norrisnick

Why does Iginla look so mad? Cuz he knows he's Nick's *****. For added hilarity, just after this picture was snapped Jarome takes a MASSIVE dive and really flips his lid trying to start something with Z. Good times. Nothing says pwnt like having the defenseman charged with keeping you in line double your offensive output in a playoff series.

Maltby and Draper before any of the four mentioned.

No. It's only ever been in reference to Lidstrom. A poster tried applying the quote to Datsyuk once, but that was a reading comprehension problem.

I like Bruce McCleod's grades. http://redwingscorner.blogspot.com/ He differentiates between the 1st and 2nd quarters and mixes in some oddball stats that only he keeps track of.

You missed two of their top three defensemen. Vlasic (arguably their #1, it's 1A and 1B with him and Rivet, but Vlasic is the more defensive minded one) and Erhoff (their #3).

Even if you don't put Niedermayer among the gods of defensemen (I don't) you have to put him among the gods of skaters. To put it bluntly, compared to Scott, Nick is slow and plodding. Though IMO that makes Lidstrom all the more amazing. Like I said last season when the Norris was essentially a three headed monster, Scott is bigger and stronger than Nick, and Pronger is a better skater than Nick, but Nick is the best defenseman of the three because he's the smartest guy in the league.

Kipper was a finalist a few years back and played in only 38 games.

He just came off of a 25 game suspension. At some point enough is enough if he's too stupid to learn from his previous 6 or 7 suspensions. Oh and stepping on a guy goes far beyond unsportsmanlike. The skates are the most dangerous things out on the ice. Boyle dropped a skate on his arm during training camp and he's missed all but 4 games and is currently out indefinitely for further surgeries. Last season Kronwall missed a big chunk of games because after a check a skate came up and nearly took his nose off. Bieksa suffered a bad cut near his achilles and he's out for who knows how long (he's already been out a month and a half). Salming once had his face stepped on and had to receive nearly 300 stitches to get put back together. Clint Malarchuk had his throat sliced open and came within seconds of death. And all these were accidents. You damn well better believe the league is going to take intentionally stepping on a player very seriously. Even if nothing serious happened. Havlat was suspended 4-5 games for kicking Hal Gill in the shins. Step/stomping on a guy goes FAR beyond that.

Fil's penalty shot tonight was the first successful PS at home, during the regular season (records for regular season and playoffs are separate) since '92.

Without Fedorov on the roster, adding Shanahan doesn't tip the scales. Shanny looks more important because he was the biggest name added, but you can't discount the other moves (removing Primeau and Coffey and more importantly adding proven Cup winners in Murphy and Kocur).

There you go.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../712100393/1053 http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../710100363/1128 Kronner at least makes sense. I'd very much like to see the rest of his names for fellow Wings...

Fedorov without a shadow of a doubt. Let Shanny be the missing/final/last/whatever piece all he wants. He was never a bigger or more important piece than Fedorov.

Lies. I'm sure Dangerfield's corpse could stop a puck or two...

If you make it easier to score on the goalie, the flow to the game will come back. Part of the reason it went away is because it became too hard to score on a goalie (pads and improved technique) so some coaches started playing conservative to minimize higher percentage scoring chances against. If you shrink the pads back to where they were before, the goalies still have positioning and technique, but there will be more holes in their coverage (or holes at all). So the Big Slapper on a rush from the wing might actually become a scoring chance again. If point shots become more dangerous teams will be forced to defend up high opening up plays down low. And if you can score on attempting a rush teams will be more inclined to do so. Teams aren't playing all out offensive styles right now because it is too hard to score. Match up against a defensive counter-attacking team and you're done like dinner. Passive defensive teams that just sit back and try to defend will get eaten alive. That or their goalie makes a TON of amazing saves which is also entertaining. Make it easier to get a shot by the goalie and teams will be more inclined to try. There are way too many rushes where the offensive team just chips it in so as not to waste a shot or give up a rush the other way. If they think they can actually score on the play, they'll try to do so.

No roll-over minu... er... cap space.

Believe it or not, but it was Hedberg. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1SvDb9PMdc

Franzen worked on that line the 4-5 games we ever saw it happen. I don't know why Babcock is unwilling to try to put them together again.

He'd be a first liner on bad teams. He'd also be on a lot of other teams' first PP unit. He's a point/game player in the making. Bank on it.

I'm not sure if you've realized this or not, but Hudler is a legit 2nd liner. He's young, talented, cheap, and has more potential than what he's showing even now. Unless you get a younger, better, cheaper player with more potential you don't trade the guy you already have.

The only three names I'd comfortably place ahead of Hudler in puck possession ability are Lidstrom, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk. That's one aspect of his game he has no problems with. He knows where, when, and how to move the puck.

It's incredibly hard to show your game when you don't get to play. That said. Wing Scoring leaders for the month of November. 13 points - Lidstrom 13 points - Datsyuk 12 points - Hudler 12 points - Holmstrom 11 Points - Zetterberg 10 points - Cleary 9 points - Rafalski Fun fact. Hudler had almost exactly half the ice time that Zetterberg had. 11min and change vs 22min and change.

Where did you pick up this factoid? Because the last time a staggering percentage (it was 30% last time I heard it) was bandied about Canadian media outlets, Bettman vehemently denied those claims.

Not only late, but he'd been passed over entirely the two previous drafts.

The Wings are ranked #3 in PK situations. Only Anaheim and Calgary (recently passed us) have given up more PPs to the opposition. Considering how much the Wings own the puck, that's startling to say the very least. We're the best face off team. We take the most shots and allow the fewest so obviously we've got the puck a lot, but somehow we're taking all these penalties in the process. Doesn't seem right.