eva unit zero

I still don't understand how I've gotten a reputation as a Flip hater. I have always liked Flip. I have argued that Hudler was the better player, but not for dislike of Filppula. Seriously? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Ackbar

Why waste the effort? Hudler will have to be top three in team scoring before any of the haters recognize him as a top-six capable forward. It's insane. People here still don't think he put up a top-six worthy offensive performance in 08-09 despite the fact that he tied for 70th in forward scoring, despite playing on the third and fourth lines all season.

Filppula is tied for 108th in forward scoring. That places him as a second line forward based on his point totals. Granted, centers tend to get more points than wingers. Let's guess for the sake of argument maybe 60% of the forwards ahead of Flip are wingers and 40% are centers, as opposed to 67% and 33%. That would place 43 centers ahead of Flip, leaving him as average offensively for a second line center. For him to be a third line center, 56% would have to be centers. He certainly doesn't seem to be exploding into the star some of the big Flip fans on here declared he would, but he's definitely a solid center and may work his offense up to the first line level in the next couple of seasons. It's like I said the other day...Franzen/Flip/Hudler would be a much better combo because all three of Bert/Flip/Hudler are better passers than shooters, and look to pass first. Franzen provides an overeager shooter without losing the size or net presence. Bertuzzi takes Franzen's spot alongside Z.

I call a goal and an assist in one game good production. It works out to 82 goals and 82 assists over the course of a season, which is 164 points; that's a mark only Gretzky and Lemieux have hit. Yzerman's 155 is the next closest. As for ice time, I don't recall any point in his NHL career where Babcock has given Hudler top-six ice time for a stretch of more than five or six games in a row. Despite this, Hudler, aside from his first 28 games this season, was a very effective offensive forward. He has played well over the past few games and last game he scored two points. He may have just knocked that monkey off his back and if so, he could go on a tear that could be scarier in a good way than his first 28 games were in a bad way. He scored 1 goal and 5 assists in his first 28 games, which is pace for 3-15-18 in 82 games. He's gotten a goal and an assist in his past three (past one, actually, but the previous two he was playing as well or better) which is pace for 27-27-54 in 82. That's much more comparable to his last NHL season, and he's actually averaged less time per game over the past three than he did in 09-10. If the past week is any indication...Rex is back, and it's about damn time.

This follows what I have been saying. Give Hudler top six ice time and you'll get good production in return.

Wrong. People like to say Hudler scored no points at even strength and only scored on the PP, when he scored the majority of his points at even strength.

It means about as much as +/- does.

Z has already established himself as one of the top few Swedish forwards of all-time. Sundin, Forsberg, and Alfredsson are the only ones who were really stars for any length of time. Naslund and Nilsson burned very bright for a short period of time. Steen and Sandstrom were solid, reliable players who were just below the 'star' level for a long time. The Sedins have been solid, and Henrik Sedin won the Hart last year, but they took much longer than Z to reach star status, have had much weaker offensive production over their career, and don't have anywhere near his defensive game. Z and the Sedins are on pace right to the top of the scoring charts for Swedish players. They will likely all three be somewhere between 1200-1300 points by the end of Z's contract, barring major injury or early retirement.

It was working extremely well for Stuart. After 20 games he had 2 goals and 8 assists, pace for 8-33-41, which would be his second best season offensively in his career.

He scored 93 points in 07-08? I could have sworn he scored 87.

Take it up with the NHL Board of Governors. The NHL playoff seeding is based on points, therefore the standings are based on points. That's pretty much it. Sure, you would get the same result from point percentage if all teams have played the same number of games, but that's not what the rule is. As far as games behind, how exactly do you calculate that? With wins and losses, you're fine. A 5-4 team is two games behind a 7-2 team, and 1.5 games behind a 7-3 team. But when you add in the overtime loss, it throws it all off. So you would have to throw out the overtime loss and make all losses worth nothing - a straight W-L record. At which point you could calculate games behind, but how does that work for the conference? Seems like winning percentage would be better than games behind, especially given the conference format the NHL uses.

Ahem... PLUS/MINUS IS A MEANINGLESS STAT WHICH IS OF LESS VALUE TO TRACK THAN SHUTOUTS. Thank you.

Bolland's career highs are 19g-28a-47p, and he has been used as the shutdown center by Chicago. Filppula's career highs are 12g-28a-40p. Last year he missed part of the season injured, but was on pace for 16g-36g-52p. This season, Bolland has played 30 games and scored 5g-8a-13p while Filppula has played 35 games and scored 8g-11a-19p. These numbers project to season totals of 14g-22a-36p and 19g-26a-45p for Bolland and Filppula, respectively. Bolland doesn't have a Franzen/Bertuzzi line, either.

You forgot to mention the years of developed chemistry between Abdelkader and Miller.

The commissioner wouldn't "decide" to give the playoff spot to one or the other. The rules are already in place for what happens if not all teams finish the season with the same number of games played. Example: Detroit goes 49-26-7 while Chicago for some reason does not end up playing/finishing a game, and finishes with a 48-24-9 record. Both teams have the same number of points, and Chicago couldn't have had a better record than Detroit based on pure win/loss record if they had played that last game and won. But in this instance, Chicago gets the division crown because the first tiebreaker is, as I posted earlier, games played. Now throw in a makeup game, which the Hawks lose. Detroit wins the division on tiebreaker #2, which is games won. Sure, a team with a winning record deserves to be ranked ahead of a team with a losing record. But the standings, as I said before, are based on the rules for playoff seeding. Which means that teams which have played more games are more likely to be ranked higher as the season progresses,

Bolland is actually a pretty comparable player. Bolland is maybe a bit better defensively, Flip is maybe a bit better offensively. Either can play the defensive center role or the playmaking center role as necessary. Given the salary and play style and level, I actually can't think of anyone more comparable than Bolland.

The NFL has only wins and losses. The NBA has only wins and losses. MLB has only wins and losses. The NHL has wins, regulation losses, and overtime/shootout losses. Unlike the other three, the NHL uses a 'point' system. This is due to the existence of ties for much of the history of the league. Games were worth two points; a team got both in a win and only one in a tie. Made sense. As for your poll, the reason teams are sorted as such is this: The NHL determines division championship and playoff seeding using the following criteria: Points. The top eight teams in points in each conference are selected to play in the playoffs, seeded by points except for division champions. If there are ties in points which affect seeding, the following tiebreakers are used: 1) Number of games played. Two teams equal in points will be seeded based on the number of games played, from fewest to most. 2) Wins. A 42-40-0 team will be seeded above a 38-36-8 team. 3) Head-to-head record. Whichever team gained more points in head-to-head games is seeded ahead. 4) Goal differential. Teams are sorted in the standings based on these rules. A team with a 0-0-11 record would be placed ahead of a team with a 5-0-0 record. At the end, it all washes out. If you want standings based on winning percentage, work them out yourself.

And to you, I say: The question wasn't "name better all-around players who have contracts in the same price range as Filppula who aren't bargains" it was the one listed above.

Hudler should be given a legitimate shot in the top six with Dats out. Hudler getting back on track is the only realistic way to make up for the scoring lost with Dats out. Putting him in the top 6 and giving him a real shot to play is the best way to make that happen quickly.

Parise has a cap hit of $3.125m. I would say that's pretty close to Filppula's $3m cap hit.

Well, how would you define price range? I can mention Dave Bolland, Dan Cleary, Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner as a few.

Mark Howe. Brian Leetch. John Vanbiesbrouck. Tom Barrasso. Pat LaFontaine. Kevin Hatcher. Derian Hatcher. Al Iafrate. Mike Richter. John Leclair. Keith Tkachuk. Brett Hull. Phil Housley. Jeremy Roenick. Chris Chelios. Joe Mullen. Gary Suter. Neal Broten. Patrick Kane. Ryan Miller. Brian Rafalski. Paul Stastny. Dustin Brown. Dustin Byfuglien. Bobby Ryan. Keith Yandle. Doug Weight. Brian Rolston. Mike Modano. Scott Gomez. Do I need more names?

The Wings drafted Murphy looking for that scoring winger to go with Yzerman. There were only maybe four or five other forwards who ended up with better careers than Murphy from that draft, and they were all centers. Murphy was never given a fair shot in Detroit; he only played in 90 games over 3 1/4 seasons.

If you hook/hold/etc. another player, it's a penalty whether they dive or not. Diving is a penalty in its own right, and should be called much more often, but if a player dives on a legit penalty it does not negate the existence of the original penalty. Osgood has been fine, and has outplayed Howard for the past month or more. Not the way Howard and Ozzie have been playing, respectively. At this rate, it'll probably be the reverse.

Two solid line options I have thought of: Option 1; Vancouver lines with minor changes (Hudler takes Datsyuk's spot, Eaves takes Hudler's spot, Draper takes Eaves' spot) Cleary/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Abdelkader/Filppula/Eaves Franzen/Hudler/Bertuzzi Draper/Helm/Miller These lines provide three lines deep of scoring; the Z line worked well and Hudler between two big skilled wingers should work well. Eaves' speed should provide a better match for Flip than Huds did in a goal-scoring role. Option 2: Franzen/Zetterberg/Cleary Hudler/Filppula/Bertuzzi Holmstrom/Abdelkader/Eaves Draper/Helm/Miller The first line has been used and its chemistry and performance proven in the past. Huds and Flip have solid chemistry, and Bertuzzi should make a good fit with the two, although not as good as Franzen would be - switching the two may be even better. Homer with Abby and Eaves should work well because both are grinders with decent offensive skill, so they can gain possession of the puck and get it on net where he can then deflect shots or put rebounds in. Their defense also protects his liability. Fourth line doesn't change.