haroldsnepsts

Agreed. I'm torn. The Wings keeping the Hawks from making the playoffs would be sweet. But a Hawks Nucks first round matchup would be good too, because I'll be happy no matter who loses... er, wins. All in all I guess I'd prefer the Hawks not even making it the year after they won the Cup, even though it means an easier first round for the Nucks. Core!

Holy hell Dallas! Do you want to make the playoffs or not? And I thought the Wings started games poorly.

I have a feeling that we'll be seeing that ignored a lot this playoffs. And honestly i think it's a well-intended but possibly counterproductive rule. Knock a guy good in the head and you might take him off the ice for 15 minutes. For a 4th line player that may be a risk worth taking for his team.

Datsyuk was a beast. It was amazing watching him weave through guys like that with someone of Hossa's caliber all over him trying to get the puck. This bodes well for his performance in the playoffs. Hopefully Z can get healthy and come back in full Beard Mode™ too.

Sorry, maybe i jumped the gun on the trolling, but it is that time of year here. But I don't think Abby's is deliberate. Or at least not as clearly deliberate as Heatley's. Abdelkader is coming in for a legal check, turns his head away from the play and his elbow gets up a bit (but not really that much honestly) and he catches him in the jaw. It was reckless maybe because a player needs to be responsible for their actions, but I don't think deliberate. Whereas Heatley is headed up ice and goes out of his way to throw and elbow at Ott's head. Ott is a gutless puke so I can't say that it made me mad, but I don't think these two hits have much in common really. So when we're talking about suspensions I don't believe Heatley's makes a very good benchmark.

I always thought they turn it over before the season starts, when the last guy on the team has had his day with the Cup. But I guess I just assumed it. I've not heard the details.

Great post worth quoting again. Maybe we should start a subforum for people who want to analyze other members level of true fandom, so those of us who actually want to talk hockey can do that freely in the GDT.

Ah. I was confused when you said it was Eager. But seriously, you can't see much difference between Abby's hit, where he's actually going to hit a guy along the boards who had played the puck, and Heatley's, where he throws an elbow as he skates past Ott? just for reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvY2WjIbLM The difference is that they're arguably the same? what? Now I'm starting to think you're a sharks fan just trolling. Abby's is worse than Bert's. But Abby's is nothing like what Heatley did.

Yeah but this was worse than Bertuzzi's. Bert basically turned around and was trying to avoid hurting the guy when he caught him with his arm. It should've been a 2 minute elbow, but who knows what'll happen in the current hysteria of the NHL regarding headshots. Here's the YT. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU7aF2UczaA&feature=player_embedded

Agreed. Especially considering it was a blow to the head highlighted on NBC.

Sadly that's what it seems like sometimes. He was drafted last, converted to defense late, and is in second full season in the NHL. I'd be ecstatic if he developed into a solid middle pairing guy.

And played the second most minutes of anyone on the team, behind Brad Stuart. Seriously, he was essentially the #2 defenseman today in a clutch game and played solidly. Exactly what expectations do people here have for the guy?

Yeah, Olczyk doesn't exactly hide his Hawks loyalty during broadcasts. It'd be like having a Redmond to a Wings game on NBC.

which is ironic because it's the Ducks announcers. They're pretty big homers though. I'm sure if the situation had been reversed, they'd have no problem with it.

The Kings gameplan clearly included hitting Selanne whenever possible so he was definitely frustrated. I'm a Selanne fan, but he was looking old and beaten out there last night. Then at the end of the game he just froze the puck on the boards and made absolutely no attempt to move it. when the melee started I thought the refs were actually going to call Selanne for delay of game. Like I said, I'm a Selanne fan but I had had it with him that game and his whining to the refs all night long, so it was nice to see someone punching him, though I wish it were someone on the Kings who could actually fight. Clifford was having his way with Brookbank at the start of that fight, but that kid is all offense and no defense. It's at least the second time this season when he was winning a fight but left himself open and took a bomb to the face. The last time he got a concussion from it. Tough kid, but he's got to learn to protect himself or it's gonna be a short career.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the mod you got the infraction from was a Hawks fan. It's one of the things I hate about hfboards. They have some garbage mods there who act as bad or worse than the regular members.

Blake won it in 1998 with a -3. That's a year Nick should've won it, and not because of Blake's plus-minus.

I'd love it if he did, but I'm doubting it now. It shouldn't matter, but him finishing with a minus will hurt him. And the Wings are not a good team defensively overall. And they've sort of sputtered at the end of the regular season here. I'd bet it's Chara again. A physical defenseman on an eastern team getting lots of attention. Who knows though, maybe that hit hurt his chances a bit. They could give it to Nick as a lifetime achievement award, and to make up for the time(s) he should've won it earlier in his career, but didn't get the attention as a European player who doesn't hit hard and doesn't have a booming slapshot.

I disagree. Honestly I don't think Ozzy has ever really excelled in the backup role. He seems to be a goalie who needs to get into a groove over several games than one who will come in cold and steal you one. I'm not saying he's a terrible backup, but I wouldn't call him one of the better ones. Especially given his age and injuries this season. why not go with someone who at least has a better chance at staying healthy? I appreciate all he's done for the Wings over the years, but I don't think he should be on the team next year.

It's a rule intended to keep players from coming over to the NHL mid season. It's all about cap circumvention, to prevent teams from hiding players in Europe and then bringing them over late in the season.

Right. Because running around braining guys is just good clean hockey. It's funny how most of these suspendible hits keep happening to guys with a history of dirty play. Coincidence I guess. Cracking down on these hits shouldn't take it out of the game. What it hopefully will do is that players will make sure they can actually contact the body when they throw a check. When you come flying in on an angle perpendicular to the guy you're trying to hit, there's a really good chance you're going to miss his body and just clip a head. Especially if you throw a shoulder or elbow. Hitting is playing the body. Not the head.

Distinct kicking motion, not clear that Hossa ever touched it with his stick, not clear it ever crossed the goal line = Good goal to O'Halloran. His incompetency shouldn't be surprising, and yet I was.

I doubt he actually bet the guy. I would guess the guy wrote that on the $5 bill and Turco wrote the his name on it, and then passed it back. Everything else is probably embellished. Especially the "wad of fives." Where exactly does a goalie keep a wad of five dollar bills during a game? But him taking the bill and crossing out Habs and writing his name is still pretty funny.

True, but what makes the "Louuuuu" cheer really irritating to me is they do it practically every time he touches the puck. Wings fans chant "Ozzy" but it's usually after he's made a series of great saves. Luongo could make an easy save on a shot that didn't even have enough momentum to cross the goalline and the fans would still shout "Louuuu."

I have mixed feelings. It would be pretty nice for them not to even make the playoffs the season after winning the Cup, especially at the Wings hands. But I also like the idea of a Vancouver-Hawks first round matchup. That way, no matter who wins, I can be happy one of those teams lost. I guess I also need the Ducks to win so the Hawks don't end up in the 7th spot. Not that I don't want them to play the Wings, but it foils my plan.