eva unit zero

Assuming you mean a straw man... How exactly is it a straw man argument. What of your opinion have I misrepresented or oversimplified? I asked you if someone who did something that was not illegal and was okay under the rules as they stood cheated. Ad hominem buddy...

To be a 'top' forward in the league, a player MUST be among the most offensively talented players. Ideally, he would bring something beyond offense that would set him apart, but a truly dominant offensive forward could be among the best just based on his offense (Think Gretzky.) With all that said, here's my list of the top 17 forwards in the league. I am going to follow the same rules and remove Sundin, Kovalev, and any young player who is having an unexpected breakout season. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Dany Heatley, Ottawa Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Jarome Iginla, Calgary Joe Thornton, San Jose Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Mike Richards, Philadelphia Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Jason Spezza, Ottawa Marian Hossa, Pittsburgh Olli Jokinen, Florida Brenden Morrow, Dallas

Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall will be the top three. The Wings will attempt to sign all three of Lilja, Stuart, and Chelios as the #4-6. If all three can be resigned, Lebda will be traded. If not, he'll stick around somewhere between #6 and #8. Meech and Quincey will round out the defense. The Wings will carry 13 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goalies. At least they will to begin the season.

Barry Bonds is believed to have been given the clear and the creme by his trainer. Neither substance was banned under the MLB steroid policy at the time. Do you think he cheated if/when he used them?

The Wings would have had to give up one of their better players plus a top prospect or a high pick to land the kind of forward people wanted. This would have been something like Ericsson+1st or Filppula+1st. The latter is what Columbus asked for to get Fedorov. Prospal cost Philly something similar to the former, and so would have cost Detroit more to top the offer. No top six forward was traded who the Wings could afford based on what they could or would give up. Not one. Several forwards who wouldn't crack our top six were moved...but that doesn't help us in the need for a top six forward does it? A top four defenseman was a more pressing need anyway. Going into the deadline, we had seven top-six forwards and three top-four defensemen. Yes, we have three #1 defensemen, but our bottom three were all third-pairing guys at the deadline.

The NHL, NBA, and MLB all see about the same revenue per season from a given seat. The NFL obviously sees much less per seat over a seon, but the NFL is the only league where ticket revenue is 100% extra revenue; the TV contract pays each team a figure that is greater than the salary cap.

If Cleary and Flip go down, that's our #4 and #5 forward going down. That would be the equivalent of losing just one of Kronwall or Rafalski on the back end. Losing Schneider and Kronwall last year is equivalent to losing our #3 through #6 forwards...basically if this year's Wings lost Homer, Cleary, Flip, and Hudler and had a second line of Franzen/Kopecky/Samuelsson, with Drake/Draper/Maltby/Downey/McCarty/Hartigan rounding out the bottom two lines.

Hmm...I have played baseball all my life. The only difference I've noticed between an outfielder's mitt and a middle infielder's mitt is the fact that the outfielder's mitt has holes in the webbing so that he may see the ball better in the air without being blinded by the sun. My whole argument is the fact that the NHL SHOULD change the rules regarding goaltender equipment, because the use of equipment several sizes too large SHOULD be against the rules. But, since you said something not against the rules isn't unfair, what's your take on Jose Canseco's steroid use? Was that perfectly fair too? Or is it possible for something to be unfair and technically allowed under the rules?

Why? Because Sabres fans can be loud? The Sabres have always had attendance problems until last year. In other words, the Sabres have historically always had trouble getting fans in the stands unless they are on top of the league.

I want pads to be limited to what is necessary to protect the goaltender. This means restrictions based on the size of the goaltender. I posted earlier that a maximum width of 9 inches and a maximum height of 2" above the knee would be more then sufficient to protect the goaltender from a safety standpoint. That is what my issue is; safety equipment where the purpose of increased size has nothing to do with increased safety, but rather it is increased ability to stop the puck with less movement. Giguere is very good positionally. Brodeur is also very good positionally. But Brodeur has much better reflexes than Giguere. Giguere is not so much better positionally to make up for most of the difference between the reflexes; the oversized pads are a huge factor in that. I am not a big believer in goaltenders being allowed to wear equipment that is much too large for their body in the name of 'playing style' because that's a crock. Unless you think outfielders should be allowed to have a three foot long glove or that guys who like to perform a take-out slide should get to sharpen their spikes. Playing style is one thing. Unfair equipment is another.

F****** S***!

I would think that you would be thankful to not have to drink Molson. Guinness is soo much better.

The rules at the time allowed a player to enter the crease after the puck and remain there even if the puck left so long as he maintained possession while the puck was outside the crease, which Hull did. It was a midseason amendment to the crease rule intended to cut down on the number of breakaway goals that had been disallowed. For another instance, see game five of round two when Peter Forsberg scored on Chris Osgood on a breakaway after skating through the crease. He shot the puck from inside the crease, but the puck had left the crease when it happened while his skates were still inside the crease when the puck crossed the line.

Steroids in baseball were used most heavily in the 80s, but did affect the 90s because many of the users, even if no longer using, had benefitted greatly physically from using them. And the difference between the gear used by Brodeur and the gear used by Giguere? Brodeur uses gear his size for safety reasons. Giguere uses gear that blocks extra net because he's not fast enough to stop a lot of those pucks. It's unfair because one goalie is using properly sized equipment and relying on his immense talent, while the other goalie is using grossly oversized equipment and relying on his being able to square to the shooter and cover extra amounts of net with his gear. If Giguere were to use Brodeur's gear, he'd probably still be in the NHL...but he would not be an elite goaltender. And that is the problem people have with his gear. It's the difference between a good goalie and a great one because it means he has to move much less, which eliminates his major weakness.

Are they rumours, or rumors? That would tell us whether to ask the Canadian media or the American.

Ericsson will likely be sent down after Lidstrom returns. He will finish the year in Grand Rapids, and will spend most of next year in Grand Rapids due to waiver situations. The Wings will attempt to retain Brad Stuart and Andreas Lilja, and depending on who they can keep, may trade or waive one of Lebda, Meech, or Quincey, all of whom cannot be sent down next year without clearing waivers.

Avery's pace over 66 games is 17-22-39. As NN said, Hudler is only a couple points off Avery's pace, despite being snakebitten and on the fourth line for the past 20 games.

Drake probably just figured Malts deserved a nice teabag.

Anabolic steroids were not listed as a controlled substance in the US until 1990. This is after Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire led the A's to the Series. Every goaltender has the access to the equipment; however many of the better goaltenders are 'reflex' goaltenders and thusly would be hindered by equipment that doesn't fit properly. Goaltenders whose primary talent is positioning and who has very little reaction speed, like...say...Giguere, will benefit greatly from larger gear that covers more net, hiding his weakness.

You don't think certain players abusing the way a rule is written (or not written) to gain an unfair advantage is a similarity between the two situations?

The second is a product of the first, so it's really one reason. And Sergei left because the Wings switched up the offer on him, and took a year off it. Everyone on this board gave Bertuzzi a pass because Holland wasn't willing to pony up the extra year and Anaheim did. Oddly enough, that's the EXACT circumstance that led to Fedorov signing in Anaheim, with one major exception: Fedorov signed in Anaheim for more years, but equal contract value. That suggests that had the Wings offered a 40/5 instead of the 40/4, Fedorov would have stayed in Detroit. I'm not even arguing Fedorov's number should be retired; I'm simply saying that you said he lost that right in 1998 when he signed an offer sheet, which based on your backtracking and your position on Sakic is NOT how you really feel.

Maybe you should read what you wrote. Anything that happened after the offer sheet is irrelevant because according to you, the jersey retirement discussion ended there.

Sakic signed a huge offer sheet with the Rangers. One worth more per year than Fedorov's was. You said Fedorov lost that honor when he signed the offer sheet. It stands to reason that Sakic, who was basically at the same point in his career when he signed, would also lose the honor.

Giguere and Legace, and other goalies with grossly oversized gear, are cheating in the same manner in which steroid users in the 80s and 90s did. It's not technically illegal, but their abuse of that fact is unfair.

The best player in the NHL is not a forward.