haroldsnepsts

This. Legace showed why he was a career backup. And that series was back during the years when Dats couldn't score in the playoffs. Painful memories.

I totally forgot about that. I remember hearing that stat during the playoffs. If that's not clutch, what is?

There's a lot of solid reasons to choose Datsyuk. He's the more talented, and one of the most exciting players in the league. He's also healthier overall than Z is. But those who are saying he's more clutch than Zetterberg have a very short memory. Z is as clutch if not moreso than Dats. Since the lockout, Z has been over a point per game player in the postseason. And he's coming off an 80 point season where he was a major factor in carrying the team while Datsyuk was out. His points just aren't as dazzling as Dats. All that being said, I worry that his back and wrist problems are more chronic than they've let on and that his best years are behind him (I'm hoping I'm wrong). Where Datsyuk probably has a couple more great seasons in him. So I'd reluctantly go with Datsyuk. What you lose in the shutdown forward and fearless player Z is in the tough areas of the ice, you make up for in jaw-dropping displays with Dats.

what is that bracelet he's wearing?

Exactly. I friggin HATED Gretzky when he was playing. You think Crosby whines to the refs? You should've seen Gretzky. He had more complaints to refs than he did points in his career. That being said, there's still no denying how great he was.

I thought Patrick Kane's mouthguard was Eddie Olczyk's di-- ahh, nevermind. The funny part is that if Kane had gone after Franzen, Mule likely would've turtled. Good thing Patty only goes after old cab drivers.

In the playoffs, the first round especially, I think Ericsson stepped up the physical play. But its like he forgets how big he is and constantly needs reminding to hit guys. He just doesn't have that natural instinct to want to put someone through the glass. It's hard to keep all Joey's knockout fights straight but I'm almost certain I was at that game. Probert was the better overall fighter, but Kocur was a friggin madman, taking punches to the face until he could crush you with his right hand. I don't know if he would've for that particular fight, but he did make a habit of taking swings on the way down. He probably would've caught a suspension for it eventually.

For the first couple seasons of Paul Stastny's career, for a split second I would think "Peter Stastny is on the Avs? When did that happen?"

Definitely a thankless job but I like what Shanny is bringing to it already. Transparency and reaching the decision by committee are such good ideas it's surprising they weren't implemented earlier. Well, I guess not surprising given it was Campbell in charge, but still, great ideas. And because of his career as a power forward, it's not like people can complain about decisions being made by a guy who will do whatever Bettman wants or thinks fighting should be out of the game.

From everything I've heard, it sounds like injuries. Someone would've picked him up for cheap, especially with his buyout, if he had any gas left in the tank.

When he was retiring Stevie even joked about the refs being glad to see him go.

I can't believe I'm coming down on the side of stinky fish taco, but he never said anything about Crosby having "GREAT" character. His point was that with the way people talk about him here you'd think he acted like Sean Avery. And he's nowhere near that kind of idiotic behavior. What players in the league? Do you have links to all this Crosby bashing? The only criticisms I remember is from geniuses like Adam Burish. And some Russian players supporting Ovechkin. And maybe some stuff early on in his career, mostly the first season. Like I said, he has some sort of douchey quality that makes him easy to hate, but in terms of what I've actually seen him do on the ice or in interviews, he's not nearly as bad as people make him out to be. He's whined in the past. He's dove a handful of times that I've seen. His repeated crosschecks on Zetterberg deserved a beatdown. But all that is hardly unprecedented in hockey and he's not the worst offender of any of it. Most of it seems like hate because of how good he is and how sick we all are of him being the NHL posterboy. After this last season, it'd be hard for anyone to beat the Sedins for whining, crying, and diving (at least among star players).

That's really overstating things about his defensive play (or lack thereof). It's not like he's Patrick Kane out there. Modano was by far the worst on the team last season. My problem with Franzen is the general lack of consistency in his work ethic. His willingness to pay the price to go to the net. The streakiness in scoring I can deal with somewhat. That's just how some guys are. They score a bucketfull and then are quiet for a while. But he's pretty much come out and said he doesn't like the regular season. Given this site's history with players, he gets off pretty easy for being lazy out there. I'm a fan of Franzen overall but I swear sometimes he hops over the boards during games and takes what looks like a warmup skate.

I guess you could say Hudler's work ethic on the defensive side of the puck was okay, he just sucks at it.

Shanahan from the article: "From the outset, we conceived of the camp with the belief that our game has never been better. And we wanted to collect information and data and learn about our game at one of its highest moments, so that, if a trend we didn’t like started to develop, we already had years of information to better prepare us for making any adjustment we need. "It’s staying on top of the game and, at the same time, preserving the integrity of hockey.”

Wasn't funny (I got that you were parodying the quote on Semin, but thought you were making an actual point about the kind of fighter Bradley was at the same time).

Really? He was in 10 fights last season, and that's with 21 games missed due to injury (14 for a busted finger). And he's tall but not that heavy. Ericsson is bigger than Bradley.

Exactly. If it were based on the conduct in every aspect of a players life, there'd be at least a few players that wouldn't have made it in. Certainly not Ciccarelli. And Chelios would never make it in.

Franzen's career high is 63 points. In 2010 Franzen had 21 points in 27 games, so by your math over an 82 game season he would've scored 63.7 points (I rounded down). So his last three seasons he's actually averaged around 60 points.

I definitely wasn't saying Wings players never dive. We had Maltby on the team. But as a team I think it's relatively low. Honestly I think Homer is probably the biggest flopper on the Wings. Franzen used to, maybe it's selective memory but I can't remember many recent instances of him diving. It's admittedly unlikely, but never say never. The Canucks have him signed for the next 6 years, but he's only 26 and from Livonia. It could happen one day.

It may just be wishful thinking, but I'd like to think that if he got on a team with a different culture and more character, that part of his game would improve. He's already matured a lot in Vancouver, and that's with the Sedin sisters flopping all over the ice as role models. I'd hope that around players like Dats, Z, and Cleary, he'd be less inclined to pull that crap. Especially after having to answer to Babs if he ever got a diving penalty. He's too talented and has to many other great aspects of his game to be pulling that garbage.

what poor ethic, gamesmanship, sportsmanship? My main knock about Crosby in that arena was I'd never heard him credit the other team's players in a loss. And the first couple seasons he did a fair amount of whining and diving. But all that seems to be improving and he's only 24. When asked what player he'd build a team around, he picked Zetterberg for chrissakes. And he's always been gracious about crediting his teammates. So I don't see what's so disgraceful about how he conducts himself, especially compared to other star players like Henrik Sedin, Joe Thorton, and even Ovechkin. Don't get me wrong he's definitely got some quality about him that makes it easy to hate him, screaming like a little girl when he scores. Being generally a goober or something, and mostly just because he's so friggin good, but there's no question he busts his ass out there. I guess that's just a long way of saying that if we're talking about poor sportsmanship, there's plenty of guys I'd pick over Crosby, even if we're just limiting it to star players.

You can look at that list of achievements and then say I'm high for thinking he gets in? Joe Niewendyk was just inducted to the HHOF remember. Who cares that it was 6 years? So if someone had played 15 years and had Crosby's resume, they'd get in no problem? It's not about what's better, the long career or short tremendous career. But for the 6 years he's been in the NHL, Crosby has been consistently one of the league's elite players and racked up a lot of hardware. Hopefully he'll start playing again and the discussion will be irrelevant, but Crosby's going in the HHOF even if he never steps on the ice again. And for those rooting he never plays again, they should really think about what they're saying. If they're sick of hearing of him now, wait til they constantly hear about "what could have been" and "the greatest career cut short."

He's actually played 6 seasons, because he started when he was 18. Rocket Richard Art Ross Pearson Hart Stanley Cup World Jr. Gold Medal Olympic Gold Medal 572 points in 412 games 82 points in 62 playoff games At 24 years old he already has more personal and team achievements than most guys who have ever played the game. He's a lock for the HHOF no matter what happens at this point.

Whatever man. Argue semantics if you want but I think we're basically saying the same thing. cripes this thread has gotten s***ty in an unexpected way. Back on topic, RIP Rick Rypien.