therock48880

I read a few times in that thread about how Hossa "held the Pens hostage" which caused them to miss out on some big name players, Rolston in particular. Here's my problem with the statement. Yes, he said he wouldn't mind playing there. However, the fact that he refused to sign any contract and wanted to test free agency should have given Shero and Co. a clue that he could be leaving. So, why not have a backup plan in place? When Schneider didn't take Detroit's contract offer and signed with the Ducks, how long did it take to get a replacement? An hour, two hours? Yet, the Pens seemed completely blindsided by Hossa leaving and it took them a few days to find replacements. Edit: Actually, I was wrong, Hossa signed in Detroit on the 2nd and on the 3rd the Pens signed Satan.

One of them had Zetterberg as the 8th best forward and Datsyuk as the 10th best. Of course Crosby and Malkin were 1 and 2.

One day I was really bored and scrolled back to the trade deadline threads. Ironically, back then, Hossa was considered one of the greatest players in the game. Now, according to that thread, he isn't nearly as good. For an interesting read, you could also read the thread over there about the top 5 forwards in the game.

I'd take him in a heartbeat. But I can't imagine a scenario where it'd be possible.

It's not difficult to find others who feel the same way about him. From calling "Canseco" "Giambi" to lying about Schilling's sock, the guy is clueless. Those are his most recent moronic moves. His hockey ignorance is being forgotten as time passes but he was just as bad at hockey as he is baseball.

I briefly looked through the other threads and didn't see this topic. If I missed it another thread, I apologize. With the comments Scotty made on WDFN about the Hossa/Babcock exchange (http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2008/07/bowman_on_wdfn.html) after the Finals were over, several posters on letsgopens.com questioned whether or not that's tampering. Some replied that no negotiating was taking place, therefore it wasn't. Plus, with all the comments that Brian Burke has made about the Oilers tampering, I started wondering if anyone has the exact definition of tampering?? Personally, I don't think Lowe or Babcock tampered in any way.

There are quite a few that are complaining and a few that are saying it's not a big deal. http://www.letsgopens.com/scripts/phpBB2/v...c&start=675

I can't find the link to the Thorne/Avs love affair so you can ignore those comments by me, although I stand by them. The rest of my posts stand though. The guy is not very competent and than can easily be found on numerous websites. Here's another review I found about him: "WORST TV PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER: Why is ABC/ESPN enamored of the false enthusiasm, inaccurate calls and overall unlistenable work of Gary Thorne? Thank goodness for the mute button." http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FC..._112904372/pg_5

I know. I've been looking. I think it was before the 02 season. So far no luck finding it, though. I'll keep checking.

All things being equal, yes, Hossa is better. But, in a cap world, would you rather have Franzen for 4 million or Hossa for 8ish? That's going to be the big question that Kenny and Co will have to consider.

Great points. This is nothing against Franzen because I love him and I love the way he plays, but up until the last 20 games of the season, he was a defensive minded player who rarely scored. He obviously went on quite a scoring streak but when you look at the rest of his career, that scoring streak is the exception. Don't get me wrong, I hope he can continue to play like he did at the end of the year, but I'm just not convinced that he will.

I agree. I was just asking him why he had written that both Franzen AND Hossa would be gone next year. I can see one or the other being gone, but not both.

I'm not a fan of this contract, either, but I just don't think it's right to question his mental or physical tenacity after he played two rounds of playoff hockey on one good knee.

Why would Hossa and Franzen be gone next year? Franzen's price may have gone up some, but there should be money to sign one of the two. Signing both just got more difficult, though.

Huh???? You'd rather have Hudler than Flip? You don't think he's physical enough to be a big time player? I agree, he's not out there dishing out hits, but when he has the puck or when he's pursuing it, he doesn't shy away from anything. The kid's been crushed quite a few times along the boards only to get back up and battle for the puck.

These were my first thoughts as well. This contract probably drives up Franzen's price next year, which makes a Hossa re-signing more unlikely, imo. This deal seems risky, but to be fair to Kenny, I thought Datsyuk's contract was risky too. I was way wrong on that one and I hope I'm wrong on this one too.

I hope you're kidding. Thorne openly and publicly stated that he was an Avs fan and that he felt the Wings bought their championships. Not to mention his complete ignorance of the game itself and the players who were playing. Once Foreskin ran into Homer and Homer dove. Thorne said something to the effect, "Forseberg just knocked over Thomas Holmstrom!!!! And let me tell you, that's not an easy thing to do!!!" He was terrbily excited about it. Of course if he'd had any knowledge of Homer, he would have realized that Homer falls over quite easily. Don't forget, he was also caught lying about the Schilling sock saying Mirabella told him it was ketchup on the sock. Here's some more of his baseball gems from awfulannouncing.com http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/0...y-clueless.html

So, you're trying to tell me that during the Stanley Cup Finals, with his team facing elimination, Therian chose to not play Sid on the PK because he may get injured? That's a ridiculous statement. If that's the case, then Therian should be fired immediately. I never said Crosby wasn't great. The topic of the thread is overrated players and I say he is because the press treats him like he's God, yet there are obvious holes in his game. For that reason, I'm calling him overrated. You bring up Ovechkin. Ovechikin isn't treated like he's the greatest thing in the world like Crosby is.

Thorne was one of the most incompetent, biased announcers I've ever heard. His public, undying love for the Avalanche polluted every Wings game that was televised. He truly didn't know the hockey players either. Anyone who had a number on their jersey that started with a "1" could be called the name of any other player whose jersey had a "1" at the beginning. Same with all of the other numbers. Luckily for Fedorov, he was one of the few Wings players to have a "9" at the beginning of his number so he didn't get mixed up with anyone else very often. Everyone else was fair game, though. Yzerman was called "Maltby" countless times by the moron. I have no use for Thorne whatsoever as a hockey announcer.

He is certainly one of the top 5 players offensively, but he sucks defensively and he sucks on faceoffs. He is not a complete player YET. That's why I say he is overrated. I think in order to be truly great, you should be able to play in all situations. Crosby can't do that. Obviously, he has plenty of time to correct his weaknesses, kinda like Yzerman did in his career, but right now, I say he is overrated.

I thought I read he had broken ribs in the finals. Could be wrong, though.

Here's the thread from the pens website discussing Crosby winning an espy. http://www.letsgopens.com/scripts/phpBB2/v...pic.php?t=27449

What critics? I've never heard any national newscaster say anything even remotely negative about the guy.

Don't disagree with anything you've said. He's a great player, no doubt, but as long as he's in the nhl, no matter how well anyone else plays, Crosby will get the attention. A perfect example is the stupid Espy award he got this year for being the best player in hockey. Yet, most knowledgeable fans, including ones in Pitt, admit he wasn't even the best player on that team last year.

Valid point. Remember when Flip scored his amazing goal in the Finals? Who was the first player they showed a shot of? Crosby!!!! I realize that's not his fault, but it was ridiculous in the Finals. You're right he does have amazing numbers, but I'm not sure he'll EVER be able to live up to the amount of hype he gets.