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Zetterberg is sort of on the edge, but he does often push his way right through rather than go around. The pushing through is one of the things I was using to define power forwards, and it's something Zetterberg does much more than most high end scorers. Sure, not more than an Ovechkin, Iginla, Nash, Doan, or Lucic. But those guys are the kind of guys who are as close as you get to the "80s" power forward nowadays. I'm surprised I haven't seem any backlash re:Jokinen. I was certain that was coming, because he doesn't fight.

Yeah, that. Although Babcock is the coach, so you never know which will get more ice time...

My wish list of people who were on their way to DRW Training Camp: Vyacheslav Kozlov, UFA invitation Jere Lehtinen, UFA invitation Kyle Wellwood, UFA invitation Evgeny Artyukhin, UFA invitation Krys Kolanos, UFA invitation Lee Stempniak, UFA invitation Brian McGratton, UFA invitation Tim Stapleton, UFA invitation Matt Ellis, UFA invitation Paul Mara, UFA invitation Kim Johnsson, UFA invitation Lukas Krajicek, UFA invitation Jay McKee, UFA invitation Based on the 13/8/2 roster that I have projected, I see fairly easy cap-friendly and roster-friendly ways of putting the players in bold on the roster should they earn it. Mara would likely cost $1.75m, Artyukhin $500k. So if Mara is better than Salei, it's only a $200k difference in cap hit. The Wings have to drop Meech, Miller, or Eaves already to fit under the cap and under the roster limit. This changes neither, but likely provides a much better defenseman, as Mara is more on the level of Stuart than Salei. Artyukhin simply would be replacing Eaves/Miller if he outplayed them, and the same goes for the others, aside from the top two. Working them in would be more difficult, but provides more skilled forwards. The ideal is to get younger and cheaper through the UFAs who are 27 and under, and might be better than current Wings. Stempniak is a proven scorer so he would also be quite a good invitation. Johnsson, Krajicek, and McKee have all played well at other places so they may be able to earn a spot here, and if so may be willing to take the necessary contract.

So if this is true, and it happens... 16 forwards. The fourth line will be a competition between: Abdelkader, Helm, Eaves, Miller, Draper, Maltby, Ritola. That list is in order of how likely they are to earn a spot. So Ritola is probably traded before the end of camp. The Wings will probably try to send Maltby to Grand Rapids, as he offers the big club nothing without several bottom-six injuries. In an odd way, Maltby being signed might have increased the chance of keeping Meech. Adding Maltby to the group at TC puts a different angle towards Eaves/Miller who are the two players Meech is likely competing with for a roster spot.

What does Grant Fuhr have to do with this?

In my initial post I defined what I was calling a power forward, and named some players who fit that definition. Saying those players don't fit other definitions doesn't mean they don't fit the VALID definition I gave.

And this is caused by NHL players playing in the Olympics, and not simply by Team USA and Team Canada doing well, respectively? Having NHL players on the rosters, or not having NHL players does WHAT to grow fanbases? Nothing, as I said.

Fighting is something that happens in hockey, that you have to be willing to do. Zetterberg is willing to fight. Fighting is NOT a measure of skill or something necessary or required to win championships. Hopefully you can get this through your cro-magnon frontal bone to your cerebral cortex.

Todd Hlushko: 8 goals, 21 points and 84 PIMs in 79 career games and 3 career playoff games with no points and 2 PIMs in two appearances over six seasons (1993-94 to 1998-99), the last of which he had no regular season games played but played two playoff games. His best season was 1996-97, when he scored 7 goals and 18 points in 58 games for the Flames. Hlushko was a decent grinder and defensive player with moderate offensive ability. Not terribly far in effectiveness from Patrick Eaves or Drew Miller, simply less opportunity. After leaving the NHL, he was consistently among the best players in a German Elite League which included players like Alexander Selivanov, Yves Racine, Darryl Shannon, Gilbert Dionne, Michel Picard, Corey Millen, and Christian Ehrhoff. Realistically, one question, though. I am a fan of sending NHL players to the Olympics. But as far as the "grow the fan base" line, how exactly do NHL players in the Olympics serve that purpose for the NHL? Perhaps more international fans and potentially a future International League, but what does it do to grow fanbases in the US and Canada? Nuttin, that's what. Bob Jones who lives on Hill Street and isn't a hockey fan won't be any more of a hockey fan after the Olympics if NHL players go than if they don't go. He'll either watch hockey and like it, watch hockey and not like it, or not watch hockey at all. None of that is reliant on NHL players being in the Olympics. However, NHL players want to go, and fans worldwide want them to go. So what needs to happen is the IIHF needs to help the NHL and KHL work out some sort of transfer deal. Once a transfer deal is in place, the NHL will be more than happy to allow players to go to the Olympics.

Now to be fair, he said he has to perform well this year if he wants a contract. He didn't say "I'm going to try harder this year because I want a contract" or "Last year I was terrible because I was busy thinking about Z's wife when the other team was rushing the puck" so to lay the label on him of only playing when it gets him extra money might not be accurate.

Compare Datsyuk's style of carrying the puck through the neutral zone or into the offensive zone to Zetterberg's. Datsyuk typically skates away from opposing players and attempts to open up passing lanes. Zetterberg, on the other hand, will use his body to shield the puck as he pushes through opposing players to move forward. While both are capable of performing the other's style, it's a fairly consistent difference you will see. If he is capable of pushing through opposing players to gain offensive position while carrying the puck, and does this consistently, that is a strong argument that he could be considered a power forward. Now let's see all the responses from the enforcer slappies.

Kozlov has had a very good career; he has a .722 PPG, a very good defensive game, and has been an extremely clutch player his entire career. His PPG is not far off of Alexei Kovalev's .802, and Kovalev was considered a superstar much of his career. Ilya Kovalchuk has a notably better PPG, but has always been a terrible defensive player; we'll see what happens in New Jersey. Kozlov's defense and clutch play in big games, both playoff and non-playoff, are what push him ahead of those two, who are known for their offensive skills and almost nothing else. Malkin misses out on the list mostly due to lack of sample size; next year or the year after he'd almost certainly be on the list; obviously Konstantinov only played a couple more seasons than Malkin has.

I said before, I was going by the definition of a forward who uses his strength and size as his primary tool to create offense. Jokinen doesn't rack up the PIMs like Stevens did, but if you take away the "you have to have a ton of PIMs" definition and just make it a big strong guy who uses his strength as a major tool, then Stevens wasn't even the primary PF on his line. He was secondary to Lemieux and he received a lot of offensive help from not NEEDING to crash through guys. Jokinen has spent almost his entire career playing solo, and using both his size and skill to post impressive offensive numbers. If he fought 3 times a season, he'd be universally considered an elite power forward.

The power forward. A skilled, strong offensive player capable of grinding in the corners, screening in front effectively without being easily displaced, and using their size and strength to overwhelm the opposing defensive players. For one, I've never considered fighting a required part of being a power forward. And to require it now, when fighting in general is rare, is even more ridiculous. How many fights happen per season? Probably fewer than happened per-TEAM in 1993. So physically powerful scoring forwards (maybe that's where the name "power forward" came from?) are basicallywhat we're looking for. Well for one, Shayne Corson wasn't, not did I ever consider him, a power forward. Excellent defensively? Sure. Great Grinder? Definitely. Power Forward? No way. He wasn't good enough offensively to get that title. Some guys in the league now who could be called a PF? Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Lucic, Iginla, Jokinen, E.Staal, Nash, Hossa, Morrow, Franzen, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Kopitar, Latendresse, M.Richards, Doan, Downie, Backes, Malone, Lecavalier, Ovechkin, Malkin, Horton, Thornton A lot of those guys don't fit the "Score 30 goals, hit a ton, fight, get 200 PIMs" mold that a lot of people seem to have. I know some people wouldn't consider a lot of those guys power forwards. But these are all examples of players who will regularly use their physical presence as an offensive tool To compare based on my definition; yes Kevin Stevens was a good player, yes he had a good shot. But realistically, Jokinen has to use his body more to create offense, while Stevens could simply sit back and take the incoming pass from Mario Lemieux. Lemieux is another example of a power forward. He was physically large even for today's NHL, and played in a much smaller league, so a majority of his offense came from simply skating right through-over?-the defense and doing whatever he wanted. Granted, even in his later years, Lemieux was still far more offensively dominant than anyone else could hope to be.

Of American Coney Island?

Hey, I consider players based on more than stats I just think that a lot of players are either highly over-rated or under-rated compared to what the numbers say. As far as the top ten Russian NHL players ever? 1. Sergei Fedorov. This is pretty clear. From early in his career (Hart trophy in fourth season at age 24) until his mid 30s, he was one of the league's top offensive centers. And for years beyond that he was still considered one of the league's elite centers. He was, for basically his entire career (finished second in Selke voting in 92 at age 22 and won in 94 at age 24) considered one of the league's elite defensive forwards, and one of the league's best two-way forwards. He was one of the league's best playmakers, and possessed a powerful and accurate shot, one of the most impressive combinations of those two elements I've ever seen. Fedorov was also incredibly versatile, capable of playing any position at a high level. 2. Alexander Ovechkin. While still very young, Ovechkin is deserving of this rank. I rank him as one of my ten best left wingers ever, and he is making a very strong case for inclusion in the top five. Even since his rookie year he has been one of the league's elite scorers, a powerful physical player and quick skater. While he could improve his defensive play, it is not the deficiency often seen from players with the kind of goal and point scoring abilities he has displayed. 3. Sergei Zubov. An excellent all-around defenseman who has performed at a high level since entering the league in 93-94, when he was a key member of the Rangers' Cup team as a rookie and again for Dallas in 1999, and continues to be a high level defenseman now. As has been said many times in the past, Zubov is the closest thing to a Russian Nicklas Lidstrom, as he plays a very similar style to Nick, is extremely consistent, and displays a high level of skill at both ends of the ice. 4. Pavel Bure. The "Russian Rocket" was the league's most feared goal scorer during his prime. He dominated games simply through his incredible skating and puckhandling. Beyond that, there was his amazing shot. The type and style of dominance Bure displayed was something only the very elite scorers were capable of. Bure had arguably the most accurate shot in the league, and he used it well, He was also a capable playmaker, although he rarely played with capable teammates, as while playing for the Panthers he broke the record for "highest percentage of own team's goals scored" meaning he scored a great quantity compared to his teammates. Bure was well known for his defensive deficiencies, but however seemed to ignore any suggestion to improve that part of his game. 5. Alexander Mogilny. The former Soviet linemate of Fedorov and Bure was not to be left behind when it came to blazing speed, either. Mogilny also had an impressive shot compared to the other two, but did not use it to the effect Bure did as he was a more highly skilled playmaker and tended more to that style. He was able to achieve the current Russian NHL record of 76 goals while playing the "scorer" role alongside Pat LaFontaine in 1992-93, but despite that he normally preferred the playmaker role. A better defensive player than Bure, Mogilny was considered an average defensive forward. 6. Pavel Datsyuk. He has won the past three Selke trophies as the league's top defensive forward, and has been one of the league's top offensive players for several years, although he did score considerably fewer points this past season than the previous four seasons. Datsyuk has been considered one of the league's elite centers and argued as one of, if not the best two-way center, as well as many considering him simply the best center. While he did start his career later than normal (his first NHL contract at age 23) he has done quite well in the NHL both offensively and defensively. 7. Nikolai Khabibulin. Khabibulin broke into the NHL with a Winnipeg Jets team with a talented young trio of forwards in Tkachuk/Zhamnov/Selanne, two solid veteran defensemen in Teppo Numminen and Darryl Shannon, and a declining semi-star goaltender in Tim Cheveldae. Cheveldae was acquired in a deadline deal the previous season and had been a huge improvement over the previous starter, who went the other way, Bob Essensa. But ultimately over the course of the season, Khabibulin took the starter's job from Cheveldae, the same as happened in Detroit the previous year when he lost it to Chris Osgood. In 95-96, Khabibulin would carry the still weak Winnipeg team all the way to the playoffs. Khabibulin would continue to spend his later years on teams with weak lineups until he came to a Tampa Bay team that, more by chance than anything else, managed to put together a championship-caliber team. He backstopped them to a Cup in 2004, but then came the NHL lockout and Khabibulin ended up going to the Chicago Blackhawks. We all know that story. Since then, he has moved to the Oilers and is again, like the beginning of his career, the backbone of a small-market Canadian team. 8. Evgeni Nabokov. He has been one of the league's top goaltenders for years, showing a high level of skill and consistency in his performance. He has been blamed for his team's failures in the postseason, but it is questionable as to how much of that was really his fault, and how much is simply following the standard "everything was the goalie's fault" so those criticisms must be taken with that in mind. He has posted the best statistics of any Russian goaltender in the NHL, although Ilya Bryzgalov likely will wipe that clean in the future. 9. Vyacheslav Kozlov. One of the most consistent scoring forwards over the past decade and a half, he has scored well regardless of playing with a top level linemate or not. Among offense-oriented forwards, Kozlov is also one of the few Russian forwards who has proven to be quite capable. While none of his skills can be considered "high end" Kozlov is a very good skater and playmaker, and has also proven himself quite capable of scoring goals as well. 10. Vladimir Konstantinov. While his career was cut to only six years, he played those six years at an extremely high level. He was among the league's top defensive defensemen, if not top defensemen, for all of them. As far as comparison to other Russian defensemen, Konstantinov is 12th in defense scoring, despite scoring relatively few points per season. The only defensemen who have played more NHL games than Konstantinov and played a high end defensive game were Zubov, Vladimir Malakhov, and Dmitri Yushkevich. Malakhov was a good two way defenseman but was not good enough offensively or overall to have had a better career; he actually had a worse PPG than Konstantinov. Yushkevich was one of the league's top defensive defensemen, but had no puck skills or skating ability while Konstantinov was perfectly capable of participating in an offensive rush. Sergei Gonchar is another defenseman who could be argued above Vladdie, but his lack of defensive and physical skills combined with his limited offense places him behind. I have also selected ten players for Honorable Mention: FORWARDS: Ilya Kovalchuk Alexei Kovalev Evgeni Malkin Alexei Yashin Alexei Zhamnov Sergei Gonchar Viacheslav Fetisov Vladimir Malakhov Andrei Markov Ilya Bryzgalov The All-Time All-Russian Team: First Team F Sergei Fedorov F Alexander Ovechkin F Pavel Bure D Sergei Zubov D Vladimir Konstantinov G Nikolai Khabibulin Second Team F Alexander Mogilny F Pavel Datsyuk F Vyacheslav Kozlov D Sergei Gonchar D Viacheslav Fetisov G Evgeni Nabokov

Lidstrom/Ericsson Kronwall/Rafalski Salei/Stuart I still say these pairs, as Zohan Franzen posted earlier, are the pairings Babcock should switch to. While they don't provide the same kind of top end pair Lids/Raffi was, Kronwall/Rafalski would make a solid match as two defensemen with good puck skills, good skating skills, and good two way awareness. Ericsson would be Lidstrom's primary partner, and Salei would be Stuart's primary partner, with whatever swapping in and out of the lineup happens with Kindl and Meech if he stays. This provides a strong defensive presence on all three pairings. Another option is: Lidstrom/Ericsson Kronwall/Salei Rafalski/Stuart This allows the various lineup changes between Ericsson/Salei/Kindl/Meech to keep all of the pairings solid, as well as providing a more rounded lineup with a more capable third pairing than other options because it places the #3 and #4 defensemen on the third pairing, and their skills fit well together.

Of goaltenders who played the prime of their career in the late 90s and early 00s, he probably ranks third behind Brodeur and Hasek. Two goaltenders who are in the argument for "best ever" so I would say Osgood probably gets his spot if you are cutting it up by generation.

He's a 400 game winner with 50 shutouts and 2 Cups as a starter, and some of the best playoff numbers ever. If you can SERIOUSLY tell me that he's not going into the Hall, then you are on drugs.

You wouldn't sign it if the petition were to move the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, or Senators to Quebec?

Yes, it's unlikely for either, but both are more likely than Shanahan.

Do people not understand that you have to have an owner and that it's not a matter of "ok, let's have a team here, here, and here" The Nordiques were moved because they were sold to owners who wanted to move them to Denver. No amount of petitioning will change that.

Those are the players on the current roster who began their career as Wings and have had strong careers or still have the potential to have strong careers. The chances for those numbers to be retired is not great, but Jiri Hudler's #26 and Valtteri Filppula's #51 are both more deserving based on the standard Red Wing criteria than Brendan Shanahan's #14 Chris Chelios #24.

Is this a good rule change? It's basically following the philosophy that some wins and losses are "better" than others, which is what brought us the OTL.

The Central Division...hmm.... 1. Detroit. They have clearly the best roster with Chicago's firesale, the best coach, and a team that has established chemistry. They also have the best coach in the world. 2. Chicago. They have a defensive unit as strong as Detroit's, the best top six forwards of the remaining group with three excellent forwards, a solid bottom six and solid goaltending. Quenneville is also one of the league's better coaches. 3. Nashville. Mediocre forward group, strong group led by one of the league's best, and the best goaltender in the division. Solid coaching. 4. St. Louis. Decent roster, no significant strength, strong but overrated goaltending. 5. Columbus. Strong top end scoring, weak forward group, weak defense unit, Inconsistent goaltending. Division All-Stars: C: Henrik Zetterberg LW: Rick Nash RW: Patrick Kane D: Nicklas Lidstrom D: Duncan Keith G: Pekka Rinne