haroldsnepsts

yeah, for the record, I don't think sammy sucks or is without value. But he's having a bad season. He needs to pick it up in the second half, or more importantly, in the playoffs.

I don't think you can read too much into Downie's expression from a still photo. There was a picture of Ward in a fight when he was still a Red Wing, and he looked like he wanted to eat puppies and punch babies. But it is worth noting that Blake still has his gloves on. This isn't a case of two guys throwing haymakers and a linesman steps in prematurely. This was a scrum, Blake was being held, and Downie took a cheapshot. 5 NHL games + 20 game suspension + 1 suckerpunch = douchebag.

Hop on board! there's still room on the hate train for Tuesday's with Scabbie.

I've been trying to hold off on the Samuelsson bashing because it's been such a popular sport here, but honestly the guy is such a disappointment this season. As you point out, he's not a great defensive player, and furthermore that's not his role. He's not exactly a sniper, but he's here to score some goals while being defensively responsible. in '06 he had 23 goals and 45 points, in '07 he scored 14 goals and had 34 points in 53 games. This season so far he has a whopping 7 goals, including empty netters. Even for how cheap he is, that's a disappointment for a second liner who gets power play time and plays 16 minutes a game. And as I've said before, when he gets the puck in the offensive zone, if he doesn't shoot it he tends to get flustered and make a somewhat panicked dump pass back to the defenseman, which drives me nuts.

As I said in the other thread about McCarty, he would have to make a MAJOR transformation and comeback before he deserves any spot in the Wings lineup. Even if his attitude and commitment level has improved, I still wonder if he can stay healthy enough to play at an elite level.

I hear what you're saying, I've just been a fan of hockey over the years where the villains could also play the game and weren't just out there trying to hurt guys like Downie and Tootoo and a few others. Wendel Clark, Chris Chelios, Patty Wah, even guys like Avery and Pronger are great villains.

Yeah. I know I'll probably get flack for saying this, so let me add some disclaimers first. I'm extremely happy the Wings are totally dominating the way they have been this season. I'm extremely happy with the performance of most of the players on the team. And I would love for them to win the Cup playing this style. That being said, I used to rip on the Wild and the Devils for playing dull, trapping hockey and if I'm being honest with myself as a hockey fan, this puck possession style that the Wings are so incredibly effective at makes for a lot of boring games. There's the few spectacular seconds of a Datsyuk or Zetterberg goal, or a Downey fight, or some other momentarily thrilling play, but in between it's a lot of dull conservative hockey. sorry, just had to air that dirty secret that's been in the back of my mind during several of their games.

Where were you the other night?! So now it's not okay to say the no-no word in a GDT?

I was only comparing to Lemieux in the sense of the dirty play and cheapshot. There's definitely on other similarity. Claude was a ridiculously clutch player. Downie hasn't managed to play 5 games at the NHL level without a suspension or suckerpunch.

Honestly I feel like you enjoy a more professional wrestling element to the sport than I do. The whole "retribution" because of some cheapshot doesn't really appeal to me, and I think it's ultimately bad for the sport. The Lemieux cheapshot brought it to a head, but the Wings Avs rivalry was already heated without his hit from behind. It wasn't just the cheapshot. The Avs were the biggest obstacle between the Wings and the Cup for several years. I can see the sport needing villains, but to me that's not the same as the kind of cheapshots we're talking about here. Roy was a villain, without the crap.

Very cool. I saw this over at hfboards and was wondering if it would be coming here with the upgrade. Nice work!

Maybe we can pull a Ducks move and convince Danny Markov to come back for the latter part of the season and playoffs. And honestly, as much as I wouldn't mind getting rid of Sammy, I just don't think he has any trade value.

From what I've read though, part of the reason his recovery has been so long has been his attitude and unwillingness to really do what's necessary to get back to being the starter. I liked the guy, but the more I read about him, the worse he sounds.

My favorite part of the article is where he calls out Legace for wearing oversized equipment. Regarding reducing goalie pad size: Legace wears the same size leg pads as Kolzig?

It's an unfortunate reality for Ozzy and his fans. That he can still be playing great, even better than Dom, but not get the start. Which I think is fairly likely to happen. Again, what does history have to do with it? Yes he won a Cup 5 years ago, but that's a very long time when you're talking about a 42 year old goaltender. So you've got a 35 year old goalie who's having a career year, and a 42 year old goalie who's getting his form back. To me it's not as clear as you make it sound, just because Hasek won in 02. A lot has happened since then. True. But that's cherry picking the stats. Look at his save percentage over the second half of the season and it tells a different story. My memory is that the second half of the season, Legace was not the goalie he was in the first half. He became very inconsistent. And for whatever reason, Babs announced he was the starter at the All Star break. Ozzy didn't have a great season, but he played better in the second half. Though I think he was injured come playoff time anyway. It's fair because it comes down to you liking Hasek more than Osgood. If Hasek was playing better than Ozzy, but didn't get the start, would you still think it's fair? Again, you say he's arguably the best to play the game, so Hasek should start. Honestly, I don't have a dog in this hunt, but if both goalies are playing well, and Ozzy is still playing at the level he has all season, you could argue it also make sense to start the goalie that's having the hottest season of his career. Who leads the league in GAA and SV %. Because night in and night out he's performed better. Like I said, as I see it right now, Ozzy is playing great. Dom is playing very good, but still not quite at the same level. Of course I'll get bashed for nitpicking goals, but even in the last couple months, he's let in a few very un-Hasek like goals from low percentage areas. They haven't been game breakers and he rebounds well from it, but to me, he's still not the Dominator yet. Really it's pointless. I don't want to waste time in a goalie debate any more than I already have. You and puckloo will always think Dom deserves the start, the Ozzy supporters will always think he deserves it. Right now I'd give it to Ozzy, but we've got half a season to play.

Sure it happens, but the thing is, I don't think it does happen at the NHL level that often. Maybe during training camp among guys fighting for spots, but not on a team halfway through the season. There's too much money on the line and too much at stake. I really liked Emery when he broke into the league, but the more I hear, the harder it is to like the guy...

I don't think I went all the way back a month and a half, but over the last 8 games Ozzy is still better statistically than Dom, even as well as Hasek has played. Who are these people you're talking about writing off Dom's successes? With the exception of maybe one or two members, I don't think anyone has really done that now that he's got his game back together. As for the effusive praise for Osgood, this is a Wing fan site. He leads the NHL in GAA and SV% and we're more than halfway through the season. When was the last time a Wings goaltender did that? When Zetterberg was tearing up the league, there were threads here how he could walk on water and heal the blind. It's the nature of the beast. So play in October doesn't matter but play from last season and beyond does? Hasek obviously has the better track record and Vezinas to prove it, but (I know this will get me flack) even last season in the playoffs I thought Hasek was good, not great. He was good enough. So he gets the start because he was really good 6 years ago? Actually I think you have to go back to late 90s for when he was truly dominant. A game stealer. All I want is the hot goalie to start in the playoffs. If that were today, it's still Ozzy in my book. And I think goalie rotation in the post season is a bad idea. But the unfortunate reality is Ozzy won't get the start in the playoffs over Dom unless he continues his stellar performance and Hasek plays as poorly as he did at the start of the season. Babcock has never really been a fan of Osgood's and always seems to have him on a short leash, evidenced by starting Legace over him in the playoffs, in spite of Legace obviously wearing down and having a poor finish to the season. If the gap betwen their level of play is any smaller, odds are Hasek gets the start. Whether it's fair or not, the job is his to lose.

Sorry, but what you guys are talking about isn't hockey. At least not anything I'd want to watch. You're basically saying you're a fan of Claude Lemieux type bullsh*t. When they talk about how players no longer respect one another, Downie is a perfect example. They guy's played 4 games in the NHL and he's managed to get a 20 game suspension, now a suckerpunch. I love hard hitting, good fights, physical hockey. This is bush league. Jamming your thumb in a guys eye as he's held by the ref? And honestly, I don't like Avery but i wouldn't group him with Tootoo and Downie. Avery's got a mouth and will turtle, but I haven't seen him pull half the crap those two have.

According to the article, they bumped one another in practice. What is this, a playground? Jr's is one thing, but if I were a coach or GM, I'd be pretty pissed that two of my players, especially my 3 million dollar goaltender, were dropping the gloves in practice. Even as a backup, it's a really stupid way to bust a hand and take yourself out of the lineup.

Glad to see the Wings finally beat the Hawks. I was starting to worry a little..

Exactly. It's crazy to me how people pick and choose exactly which lucky bounces were the ones that decided the series.

Damn! I'm watching the part of the game where Glen Hanlon just made a great save on Dino Ciccarelli. Is that very far behind?

stupid yahoo feed. how far behind am I?

Nice hit by Ott on his teammate.

nm.