Turkey

If he's choosing between Philly and Colorado, I personally think he'd be crazy not to go to Philly. They have a much better shot, I think.

The problem is that we now get "enforcers" wanting to fight after every hit on every player. It has nothing to do with hitting stars anymore. The only reason these guys are in the league is fighting. They know it, so they try to fight all the time. That includes when the fight is pointless. I prefer watching a skilled player put up his OWN dukes. Didn't Gordie Howe look after his own business? That's what I respect.

I'll take him just for the interviews alongside Chelly, which I'm sure would take us to new heights of hilarity. Make it happen Kenny!

It's not actually as easy as being For or Against Fighting in hockey for a lot of us. I probably get grouped into the anti-fighting camp because I really loathe goons and meaningless fights, nearly as much as I hate dirty play in general. That said, I love a good fight between two guys that can really play the game. Doesn't bother me at all.

I wouldn't mind Staios at all. I've always liked his game and he seems to show up for every shift (that I've seen anyway).

I agree. I like the organ music. It seems more traditional. I could care less about the other music.

That is a tremendously dumb way to get yourself suspended. He's the second leading scorer on a struggling team behind Sundin. The last thing Toronto neede was him getting suspended for tantrums.

I totally agree with Harold

Anyone have the stats on Datsyuk's takeaways this year? That's been my favorite thing about watching him lately, which is saying something when you consider all the magic he does out there. It's like he just skates up and wills the puck onto his stick.

This is exactly what I'm hoping for. I see Drake retiring after this year. Mac can easily bring at least what he does if he can get back into shape.

I think I love Lecavalier. He handed it to Burrows last night. I think Burrows actually ended up grappling one of Vinny's legs at the end. Weak!

He Can't Sign Yet I guess it's April or May at the soonest before he can sign and he cannot play anywhere this year. This skirmish between GMs interested in his services is all about next year.

I was amazed as everyone else when Koci demonstrated his patented "Amazing Exploding Nose Trick" but I don't really think it's something our team is missing.

Chelly doesn't "find out" that he's not playing. This has been standard practice all season. I'm sure it doesn't come as a shock when it happens. Does Chelly always want to play? Sure, but I'd much rather have him fresher come play off time. If we have injuries like last year, he's suddenly a top D man for the team again.

This last post is disgusting for wishing Vladdy's injuries on anyone and absurd for suggesting that Cleary should have done something that would clearly have resulted in a lengthy suspension. If you feel that you have to preface something with "I know this is horrible to say but..." then just don't say it.

Does Blake still bring that?

I didn't mean to be misleading. I do believe they deserve suspensions. Relatively short for a first time offense, 3 games or so (scaling according to severity of the infraction). After one suspension for this, the punishment should escalate radically. A severe hit, what the league would give you 20 or so games for now, should have you out for the season.

Actually, that's kind of an apples and oranges comparison. Calling every single possible hooking violation and calling every possible hit to the head/hit from behind are totally different. The difference lies in the fact that one of them can end a career and the other won't. Do I think the NHL should call every single possible stick violation? Probably not. Do I think illegal, dangerous hits should always be called regardless of injury? Absolutely. They aren't even remotely the same thing.

Cherry loves Cleary. I'm sort of curious if he'll have anything to say about this fight.

That Yahoo stream thing was fabulous. How often does that happen?

I couldn't say for sure that this was a deliberate gouge by Pronger. It's easy to believe the worst about him (since I kind of despise his whole persona) but I just can't tell myself for certain that it was deliberate. I thought Cleary did pretty well against a guy so much bigger. Kudos to him for standing up for himself. Kudos as well for getting Pronger off the ice for 5.

THN - Hits From Behind Great article on this topic on THN.com today.

That's ridiculous. Kovalchuk left his feet, hit the head, and drove his target into the boards. That's not a clean hockey play. I say again, he's lucky he didn't seriously injure anyone or this suspension would be longer. I don't know how a real hockey fan can value the players so little, that they are willing to see careers ended by dirty hits just for the sake of entertainment.

I wouldn't mind seeing him on the blue line. I just don't see him as much of a secondary scoring threat these days.