eva unit zero

Keeping your head up won't protect you from a guy coming at you from the side and elbowing you in the head.

You would take Anders Eriksson at wing over Hudler.

So other than the fact that Thornton plugs Perron with a blindside elbow to the jaw, and Pietrangelo doesn't toss his bucket, what exactly is in that clip? Certainly nothing about hitting no longer being in hockey.

The thing is, It's kind of hard to get any mojo going when you are put in the doghouse just because you exist. Hudler has never been given a real chance to play by Babcock, and the only talented linemate he's ever had any significant amount of time with is Filppula. Swapping Hudler and Bertuzzi is the perfect solution for any line issues, because Hudler and Filppula have real chemistry that has shown itself over multiple seasons. However, it's more likely we'll get to watch a rotating third line or the whole thing will be blown up if the team loses three or four in a row.

By anyone, do you mean old people? That was an awful long time ago. Not long after Mark Howe (SHOULD BE IN THE HHOF!!!!!) made the move from forward to defense.

Update: Franzen to watch warmups in fake cast, then play game.

If you're going to complain about Hudler's 8 games, 0-3-3 and -6 then you have to look at the fact that: Clarkson: 14 GP, 1-1-2, -8 Since we're going nuts over these numbers, let's put them in the context of a full season: Hudler: 0-31-31, -61 Clarkson: 6-6-12, -47 Based on the small sample we have, I don't think you can really call Clarkson's output "offensive presence" so far this season. Now can we get back to reality and not make ridiculous trade proposals to trade players just because we don't like them?

Homer would make more stick saves in one night than most goalies make in a month.

Having Hudler dressed is better than an enforcer even if the only ice time he sees is on the power play.

More solid? Most hits in football are a guy blocking off and then grabbing the ball carrier while leading with a bit of force. Far weaker than the kind of hits we've been talking about.

Does your complete player take AA or AAA?

You're wearing a bikini?

Mike Legg scored what many consider the best goal ever scored in any kind of high level hockey. He never even made the AHL. A player can do something, and do it really well, without it being their normal skill level or play style. And if you notice in that video, Cleary is not hit, bumped, or even LOOKED AT by a defenseman, and gets no goalie sticks to the calves. Show me some real "evidence" please.

Because it's a "Who is better RIGHT NOW". Who's better, Wayne Gretzky or Pavel Datsyuk? Gordie Howe or me? Let's solve that one on the ice! Ridiculous.

Hudler is as much net presence as Cleary is. A guy who goes to the net is not "net presence", a guy who sits there and gets whacked and screens the goalie is. Cleary is, with regards to offense, almost exclusively a shooter. He can't pass for s***, and even if he could his offensive success comes mainly from his speed. Hudler is almost the anti-Cleary in that he's not a fast guy, but he's an excellent playmaker and passer, and his offensive success comes from his ability to take advantage of weak spots in the opposing team's defense, It's why Hudler can make a great first pass, and is great on the PP, but has much more difficulty if he is forced to carry the puck through the neutral zone.

I wonder how long it will take him before he realizes that he said "my plan is for every line to have a scorer, a playmaker, and some net presence" and he didn't put his lines together in that fashion at all; It's true of the first line, the second line really has a scorer and two playmakers, one of whom is able to offer net presence, and the third line has two scorers and a playmaker. They're expected to play a completely different style of hockey than the line is set up to play.

Since the beginning of the 2009-10 season: Zetterberg 81 GP, 26g-54a-80p (28g-58a-86p over 87 games) Datsyuk 87 GP, 31g-46a-77p Z clearly has been a better producer offensively. Neither player has a significant advantage in the physical game, so if you don't think Z's advantage offensively and defensively are enough, let's look at one more aspect. Clutch play. Datsyuk has been a good playoff player, with some questioning. Z is one of the league's top postseason players every year. And there has not been a single season where Datsyuk's playoff run was better than Z's of that same year. Datsyuk is an amazing player, and it's great that he won this award. But he's not "the most complete" player in the world.

Trophies speaking? Is there video evidence? As for who is better defensively; When they are on separate lines, which one is usually matched up against the other team's top offensive line to shut it down while still providing offense? Zetterberg. Not Datsyuk. That speaks volumes doesn't it? Certainly more than a single stat viewed on its own out of context.

Henrik Zetterberg does.

What's he gonna do? He's gonna push me. Scary. It's the 250lb linebacker who makes me nervous. The lineman's not gonna be the guy putting his shoulder into your ribs as you're looking the other way trying to catch the pass up the middle. Linemen are like refrigerators. 1) They're big, heavy, and hard to move. 2) You need them, but you'd be just fine if they didn't exist. 3) It's a good idea to keep them clean.

At the high school level the average player weight for hockey is around 160lb maybe, while football is probably closer to 200lb. You're saying that when you turn those players into a bunch of 200lb hockey players and 250lb football players, that football will have the harder hits? The only reason you would be able to make the argument of pro =/= high school is if said school had a very good hockey program and a weak football program, or vice versa. My high school is a large school and typically does well in all sports. I am not saying football hits aren't hard; having been a football player I know firsthand that this is not true. But hockey has harder hits, even if it's not someone bumping into someone else every tenth of a second.

Hockey hits are absolutely harder than football hits. First off, linemen rarely actually hit anyone. Offensive linemen spend most of their time blocking the opposing team's defense, and the defensive linemen spend most of their time trying to penetrate the offensive line. This is not done through hits, but mostly through what ultimately amounts to a lot of specialized pushing and shoving. The hardest hit you'll usually see is when a linebacker upends a receiver on a cross route. I played football and hockey in high school. I was a receiver and defensive back in football, and played both forward and defense in hockey. I can tell you right now that hockey hits are harder; the football players in our area were disproportionately large compared to the hockey players if you compare it to the NHL/NFL, and the hits in hockey were still harder, both at the top and on the average.

Boarding? On an open ice hit? You fail. Anyway, it's unclear from replay where the primary contact of the hit was made. However, here are the most important facts: -Brown was approaching from the front. -Miettinen was shooting as Brown hit him, and after gliding into the zone he had used his left skate to stop as he received the puck; watch the replay. Brown was trying to hit what had been a moving target, but that target stopped. Ultimately, though, Brown hit him from the front with a tucked shoulder. Whether that hits his head or his shoulder or his chest or his belly button, it's a clean hit. It's not Brown's fault if Miettinen puts his head in a dangerous position, and it's not a dirty hit if that happens. Clean hit.

Two very good and accurate reasons, and basically explainable. Babcock had the personnel to create three solid scoring lines with defensive ability, and he basically took his top twelve forwards and did this: Decided on top line. Decided on second line. Figured out who was better suited to scoring line (third) or checking line (fourth) and decided on those. Hudler, Modano, and Cleary basically were 'left over' from Babcock's line creation process for his top two lines. While the top two lines are working well, would they not be working as well with Hudler and Bertuzzi switched? Or Cleary/Bertuzzi? Or Modano/Bertuzzi? Babcock's "plan for each line was to have one big body with net presence, one shooter, and one grinder. Who's the net presence on the third line? Cleary? Hudler? Modano? All are capable of playing in front of the net, but you can't seriously claim any of them to be a Holmstrom, Franzen, Bertuzzi, etc. type and use the description "big body with net presence" on them. The third line is missing a key element of Babcock's "plan" and it's because Babcock was not really concerned about what it looked like.

On crack! Cleary hasn't been able to make a single good pass all season, and his shot has looked terrible. Defensively he has looked ok, but well below his normal game. Hudler and Modano haven't been stars defensively, but at least those two have looked good offensively even if the line hasn't been connecting for many goals. Maybe swap Cleary with Eaves, or maybe even try Hudler in the middle between Modano and Cleary.