Aeothe Kaear

The dude is crazed... ...probably a big factor in why he's so damn good.

For the money he's getting paid, Rafalski had better be anchoring the second pairing instead of riding Nick's coattails all year. Markov is better suited to the role. And like I said, he is a much better player than Andy Sutton. I don't care if he's "more physical" by whatever silly rubric you're using, Markov is better at, you know, actually playing defense. Preventing goals. Playing positionally. Making outlet passes. Sutton is a pylon with no defensive zone awareness.

Sutton is a complete pylon and has no real skills either. He hits, yeah, but it's hardly worth it. He's another Lilja (and I mean the regular Lilja, not the playing-over-his-head Lilja we saw for a while in the playoffs) only less mobile. Lilja twice as physical as Markov? Man, we get pretty good stuff on the west coast generally, but damn, hook me up with some of whatever you're smoking. Markov is not worth $4 mil but he is a much better player than the other two, plays with snarl and poise, and consistently raises his game in the playoffs. Plus, he makes a great stay-at-home partner for Nick, who can then play his game without having to worry about covering his partner's ass. If we re-sign him, our defense is perhaps the best in the league when healthy (and we have a Hall of Famer in net)--defense wins championships. I think he'll sign for less than $4m eventually, and hopefully with the Red Wings. He's got to know he won't have a better defense partner (or a guy who makes him look any better) than Nicklas Lidstrom anywhere he goes, and that his chances of winning a title are pretty good...

Uh, which I did address when I said I thought it was basically a negotiating tactic. It's a smokescreen. He'll sign in the NHL, and for less than $4 mil. But thanks for playing.

Who cares? Do you really put so much stock in rumors? Markov is the best defenseman left on the free agent market and thus probably has plenty of interest just by default. I think he's just trying to get a few extra bucks before he signs. I still hope it'll be in Detroit...

He has a history of having minor injuries during the year, missing a quarter of the regular season, and then being a warrior in the playoffs. I'll take that any day.

Markov is worth $3 million a year in the current market, give it to him and let's be done with it. I doubt Meech ever gets much of a shot here.

I hope they go back to that red/yellow/orange/black V eyesore they used to have instead.

Sopel sucks, and so does Sutton, neither can play a legit top four role like Markov can. Come on guys, enough blustering and negotiating, meet in the middle like always and ink Danny for a couple years at least.

Wait, you want to just not replace him? If the team we had from last year had one MORE top 4, legit NHL defenseman (and not one less!) they are probably champions. You can never have too many. I love Kronwall but he plays a different game from Danny and we need both, not to choose between them.

Replaceable? If he signs elsewhere, who exactly is left on the free agent market who is a suitable replacement? Really glad to hear this and hope he re-ups for a few years...

to this deal, glad it's finally done, a healthy Hasek makes us a true contender.

Pahlsson was their MVP.

At least you're not sick to your stomach like I was today. Threw up at least a dozen times and didn't feel better afterwards, can't even keep water or Pepto or anything down, nasty freeze/burn cycle, and lost an entire day during a VERY busy/important week. I couldn't even watch the game. It does blow that Anaheim won, but I figured all along the west winner would steamroll Ottawa.

Uh, since when does the commissioner have the power to ban all Europeans from the league because of his personal preference? He may not like them, but that's absurd...

Holy s***, all this over that little play? Even if Krusty was aiming at him on purpose it still wouldn't be a big deal--and it's not even clear that it was intentional.

In a perfect world, it would burn his hands when he tried to touch it.

Well, they can't take that away... that's Pronger's whole game! The constant interference on the forecheck is what's really taking the life out of the games.

This is only slight overpayment, really... quietly effective, consistent #1 defenseman.

While he occasionally turns a blind eye to the poor play of certain players while castigating others, and maybe needs a new offensive assistant coach who is better at switching the lines up, Babcock is a great coach. His defensive system is terrific, he's good with matchups, thorough, a good motivator. He demands the team play with balls, and they do it. Thumbs up.

Giguere has been good but not great, by my estimation. The Wings just aren't making him move enough and exposing his glaring lack of lateral mobility. Getzlaf is a terror though, and his line often has the Wings pinned in their zone and helpless to strip him of the puck. Oddly, the Wings have struggled to contain Penner on occasions (because of his size) but he and the Ducks have done absolutely nothing at all to take advantage of that fact.

Maltby's fluke in Game 1 against Edmonton last year, but then we pissed that momentum away by losing the next two games. Before that it had been awhile. Draper's in 1998?

What's the deal, eh?

I have a spare VHS copy of the 'Hockeytown' 1997 championship video which includes highlights from not only that game but the whole season. Since I'm moving and it's just extra clutter, it's yours for a couple bucks postage. (And if you don't want it, the offer goes for anyone else who might.)

Actually, as a marine biologist who does at least occasionally work with cephalopods, I feel obligated to point out that most scientists in this field take "octopuses" to be the correct plural. "Octopi" assumes that the root word octopus is a proper 2nd declension masculine Latin noun, which seems not to be the case. [/pointy-headedness]