eva unit zero

Teams with better starters than Kolzig: Anaheim, Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Vancouver. You can even potentially add Atlanta, Boston, Columbus, Montreal, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Toronto, but the starters for those teams are still largely unknown quantities. Even so, the initial list puts Kolzig outside the top 20 goalies in the league, and that's not even including the handful of backups who are better than him. With about 65 goalies in the NHL, Kolzig sits right near the 30 mark. For an NHL goaltender, he is mediocre.

Latendresse is projected as a second line physical winger. Which is exactly what Lapointe was/is, and what Ryno and Kopecky are projected as. Latendresse is not likely to exceed Martin Lapointe's level of play by much. By the same token, it is unlikely at best that both Ryno and Kopecky will make minimal contributions. At least one of them will be a solid player for years to come. And the thought that Latendresse would obviously solve our need for a scoring winger better than Williams or Samuelsson, when Latendresse has played zero NHL games and the other two are 20 goal scorers? Kopecky I can understand the argument, as Kopecky has yet to get any real NHL experience himself. But the fact remains, Latendresse is still a raw prospect, no matter what you might think he'll be in five or ten years, he's not that NOW.

Read my scenario I posted above. That's where it comes from.

Latendresse wil never be as good as Shanny was. Latendresse is the next MARTIN LAPOINTE. Not the next Brendan Shanahan. I know both of those guys were around for the 97 and 98 Cups...but one of them is a Hall of Famer, and the other is just another 16 goal scorer who can hit.

Well, I'm pretty certain it's not appearances by a pitcher or anything like that...

Yeah...the big key to my scenario is that they beat OSU twice...once when OSU was expecting to roll and once to confirm that Michigan is the superior team. Agreed that it's unlikely at best that those two teams would be i nthe championship game.

Why are you guys so upset about not drafting Latendresse? Kindl is a better prospect anyway, and it's not like Ryno is much worse of a prospect than Latendresse. Bigger and stronger than Latendresse, with second line scoring potential.

St. Louis, Los Angeles, Carolina (if Ward looks like last regular season and not last playoffs), Columbus (Leclaire is totally unproven and they have no backup), Edmonton, Montreal (Huet is totally unproven and Aebischer is a huge questionmark), Toronto (Raycroft and Aubin?? Potentially very good or very bad.), Washington (Kolzig is mediocre, and he's all they have) all have more suspect goaltending than Detroit or Florida.

Because he has some skill and plays with an edge, and some posters on this board feel that anyone who has a physical game and isn't a goon is automatically an elite player. Why we would trade Robert Lang for the next Marty Lapointe is questionable, though. Maybe if we got Latendresse as an add-on to Ryder to even up the value.

One bit of solace we can all take in the loss... Mike Myers' postseason ERA right now is INFINITY. Nice thought.

I'm hoping for this scenario: OSU #1, UM #2 in the last week of the regular season. UM wins, OSU drops to #2 and plays UM in the championship game, losing again to UM. Now THAT would be sweet.

If it seemed long, it's because we were out first round. If it seemed short, it's because of the lockout.

LSU gets to beat Florida though.

Correct. Losing the division and facing the Yankees was perhaps the best playoff position for the Tigers--they can beat the Twins and A's in 7...if they get past the Yanks they have a very good chance at winning it all; And it's easier to beat the Yanks three times instead of four.

And this is why Placido Polanco should be the AL MVP. Detroit lost 9 games in the standings during Polanco's month-plus on the DL. That's just insane. The fact that after he came back, A red hot Minnesota team that had been rocketing up the standings only just barely squeaked past the Tigers is further proof.

I am aware of that. It happened after I first posted about him being a good addition, so I fail to see the relevance.

But you don't disagree that (at least at the time of my initial posting) taking a look at Daze would have been a good idea? He's only 31--he wouldn't count on the cap for long term injury--and if he actually was healthy, the worst he could be is an upgrade over Kolanos/Hussey at #13.

Most people on LGW have said Shanny has been totally soft the past few years. While Daze is not Probert, he's not totally soft either. And are you saying you'd rather have Bootland or Kolanos as the 13th forward than a healthy Daze if it came down to it? A healthy Daze would be nothing but an asset--at worse, he'd be comparable to Kolanos but with more experience. At best, he's a guy capable of playing on a scoring line and lending a big strong body and a good shot to either wing.

Our defense when McGillis was traded included three guys who were top six in Norris voting that season, and got us Kirk Maltby, who was a key part of the Wings for a while. Tell me you wouldn't have made the trade.

Upon further review, Europeans do not fall subject to the age restriction until actually suiting up for a game. As Mursak has played in 2 OHL games this season already, he will not be seeing AHL ice regularly until the age of 20.

In other news...if Michigan wins their next three games, they will be guaranteed a spot in the top five, and have a good shot at the top three or four. Games of note: Oct 7th: LSU vs Florida (go LSU) Oct 14th: Auburn vs Florida (go Florida) I'm just wondering when the voters will catch on that West Virginia HAS NOT PLAYED ANYONE YET. Why is WV getting first place votes?? THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT BEAT SECOND-CLASS TEAMS.

CHILL WITH THE CAPS. And also...it was a Chicago/Florida game...what makes you so sure it's Florida? Why wouldn't they be looking at swapping Joey Macdonald for one of Chicago's D or wing prospects?

You do realize that Kip Miller's 1.09 points per game is the highest in Griffins history, and that he is among the all-time leaders in total goals, assists, and points? It's not like he's some NHL washup who is just latching onto any team that will take him.

All of those guys except Bootland will be on the roster. Bootland has an outside shot at the last forward spot if Johnson can't return, but Norton's versatility, NHL experience, and ability to actually intimidate opponents makes him the more likely choice. Zetterberg, Hudler, Samuelsson, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Williams, Lang, Kopecky, Franzen, Draper, Maltby, Cleary, Lidstrom, Schneider, Kronwall, Markov, Chelios, Lebda, Lilja, Hasek, Osgood, Macdonald are the 22 guys who are already pretty much locked in. The last guy will be Johnson if he's healthy, and if he's not, it will be Kolanos, Norton, Devereaux, or Bootland.

The latter would be correct. Any player whose rights are held by a CHL team cannot play in the AHL until the age of 20. He could have been drafted and stayed in Europe, and then played in the AHL at age 20 without seeing a day of action in Saginaw. But he couldn't have been in the AHL at 18 or 19, even if he never played for Saginaw.