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It's about 2 miles of difference.

I don't blame her. Think about it..she has stood by him for ten years hoping he would get better. One has to imagine that she has been under CONSIDERABLE strain. You also have to remember that Vladdie likely is a markedly different person since the accident and his limited recovery. He did suffer a pretty severe head injury, you know.

And that has nothing to do with whether the Wings think Ozzie can start.

And it was that we wanted two veteran goalies because Howard, Liv, and Macdonald were not considered ready for an NHL job.

Because the only other logical option is that the talent level in the league has gotten worse, and therefore the 385th best Canadian player now is worse than the 450th fifteen years ago--meaning the quality of Canadian hockey has gone down the s***ter. I suppose it's up to you to interpret, but I think Canada is producing hockey players at LEAST as well as it did fifteen or twenty years ago.

Denver and Minneapolis are MUCH bigger metro areas than Winnipeg. Winnipeg lost its team because it had horrible attendance for 20 years, and even when the fans knew the team was in danger of folding or moving, they still didn't show up. Also, the original ownership of the Scouts and Rockies was not willing to spend money to ice a winning product...the fans saw this and stopped showing up.

He's still no Chicken Parm.

I've always felt Modano was a lot like Al Iafrate, He has all the tools he needs to be the best at his position, and because of that is considered in that group, even though he rarely ever puts it all together in any one game. Still a damn good player, but I would rather have a different Detroit boy--Patty LaFontaine.

WOW. There was less talent on most teams in the 80s than there is on most teams now. The majority of teams in the 80s had difficulty rolling TWO skilled lines, let alone four. Pretty much every team in the league now has a solid top two lines. Contraction is not a viable option. It would cost a ridiculous amount, and the resulting concentration of talent onthe remaining teams would mean that each team gets one, maybe two new players. Likely a player who would make a minimal impact, therefore not a significant improvement in the on-ice product. As far as moving teams, Winnipeg failed to support the Jets. The Jets moved to Phoenix, and have consistently gotten BETTER support in Phoenix than they did in Winnipeg. Winnipeg is NOT an NHL market.

And the talent level across the league top to bottom is the highest it has been in almost 40 years. Prior to the early 90s expansion, there were 21 teams. There were about 450 Canadian players in a league with about 475 players, or 20 teams worth. Now, there are about 16.5 teams worth of Canadian players. If you add two more teams, and of the additional 23 players per team in the league, if all of those players are Canadian, you would still only have 18.5 teams worth of Canadians. Since the 1971-72 season, there have been at least 21 major pro teams in North America, and the percentage of Canadian players on those teams has been steadily declining. The last time there were fewer than the approximately 385 Canadians playing major pro hockey now was 1970-71, due to the 14-team NHL having approximately 350 players, and the WHA yet to start play. Meaning that the average fourth liner in a 32-team league would be better than the average fourth liner at any point since 1971.

Was this a posthumous award? The only NHL player ever named Hainsworth was George Hainsworth, who was the first goalie to be a team captain 32-33 with Montreal, and won the first three Vezina trophies in 1927-29. He was killed in a car accident in 1950 at the age of 55, and was inducted in the HHOF in 1961.

If Columbus were 200 miles East of Detroit, it would be Columbus, PA--about where Bethel Park, PA, is. If one flew directly south of Detroit, one would fly over downtown Columbus. They're that close longitudinally. It's Euchre...and someone from OSU could only beat someone frim Michigan if the OSU student were FROM Michigan.

If Staal deserves the Calder because of opportunity he didn't get, then Hudler should win. He has nearly identical goals and points per minute numbers, and since Hudler started playing as much per game as Staal has all season, Hudler has scored at a per-game rate that is better than Malkin's season rate.

If the league expands, it should be two teams. Kansas City and Houston. Both are large cities that have modern arenas ready for NHL use. Each has two professional sports franchises that only have moderate success. Both have had major pro hockey teams in the past and would have a natural rival (St. Louis and Dallas, respectively) Each team should be able to protect maybe twelve skaters and one goalie, with exemptions (as always) for those under a certain age (23?) or experience level (80 games?). Teams would be required to expose at least one forward, defenseman, and goalie, and could lose a maximum of one goalie OR defenseman, and two total players. Each expansion team would draft two players from each team, for 30 players each. That would leave the following likely lists using the current Wings roster: Protected: Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Draper, Franzen, Cleary, Osgood, Lidstrom, Kronwall, Lebda. Three spots remain open to protect players. Exempt: Hudler, Filppula, Kopecky Available: Lilja, Lang (UFA), Maltby (UFA), Hasek (UFA), Schneider (UFA), Markov (UFA), Datsyuk (UFA), Calder (UFA), Bertuzzi (UFA), Chelios (UFA). Assume Detroit resigns Dats, Bert, and Calder and uses their final three protection slots on them. Lilja, as he is under contract, is the most attractive pick on the 'available' list-meaning UFA Maltby, as the only forward left, would also be claimed. At that point, Detroit would need to sign two forwards (Grigorenko and Ellis?), four defensemen (Chelios, Schneider, Kindl, and Markov?), and a goalie (Howard/Liv) The roster for next season--if the draft happened this June under those rules, would not look significantly different than it will next year anyway. This would likely be the case regardless of when it happened. And it would definitely mean schedule changes and realignment.

While Darren Rumble and Stan Neckar belong?

Since the league expanded to 16 teams, only three goalies have even won four cups in a span of ten years. Ken Dryden, Billy Smith, and Grant Fuhr. The 70s Canadiens, 80s Isles, and 80s Oilers are universally agreed upon as THE most dominant teams in NHL history. You could say 'the Wings would have won in 99, 00, and 01, if Konstantinov hadn't been in that limo' because each year they had a legitimate shot--99 (Osgood) and 01 (Shanahan, Yzerman) were cut short by injuries to key players we didn't have anyone to fill the shoes of, and in 00 Colorado went 5 for 26 on the PP, and only scored 6 goals at even strength. Konstantinov's presence likely would have turned the series in Detroit's favor. So the answer basically is...'if a goalie has one of the best teams ever for several years with no major injury issues, he will likely win four cups. Because we know how often that happens! I said NJ gave up a higher percentage of quality chances. Meaning Hasek would face maybe five quality chances on 30 shots, while Brodeur would see 3 on 20. Also one must account that HASEK (and many other goalies) plays better when he sees more rubber. For a goalie to be able to come up with big saves after not seeing much and not getting in the game is just as impressive as a goalie being able to stop a couple whacks at rebounds.

Allan Cup winners vs Memorial Cup winners for the Stanley Cup?

Sounds like sciatica.

Multiple scoring chances!! IF Buffalo did that, and New Jersey DIDN'T, then Brodeur is a pretty bad goalie because his GAA has never been at or below 1...which means he gives up an average of a bad goal or more per game!! I never said Hasek didn't face odd man rushes. My post had to do with the in-zone cycling and offense rather than transitional plays. That said, Hasek didn't face significantly more breakaways than other goalies--he was just better at stopping them than most. The difference is that Buffalo play a low risk scheme that was based on limiting quality of shots rather than quantity. For example, if you were to rate each shot's 'scorability' on a scale of 1-10, 1 meaning shooting it into the goalie's glove, and ten meaning a sure goal. New Jersey would likely have a higher percentage of shots reaching the 7-8-9 range, while Buffalo would have seen a much larger number of 4-5-6 shots. Ultimately, it all comes down to opinion. Who would you rather have in their prime, Brodeur, Roy, or Hasek? There's not really a wrong answer there. What's so innovative about copying Glenn Hall?

Bowman was Director of Player Personnel until June 1997. Murphy was acquired before the deadline in 1997, and was on both the 1997 and 1998 Cup squads. Holland had little to do with acquiring Murphy, if anything. Holland's first task as GM was a daunting one, though; it was "Replace the best defenseman in the league."

If you're making that much money, I would hope you never have to set foot in a fast food joint. I know if I made that much, I would NEVER eat at McDonalds or BK. EVER.

Draper and McCarty are Bryan Murray, actually. Not sure where you're goingwit hthe 'scoring machinee' comment on Duchesne, Olausson, Devereaux. Duchesne and Olausson were not being counted on for their offense, but for reliable defensive performances, which they delivered big time. Devereaux provided speed and a good forecheck and meshed well with Dats and Hull. He was never supposed to be a big scorer on that line. As far as crediting Hakan Andersson for Fischer and Dats...if you do that, you have to credit Holland for all the guys he scouted. Bowman had Hakan Andersson as well. How many good Europeans did Bowman draft? The answer is one, Tomas Holmstrom. The second best Euro drafted by Bowman was Yuri Butsayev. So that's oneguy who was able to make the roster. Holland has drafted Fischer, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hudler, Filppula, Kopecky, Franzen as guys who have made the NHL roster. And there are more coming who he's already drafted. Andersson is a great scout, but you have to remember the GM is the guy who ultimately makes the decision, and with basically the same scouting staff, Holland has drafted very well where Bowman did not. Vancouver succeeded early during Burke's tenure mainly on the strength of players Keenan brought in....just FTR.

Hasek's save percentage is inflated from the style Buffalo played. Buffalo, during Hasek's time, played a defensive style that was designed to limit quality chaces by forcing perimeter shots rather than attempting to prevent all shots like most teams had done to that point. While it's true Hasek had to stop a lot of shots, most of them were long and unscreened shots. Only once on a 'traditional' style defense has Hasek posted a sv pct. above .915, something Roy has done six times and Brodeur four. And even discounting Buffalo's interesting defense, it's an example that has been seen many times over the years; the goalies with the higher save percentages are also often the ones who see more shots. If Goalie A sees 24 shots per game, and Goalie B sees 30, but only one of the additional six is a quality scoring chance, Goalie B will likely have a better save percentage. The only way to truly judge who is better is to put them on the ice behind the same defense against the same competition. Barring that, two comparable defenses work. Beyond that, you must consider the differences in the defenses in front of the goalie and how it affects his numbers. Canada could have won in that shootout if they had iced Yzerman and Fleury instead of Gretzky and Bourque during it. Hasek is carrying the Wings in much the same way that Holmstrom or Lang are. I'll leave that to you to interpret.

The 2002 team was built by Holland. Yes, Bowman was the coach, and that factored in huge into the playoff success--the same team minus Bowman and Hasek, and plus Zetterberg and Joseph lost in the first round the next season. You have to consider that of the 2002 team, of the 23 players who played in the postseason, Holland was responsible for the following 14 players: Hasek, Hull, Robitaille, Larionov (reacquired), Duchesne, Chelios, Fischer, Olausson, Datsyuk, Devereaux, Williams, Krupp, Slegr, Legace. Another 5 (McCarty, Draper, Fedorov, Yzerman, Lidstrom) pre-dated Bowman.

In a Brodeur vs Roy discussion, the quality of teams is not a factor as both played almost exclusively for great teams their whole careers.