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Lilja is not young. Lilja is 32 years old. Lilja is still making rookie mistakes that our ROOKIES AREN'T MAKING. The guy had a good stretch at the end of the season, but his chances of improving dramatically beyond last season's performance are slim and none, and slim is about to leave town. Realistically, he probably shouldn't even be on the team, except that he provides a bit of size and grit in a 6th/7th defenseman role so we don't have to waste Quincey there. I wouldn't be shocked to see him behind Meech on the depth chart at the end of the year.

Actually, Pronger was paired with O'Donnell, and Niedermayer was paired with Beauchemin. Although they often did end up on the ice together, that was more a function of their each playing half the game and their partners not as much.

Yeah that's Drake. You can tell because he looks like a werewolf.

Would the puck then be featured on America's Most Wanted? Seriously, though, let's look on the bright side...at least nobody has ever died as a result of standing up to take a picture of their family. The same can't be said for roller coasters...

Lebda is a smaller, less skilled version of Dandenault. Putting it any other way is just incorrect.

Well, Yzerman, Hull, and Robitaille are all first ballot locks. Leetch beats out Andreychuk as Andreychuk may have scored almost 670 goals, he was never really a star player and Leetch won the Norris twice and the Smythe. Turgeon, Selanne, Niedermayer would all beat Andreychuk, so it comes down to Nieuwendyk v Andreychuk...Nieuwy may not have scored as many goals as Andreychuk, but he won three Cups and a Smythe.

You imply that Turgeon won't get in if he's not in on the first ballot; yet you imply that someone who didn't get in on their first ballot will beat him...contradictory logic, that.

If there is a runner on first, and the batter hits a fly ball that stays within the infield, the batter is out. Otherwise, can you get into one of two situations; the runner at first advances, and the ball is caught, meaning the runner has to tag up at first base before the fielders get the ball there. The second is that the runner does NOT advance, and the ball is not caught, meaning the runner will be forced out at second base. The infield fly rule is designed to prevent fielders from exploiting the second situation and attempting to turn it into a double play.

Turgeon is the sixth-highest scoring retired player who has not been inducted. Only Adam Oates and Doug Gilmour are eligible to be inducted, have scored more points than Turgeon, and have not yet been inducted. Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, and Brett Hull round out the top five. Turgeon is eighth in goals among retired uninducted players, and fourth in assists. Steve Yzerman is the only retired, uninducted player who beats Turgeon in both goals and assists. Dale Hawerchuk, a contemporary of Turgeon's, has comparable totals in a similar number of games, zero Cup wins or postseason all-star selections like Turgeon) and is in the Hall. So I would say Turgeon actually stands a good chance of making the Hall. Pat LaFontaine, who Turgeon was traded for, has significantly lower totals but slightly higher per-game goals and points, and is enshrined.

Ed Belfour also would be there. But that's still only three players.

No, Fischer's situation would be more like Geico giving insurance to someone who had three cars totalled as a result of being HIT by drunk drivers. A freak situation, but something that he had no control over.

Bernie Nicholls is not in the Hall of Fame. Bernie Nicholls was a point per game player who played over 1100 games. Neely was NOT a point per game player who scored less than a point per game. Bernie Nicholls' career highs were 70 goals, 80 assists and 150 points. Neely's career highs were 55 goals, 40 assists and 92 points. Nicholls scored 1052 points during Neely's career (1983-1996), with 415 goals. If you can explain how Nicholls (twice a top ten scorer, and one of five players to score 150 points) isn't deserving yet Neely (never a top ten scorer) is deserving, and convince me of that fact, I will buy you dinner.

These particular animals are born and bred to be food. They are generally killed in the most humane fashion possible. Using that logic, having any pet means the animals dies for our enjoyment. Dolphins and whales are not KILLED for our enjoyment. The closest comparison to dogfighting would be something like UFC if the guys who consistently lose, instead of being replaced, were executed.

You say lose. I say 'had taken away by the referees' failure to penalize Nebraska for having their entire team on the field during a decisive final play.'

Yashin captained both the Sens and Isles...so saying a guy is like Yashin is not the same as saying he can't be captain. Lang captained the Czech Olympic team so it's not inconceivable for him to be a captain on a team with skilled players who have worn the C or the A. Who else on Chicago has worn the C at the NHL or Olympic level?

Come on 630 yards isn't a lot to have given up after the first two games. What's that you say, that was just the Orgeon game? Oh...umm in that case.... Actually, as much as it sucks, this is a good thing. Michigan's defense has always been built to play against the Big Ten. The Big Ten does not typically have mobile quarterbacks and spread offenses...Ohio State is the only team that has really been utilizing this system in recent years. Michigan's defense has been weak against those things for a while now, and combined with the young talent and inexperience Michigan was totally exposed against it. This embarrassment will mean that, with or without Lloyd Carr, Michigan will start recruiting kids and changing the defense so that it CAN play against the spread offenses. Also....Packer. Michigan's 7-5 season would have been an 8-4 season with a bowl victory if the Alamo Bowl hadn't used Sun Belt referees. Tyler Ecker would have scored a touchdown on the final play had Nebraska not used an innovative 60-man backfield that forced him to run down the sidelines and get shoved out of bounds.

Toughness is difficult to draft, because guys with early-round skill that are tough generally go in the first round and the first part of the second round. Guys with later round skill that are tough are generally hit or miss as to whether they actually make the league. With one of the last picks each round, it's difficult to draft tough, skilled players. Unless you think the Wings should absolutely tank so they can draft a tough player who can play? As far as Fischer, he is probably in decent physical shape; the guy is a fitness nut and still works out regularly even though he's not playing. I'm not going to say he's in playing shape, but he could probably get there pretty quickly.

Hey, the guy could probably still hold down a job over some rookie fresh from junior. I would wager that Coffey is better than Seattle's best.

Edited for better readability.

Traditonal numbers (1-30) that were not given out and likely reasons why: 1: Terry Sawchuk 2: Jiri Fischer 6: Larry Aurie 7: Ted Lindsay 9: Gordie Howe 10: Alex Delvecchio 12: Sid Abel 15: Not chosen 16: Vladimir Konnstantinov 19: Steve Yzerman

You are definitely wrong on the first part, and it's yet to be determined about the second part.

I love this board. People are all 'Z and Dats have such good chemistry, why break them up' and then are like 'Sammy and Franzen over Cleary? WTF?' It's like Datsyuk and Zetterberg are the only players on the team that have chemistry, and everyone else should just be ranked 1st line to 4th line based on how many points they scored last year, unless they're Sammy because he sucks because he's not a PF.

My problem with Neely's selection is that he didn't do enough to warrant a selection, and his career was not ended by injury but by a degenerative hip condition that was not hockey related.

I don't think so...you don't trip somebody with you back leg while you are turning away from them. It looked more like Sutter's and Cherepanov's skates got tangled up,and because Sutter had just pivoted and was coasting backwards; so he ended up on his butt while Cherepanov's weight was primarily on his other foot, so it did not cause him to fall. You don't slew foot a guy by turning away from him and using your more distant foot to trip him. If Cherepanov had done that intentionally, it would have been done with the right foot, not the left.

Well, if we're comparing Turgeon to his contemporaries...I say Turgeon deserves it more than Cam Neely, who is in.