Richdg

As of today, we don't have any top end talent for the forward corp ready to come up. 0 zip nadda. I watch these guys in GR, nothing to get worked up about. Even Nyquist and tatar are 40 point per year guys at best. How many times this series has nyquist been on the ice? 15? 20? Most of our forward talent is support talent. the 3rd guy you put on a line to fill a specific role. Not guys that can carry a line. Jarnkrok is no where near being ready to play in the NHL. In the one game-yes only 1 game Is aw him play this year, he didn't even look AHL ready. On the plus side, the blueline looks good for a long time. Kindl 26, Smith, Dekeyser, lashoff all around 23, and Sproul on the way-20. That is a very good 5 man group.

Even though Lashoff was out of position on the one goal, this was the right move. neither white nor Cola are in our long term plans. Lashoff is. ge this first game out of the way. pop his playoff cherry so he is ready down the line.

Thing is, if the NHL wouldn't have tried to end fighting, hits like this wouldn't happen. Becasue if these hits did happen, you would get your a$$ kicked as well as having to sit in the sin bin.

Your stats on't cover the 80's when there was 1+ fights per game on average. The Devils started with the trap in the very early 90's, after the NHL tried to reduce fighting. Since you were no longer going to get your a$$ kicked, there was no problem with holding, checking from behind, interference, extra stick work etc...... No, can you imagine if there was no 2 line pass calls in the 80's? Gretzky and Mario may have had 250-300 points per year! How many would Datsyuk, Malkin, Ovechkin, Crosby etc... get in that era? Now that would be fun to watch!

Just wondering if everyone maintains the same positions? Abby for 4 games? Just to be clear, I think both hits were good hockey hits. If you skate with your head down, that is what happens. Neither guy used his elbow.

The refs haven't been a factor yet. No moving on to a bigger issue: cheap attacks. For those of us old enough to remember the 1980's-best decade ever BTW! The hockey was awesome! Stars didn't get touched. if they did, their bodyguard would set the other player straight asap! it was the best of both worlds. Lots of goals and lots of fights. When the NHL made the decision to "reduce" fighting, they everyone started to play clutch and grab hockey. For 20 years now we have been hearing how the NHL wants to open things up and increase scoring. Ok, let's do that. Get rid of all the penalties that were put in place to "reduce" fighting. Thengo back to 1 ref and let's have some damn fun already!

Well that was no fun. But there is a reason why the Ducks are 2nd and we are 7th. They are a very good team. We are an average team. The playoffs really show those differences. Most of us were happy we made itto the PO's. So let's enjoy the ride for however long it lasts.

Yes you always need depth. But that can also wait a year. No Dman that we draft this year would be ready for a couple of years anyway, and the Forward corp will only be getting worse. if datsyuk leaves, well i hope not... yikes!

For those that haven't seen it, and based on the channel it is on I would bet most, This saturday night at 9pm EST on the Hallmark Channel the are premiering: Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story. Set your DVR's and watch it. I would bet that being the Hallmark Channel it is going to be very very PG. But we should support the effort to tell the story of Mr Hockey!

Damn you to hell! Don't spoil it like that!

Can't count on guys that are yet to sign.

Yes, love hockey from the 80's points and fights eveywhere! Notice how when the NHL tried to get rid of the later, the former also declined? Why is that I wonder? As for other things. Gretzky and mario where great defensive players. They understood all to well, that the best defense is a great offense. The other team can't score when you have the puck and are scoring on them. Which is what they did. Now would Datsyuk have more points? yes. but also keep in mind he isn't a natural goal scorer. he is a setup guy. The 3 I mentioned and many others were goal scorers. Heck is datsyuk as good as LeFluer was? No. Hull? No. I really haven't even touched on the guys from the 60's-before my time. But Bossey, Trottier, Dionne, Howe, Esposito, etc... Were all better than datsyuk. Sorry if I misspelled some names. Now that does not mean Datsyuk isn't great. But is he even the best playing in his era? As RW fans we are naturally blind and say yes. I am not sure he is. Top 10 yes, but best? No. As for today, he isn't even top 10 anymore. More 25-30 range. But again that happens to all of us with age.

With Jensen now signed, there is no need for drafting any Dmen in this draft. We don't have any room for them! RW: Kronwall, Ericsson, Dekeyser, Smith, Lashoff, Q, Cola, and Kindl. Griffins: Nicastro, Jensen, Sproul, Oullet, big Ned, Almqvist, and Evens for depth. Unsigned Dmen we control: Backman, merchenko, De Haas. I am sure i am forgeting someone. (I still consider McKee a LW-at least that is my hope)

A true must win game! Don't care how or what the cost is. Just win baby!

Most years, a top 10 pick. This year top 20. but yes he is a extra 1st round pick this year! Kudos to Holland and company for signing him!

Nicastro, Sproul, Oullet, big Ned, Jensen, Almqvist, and Evens. But we also have some pieces for trades. So stay tuned...

Jensen is a good puck moving RHed shooting Dman. he will be in GR for at least 1 year, maybe both. The griffins are going to have a very talented, but very young blueline next year: Nicastro, Sproul, Oullet, Jensen, big Ned. 3 of those 5 are RHed shots! Add in Almqvist and keep Evens for leadership, looks very good! of course this also provides us with lots of parts for trades if needed-which it is.......

You can disagree if you want, which is fine. But there ae many players would consider better than Datsyuk and Z. Go back to the basics. What is the primary goal in hockey? To win. How do you do that? Score goals. Datsyuk has only broken the 30 goal per year mark 3 times, out of 11 seasons. he isn't even a point per game guy for his career. Really close yes. But when you start talking once in a generation players, I think of guys tha can score 120+ points per season. Guys like Gretzky averaged for his career 2 points per game! Super Mario was almost 2 points per game, and if not for cancer would have blown The Great One away for career numbers. Stevie had 6 seasons where he went over 100 points, Datsyuk has none. His career high was/is 97. As a forward you are measured on points, wins and Cups. On 2 of those 3 Datsyuk has work to do. Needs more points and more Cups. At this point in his career, not sure he is going to get those.

It is way to early to discuss Datsyuk in the rafters. He needs another STRONG 5 years to be in that catagory. Z will never be in that catagory. Reading some of the posts on here, you guys show your age. There are a bunch of guys equal or greater than datsyuk and Z that are not in the HOF or have their numbers retired. To be considered at that level, you need to be a once in a generation talent, and not sure either of them are. we are talking about a fine line here. What is the difference between being very good vs great vs once in a generation talent? Some of us are old enough to remember seeing Howe play, grew up on The Great One, watched Super Mario. No the NHL isn't the same as when those guys played. But would datsyuk and Z dominate in the other eras? not sure they would. But again, in 5 years after each puts up another 300 points, maybe we can have this conversation.

Z will be captian as long as he is here. I think Dekeyser will replace him. Go out 5 or 6 years. At that point Dekeyser is 28 or 29 and a vet . he should be ready. Aftr all he is a life long RW fan, from Michigan, and already our best defensive Dman. The O will come later after he gets comfortable. It is a no brainer.

24, 25, and 26. If you ask why, I'll kick your a$$! LOL

Last time I checked, Hockey was a contact sport. People run into each other. That is still allowed right? Perry didn't do anything wrong, and those that think he did, go watch soccer. he drove the net, while hounded by Kronwall, Perry then tries to jump over Howard and his stick as Kronwall bumps him. When you are in the air and get bumped you lose your balance and yes your arms/legs will flail out to try and regain your balance. Now he touched the G which is a 2 min penalty, and that is what he got. Nothing else to talk about. Stop all the b1tching and whinning. I guarantee you that if Perry was playing for us, everyone would be upset about him getting a penalty.

lets put in: pick one of the 3 guys up front that are hurt, and things will get better...... No. First we as fans have NO IDEA if any of them are truely healthy or not. We have been hearng for a couple of weeks that bert is close. But at no point has anyone said he is 100% ready to play. No one not once.

Last night once again showed we need to add size, skill, and grit to our foward core. We got knocked down all game, had 0 threats after the first line, and in general are far to easy to play against. On the plus side, the D played well overall. 0-0 game at even strength.

last night was a great game! yes we lost, but it was a great game Close score and other than a win, that is all we can hope for. That of course was the plus side. The negative side is, last night showed all of our issues as a team once again. Not enough offense. other than our top line there is no fear by any other team that they will get scored on. Lines 2-4 provide us with nothing. Once again we were also shown to be too small and not physical enough. Even datsyuk who is one of the strongest skaters in the game was on the ice at least 5 times. Never mind the number of times Filppula, Nyquist etc... were all knocked down. Once again Franzen proves he is a part time player. Did he even cross the Ducks blueline ion the first 2 periods? seriously dude, you are 6-3/225 get paid to produce. DO IT! As for the D, yes they made some mistakes. For half of our D it was their first playoff game, those guys will get better. I thought Dekeyser looked good and I thought Kronwall looked really bad. Howard of course looked average! LOL. If it wasn't for him they would have scored 2-3 more goals than they did. All in all though, it was still a great game. 0-0 at even strength, that is close on the score board, and in the end, that is what matters the most. We still have a chance to win 1 on the road and flip the home ice advantage, which is a must when you are the lower seed. Game 2 is the key to the series. We win and we have a chance. We lose and the series is about over.