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This was my thought as well. I thought the Wings were lucky Cleary only got the 2 minutes.

He also gave up a goal for this reason.

Consecutive bad years? Last season was the first season since 1998-99 that Giguere has had a save percentage below .911 or a GAA above 2.72, and he finished the 1998-99 season as a 22-year old with 20 career starts in 21 games played, a 7-11-1 record (that's a tie, not an OTL) and was still eligible for the Calder trophy. If he continues to the end of this season with his current numbers, THEN you can complain about "consecutive bad years" that Giguere has had and how he might no longer be starter material.

While he did a very good job at stopping the shots, Howard's rebound control was awful; the defense did a wonderful job clearing them away. As far as the goal, that was not Howard's best moment. Howard was halfway out of the crease at the top of the semicircle when there was a Vancouver forward, Mason Raymond, down low. Take another look at the replay. The puck deflects off Raymond's skate, yes, but it is BEHIND Howard at this point. Had Raymond been in a position to receive a pass instead, he has a wide open net. Howard should have been back in his crease where he belonged. If that happens, Howard has an easy stop. Howard is definitely playing better, but he still needs work on his rebound control and his positioning as I have said before. However, if Ozzie is still out sick for next game, I would like to see Larsson in.

I've liked Drew Miller since his days at MSU. I thought the Ducks were stupid to waive him, and I think it's great that we got him from Tampa. For everyone who was saying "Maybe we can get another Eaves-type player!" here you go.

Giguere has been going about this pretty well with regard to attitude until now; he hasn't complained or shown any signs that he was unhappy being the backup. This is a completely new thing. Also, while Quebecois players do often act like prima-donnas with regards to playing time, it's not as if they are the only players doing so or even as if they do so an unusually high percentage of the time. People often suggest that everyone but English-Canadians are prima-donnas and selfish in this manner. Doesn't anyone remember guys like Dany Heatley, Eric Lindros, Mark Messier, Chris Pronger, Wayne Gretzky, Paul Kariya, Joe Thornton? It's not a matter of ethnicity or culture.

It only took him 16 years to finally make it on the ice with the team that drafted him. Not bad at all. Way to go Manny!

Lebda and Howard for Biron, please. Please? Come on, I asked nicely.

No. I had to pick players who were good enough and young enough to provide the Kings with something they would be willing to bite on to give up Kopitar for NOW without having to give up Z or Dats. Stuart is pretty much a throw-in to solidify their top-four and even the cap hit, and the picks are there to seal the deal. Pretty sure Kings wouldn't bite if you replace Flip/Leino with Helm/Franzen, but they might on the two young Finns. As good as Franzen is, he's also 30 years old and he's just like Kessel in the sense that he's scores a ton of goals, but he has yet to show that can happen without a great playmaker on his line. Kopitar needs improvement defensively, but other than that he is the total package. He would score a great deal playing with Dats/Z or May/Maltby. Doesn't matter. Regarding Kipper...he has good nights, but he is NOT an elite goaltender. He had a good year or two, but that was it. He is, at best, an average starter. With the number of skilled young goaltenders coming in, he might not even be a "starter" if you simply say the top 30 goaltenders in the league are "starter" caliber and nobody else is, but with such a small sample size from these kids it's difficult to judge. Take Steve Mason as an example. He had a hot first half last year, then tapered off considerably but the Mason hype still got him awards he didn't deserve. He was solid in the playoffs, but so far this year he has been outright brutal. Brian Boucher, Pascal LeClaire, Jim Carey, Andrew Raycroft, Kiprusoff - these guys are all examples of guys who made great first impressions and suddenly after a year or two dropped off considerably from their previous level. Some of them obviously had a greater decline than others, such as Carey dropping from Vezina winner to can't-get-a-contract.

Put Lebda on waivers. If nobody takes, send him to GR. Don't resign him at the end of the year. Done. As far as the "He makes $xxx,xxx" this season... Lebda makes $650k, not $850k. And his value for that money is well worth it. Why? Because he is paid less than $750k, and for only that much he is willing to be a healthy scratch many times and to stay off the ice most of the game when he IS dressed. How much better can he help the team when he's one of our alleged top-six? Lebda being OFF the ice certainly helps the team more than Z, Dats, or Nick being ON the ice helps. Make him the 7th defenseman for the rest of the season, and give him the Hart!

Waive Lebda and send him to the minors. If he gets picked up, oh well. Play Meech or Janik in his place.

Lebda was unremarkable in the 2008 playoffs. He was better in the 2009 playoffs, but still the worst defenseman on the team to see any significant time. As I said then, Lebda was a defensively irresponsible player whose only notable skill was speed, he was not showing any signs that he would improve beyond the level he was at, a level he has pretty much played at his entire career with the Wings. Quincey was a young defenseman with decent skating skills and solid two-way play, and Meech brought good puck skills and quick skating. All three were basically equal in ability and price. Lebda was the only one who was pretty much locked into a 3rd-pair or 7th defenseman spot for his career and he is also the oldest. I thought it was a pretty obvious choice.

I'd be good with that. We have more than enough defensemen who can play as well or better than Lebda. Meech is like Lebda, only younger and cheaper, and will actually get better and learn as he plays more. Kopecky would provide us a player who is familiar with the coach and system and wouldn't need an adjustment period.

Mind-boggling stat of the night: Even-strength ice time for defensemen: Jonathan Ericsson 16:05 Brett Lebda 15:33 Brad Stuart 15:07 Niklas Kronwall 13:44 Brian Rafalski 13:19 Nicklas Lidstrom 11:51 Why is Lebda playing that much more than Kronwall, Lidstrom, and Rafalski at even strength??

Finally everyone is learning what I have been saying about Lebda for years. That he's a ******* minor league defenseman and should have been gone instead of Quincey because he's trash.

If he's on unconditional waivers like Shanahan was, and nobody picks him up, the Caps can just terminate his contract after that. At which point, anyone could just sign him for $500k.

Stuart was part of the hypothetical trade for Kopitar, along with Leino, Flip, and picks (most likely 1sts). And no, the Kings will not trade Kopitar unless they get huge return. The Leino/Flip/Stuart plus multiple 1st picks was a hypothesis as to what the Kings might go for; two young, skilled forwards who have established chemistry, a veteran top-three defenseman who plays well both ways, and two or three first-round picks.

He tells him to go home. You think that is a word-for-word transcription? I highly doubt it. I'm sure it was much more in the Don Cherry-style of "Canadians play better hockey and Europeans are soft, weak players who aren't as good and should stay in Europe." If you think "I told him to go home." is an exact, word-for-word statement then I have a bridge to sell you. Discount price, too!

My comment was that people saying it was ok for derogatory statements based on race or nationality to be made were dumb s***s. I stand by that statement.

I can't honestly believe there are people saying "this is ok, much worse things are said on the ice" as if it's ok to make derogatory statements because it's during a sporting event. Guess what. You people are all dumb s***s if you think that's the case. And this kid? He's a dumb s*** too.

"Someone disagrees with my assessment of a player. I cannot possibly understand that someone might think that a player who is not A) a star scorer B) top notch defensive forward C) a heavyweight enforcer could possibly be a player worth playing and not some minor league scrub. It's just totally unbelievable."

Yes, because I have ever insinuated that stats over a handful of games mean a player will continue to perform that way over an entire season. Jackass.

Filppula is going the other way in my proposal. Dats and Z on the first line, Kopitar and Franzen on the second. It would be great. And the roster could easily work out as follows: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Franzen/Kopitar/Hudler Cleary/Abdelkader/Bertuzzi Maltby/Helm/Draper/Eaves Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Ericsson Kindl/Lilja (or other similar stay-at-home defenseman) Meech Osgood Larsson If the Kings would make that deal, I would definitely go for it. Especially if the Wings could get Hudler back on the roster. Z, Kopitar, and Franzen are all locked up for a while. Kronwall in 2012, Hudler in 2012 or 2013 if he comes back as soon as possible, Cleary in 2013, and Dats in 2014 are the only major upcoming raises. That's offset by, among other things, Rafalski's deal being over in 2012, meaning a significant pay decrease, plus Lidstrom making much less than he does now. So long as the Kings bite, the Wings can take it and run with it.

I wasn't saying Kopecky was the most physical because of his hits number. That came up because of what rage said. I said Kopecky was the most physical forward because when he was on the ice for a great deal of his shifts he was using his body in the ways you stated, as well as throwing hits. He was often battling in corners and in front of the net and typically used his body as his primary tool to do so. While other Wings forwards used their body to do so, they were more likely to use their stick and puck skills rather than physical strength. Kopecky spent far less time on the ice, so naturally he spent less time doing these things than other players. But that doesn't mean he was less physical.

Incorrect. Last year's top ten hit leaders on the Wings: Stuart - 159 Kopecky - 109 Cleary - 107 Draper - 105 Kronwall - 96 Lilja - 95 Samuelsson - 92 Franzen - 91 Datsyuk - 76 Hossa - 70 Last year's top ten playoff hit leaders: Helm - 118 Cleary - 64 Kronwall - 59 Hossa - 56 Stuart - 55 Franzen - 47 Samuelsson - 42 Ericsson - 39 Holmstrom - 39 Zetterberg - 39 Kopecky played 8 games and had 15 hits in the postseason, which projects to 43 over the 23 that the team played. Cleary is really the only forward who is arguable among the regular forwards as more physical than Kopecky last season. Certainly Helm fits the bill, but he was not a regular until the postseason.