YoungGuns1340

People need to put their bulls*** biases aside. Enough of this "Hasek is one of the greatest goaltenders of all time" stuff or this "Chris Osgood is done" crap. Facts are facts. Which goalie is playing the best, he should be the one starting. Whichever goalie is playing like crap, should get his time cut until he can make a recovery. Its really simple. As of today, Osgood is our #1. But we're lucky enough to be in a situation where that could change quickly. IMO, Babs is handling it well. Hes giving Dom a chance to redeem himself, but is giving Ozzie the nod when we need a big win.

Wrong. He was not playing in the NHL at that time. He was playing in a Czech league, which undoubtedly had talent inferior to that of the NHL of the 80s.

Youre having a problem with logic? Lets give up on Howard because he has crappy stats as a 23 year old. Dom did too. Look at the career he had. What you do on a crappy team as a developing goaltender doesnt mean you sholuld be held to the same standards as an NHL regular.

They were already up 3-0 then. They have a game the next day. They arent going to go balls to the wall trying to run up the score just to pad their stats. If there lacking urgency when they need a goal on a consistent basis, then Id worry. But there wasnt any urgency needed.

Domink Hasek Age 23 11 games played 3.99 GAA ..so you were saying what about Howard??

Case in point where stats arent everything. You should watch some Stars games. Zubov has easily been the MVP on a Stars team that is struggling with their identity. Hes had to compensate in basically all areas of the game where Dallas excels at none. He could be playing the best hockey of his career..and that includes BOTH ends of the ice. (P.S. Mike Modano is a team worst -9 while Mike Ribeiro is a team best +9. +/- sure is a real good indicator of defensive strength, eh?) Oh yeah, and in general, saying that Zubov isnt worth anything if he isnt scoring proves why you shouldnt even bother debating about a player who you clearly dont watch enough.

Nope. Sergei Zubov has been better than Nick this year. ..and I wouldnt be surprised if Niedermayer would be playing better than Nick if he were still in it. He was only a hair shy of Lidstroms calibre last year. So yeah, top 3 Dman.

Lidstrom shouldnt have an A+. His still a top 3 Dman, but his game has dropped off this year. No one can argue with that. A would be just fine, same with Datsyuk. Only person, IMO, that deserves an A+ is Hank, because hes doing it all and has really yet to have a poor game. All the others have.. Also, if we're giving Hudler a B+, then Kronwall needs to be bumped up a bit. B minus at least for that boy. Hes had a handful of dominant games.

Consider the Wings marketing is about as bad as it gets..I dont see how this could be a bad move.

My instincts with Hull would be that hed be a little bit more reactionary. He doesnt exactly strike me as the kind of guy that would take his time in finding the right deal.

Exactly.

Good deal for him. Not a spectacular deal, but still no doubt a good deal for him. Hell be worth that 5.3 next season, if he isnt worth it already..

Losing Kenny or Illitch selling the team will be its downfall. Other than that, we wont ever see another Dead Wings era. The ownership/management of this team is too dedicated to winning to let us slide that far. A bad season here or there might be an issue, but issues will continued to be addressed year after year. IMO, when Lidstrom retires, if Howard isnt ready, the Wings will either add a high-profile tender or a high-profile forward. If we dont have a studded D, then well have a studded forward cast. Thats just how management will work it. If we cant stay competitive one way, well figure out another way to do it.

Rafalski > Schneider = upgrade. I was positive that this thread was going to be about Dominik Hasek...

Yeah exactly. With the suspension, they could bring in Niedermayer at any time and only have to pay his salary from that starting point. Ive got 10 bucks that says the Ducks are doing worse than they thought at the 20 game mark, and are now planning to bring Niedermayer back a little earlier than expected...which means they'll have to pay Niedermayer more money than they expected. Then factor in the fact that Ducks ownership has a SELF-IMPOSED CAP, and youve got yourself a probable situation where Ducks ownership is saying "Wait a minute, you can't add Scotty back to the payroll until you clear some space." Hence, Bryzy on the move.

So youre saying To TOR: Kindl AND Filppula AND 1st in 08 AND 1st in 09 AND 2nd in 09 To Det: Sundin? Thats it? You dont want to add Zetterberg and Datsyuk while youre at it? I can understand that Mats will command a lot, but the guy is older, a UFA, and putting up big points on a team that doesnt play defense. Seriously, Holland would hang up on JFJ is trade negotiations STARTED with what you proposed. And I really cant see any team offering 3 top picks and 2 top young players for a guy who doesnt even want to leave the Leafs in the first place, and would be a high risk for ditching the team he was traded to post-playoffs. If the Preds are out of it, Id like to see Detroit go after Dumont. No, hes not a gritty guy, but hes as cheap a sniper as there is out there.

um...should we bring up how many points Datsyuk was on pace for 19 games into the season last year? How about Zetterberg? For an intellectual, you should know that "on pace for" means s***. Stastny was on pace for 164 points 8 games into the season. Minnesota was on pace to never lose a game for a while. Datsyuk could easily put up 10 points over the next 5 games - which is entirely possible - and all of a sudden hes on pace for a 96 pt season.

As of today (11/15), the Central division has the most wins (49) having played the 4th most games of any division (86). The next closest is the Northeast with 45 wins in 84 games. Southeast = 41/91, Pacific= 40/89, Northwest=42/87, Atlantic=44/85. The more I watch these teams play, the more it seems like there isn't a bad team in the bunch. Of course all it takes is the flick of a switch for one division to leapfrog another, etc, but the fact of the matter appears to be that the Central division is the strongest in the league, even if all statistics dont point to it. Especially given that the more I watch the Eastern Conference, the more pathetic it looks. Im willing to bet that a good 2/3 of the Eastern teams would be bottom feeders in the West and that any of our 5 teams could be a top 5 team in the East, if not a top 3. Just thought Id put that out there, since there are still plenty of people who are stuck in the past when referring to the Central division as a weak one.

Or not. The thrashers will take whatever they can get for him come playoff deadline if he isnt signed. They have just as much of a chance to sign him back as anyone else if he chooses to become a UFA.

What makes people think Fleischmann would be an NHL regular if he were on the Red Wings? Chris Clark can be a 30 goal scorer with the Caps. Lets keep things in perspective. And to answer the poll, Id rather have the Robert Lang that is currently playing for the Hawks than any of the other two.

Seriously. Why is it so hard for this team to beat a team that Columbus is currently having no trouble dominating??

Do people seriously think Hasek is an iron man or something? The guy is 42 and hasnt exactly been healthy over his career. It'd be one thing if he were 35 and people were saying hes done. Then there might be case for overreaction. But the fact that remains that it is completely reasonable, and dare i say logical, to assume that Dom is simply running out of gas. Over the hill. Overstayed his welcome. Etc. Etc. And itd also be another thing to suggest Dom isnt what he used to be after 1 poor start. But lets face it. Going 4-11 is rock bottom after a string of rather poor and/or at the very least below average starts Dom has given us so far this year.

No team has to suck if their organization doesn't want them to. (Sans the Rags who, even with their money spent, werent managed very well.) Theres nothing going to stop a team from being at least a decent middle-of-the-pack team if the organization is willing to dedicate money and time to it in a non-salary cap era.

Why do people keep on saying its just one game? Its not. Hasek has yet to win a game where he has played 3 periods of hockey. Osgood, on the other hand, has played maybe one game where he didnt have a rock solid performance.

Jesus christ I turn on the game to see Dom having gone 4-12 on shots? Now over here our boy Ozzie has gone 8-1 and been the best player in half those games. I think its clear who the starter is for now until Dom pulls his head out of his ass. IMO, his age is catching up to him. I could say that for a lot of reasons, but mainly its becuase he hasnt played 3 solid periods in one game at all yet this season. Thankfully, Ozzie is getting his 2nd win.