Scott Stevens

Everytime you say something, you make my point stronger = the NHL needs better marketing.

And the moderator can merge them all into one. Big deal. It's not worth getting worked up about. Line threads are cool. I like to think about combos too.

I'm not saying they have to spend millions upon millions of dollars. Marketing isn't always about spending money. It's about displaying your product. Why can't the NHL offer TBS/NBC/ESPN and any other channel that had their NBA games cancelled an NHL game in each NBA's game place in return for being allowed to run a few ads during the games? Or something like that? Hockey is the most exciting sport to watch. The NHL just doesn't show it off like it should.

Don't get me wrong, Newfy. If we can get Tavares for Hudler, we do it in a second and never look back. I'm not against trading anyone on the team if the price is right. But the point I'm trying to make is that a third line winger playing with a third line center and a banger on the other side isn't going to score 70-80 points unless you time warp him 30 years and put him back on the 82 Islanders. For fans to constantly criticize Hudler's point production is just ridiculous. He's being used as a scapegoat and that's all there is to it. If Holmstrom, Franzen, Cleary, Bertuzzi or anyone else who has a wondertwin centering his line doesn't put up 70-80 points a season, then THOSE GUYS should be taking the brunt of the criticism as far as our offense goes. The Wings got rid of half their slop (Rafalski, Maltby, Draper) this year and will get rid of the other half after this season (Holmstrom, Bertuzzi). Then we'll see a fast, young, gritty team next year.

Uhhh, maybe so we can watch more games on TV instead of having to buy a package or watch them on the internet. Remember when ESPN was running hockey games all the time? That was cool. Now you'll get to see the Red Wings on national TV once or twice a season. Imagine the Yankees being on TV 4 times during the year. There's NO WAY. Marketing is crucial so there's more money league wide. Remember when we missed an entire season of NHL hockey? You don't think money had anything to do with that? It's not hard to connect the dots as to why marketing is important.

Funny how the Hudler bashing continues to exist. FACTS: Hudler has played on the third line for most of his career in Detroit. Hudler has a .5 points a game average (regular season/playoffs) over his career in Detroit. http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8470201#&navid=nhl-keymatch Hudler makes 2.75 million a season. What is the problem here? This guy plays with Filppula and Abdelkader, and you expect him to put up 60-70 points? That's just not realistic. The wingers that play with Zetterberg and/or Datsyuk should be expected to put up 70+ points a season. The third line guys should have 40-50 points a season if they have good years. And that's what Hudler does. I have a feeling that if Hudler sees some regular time with Datsyuk this year, he's going to go on some streaks that will make people want him back after this season that don't want him back now.

Yah, I've added a couple teams that don't exist currently = Seattle Slewfoots and the Portland Pistols. I just think the 16 team conferences make things cleaner. I don't like 6 divisions of 5 teams each. I like 8 divisions of 4 teams each. Top team from each division and then 4 wild cards after that for playoffs.

I didn't even know I could plus or minus you! How about posting something about Hudler instead of whining? Then I'll give you a plus, ok?

Here's how I would do it: Eastern Conference: 1) North East Division = Montreal, Winnepeg, Toronto, Ottawa 2) Colonial Division = Boston, Philadelphia, New York Rangers, Washington 3) Atlantic Division = Buffalo, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburg 4) South East Division = Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida, Nashville Western Conference: 1) Midwest Division = Detroit, Columbus, Chicago, Minnesota 2) Southern Division = St. Louis, Dallas, Colorado, Phoenix 3) Pacific Division = Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Portland 4) North West Division = Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle Each team gets: (6) games vs eacg division opponent = 18 games (4) games against each non-division, conference opponent = 48 games (1) game against each opposing conference opponent (alternate 2 divisions away / 2 divisions home each year) = 16 games total games = 82 games DONE.

Fighting has its place in the NHL. I like to compare what happens without fighting: to what happens with fighting: In both instances, a player did something he shouldn't have by extending his knee/elbow/etc. at a player when he shouldn't have. In one instance, a player refused to pony up for his misdeed and ended up getting socked in the side of the head and we all know the rest. In the other instance, the player manned up and fought when called out. Everyone put all the blame on Bertuzzi and made him out to be Satan, but the reality is that Moore was responsible for everything that happened to himself. If he would have turned around, dropped the gloves, and taken a few lefts from Bertuzzi, everything would have cleared itself up and been forgotten by everybody in a week's time.

The NHL builds a new arena or two every year, and they still won't make the ice surface bigger. That's the LARGEST problem in the game today. There's no room out there anymore. They should lengthen the playing surface 20 feet and make it 20 feet wider. Olympic size or bigger. There are no athletes that move faster than NHL players and are allowed to hit each other person to person. The average player height was 5'6" in 1900 and the average speed was approx 15 mph. Now, the average player height is closer to 6'1" and the average speed is 25 mph. What the hell does the NHL think is going to happen? Bigger Rink solves all these problems, but the NHL is too stupid to figure that out.

Do you guys think Instant Replay is in the works for the NHL? Seems that the officials could sure use it with all of these plays under such close scrutiny. It's hard to tell without slow motion what actually happened. I feel like the NHL needs it at this point.

I like what you're throwing down. I would like to see Mursak/Tatar/Smith for a few games this season as well. I don't want anyone to get injured, but it will happen. When it does, bring up the kids.

I agree. The Smith on Smith hit was going to be shoulder on shoulder and Ben Smith on his butt, but Ben Smith changed his position right at the last second to avoid getting planted. That should have been dealt with the same way.

Let's stay on topic. This is a line-combo thread and where it should be. I have not had a prior account, but have lurked a long time and seen many of these situations. There is a lot of truth to popular opinion ruling the day around here.

WRONG AGAIN AGAIN. English is our national language. It's not our "official" language, but it IS our national language. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States To try and argue otherwise is just a waste of time. We speak English here in America. There are other languages, but the dominant language is English. There's no reason to make things more difficult then they have to be. I would bet that the large majority of these young foreign players want to assimilate into our culture, and would goff at someone stressing about whether their name was being pronounced right or not by Darren Pang. Give me a break. Nyquist. You're Nyquist. Not Nyee-ka-vist or Nee-ka-wist or anything else. You're Nyquist. Period. And by the way, why is he not going to make the team? He's a snipe.

You're just figuring this out?

WRONG AGAIN. English is our national language here in America. Official or Unofficial makes no difference. We speak English. Therefore, the announcers pronounce the names on the back of the sweaters in English. And yes, Frenchies get a pass because they started the fricking sport. So Richard is Rih-shard and Messier is Mess-ee-ay. But that's as far as it goes.

The best part is that the actual lines turn out to be something NOBODY wants!

Howe Hall in Hockeytown.

WRONG. Zetterberg is Zetterberg. Nyquist is Nyquist. We are not in Sweden. We are in America. And in America, we speak English. Period.

I never understood why the Wings coaching staff could never figure this one out. It seems fairly simple to me: Cleary-Datsyuk-Hudler Franzen-Zetterberg-Filppula (Datsyuk/Cleary/Hudler [rotate them])-Helm-Abdelkader Bertuzzi-Eaves-Miller Holmstrom on the bench for Power Plays and back in the 5 on 5 mix when the team is up by 2 or more goals. What's so hard about that?

In my opinion, there are 2 forwards on the Wings who don't deserve their spots on current talent levels but have them based on contracts and loyalty. That will end this year. When it does, both Nyquist and Brunnstrom will have better opportunities. Expect to see the younger guys break through NEXT year. This year is a swan song year for the Wings (unfortunately, to us fans).

How about this: Add one more consequence to the team that ices the puck. Make them take a player and put him completely behind the goal-line of the opposite end of the rink, where he is not allowed to move until the official drops the puck. Then he has to skate like hell to get back into the play. The attacking team, in essence, gets a 3-4 second power play each time the other team ices the puck. I'd like to see that.