Richdg

Sheahan has played well, like the rest of the kids. But lets not get carried away. As good as many of these guys have looked we are still tied with the 17th most wins this year. That is with these guys playing the majority of the time. That is not to down play anything these guys have done. they have played great! That doesn't mean they are great players. In time, maybe. But not right now. They are good players as of today. What these guys all do is give 100% every time they play, which is really fun to watch. They all still make tons of mistakes on the ice every game. Something that should improve with time. But if you read some of the threads on here, you would swear we are fighting for the presidents trophy! I mean after all, with all of these AS players we are the best in the league right?

I was a little nervous about the game tonight. Bottom dwellers playing for jobs can be dangerous. But nevermind......

Dab, Legwand is not a 1C. he is a 50 point guy, at best a 2C. Sheahan is the same type of player, which is good.

Getting much closer. So if/when Z gets back who sits? The easy answer in Andersson, but we do need a checking line don't we? The trick is at RW. Having Z and Datsyuk on the top line makes great sense. Nyquist and Legwand on the second works. Jurco-Sheahan-tatar on the 3rd has been great. Abby and Helm on the 4th is great together. If we can find 3 true RHed RW we will be all set. Franzen can fill on at RW on the second for now, so that leaves 2 RHed RW's needed for next season.

Here is a nice old story about how Stevie and fedorov learned to play D and the enigma that was fedorov. Of course it is from the lier MA but what the heck. http://mitchalbom.com/d/journalism/2318/being-sergei-fedorovhes-reluctant-enigma-wrapped-hockey-star No I didn't, but with the way I wrote it I can see how you thought I said that. Fedorov was either on and giving effort in every part of the game or he was off and should have been left in the locker room. He played D and O when HE wanted to.

Yes that Federov. The one that disappeared for weeks at a time, showed no heart in 25% of the games he played. The guy that might have been the second most talented hockey player in terms of natural talent all time, that pouted around and didn't care much of the time. Yes that Fedorov. The guy that we brought Liranov in to motivate, that Fedorov. It is amazing how soon people forget who and what he was and the hockey worlds take on him.

Just thinking of other guys that were known to be lazy at times, in their end.... Hull, Federov, Modano, Mario, Jagr, Selanne, Bure, Yzerman for the first 10 years of his career, Hossa, etc etc..... Most of those guys didn't learn to play D or on every shift until later in their careers. Now I do wonder how many on here complaining about ovie efforts defend Franzen? How many defended Federov? How many would change their tune if ovie was here? BTW, I hope Oates pisses him off and he demands a trade. A line of Z-Datsyuk-Ovie would be the best in the NHL, and it wouldn't even be close!

cnott, we don't need more C's. We have: Datsyuk, Z-if needed, Helm, Sheahan, Legwand, Andersson, Abby, Nyquist-if needed, and Franzen-if needed. We need more wingers if we choose to add forwards. Vanek, Moulson, and Callahan lead that list. Any/all would help if the deal is right.

Playmaker, his line mate Backstrom is considered a good defensive C and is -19, whlebeing on the ice for all of Ovie's goals. In this case yes the +/- is deciving because it is their BL that sucks. yes being a great defensive forward does hurt your offensive numbers. Always has. Pick any superstar you want to. They come in as great offensive players, rack up serious numbers. Then as they mature they start playing D more and their O numbers drop. Yes there are always exceptions to every rule.

The thought of an injection for pain in the ...... manly areas.......Ouch!

BTW, where did we get Jimmy D from? The guy that started our run? the Islanders. There was/is a tie there for me.

Finger for Alfie? I would have thought legs. he is very slow right now, or maybe it is just father time. His legs are gone........

TBH there is no need for Weiss on the team/roster at all baring major off season moves. if Legwand returns-which is most likely we have to many F's already, not including Weiss. Add a UFA or 2, the roster in once again overflowing.

good luck trying to figure it out. Remember you have to do it per capita. There are far more Canadians than everyone else, then americans, etc..... it is nteresting to note that Canada has more players than all other countries combined, but the US also has more players than all other countries combined minus Canada.

No matter what happens, please never use regular seasons games to compare teams in the PO's. it is a night and day comparison.

No one will take him in trade. We can just buy him out. According to capgeek, if we do so the buyout is pretty cheap. For the next 8 years it would be: 2.1 million, .7 million, .7 million, 2.6 million, then 4 years at 1.7 million. With the cap going up, we have plenty of space to do so, if we wish.

While I like the optimism, not sure I agree. We have no idea on how or if Z and dat will be healthy. if they do play, who then comes out of the lineup? This is always a risk. Do you upset the apple cart? As of today looks like we will make it, then we get to play the Pens or B's in the 1st round. Those are both very good/great teams. The PO's are always a crap shoot and the hot teams go far. So let's hope!

Playmaker, this is something that changes in the NHL every 10 years or so. Look at the RW's. We didn't truly become a possession team until the mid 2000's. Now we are starting to change again. Yes there were some guys that played a great 2 way game before, but that wasn't the majority of the guys on the team.

I understand that Ovie isn't a great defensive player. Most of your top goal scorers are not great defensive players. Did brett Hull even know where the defensive zone was? Shanny didn't play much d either, and we somehow managed to win 3 cups with him. On the other hand you have a great defensive c like datsyuk, but is he really a great scorer? No. Good yes, but not great. Ovie has also changed postions 3 times now. When he first came into the NHL he was a LW. Then he moved to C, now he has been playing RW for the last 3 or 4 seasons. His best years to date were the 07/08 season through the 09/10 season. he had 112, 110, 109 points in those 3 years. Pretty damn good. Even then his +/- changed by 25 points per year. What it really comes down to is, what does the coaching staff want from him. Do you want to take a 50 goal scorer and turn him into a 30 goal guy and improve his D? Tough one to answer. Most teams are looking for more O. Scoring in the NHL is down and trending further south.

There are certain teams that I love to see fail: Yankees, cowboys, lakers, and yes the maple leafs. The habs are also on the list. I hope they suck forever!

LOL. Why would anyone want a 27 year old RW that scores 45+ goals per year and is good for 200 hits per year. blindness by some is funny. Praising backstrom over Ovie? really? I would take Ovie every day over backstrom. Not even close. Go do a google search for Backstrom struggling to score. There have been stories about it every year he has been in the league. Backstrom is -19 BTW, so it isn't an ovie thing. Washington has a terrible backend other than Carlson. Now if one wants to ralk about how ovie is used, that is a worth while debate. he is told to find a good shooting spot and stay there. To be a force in the offensive zone. That is what he does. Some of us are old enough remember when Stevie Y didn't play D either. He was told to score and did. it wasn't until Bowman threatened to trade him that the captain learned to play D.

Got to give Gus and babcock lots of credit here. Gus s in one of those zones that few players ever have. he is so hot right now that the flashing red light goes off when he jumps over the boards. He is out performing his past by a ton! That brings me to Babcock. Gus was a play making C at GR. Babs moved him to wing and asked him to shoot more. Gus agreed and has soared! Great job by both.

Rick, big difference here. bert is done. toast, finished, career over. Callahan is just beginning. maybe he becomes something, maybe not. we don't know. But he needs to play so we can find out. There are many reasons why he was a step slow. unfamiliar, nerves, told to focus on skating, etc....... I still think he is a 4th line checking guy, which is fine. maybe adds 10-15 goals per year. Great!

Callahan looked just OK last night. He is a guy that gives everything, but isn't great at anything. One of the things I noticed was he was a step to slow when trying to check.

What? Players getting.......healthy? Also.....2 games without losing anyone? Must be a new season high!