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Mike Ricci had an ugly mullet that matched his ugly face...

And many consider Hasek the best ever. Nobody is arguing for Osgood as the best ever. Osgood has already earned a spot in the HHOF however, and if he plays his full contract with the same 2 wins per 3 GP and 21 GP per 41 team games that he is on pace for this season, he'll end up tying Sawchuk's 447 wins career and topping Sawchuk's Wings record of 351 by reaching 377. Those numbers would land him 5th and 3rd, respectively, overall and on a single team. He has never had a losing season, either.

Yeah that 1995-96 season where Osgood was second in Vezina voting and 22nd in Hart voting as the #1....just terrible.

Does anyone have a link to a video that actually shows the alleged bite and not just the reaction afterwards?

San Jose and Detroit are the only teams which have "extra" players, in that they had multiple players selected as reserves. While I might pick Hossa or Z over Thornton and might pick Rafalski over Boyle, two from each is probably fair.

Pavel is a very good skater. But comparing him to Fedorov in that area is ridiculous. Fedorov was the best skater in the league, with only a few guys capable of challenging him in ANY area of skating. He was the fastest, comparable to a couple others, and he was also a very powerful skater tough to knock off his skates. Dats is quick, and strong on his skates...but there are a lot of guys who are much faster and/or stronger on their skates. Gretzky was a decent skater in terms of his agility and grace, but he was not very physically strong on his skates when it came to throwing off a defender and he was only average in terms of speed. Datsyuk has significant advantages over Gretzky in both primary areas of skating. Gretzky's great performance had nothing to do with above-average skating skill.

They wouldn't be travelling; all the games would be in Detroit (defending champs this year) so the only players travelling would be the All-Stars, and only to the host city where all the games are played.

If it's not a unanimous selection, then some members of the selection committee need to be fired.

More accurately, Kelly refused to play defense for Toronto; he agreed to play for them, but only as a forward.

Most finalists do well the year after they make the finals. That was an extremely unusual situation with one team losing a key player (Edmonton being forced to trade Pronger away while already being a borderline team) and the other team suffering some key injuries up front that caused major loss of offense; a 46-goal swing (Carolina scored 53 fewer and allowed 7 fewer) which was the ultimate difference between a division championship and missing the playoffs in a tight race. Carolina missed the playoffs by 4 points and the division title by 9. The chances of ONE finalist missing the playoffs the next season are slim based on history; two was a complete fluke. If you prefer, run a three-team tournament where the defending champs play a game against each All-Star team and the All-Stars play a game.

Lebda is older, worse defensively, less versatile, and more expensive. Neither is particularly effective or experienced offensively, but I find it had to believe that Lebda would be kept over Meech when Meech is the better player, the cheaper player, and the younger player. Lebda is the FIRST player on the list of guys who can be moved from the defense; Lilja is second.

What Kelly, Lindsay, or anyone else did after leaving the Wings has no bearing on whether they deserve to have their number hanging from the rafters. The only thing that matters is their performance as a Wing. Retired players that could be included in the group of hanging banners who are not? Larry Aurie, Ebbie Goodfellow, Syd Howe, Red Kelly, Jack Stewart, Norm Ullman. Active players who have a good chance at jersey retirement upon the close of their careers? Nick Lidstrom, Chris Osgood, Sergei Fedorov. Beyond that, several other players were good enough for short periods, but did not play in Detroit for long enough, or are good enough players now, but have yet to play for long enough. Also a disqualification would be anyone who joined the Wings after playing for another NHL team; this rules out guys like Shanahan who were top notch players for years in Detroit.

Flip should be centering Franzen and Samuelsson on the third line. Established chemistry that has worked in the past, a line that can score and defend. Top two lines can be: Hudler/Zetterberg/Hossa Cleary/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Or almost any other combination of those six forwards. The only one I probably wouldn't throw out there as a regular unit is the one that ends up with Cleary/Hudler/Holmstrom as the second line.

The idea that Leino would be more valuable than Filppula in the playoffs is insane. Filppula would be more effective offensively right now in the NHL with the same minutes, and is a top notch defensive center. Filppula traded won't happen during the season unless there's a SICK offer for him (think multiple 1sts, or similar value) AND we have Hank and Hossa signed to extensions.

The "undeserving starter" BS and the stuff where every team has to have a representative are some reasons why I have thought the All-Star weekend should be transformed from a skills competition and a West vs. East game into the following: The Cup finalists, as well as East and West All-Star teams, play a four-team tournament in the city of the team that won the Cup. The tournament format would be finalist vs All-Stars in the first round, divided by conference. A total of four games would be played, with a "winners" game and a "losers" game played on the final day. So the schedule might go as follows: Thursday, 7 p.m. EST Skills Competition Friday, 7 p.m. EST Skills Competition Saturday, 12:30 p.m. EST Game 1: Eastern Conference Finalist vs. Eastern Conference All-Stars Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST Game 2: Western Conference Finalist vs. Western Conference All-Stars Sunday, 12:30 p.m. EST Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 Sunday, 3:30 p.m. EST Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 Not only does this turn the All-Star Game into four games, it removes the typical 3-4 players the defending conference champions get from the All-Star team. Plus, it really makes for more of an All-Star WEEKEND. Each All-Star team would dress 18 skaters and 3 goaltenders.

Lidstrom, Boyle, Phaneuf, Weber will be the other four. Rafalski gets shut out.

The best 'Expand Cobo/New Arena" plan that I can think of, unless Ilitch INSISTS upon moving away from the current area, would be to demolish Cobo Hall, Joe Louis Arena, and the almost always vacant Cobo Arena and use the reclaimed space to build a new Cobo Hall and a new Joe Louis Arena. Here's a link to google maps so you can visualize the amount of space.

A little tidbit...Jiri Hudler is just barely behind Evgeni Malkin in points per minute overall, and is a MUCH better defensive player. If Hudler averaged exactly 19 minutes per game at the same per minute rates he has now, he'd have 22-24-46, +10 in 37 games and be among the team and league leaders in everything for scoring forwards.

Based on New Years Day weather reports, every city in the league is capable of hosting an outdoor game. Generally, the temperature inside the building at an ice arena is kept between 55 and 63 degrees. As this will be dry, winter air, it will lend itself more to the ice-making environment and is less likely to cause bad ice like you might see in Dallas or Raleigh on hot, humid days when artificial ice is difficult to maintain, even indoors. Don't be surprised if the Winter Classic stays in the north in the next few years, but New Years weather says that artificial ice can be easily maintained in a southern stadium. More likely a baseball park due to the extra preparation time that would provide, but the south nonetheless.

Ovechkin was following the puck around the boards on the forecheck as it had been fired around by Smith or whoever was in net for the Bolts. He came up on Heward and began to throw a hip check into him. At the very same moment, Heward bent over and backhanded the puck around the back of the net while trying to get out of the path of the hit. Watch the first video you posted again; it's pretty clear from that angle. With Heward bending over and leaning his upper body into Ovechkin's hit, it puts him in a very awkward position where he takes the majority of the force on his head and neck. Ovechkin could be argued for a minor or even a double minor in that instance. But nothing about that hit was suspension-worthy.

Blue Jackets vs Wings at the Big House needs to occur. The NHL can't have a game in Michigan Stadium and not try to capitalize on the biggest rivalry in college sports, especially with a Columbus-based team available. I'm just shocked you suggested the BJs in your matchups and didn't include this no-brainer. Stars @ Wild is also pretty obvious. And how about Thrashers @ Flames Boston vs Carolina @ Hartford, CT And finally, Edmonton @ Phoenix in Winnipeg?

24 other teams have hosted an All-Star game since Detroit in 1980. Buffalo is the only city that has had to wait longer, and Buffalo will likely host an ASG within the next five years as they have recently replaced their arena and have waited longer than any other team. The only other teams that have not hosted an ASG since 1980 are Ottawa, Anaheim, Nashville, and Columbus. The combined time they have spent in the league adds up to 47 seasons, compared to Detroit's 28 since their last time hosting. In 2012, say Nashville and Columbus host the 2011 and 2012 games. That's 4 more seasons for Detroit, Ottawa, and Anaheim. 32 seasons total for Detroit, 37 combined for Ottawa and Anaheim. By 2015, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Anaheim all get to host. So Detroit will have gone a minimum of 35 years without having hosted an All-Star game, while some cities will have hosted twice (Montreal, Los Angeles) and we might not see another All-Star game in Detroit before 2020.

No. The Winter Classic is Michigan's only chance to host a noteworthy regular season NHL event in the near future, and that's probably more than 5 years away. They won't put the ASG in Detroit for at least another ten years.

I would like to see one of these lineups: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Cleary(Franzen)/Hudler/Hossa Franzen(Cleary)/Filppula/Samuelsson Maltby/Draper/Kopecky Hudler/Zetterberg/Hossa Cleary(Franzen)/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Franzen(Cleary)/Filppula/Samuelsson Maltby/Draper/Kopecky Hudler/Zetterberg/Hossa Holmstrom/Datsyuk/Samuelsson Cleary/Filppula/Franzen Maltby/Draper/Kopecky

Olczyk: "The Red Wings were quite surgical today, performing a sex change operation on Blackhawk goaltender Cristibal Huet which increased his waist and hip size and limited his ability to close his fivehole due to soreness in his groin. I suppose I should say 'her' now, shouldn't I?"