haroldsnepsts

Definitely a spear. It's hard to tell if Neil was diving or not because it could've caught him between the pads and legitimately hurt, or he could just be trying to get the refs attention. I'm guessing Ovie gets off scott free because he's a star player and this doesn't involve a player's noggin. STill it's at least worthy of a fine. Here's his (lying) take on it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capitals-insider/post/capitals-alex-ovechkin-i-dont-try-to-spear-somebody/2011/12/08/gIQAAQ1DeO_blog.html?wprss=capitals-insider

I'm definitely surprised. As I said earlier in the thread, hitting over the years has evolved to allow this kind of leaping into hits. I'm not worried so much about not being able to hit anymore. Like I also mentioned, Stevens (and many others) used to crush people without the Kronwall style leaping up into hits. It's not surprising as this kind of exploding up directs the blow towards the upperbody and head, but I think it's going to be a painful adjustment period as players learn to hit the old school way.

Existing NHL suspension thread Or the thread you made on this same hit.

No, you're wrong. See, I can play that game too. Bent over at 90 degrees? You realize I can freeze frame too, right? And at the point of contact he is far from bent over 90 degrees. Even if that was true, through the entire hit Stevie's legs are nearly straight up. He's only bent at the waist. That's not a low brige. Lowbridging is when you bail completely out of a hit, essentially falling or ducking way down so your body primarily contacts the guys knees, which is why it is dangerous. It was essentially like a hip check, which happens sometimes when a guy is going at you high. But if you stay upright like Stevie did, it's more of hip to hip contact. Making contact with Pronger's knees? You remember that Pronger was the one doing the hitting, right? Any knee contact is his own damn fault. It's not like Yzerman flared out a knee or anything. Yzerman didn't go low on Pronger. He was the one being hit. He just turned and bent to protect himself from getting a mouthful of elbow and stick. It's good to have fans from other teams here and get an outside perspective, but you're losing credibility with every post.

I didn't see the game last night, but my worry is that they were once again beat with a fast physical forecheck. It definitely gets them rattled and suddenly it's turnovers galore. They start losing puck battles and it snowballs.

Did anyone else see Bettman talking about the realignment on the NHL network? They asked him about the NHLPA's opinion and involvement. I wish I had the exact quote but his demeanor and attitude sounded basically like "they can have opinion as long as they're not ridiculous about it." He was so smug and condescending towards them. It's no friggin wonder we had a lockout when your contempt for the union is so obvious.

I only saw a two second clip in the highlights so I really didn't see it enough to have an opinion. My point wasn't that they should suspend any guy that hit the goalie. But based on what Shanny's been doing if he wanted to be consistent Lucic deserved at least a fine for intentionally hitting a player not eligible to be hit. And I don't think Tootoo's whole purpose was to run Miller, but I think he took advantage of that opportunity. If he weren't such a scumbag of a player, he likely would've just gotten a fine or nothing at all. I'm far from a Nucks fan, but that looked like he did try to pull up and minimize contact. Guys are going to crash the net. There's always going to be a gray area as to if they tried to run the goalie or not. Of all these hits, Lucic's was the most egregious in my book. He clearly took the opportunity to hit Miller, who was not eligible to be hit.

Exactly. It's not like they skate off the ice, watch a recap of the game, then talk to the media.

Stuart said as much in the press that it didn't look that bad. I honestly I don't care if it was his fault or not. I'm happy with Jimmy going after guys that run into him. They should have to pay a price one way or another and in the heat of the moment it's hard for him to know how they toppled on top of him. Half the time when guys get bumped by defensemen they make sure to fall on the goalie. And remember you're on a Wings site here. I think you make a valid case but the odds of people conceding the point here are slim, especially when you're being a bit of a smartass about it. As for as Pronger's hit on Yzerman, of course he was going after him, but that's his job. I have no problem with that. I don't think Pronger was headhunting, but lowbridge my ass. Stevie saw Pronger coming at him arms and stick high, turned away from the play, but he was hardly even bent at the knees. And he stayed on his skates. That's not a lowbridge. What's Yzerman supposed to do, stand up straight and let Pronger crush him? He went to hit Yzerman high and Stevie avoided the hit. Pronger physics worked against him on that one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb_fmWpcbag

Yeah, he's not going anywhere until his contract is up. I could see the Wings packaging Kindl in a deal and moving Smith up.

He has a NMC and I'd be surprised if he wanted to be traded. The last couple times the Ducks signed him, he pretty much said he wouldn't go anywhere else. Never say never though I guess. Selanne's play has been remarkable. I've been a fan over the years, though honestly he's turned into somewhat of a whiny ***** these last few seasons.

In the highlights I saw from last night, it looked like he had a couple awful plays around the net for sure. When he's outnumbered around the crease he sometimes tries to play zone too long and ends up not pressuring anyone. So either the guy with the puck has all day to skate in on goal, or he can take his time finding the spot to slip a pass past Ericsson. At a certain point you have to go after the puck carrier and not let them have all day to make a play. I'd be less irritated if he at least went after the puck carrier and the guy made a good play around him. As for why everyone is so down on him, Ericsson's fate was sealed when he signed that contract. He likely would've remained the whipping boy anyway, but he's not gonna earn that salary so the expectation of his play was raised even though he is much better this season. It looks like he'll probably end up an overpaid #5 guy instead of the #4 the Wings were probably hoping he would be (I'm guessing, based on what they paid him).

I only saw the highlights (or lowlights as the case may be) but I love this quote from Jimmy regarding getting hit in the crease. It's sad that our goaltender has to be the one making guys pay the price for coming in the blue paint, but at least someone is. Jimmy bringing a little Hextall!

Haven't been able to watch the game tonight as I'm working, but I checked in for the GDT thought this was funny. You haven't posted since the Avs game. Since then your only posts are the one above and these gems: So you apparently were lurking until you were able to bash Ericsson and then me. How does it feel to be the exact kind of poster that you're constantly lecturing here?

Like I said before, Conference D got a pretty great deal out of this whole thing. An average distance for the conference of 222 miles. The next closest is the one the Wings are in with 595. Tampa and Florida both have an average travel miles above 1,000. The absolutely got screwed on this deal.

yes, because that would logically follow from what I said.

I was obviously kidding about riding bikes to games, but Conference D has a pretty perfect travel situation. How are the Florida teams too far away from the teams in the East? They're even further from the ones in their new Conference. To me the more practical solution is to include the Florida teams with the more southern of the eastern teams. It's not strange to you that a team that plays outside Miami Florida is in the same conference as Ottawa, even though there are 7 other clubs that are closer by hundreds of miles?

What is this, a prostate commercial? (Sorry. I just giggled a little when I kept seeing talk of good streams)

Preach it brother Babcock. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/12/mike_babcock_red_wings_need_to.html All the turnovers that happen when they lose aren't just because the Wings forget how to pass, it's because they get rattled by a good forecheck. Let's hope they do more hitting than getting hit.

Shanny got this one right. Tootoo put himself on a path where contact was inevitable. I hadn't even really considered the contacted the head part, but that makes it worse. It's just too bad he dropped the ball and Lucic got away without even a fine. Whether it was a factor or not, it sure looks like more kid glove treatment for star players.

I was hoping it was a prelude to a two team contraction.

Sad, but not really a surprise at all. http://www.freep.com/article/20111206/SPORTS05/112060417/1053/sports05 Part 2 and 3 of the NYT story on Boogaard is up. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/04/sports/hockey/boogaard-video.html#chapter/2

That map shows just how screwed the Florida teams got, and just how much leverage the teams in Conference D have. Must be nice to be able to ride your bike to away games if you wanted to.

Agreed. Though while I believe you, the bolded part is friggin annoying. They had to give the eastern conference a playoff advantage, to make up for losing a little of the advantage they already have in significantly less travel? It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm sort of neutral on it for now. The Wings were never moving east though. They're too valuable in the west as a popular team with a large fan base.

Exactly. Don't get me wrong, the level to which companies are tracking and selling personal information about its customers these days is creepy, but any type of "club card" like at groceries stores that get you discounts are really just a way to gather marketing information about you. They're not giving you discounts out of the kindness of their hearts. Just having it in the clothing makes it seem a little more big brother than a card you carry in your wallet.