Creasemonkey

Thanks, that's my son when he was three weeks old. He is now six weeks, and already hates Chris Pronger. There will be a hearing today, for sure. KuklasKorner

After seeing this new incredibly clear video, if he's not out for the season + playoffs, it's too light. Nevermind whether he even gets suspended at all, which I doubt. I think all the pressure from the media and the ENTIRE HOCKEY WATCHING POPULATION ON THE PLANET should make Campbell do something, which is exactly what Burke will whine about when it happens. We all know how prone Burke is to making himself look like a little *****, and this will be no exception. I got 10 bucks says he cries. Pronger too. If the league now does nothing in light of this ridiculously clear video, there will be an outrage. We'll have to put together an army to overthrow the league offices, and take it over for ourselves. They may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOM!!!! Hmm. #1 on to-do list: think of new rallying cry.

Chris Pronger has a long, well documented history of questionable on-ice behavior. He's repeatedly earned the complete lack of respect those of us that wear these "I hate Pronger" lenses have for him. There's no denying either that there's a history of him not getting the punishment he deserves for his offenses (4 games for swinging at a guy's head?). So yes, it seems as though you are either Brian Burke, Chris Pronger, or taking the contrary position just because nobody else is.

TSN There is a conspiracy, and Bob McKenzie's in on it. Considering the uproar on this board and in TSN's "Your Call" today, I'd call that overwhelmingly enough evidence to suspend. You can see it as plain as your hand in front of your face at noon. Usually McKenzie's the guy I'd turn to for the fairest and most unbiased opinion on hockey matters, but he's way off base on this one, and I'll bet he knows it. I've seen a "Your Call" for his column before. This time? Of course not. I doubt he could bear having another 300 people tell him how wrong he is, as he must have read all the comments from the original article. I will guarantee exactly what Campbell will say about it: "video inconclusive", and I'll also bet that's what he told McKenzie to say to try and calm the masses. WE ALL SEE IT JUST FINE, COLON. I'm calling him Colon now because he's full of s***.

If hockey were not such a big part of my life, I would stop watching today. And I wouldn't watch again until somebody in the league office stepped up and said "Of course we give star players special treatment, particularly when they were born in Canada. We have decided to stop doing this because it's come to our attention that it's completely unprofessional, and it makes us look like we don't belong in pro sports. We're very sorry, and Chris Pronger has been thrown out of the league to make up for all the suspensions he didn't get." Alright, alright, fine. I'm kidding. But things like this make me embarrassed to be a fan of the NHL. They also make me want to take matters into my own hands and put a crosscheck in Pronger's teeth. He'd never expect it from a goalie. Now, the hard part: being good enough to play anywhere except my driveway.

No matter how much I hate the idea, nets will be bigger in the next three years. My hope is that it's only by 4 inches in each direction. Nets expanding by 4" left, right, and up will not do that much for scoring, but enough for them to leave them alone. Joe Thornton will play for the Detroit Red Wings before he retires. Sergei Fedorov will never again. Larry Aurie's name and number should be in the rafters, and Ilitch is a dick for not putting it there. It doesn't need a ceremony, it was retired before banner hanging was a tradition, but it IS retired so just hang the friggin' banner. Bold rebuttal: Nobody will ever reach 2000 points again unless nets or goalie equipment are DRASTICALLY altered. If that happens, Gretzky's records will be shattered by more than one player (obviously).

He's played hockey long enough to know that pretty much every other player in the league hates him. He knew it was coming when he put the jersey on, so did all his teammates, and if his jaw is sore from eating too many of his teammates sausages, then perhaps he should stay home with his teddy bear and watch the game on TV. The day he retires, I will throw a party. And you are all invited.

I liked Ericsson with Rafalski tonight. It was a good game overall, actually, so it's hard to question the decision now. I just thought Meech had earned it.

I knew it was going to happen when Datsyuk put in the empty netter. I muttered to myself "they're gonna goon it up now for sure". Gutless. I'm glad we play them twice more, and hopefully Mac's in for the next game.

Meech is sitting for sure? Source? If that's the truth, I'm pretty disappointed in Babs today.

Not according to the rules at the time, it wasn't. Period. It is probably the most conclusively blown call in a finals game in the history of any sport. You might be right about them not having a chance anyway, but if that had happened against Detroit, you'd have a "No Goal" bumper sticker too.

Perhaps you need to re-read my post if that's what you got out of it. We'd all love another Probert or Kocur, and I never said Avery was the second coming of either of them. I just want another guy that fights and scores more than 3 goals a year, and Avery does that. Obviously we're all split pretty much down the middle on this issue (on THIS board?! No way!). Some of us want to give him a chance, some don't. None of us make the decision, so maybe we all ought to keep in mind how little our opinion actually matters anyway. Some of us are getting a little passionate here over pure speculation, it's the trade deadline all over again in this thread and I'm starting to get the shakes. He's probably not going to sign here. Let's all relax, eh?

Tootoo and Avery are two different players. Nobody cheap shots like Tootoo. I don't know about you, but I became a Wings fan in the 80's. What I loved about the team then was that no matter what, if anybody touched Yzerman, they were going to get a fist in the face. Downey has occasionally failed to answer that call, sometimes he isn't even dressed, and I don't think Drake has fought once since he broke his face (so obviously there's a reason for it). Whether Mac can contribute remains to be seen. Having the most polite team in the league isn't a merit award. I'm not going to apologize for wanting another guy that fights on this team. Avery's played 25 less games than Filppula and 24 less than Hudler, so comparing them this year is tough. Fil's done some time with Dats and Zetterberg, so he's definitely played with our best, as Avery does in NY. What I can tell you is that neither Hudler, nor Fil, have or will ever be able to drop the gloves against anyone. Even the mascots. 30 of Avery's 48 points last year came with the Kings. I don't know who his linemates were then, but I can guarantee none of them were named Jagr. I, myself, am not bloody pining for anybody not named Roberto Luongo. I certainly don't want to break the bank for Avery, I just wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if Kenny makes him an offer this summer.

His best season he chipped in 18 goals and 30 assists for 48 points in 84 (yes, 84) games split between the Kings and Rangers. TSN has him projected to reach 35 points in 57 games this year. I realize scoring is only half of what he brings to the table, but I'd say that puts him right AT 2.5 a year. Maybe 3 if you're feeling generous. However, one must remember that he's somewhat cancerous to a locker room. That alone makes it a gamble at any price. If he'll take a 3 year deal at 2.75 WITHOUT a no trade clause, I'd pull the trigger as armchair GM. If not, so be it. You can always ship him out if he's causing trouble, even if you don't get a huge return on him, you brought him in as a UFA anyway, and he just might add that little bit of extra bite so many of us would like to see on the team. We want secondary scoring after all, and between 40-50 points are decent secondary numbers, particularly for a guy who spends so much time in the box.

Thanks. That's my son, who's a month old today. And someday I'll have to explain to him both of the reasons we have a "No Goal" bumper sticker, as his mother is a Sabres fan.

Some of us might find it disturbing that you're taking it so seriously. Even Iginla had a chuckle over it. Relax, eh? I mean, your stance on not wishing injuries to players is fine, but it's just a truck, he got it back, it's not that big a deal. The guy makes millions of dollars a year. When somebody that makes 30k a year gets their car stolen, that's a tragedy. Let's keep it in perspective. This is my serious face.

I must say after the day we've had here at LGW it's nice to see the majority of us agreeing on SOMETHING.

Seconded. Glad I'm not the only one unimpressed by the only two supposed veteran d-men we've had the last few games. Meech is making a statement, for sure. Ericsson too, to a lesser extent. I like Chelios/Meech as a 3rd pair in the playoffs.

Stuart's an upgrade on Lilja or Lebda, and as long as we've got most of our D back for the playoffs, we're fairly solid. Not the best in the league, but we didn't have the advantage of cheating the cap by having our two best players take half the year off, either. After seeing how much Hossa went for, there's a damn good reason Kenny didn't go after him harder. As for all of you crying that he's a failure, I'd love to see any of you do a better job. That also doesn't mean I think Kenny's some genius either, but at least he doesn't trade our whole third line away for a rental we'd have NO chance of re-signing. Assuming they're healthy (or at least mostly healthy) when the playoffs start, I think they can make the final four again, at which point they'll likely be beaten by the Michelin Man and his mighty goon squad, but as I said before, we don't have the cap-cheating advantage that the Ducks did. Burke's crafty, even if he cries too ******* much. That said, you have to actually play the games. I'll repeat that for those of you that don't seem to understand it: you have to actually play the games. You wanna crown 'em, then crown their ass! They are who we thought they were.

The Wings might not have even been trying for him after that "Shove it up someone's butt" post-game interview a while back. I know Babs coached him in his last season in Anaheim, were there any reports of them not getting along? Tortorella and Babcock seem to be the same in the sense of not taking attitude like that from their players, and Babcock may have said no way if they had any trouble in Anaheim. I too am just trying to make sense of why we wouldn't have added such cheap secondary scoring.

I can hear the analysis now. Sammy: "I would have taken the shot there." Daniels: "He was behind his own net!" Sammy: "You gotta catch them unawares!"

Holy cannoli, read your own signature, would ya? I know you want seconds on the corn dogs, but there's no reason to shout. I love the mood of this place around the trade deadline.

How about this for a 4th line heading into the playoffs? Lindsay - Yzerman - Howe