haroldsnepsts

I know I shouldn't be, but am surprised about what Colin Campbell has to say about concussions. Campbell also doesn't believe there is less respect between players these days, or that the instigator rule is a factor. Hockey sells hate? wft is he talking about? Can he not tell the difference between competition and hate? This is a pretty shocking stat. I wasn't a fan of Campbell because of his inconsistency and general spinelessness when handing out punishment, but now I realize the guy's a total idiot. He doesn't even think there's a growing problem with hits to the head. No wonder Bettman likes him, he's in a bigger state of denial about the game than Gary is.

Any reputable source confirm this yet?

That's what the doctor told him based on the physical exam, but without having the results of the MRI yet.

Basically they won't know anything for sure until the MRI comes back. It's really good news that so far no signs of concussion.

I don't disagree with that at all. If you can find a pic of Giguere in street clothes (or any goaltender for that matter) it's shocking how skinny he is relative to how he looks on the ice. His pad size can definitely come down. My main point was that I don't think it will ruin his career in the way some are hoping for.

Some points of reference: Ron Hextall: 6'3" 200 lbs. played until the '99 season. Roberto Luongo: 6'3" 205lbs. J.S. Giguere: 6'1" 200 lbs.

I honestly would be surprised if there was a noticeable change in his performance. Giguere is a pretty big guy (6'1" 200 lbs) so he'll be able to justify relatively bigger equipment, and is a very sound positional goaltender. As long as he's on a good defensive team like the Ducks, I think he'll excel. If he were on a bad team that didn't clear rebounds and protect his crease, then I think he'd be exposed. To me, he's great at squaring to the shooter, but otherwise mostly big and slow. And thank god they may actually do something about this. Good to hear Brodeur speaking out about this. It'll be harder for other goalies to complain when one of the best is in favor of it. I like how earlier in the year Marty called out Manny Legace for wearing the league max in pads, in spite of being 5' 9". You want to talk about goalies suffering from reduced pad size? it's gonna be guys like that.

with the exception of price tag, you're basically describing McCarty. Well, there is also the difference that Lapointe is actually still an NHL calibre player, which makes him head and shoulders better than Mac at this point. Isn't Lapointe injured anyway? It's a little sad when the voice of reason about this has to come from someone with the name "Never Forget Mac." If Holland wants to throw some money his way on the off chance he might actually be able to play at an NHL level by the playoffs, go nuts. I would love for McCarty to be able to make a contribution at this level again. However, if this is any sort of backup plan when Holland doesn't get a gritty scoring Winger, I will be extremely pissed. I totally agree about Drake, Kopecky, and even Downey. You guys need to rub the nostalgia out of your eyes. It's 2008. Downey isn't the most talented guy in the world, but he got signed on an NHL club and is getting minutes, while Mac is barely on the comeback trail. Downey would likely hand Mac his ass right now if they got in a fight. And I don't even know what to say to those who think a 35 year-old minor leaguer who's been playing hockey for less than three months should take the roster spot of Kopecky. By the time the season is over, Kopecky will likely have scored more points than McCarty has since the lockout. Kopecky's no franchise player, but he's not terrible, and he's improving, and he is absolutely more valuable to the Wings than Mac.

I'm guessing you forgot he's been injured. He had 17 goals, 32 assists and was +11. That's 49 points in 46 games played. And the kid's only 22 in his 2nd season in the NHL. The Avs definitely miss him.

No. The Draper hit was a major factor in the Avs rivalry, but the rivalry was mostly because of the road to the Stanley Cup. Both teams were powerhouses. If Detroit wanted to get to the Cup, they had to go through the Avs and vice versa. Right now it's too lopsided to really be a heated rivalry again.

What are you talking about? I LOVE watching Downey skate. It make me feel so much better about my own skating! I'm glad he's on the team too, because otherwise you can bet that hit last night goes unanswered, but yeah, the guy skates like he doesn't even have his boots laced up.

Definitely. McSorley unfortunately tarnished his career with that stick swinging incident. He was a great enforcer and not really what I would consider a dirty player up to that point. I'll never forget the epic fights between Probert and McSorley.

Great game by Cheli last night. The old man logged over 21 minutes with Nick out. Played the PP, the PK, and I think most importantly, any time he saw the Avs collapsing in their defensive zone, Chelios shot the puck on net without it getting blocked. The Wings need more of that. Sammy, Lebda and Hudler all tried taking huge windups and had their slapshots blocked at the blueline, leading the Avs to break out of the zone.

It's basically semantics. At the initial contact with Lidstrom, everything is down. But Lappy follows through and his glove and stick do go up to Lids face, as Lidstrom smashes into the boards. So it wasn't at the point of impact for the hit, but it was at impact of Lids and the boards. And was probably a factor in his head hitting the glass harder than it otherwise would've. I'm not saying it's a dirty hit, but his gloves got up a little high on the follow through as Lidstrom hit the glass. That's all.

Yeah, as I said in the GDT, as long as Granato doesn't have a stick in his hands, my money is on Babcock to win that fight. Here's Bab's stats from his playing days at McGiill University.

His glove (and therefore the end of his stick) was high and in Lid's face as he hit him, but I don't think it was intentional or vicious. Watching the replay again, you wouldn't expect someone to get their bell rung from that, it was just an awkward play. I still can't tell if Nick got shaken up from the glove hitting his jaw, or his head crashing back into the glass, or what.

Items being discussed: 1 min penalties during regular season OT No. The purpose is to increase scoring and end the game. Keep it 2 minutes. instigator Absolutely get rid of it. retaining salary in trades I'm not sure about this one. It would depend on a lot of the details of how it would work with the cap. examining the NHL Players' Association's idea of an 84-game schedule I'm surprised the NHLPA would suggest an even longer season. It's a grind as it is. Though they were talking about shortening pre-season as part of the deal. Honestly I'd be in favor of an 80 game season, but I don't see the owners going for it due to lost $$$ the idea that players who are traded near the trade deadline cannot re-join his old team for a minimum of one year I like Eva's idea of a punitive picks if the player re-signs with his old team. whether hand passes should be disallowed in the defensive zone Didn't they change this rule in the early 90s? They should probably keep it to help keep the flow of the game and less stoppages in play. Players are going to make hand passes in their own end anyway to make a defensive play and stop a scoring chance. whether breaking a stick on a player should be an automatic slashing penalty Is it automatic now? I knew you're likely to get called if you bust a stick on a guy, but didn't know it was automatic. I'd leave it to refs discretion, especially considering some of the composites these guys use practically explode while they're being taped up. ice conditions around the league Definitely needs improvement. The size of goalie equipment and bigger nets Absolutely yes to the former, oh hell no to the latter. five shooters instead of three during shootouts Yes, let's do that, but first let's also make them wear ice dancing outfits as the skate around an obstacle course to the theme from Top Gun. If you're going to damage the game with a spectacle, you might as well go all the way. whether a player that was still in the penalty box at the end of overtime should be ineligible for the shootout Absolutely yes.

It was such an odd thing, because I honestly can't remember ever seeing Lidstrom hurt on the ice before, especially after a hit. Even with Stevie, I'd watched him slide into the post and blow out a knee, and get banged up in other ways. But with Lids, it just hasn't happened really. Glad to hear it's not serious. I'm sure they're taking extra precautions with Nick.

woohooo! Ozzy with the shutout! way to get back on track.

To the announcers. Shhhhh!!!!

Nice dive there by the Avs player in the corner. Floppa? is that you?!

where was the penalty there?

I thought you were talking about him carrying the load as the starter. He can play games without being the #1 goalie.

Official tally. Aaron Downey 2:25 TOI 29 PIM

Honestly I agree. I think that's the kind of respect Lids gets. He was clearly hurting and had rubber legs. If the ref hadn't stepped in it would've been watching Nik basically crawl to the bench, which would've sucked.