Richdg

If you look at the box score, it was our "stars" that played the worse. Z, Brunner, Kronwall, E, and Cleary were all -3 for the game. I thought Kindl 0 for the game played ok.

Not sure who the next GM should be. My reasons for it have little to do with Nill. The RW have been at the top of the heap for a long long time. No one in the organization has ever had to rebuild a team before. Now we do. is Nill the right man for that job? I have no idea.

But we had this last year as well. One of the best teams after 60 games, then the injuries mounted and we barely made it to the PO's, and lost in the first round. One of my biggest fears is Holland and company make the excuse that it is only injuries, and not start making the moves we need. We have to get bigger, faster, stronger, tougher, and add more skill.

After wtaching tonights game, we all could use some of those pain killers.......

I guess we need a thread for each and every player. That way when they play well we can talk about their HOF career and when they play bad we can talk about how crappy they are. As for Howard, not sure how much more he can do. If it wasn't for him we would have a losing record and be giving up 7 or 8 goals a game.

Crappy game. Not much we can do about it either. Couple of other things. The worse thing that can ahppen to a young G is to get shell shocked early in his career. Witht he way we are playing that could happen to Mar. So babcock is wisely being carefull. That being said, Howard loks like he is banged up as well. before the game they were showing him in the lcoker room. His left hand was tapped up. Doubt that is normal. Also, about half way throught he 3rd, Howard seemed to be having a hard time getting back up off of the ice. the truely scary part is, just how little talent we have after our top 3-4 guys. There just isn't much here as a team/organization. A bunch of role players, but nothing one can count on. Best we can do now, if try to forget and move on from tonight.

S & C issue? No. This is a product of who we are as a team. We are an older team, a smaller team, and we do have a fair share of injury prone guys. This shouldn't be a surprise. The history is there. Both Dat and Z have been playing less games for the past few years. never anything serious, just more smaller nagging things that reduces their playing time. has Colaviaco every played a full season? bert has been battling back issues for years. Gus openly admits that he starts every year with groin issues. Franzen picks up naggin injuries every year. Point is, this shouldn't be a surprise. Do I like it? hell no. But it is what it is. All we can do is try to play through it, and GO GRIFFINS!

we are tied for 5th 25% of the way through the season. we need to keep moving up before the halfway mark.

Hey figured we should enjoy it. We all know this years team has some issues. Bound to happen sooner or later. But the fact remains we are in the PO race. In the end, winning is what matters. It doesn't matter how you do it.

No Anders on here? What was his fat butts last name? was it eriksson?

On that I agree. Abby seems to be stuck in between. is he an offensive player or a grit player? he hasn't made up his mind, so he ends up not really doing either. he has all the skills we need. Good size, great speed-2nd fastest skater on the team according to Micky, but doesn't use it enough. Even the wings seem to be unsure as to what he is. C or LW.

He is playing well on D. Although I like him as a LW. he does look bad a$$ without his front tooth as well! was hoping to catch a Lincoln game vs the jacks yet this year, but they don't make the trip.

Normal play with a bad result. You teach kids to pin players to the boards like this in pee wee. In fact it used to be one of the recommended techniques by USAHockey.

Fil should be resigned. Only C we have under 30. But lack of depth is forcing us to us him at wing. If we were not planning on keeping him, then we should have moved him last year. being a UFA this summer, his trade value is low. As for the cost to resing him, Hudler got 4 million per season, so fil? 5+ million.

can you name me one prospect our front office types didn't glow about? That is their job. It is also how they drive up percived trade value. we had all the same things about Kutznetsov, kopescky, Rittola, Lenio, Mursack, Emmerton, etc etc etc....... Nyquist and tatar are 40 point per year guys, just like the title of this thread. Who for his career has just over 400 games played in the NHL and has just over 200 points. Averages 1 point every 2 games. Again, not one of those guys-the forwards is close in any way to be able to replace Z, datsyuk or Filppula. Nor are any of those forwards potential 60 point power forward types. As for those playing in the pro leagues in europe, so what. That isn't NA hockey and it is a very different game. The list of euro's that have failed in NA is very very long. Now, I fully understand that there will be a positive surprise or 2. Always is. But at best 1 out of 10 prospects ever pan out, so even the guys we all think will make it, most will not. You see this in every sport. 1st round flops happen all of the time. late round surprises as well.

Hmmmm Federov-yzerman-Shanahan Hossa-Datsyuk-Hull Zetterberg-Primeau-Hommer Probert-Draper-McCarty Kocur Maltby Nick-Vlad Coffey-Rouse(someone has to play D with this pair) Chelios-Murphy Fetisov hasek Howard

Things maybe heating up, and many believe he is going to be moved. http://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/should_the_rangers_trade_for_ryan_oreilly/12906829 nyquist, tatar, and mccollum right now today.

But a pending UFA doesn't have full value. Well aware. I would move dats and resign Fil. but some here think that is just crazy talk.....

I was wondering the same thing......

This was one of those games that drive you mad. We were off the last 2 days, so we were rested. Got off to a 2-0lead, then slowly and surely pissed it away. We didn't give up a lot of shots, nor did we take many. Just a flat game by the whole team.....

Vol does have 3 more seasons after this on his contract. So any savings cap wise is still a fair bit off.

Long term our D is in much better shape than forwards. E, kindl, Smith, lashoff all currently on the team and under 30. All with good size. They all just need to play more often together to get better. Several high end prospects in Juniors as well. Forwards is much more an issue IMHO long term.

While we need to rebuild, it is not a 23 man effort that is needed. we need to find 2-4 guys each year for the next 2-3 years to reload. Over the next 2.5 seasons, 3 drafts, and 3 FA periods, there are plenty of players that deals could be worked out for. Including RFA's. To me our biggest needs are RH Dmen and in general more size, speed, skill, and strength (mental, emotional, and physical). First the dance partners. As of today 3 teams come to mind: The LA Kings, the NY rangers, and the NJ Devils. All have the parts we need/want and have needs that we can fill. For example, the Rangers are a donut team. Good D, tons of big young wings, and weak at C. Many of the Dmen are RH to boot! The devils are once again in their yearly search for O. They have plenty of Dman as well. The Kings on the other hand are in need of D-Greene out for the year and Mitchell out for several more weeks. There is of course one RFA out there right now that we should make a run at: Ryan O'Reilly. he is unsigned with the Avs. There were some rumors about a current player and a 2nd round pick and the avs would move him. Now i have no idea if that is true or not, but if it is make the move! He is already a 60 point per year guy and is only going to get better. At 6-1/200 he isn't small either. More on this later.

A couple of things. If I come across as crass once in a while sorry, no offense meant. Second, there is no difference in practice. The NFL doesn't have a minor league system, so their prospects sit the bench on the big club. But every other sport brings guys in, in the hope that some point down the line they are able to take a spot. Most of the time-with high level picks, they have a player in mind for replacement.

Not sure D is the bigger need. We are mid pack on both. 16 teams have scored more goals than us, and 18 have given up more goals than us. as of today 33 GF vs 32 GA. I would say help is needed across the board.