some hypothetical problem which never actually happens, even when we don't have an enforcer. Especially when we've got real problems, like the inability of our second line to produce/play defense when facing tougher matchups on the road. Fix that problem via trade, not this mythical "protect the stars from muggings" b.s. which I'm fairly sure is just used as an excuse to bring in a fighter because some people have a preference for that type of hockey.

You're right, I unfairly lumped him in with Green. After looking at his career games played stats, I will have to eat crow. He's been much better than most guys on our team even. I was wrong.

I thought this exact same thing when I saw that they were healthy scratching Mike Knuble recently. Green and Backstrom are ALWAYS hurt, Semin is lazy as hell, and Ovechkin doesn't want to be a team guy. Yet, year after year they are heralded as the saviors of the team while hard working, solid hockey players like Chimera, Laich, and Knuble are perpetually left to play second banana. I think George McPhee is a terrible GM whose moderate success is based off of his preference for drafting and keeping players based on skill level above and before any other consideration. Fire McPhee, blow this team up and replace the dead weight with team guys, and make sure Dale Hunter drills it into Ovie's head that he's a winger and not a center, and the team (and Ovechkin's numbers) get back to where they should be.

Right now ESPN is reporting a Moen to the Wings rumor. Of course, they've also rumored every other possible trade as well so who knows.

All I'm saying is that he's been better than his numbers, anytime your team gives up 5-7 goals (Edmonton, Washington, Montreal, NYI, SJ), the problem is bigger than your goalie. Has he been awesome, or even all that steady? No. Has he played bad enough to suggest he's got no more hockey left in him? Also no. I'm glad for the team and Joey that he's got the no. 2 job, but Conklin hasn't been as bad as we sometimes make him out to be. Part of the problem, IMO, is that there's a trade off when your defense is scoring as much as ours is. With Jimmy in the net it's no problem because he's a super star and he'll bail them out, but when Conks is in they can't cheat into the play as much without giving up the kinds of chances that bury a backup goalie. I honestly think we have a good defense, but I don't think our defense is nearly as good (defensively) as Jimmy makes them look on most nights. There's a reason for all the breakaways, odd man rushes, and short handed goals that we've seen this year. The defense is scoring more (which is great and I'm not complaining), but like I said, there's a trade off.

unlike a lot of people here, I don't think Conklin has been as bad as his numbers suggest. I've watched every game and seen how many goals against him were the result of shoddy defensive play, or flukey goals going in off defenders sticks, skates, etc. Having said that, Joey has been better and earned the job...kudos to him, he was good last year as well.

I generally object to the accusation that Nash is lazy. I don't know where this is coming from, never heard it, never seen it. The guy is a beast, but nobody is going to get quality production when he's the only offensive threat. It's amazing that he's been as good as he has. He's going to face the best possible defensive pairings and forwards every single night. Even Hossa and Kovalchuk had each other when they were putting up huge numbers (thus making it harder for teams to defend any one of them), or even Kessel now that he's got Lupul. The best player Nash ever played with was Modin, and he was constantly hurt, or Fedorov in his 16-18 NHL seasons.

It's easy, their franchise player is Evgeni Malkin.

I think it's better to be safe than sorry. Plenty of time for him to get back into game shape after the injury, and Joey has been real good as a fill in. I really hope they don't rush this, but they're the professionals so I guess I just have to take their word for it.

Chronic back problems? He's played less than 75 games twice in his career and one of those years he played 74 games.

Either Howe or Lidstrom as the top Wing. Yzerman is third. I was just looking at Howe and Lidstrom's career accomplishments to see if anything stood out to me. Jesus Christ, who could pic?

I'm suggesting increasing primary scoring as I see Nash as a huge improvement over Franzen, and getting my secondary scoring from one of our younger guys. I see your point here, I really do, and I think it's really a matter of preference, but I think Parise is going to go for around 7+ and want something relatively long term as well. Adding that much contract without offsetting some of it via trade, severely limits our options when it comes to replacing Lidstrom and Stuart if both should leave. Additionally, Nash only has seven more years on the contract, making him 34 when it runs out, so it's not like we'll be paying for some washed up fourth liner at that point.

You've strengthened each team and considering it looks like we were going to go after an elite winger in the off season you can avoid that and just add secondary scoring at the July 1, deadline. If you added Nash you wouldn't have to chase Parise July 1 as it seems likely we'll try to do. Plus, I'm not really worried about strengthening a terrible team, that is, if you consider losing Nash and gaining Franzen an improvement. Note: Now that I think about it you wouldn't even have to chase secondary scoring in the off season if you already had Nash. Just promote from within. Holmstrom is likely leaving, so Nyquist will likely go up. So... Bertuzzi-Pav-Nash Flippula-Zetterberg-Hudler/Nyquist and so on. I like it.

ESPN has been reporting Nash to NYR for a package including Dubinsky. As much as I think the Rangers are born losers with no hope of consistency, they would be lethal with the addition of Nash...as would any playoff bound team. Here's hoping he narrows his list down to Detroit and Detroit. I'd give Franzen and pick/prospect for him yesterday if I could. Agreed on pretty much every point. Plus, rumors I've seen suggest Burke is VERY interested in making a really big deadline deal. Nash is about as big as it gets.

ESPN rumors Nash to NYR for a package including Dubinsky. Obviously, there's no telling how accurate it is, but I have only seen NYR rumors with Nash, nothing about Vancouver.