hockeysattva

If there is going to be a classic flame war I suppose I should make my first post in who knows how long. Initially I assumed that too many posters were simply not old enough to remember the sheer brilliance of the older team. But, I think I was wrong there... I sure remember the greatest hockey season of my life. Watched 100 Wings games that season. So I have a hard time with so much of the commentary provided. The only explanation is that people just didn't watch the games.

I wonder what we'll be saying in a year? But, yeah, definitely a drop, not sure that this means its getting eliminated. Glad people are blaming the Europeans like they used to do every time the subject was brought up. Saw a clip not too long ago of a high school game where the kids tried to jump one of the refs... that was pretty disturbing.

I've noticed a drop in fighting majors in the minors as well. Might just be the teams I'm watching.

It's been a loooong time since I posted. I came here to find some optimism, thanks for providing it. Now, how do we get back to having a team that we look at as having a chance to go deep and not just get into the playoffs...

Statistics are exactly what they are, they provide a compelling argument, and if you don't like it you should come up with a better explanation, what you've done is make an ad hominem attack. Doesn't make you look real good. Now, I'd like to see the stats they are using . I will bet that the statistics can prove some of the intangibles. Like looking at the success of shifts after winning fights, etc. I bet there is proof to some of the "momentum."

I highly recommend the boxed set, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Detroit-Red-Wings-A-Celebration-of-Champions-NHL-Original-Six-Series-DVD-/141631629707?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f9e7298bdon't buy the one that is posted, its way overpriced, but its great games in great quality. It's funny, because I'd love to just watch some of the old games, without the teaser, and relive some of the fun. Detroits series against the Capitals was great. I remember Maltby blocked five or six shots in one shift. Or, another Maltby, but Maltby and Draper having a great duo, I think Maltby scored tow short handed goals in one penalty once. There were many great games that 2002-3 season. Still the all time greatest team IMO. But, I might enjoy watching the Wings v. Kings game from the year before... I remember Chelios and Luc fought (if you can call it that) and Luc's kids crying... I'd probably never watch any of those 95 Wings games again though, not if it had that stupid Fox puck tracker... Rookie season Datsyuk was a real treat, other teams hadn't figure out how dangerous he was yet.

There are some really good ones. I'm hesitant to pledge anything wild since I won't be able to watch all the games... still thinking, what could I do that only requires access to a stat sheet?

This series is the reason I didn't complain about the Wings moving to the East (even though I knew the travel was hard on the team). Lets go Red Wings!

I realize you've pulled up an old thread for a new post, and might suggest you just start a new thread... I think Basketball is a different can of worms, but it is thought provoking none-the-less. I disagree with the idea of fining refs. either you trust they are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities, or you find someone else. Refs aren't paid enough to be fined anyway, at least not in our league. Mis dos centavos.

Its a bad analogy or comparison. Crosby isn't a better player than Malkin, though time will tell on whether that changes or not. Second, they're basically the same age chronologically and with the team. The only fair part of your comparison is that you've got English speaking as first language captains, and I don't really think that was the issue with Feds and don't expect as much from Malkin.

Richards elbow wasn't at his side... it also appeared to move very deliberately. I think the biggest difference for me is what these plays look like at regular speed. Could be more material for the "no hard elbow and shoulder pads" debate though. Oh, and maybe not being along the boards just makes it look worse.

The commentators had it right, no other place for his elbow than by his side. Nothing dirty about the hit at all "just a violent collision."

Since, you said fighter and enforcer, and since I'm not really in the mood for deciding where the Tony Twists of hockey belong, and since I want a list of Wings... My five favorite fighters. I've always loved watching Shanny fight. He had some real slug fests with Foote. Darren McCarty he could play hockey, and throw down as needed nuff said. [Honorable Mention: Chris Chelios, remember when he fought Luc... I distinctly remember his boy saying, "mom why is that man hitting daddy?"] Probert and Kocur are gimmies, but they were really more on the enforcer end. Fischer, he didn't fight much, but I'll also never forget the pounding he gave Hartnell after he healed. I would not what to be anywhere close to the receiving end of that. Plus he was just so young, he really had the passion. Martin Lapoint, he had more upper body strength than any other Wing at that time, and he got into some great match-ups with guys who didn't realize it. Mike Vernon, probably the chippiest netminder I'll give credit to

I hate giving relationship advice even more than I hate giving life advice, but there are just some things that need to be said. 1. There is no such thing as a failed playoff beard (see Sidney Crosby), there are beards that are gone before their prime, but no playoff beard fails. 2. There is no alternative to a beard, you either have one or you don't. (Bracelets are great they support the team, and they're fun (notice I'm not saying cute or going that direction, I never have and never will) and I'm all for them.) Now the real advice 3. Men and women do millions of super silly things, and are often dumbfounded by the things their partners do in relationships. You need to take advantage of the opportunities these silly things create. It gives you the chance to practice resolving conflict when its not really a big deal. Your gf isn't supposed to like the silly things you do (like growing a beard) but if you actually don't grow one because of her you might as well break up with her tomorrow, because that isn't a real relationship or you don't have the maturity for one... GO WINGS!

I really hoped that you guys would have finally done the bracelets on their own this year. Its cool enough. It has enough clout. I don't get the insistence on riding along on the coat-tails of beards. Its not the same at all. Bracelets may even be cooler. Here's to hoping next year, the bracelets are sported with the pride they deserve, but for now I'll just go back to having an itchy face for God knows what reason...

Tim Thomas

I won't be up at 5am for the draft that morning, but I wish all of you good luck.

My vote is for Bill Brasky. Bill Brasky is the best three way player the game has ever seen averaging two shut-outs per game. If you want to limit to only NHL players, and on skill alone my vote is for Dats... however, I'd still really like to know what his injury was so that I could tell if he was better... Interesting thread.

Strange, I wasn't trying to bump it, it was just on the top of the page when I signed in yesterday. But, why let it go?

I think the poster earlier was offended because the pejorative statement was kind of a two hander above the skate, though much like the Bert vs. Mac debate there are much worse examples on this site on a very regular basis. In short: names like Dorothy are intended to be a challenge of someone's masculinity, either you literally want to equate being feminine to being weak and therefor bad or not. Do people need to have thicker skin? Maybe, but my friend didn't seem to blow a fuse when Claude became Claudia, because it just seems more -- funny. Anyway, I don't think you are a particularly big offender or anything, heck the photoshop threads are full of pictures that insinuate opposing players are *** (year after year) ... and I have stopped complaining as I decided I do like this forum and do not want to be censored. Anyway, it is a big debate here: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=57682 and not everyone agrees, but suffice it to say that some people here are pretty frustrated by the attitudes with which such bigoted language comes out. Just understand (you don't have to agree) that some people think its a sucker punch or low blow. Matthew Shepard was attacked, tortured, and left for dead on the side of a road in 1998, the Matthew Shepard Act (making attacks motivated by sexual orientation considered to be hate crimes) did not become law in the U.S. until this Summer. It took five tries in Congress before it made it to law! From amnestyusa.org : Sexual violence is pervasive throughout the world. Nearly one in four women experiences sexual violence by an intimate partner during her life, and as many as one-third of all girls are forced into their first sexual experience (WHO World Report on Violence and Health, 2002). Guys do hit girls, and worse, altogether to often. Tolerating sexist and homophobic language isn't cool; I don't choose to be offended -- I am offended because I am a person of conscience. Don't belittle other posters for "choosing!" She is a good active poster in these boards. Now, as for "The Hit," I always said, "It just didn't look that bad when I saw it. I've seen million of shots that looked worse." Its kind of like Dale Earnhardt's crash; when I saw it I couldn't believe -- he died in that crash. I'd seen him walk away from so many that were worse. Not, saying anything else, I don't know intentions, I only know my reaction, and when I saw it I didn't particularly cringe though I saw a sucker punch I didn't see a pile driver. With Big Mac, I didn't see a sucker punch, but I'm surprised nobody has pointed out the extra knees to the face when Turtle was pinned against the boards. In the end the cement of everyone's opinions only gets harder over time, but I have actually enjoyed some of the new comparisons.

Maybe some people just take the excessive homophobia in these forums more seriously than others. I won't say more then that, as I really hate being censored, and its not really what the thread is about. I certainly think Kopecky played as was expected from him minus his show as a ragdoll. I also, don't remember seeing these jokes a year ago, but oh well.

QFT!!! A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. Sir Ralph Waldo Emerson I wrote this on facebook not long ago... and I'll share it here. You may not initially believe that hockey, at the NHL level, has much to do with friendship; it is, after all, a business where millionaires are made, and borrowing from a popular parlance "it's not personal." So, why then, is this note on friendship centered around hockey? Marian Hossa was heavily criticized for his decision to play hockey with the Detroit Red Wings this year. He turned down a substantially more lucrative offer to play in Edmonton, as well as staying in Pittsburgh (which ultimately ended up in the Penguins favor), so that he could spend the year in Detroit. Between all the lines one thing remained obfuscated. It wasn't about his chances of winning in Edmonton or Pittsburgh, so much as he got the chance to be on the same team as his friend. Tomas Kopecky was about to start his 4th season in Detroit and he was talking with his friend about the team, after all that's what friends do, and that what they had done each Summer for years while working out in the off-season. It wasn't a coincidence that Hossa choose to become a Wing. Now a year later, it should not surprise anyone that Hossa and Kopecky (who also both have the same agent) have new contracts with a new team: The Chicago Blackhawks have signed star winger Marian Hossa to a 12-year deal. The deal is worth $62.8 million over the life of the contract -- an average of $5.233 million a year. A 12-year deal helped Marian Hossa leave the Red Wings for their Original Six rivals. Hossa was one of two Detroit Red Wings to join the Blackhawks on Wednesday. The team also signed center Tomas Kopecky to a two-year contract that will pay him $1.2 million per season. It is certainly a lot of money, but still less than Hossa would have made if he went to Edmonton to begin with. For Kopecky it must be really nice as well. How much is it worth to be able to speak in your native language with someone you knew before you were famous?

I've seen in many threads that posters are saying, "You cannot have a contract drop by more than 50% in one year" is that true? Where does this come from?

I've heard quite a bit about what can and cannot be done, and this is what ESPN reported. Tell me, is it right? "Pronger will earn $6.5 million this season. The extension will begin in 2010-11. He will make $7.6 million in the first two years, $7.2 million in 2012-13, $7 million in 2013-14, $4 million in 2014-15, and $525,000 in both 2015-16 and 2016-17." It looks like that means it drops from 4 million to 525,000....