haroldsnepsts

I feel like we just had a poll on this one... But i'm changing my answer, though technically it's probably more than one rule. Eliminate the shootout. But I would want 10 minutes of 4 on 4 OT. Back to 2 points for the win, one for a tie. No points for losing in hockey.

So Pittsburgh doesn't deserve any credit for turning their franchise around, it just magically happened. Now it's also their fault that the media is all over the greatest young canadian player in 20 years? Holy hell. How many hours until we can actually watch these teams play some hockey??

Agreed. Anyone know when that was made? It gives me hope that the NHL finally has a decent advertising agency. EDIT: Just saw the info on the actual youtube page. It says it's a new ad. good to see. (and I guess I could've figured it out with Niedermayer in there as a Duck. )

Mario literally wasn't fit to lace Stevie's skates. He couldn't even tie up his own because of his back. My memory of his retirement was 90% health reasons. His long list of injuries were well known, even at that time. Maybe not the details about him not being able to lace his skates, but the herniated disk, back surgeries, bone infection, and cancer were all well documented. If memory serves, the last season he was hardly even practicing so he could save his back for the games. And honestly that's why I was never a big fan of either of those guys. They had the numbers and were great players, but Stevie was the man. Lemieux had a number of injuries, but you also gotta wonder what Stevie's career would've been like had he not slammed into that goalpost in '87.

Has anyone posted the rest of the quote by Malone? Or just the snippet about getting sticks up?

He has absolutely every right to feel the way he does. But his and Eva's characterization of the retirement completely contradicts my memory of the event and the information that's out there, which is that he was retiring due to all his health problems, and took a few parting shots at the league during that time. He was also dead on about the condition of the game, and it was probably better to hear it from a dominant player than one who was struggling, so it didn't just sound like sour grapes. And honestly I never was even much of a Lemieux fan. Like with Gretzky (though I hated Lemeiux less), I respected that he was a great player, but was never really a fan. So to me it's not about cannonizing him, but it's also not about misrepresenting the circumstances of his retirement. A google issue on his retirement regularly mentions all his health problems too, much moreso than him talking about the officiating. It's revisionist history, and I can only guess it's because people have some beef with Lemieux and his place in hockey history. It would be like a Pens fan saying Yzerman retired because Babcock didn't give him the ice time he wanted. How can anyone possibly look at the chronic back problems, the multiple surgeries, the bone infection, the cancer, the hip problems, and say with a straight face that the MAIN reason he retired in 97 was the officiating? I don't get it. I feel like people are combining his criticism of the league over the years with his retirement decision.

I still disagree. Yes Lemieux bitched about the league and the clutching and grabbing, but to say the major reason he retired in 97 was the officiating is a gross misrepresentation. Unless I missed some quote from him where he said something to the effect of "I'm retiring primarily because of the poor officiating and not because my back hurts so bad I have to have someone else tie my skates and that I'm worn out from a career plagued by injuries." The guy played much of his career in constant pain. And I'm not talking about the bumps and bruises all hockey players have. If there's a major reason he retired in 1997 it was the chronic back problems. edited for grammar.

I think it's grossly inaccurate to imply that's why he retired. It may have been one of the reasons cited and Mario was fairly outspoken about things he didn't like in the league, but clutch and grab hockey wasn't the only reason. For years he had played with severe and chronic back problems that required multiple surgeries, a herniated disc, chronic tendinitis in his hips, a bone infection, then there was also the whole cancer thing. He struggled through painful and constant injuries in his career and had enough. It wasn't just the clutching and grabbing.

Seriously. And please don't go trolling over there. It'll only bring Pens trolls back here.

well, it's probably a good thing you don't know Joanette and Watson. If their names don't ring a bell, it's probably because they haven't made a horrific call against the Wings. Still, I'm shocked about McCreary.

yeah i'm surprised. Hadn't McCreary reffed something like 14 consecutive finals?

I know he was in the doghouse with Bowman during much of his tenure here in Detroit (and I never fully understood why), but I've always liked Ward.

and away we go...

Yeah, what a sellout.

I have a feeling that during this series, the Sidney Crosby hate here will hit unprecedented levels.

Sarich's name was thrown around, but people were really drooling over Witt a couple seasons ago (as was most of the league, apparently). $2.8 million for 2 goals 5 assists, -8, though he did miss a good chunk of the season due to knee injuries. The season before that he had 1 goal 13 assists and was +14. The guy's not a bad player, but the level of hype surrounding him here when he was a UFA, you'd think he was the second coming of Bobby Orr.

You need to be here around the trade deadline. Then everyone not on the Wings is suddenly good and worth trading for. If Hossa plays well against the Wings, I expect several posts about how our GM sucks because he didn't sign him here. We still have people here that are angry because he couldn't magically sign Luongo.

"The hardest shot you had all series was the slash to my chest."

If people consider him consistently among the top 5 in the league, then yes, I would say that is a bit overrated. I think the Rafalski or Schneider comparison is more accurate.

who's this Crosby guy everyone keeps talking about? I've never heard of him. Honestly it's hard to know how these teams will match up since they've not played each other in any significant way. Should be a great series though. A lot of Cup finals seem to come down to a team on a Cinderella-like run losing to a team that's faced some adversity and has gotten close to the Cup before (like losing to the eventual champs in the conference finals last season). Here's hoping this finals follows suit.

even if he did say, "not bad for a backup" I don't see what the big deal is. I would think he was being sarcastic and trying to make a joke about it, not insult Osgood.

wow, so with the Wings having home ice advantage, meaning 4 games at home in Detroit while the Pens only having 3 at home, you used your great hockey insight to intuit that the Penguins need to win one in Detroit to win the series. That's some pretty great analysis. as for the rest of your post, sorry, I didn't feel like reading.

Maybe he was asking Turco to guess who just passed Sawchuk for the franchise record in playoff wins for the Wings. Come on Marty, guess!

Ozzy was solid all game, but awesome in the third. They had many great scoring chances that he turned aside. Dallas was rallying in the third and Osgood shut the door.

Nah. Just poor officiating.