StaticWithABeat

Probably burns a couple hundred calories from his violent eye spasms alone.

Wow that was sweet...Kisio was a pretty tough guy and Fedorov gave as good as he got, pretty awesome. And yeah, the booing...Fedorov was my favorite player growing up and I don't like seeing him get booed but it's been going on for long enough now to where I'm pretty much apathetic towards it. It's going to continue until he retires, no sense getting all worked up over it.

It's pretty hard NOT to predict the Cup going back to the West, being as how there are approximately 1 1/2 respectable teams in the East and 8 in the West.

Yeah Kessel is definitely the front-runner...Chelios might be #2 right behind him, breaking the defenseman longevity and playoff seasons played records this year...I'd say he's definitely worth considering for a Masterton.

Who cares, as long as Lang is gone :beerbuddy: Gomez would be pretty sweet, but I'd rather see Hudler or Filppula get a shot at that position before we run out and pay someone with five times their salary to fill it. If either one of them can handle it, then there's a few million dollars that can be used to fill another roster need.

I'd like to believe he just made it up, but who knows...Let's be honest, Babcock is an intense, no-bulls***, 100%-effort-or-else type of coach, and the Wings have gotten by primarily on superior skill for the past few years...most of them are probably not used to being pushed as hard as Babcock pushes them, so it's easy to see the potential for conflict. Also, I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith into Brett Hull's on-air ramblings about the relationship between Datsyuk and Babcock...he was in Phoenix by the time Babcock was hired.

I'm starting to think maybe Kronwall just doesn't have what it takes to survive the physical rigors of the NHL game. When a guy gets injured that badly from a relatively routine hit, you have to wonder if he got caught in an incredibly bad position, or if he really is that brittle...time will tell I guess, it'll be interesting to see if he makes it past 30.

Everyone is usually too focused on how much they hate him to realize he's not a bad hockey player...when he's focused and on his game he can be a solid second-liner.

Questionable coaching abilities or not, Boston's failures this season can hardly be blamed on old Davey alone...it has more to do with crappy and inconsistent goaltending, terrible defense outside of Chara, and offense that rolls about a line and a half deep.

Is this going to be on the exam? But seriously, nice info...very informative . I'm disappointed Kronwall's out, but at the same time it's not like he was going to be the difference between miserable first-round failure and glorious run to the Cup. I'll save the doomsday talk for when Lidstrom breaks his ass-bone.

If by trouble you mean Carolina getting *****-slapped out of the playoffs in 4 games then yes, I agree...they got lucky last year, Buffalo had 4 of their top 6 defensemen injured...they probably won't even make the playoffs now, they've been unmotivated and inconsistent all year.

The biggest difference between 06-07 Buffalo and 02-03 Detroit is that Buffalo actually has the hunger to win the Cup...but that's a whole different topic...I agree with what you're saying though, if anything is going to stop them it's going to be a team with hot goaltending and an elite defense, which rules out everybody in the east except NJ. Even so, I highly doubt the Sabres would roll over and die against a tough defensive system like the Wings did in 03.

Buffalo is going to rape the rest of the East, especially if Afinogenov is back in time.

On a related note, many accused the 83-84 Pittsburgh Penguins of deliberately losing games so they could secure themselves the first pick in '84 and draft Lemieux.

I can't imagine why anybody - especially a mid-eastern team like Nashville or Detroit - would look forward to playing Calgary in the first round. It's a big drag on the players with all the travel, and Calgary is not just going to roll over and die, they're going to take whoever they play to the limit. I'll take Dallas or Minnesota over Calgary without question...I put San Jose on the same level as Calgary, an overall good team with some flaws, but if they heat up they could go far.

I'm pretty sure no one here is seriously advocating dissolving an American and Canadian team, it's a just-for-fun discussion. But hell while we're at it, why stop at two teams? Anaheim, Carolina, Colombus, Florida, Nashville, New York Islanders There, now the NHL has 4 six-team divisions. Perfect size for the league, IMO. If I had to pick just one American and one Canadian, I would have to say Florida and...uhh...Ottawa I guess.

If he s***s himself in the playoffs again this year and still gets anywhere near $5mil I'll be pissed. He looks good this season, he's been the only productive player in Zetterberg's absence, so I would imagine this is the year he shows a little resolve in the postseason. If he doesn't, let him walk and sign Daniel Briere in his place.

I predict Lilja goes on an uncontrollable hate-fueled rampage, pummeling the entire Nashville roster into submission 12 seconds into the 1st and forcing them to forefit the game.

$7.6mil or not, without Lidstrom the Wings would be dead in the water, probably a borderline playoff team at best. If retaining him means letting a couple of FA's get away, then so be it. Calder shouldn't be too difficult to re-sign, hopefully we can get him at a reasonable price, and it sounds like Kenny is working to get Datsyuk signed. I don't expect Bertuzzi to be back next year, unless he is willing to take a big pay cut I can't see the Wings having the room to retain him. Getting rid of Lang and his $3.8mil salary might help that cause though.

He can take as much time as he needs, as long as he's ready to rock come playoff time. Without him we would be dead in the water.

I think Pronger and Niedermayer hurt each other's Norris chances by being on the same team...Lidstrom will win it without a doubt, it's just a question of by how much.

Playoff success this year will hinge on a lot of players being on top of their games, but the team will go nowhere without Datsyuk and Zetterberg producing consistently and Hasek shutting the door in goal when he has to. Datsyuk's playoff performance this year may dictate what happens to him when his contract expires, so I would imagine he has a lot to play for.

Ahh the joys of goalie threads...nothing brings out the hostility and bad vibes like a good old fashioned goaltender "debate."

I'd like to see Howard backing up either Osgood or Hasek next year. One of them should go so he can get some NHL experience and we can start easing him into the starting slot in a few years. Both Hasek and Osgood will play for cheap and want to stay in Detroit, which makes life easy for us. Giguere will command big money on the FA market, I'd rather have either Hasek/Osgood for >1mil than him for 5-6mil. Ideally I guess I'd like to see an approximate 60-20 Osgood-Howard split next season, maybe give Liv a few games to see if he can steal the backup spot.

Very true...All I'm saying is that regardless of individual fighting skill, today's Anaheim players are much bigger and stronger than the BSB's, which is why if someone wanted to argue that Anaheim is tougher than them on a straight up team-against-team basis, I would understand their position. If you were arguing toughness in relation to the time they existed, then I think we would all agree it's the Flyers by a mile.