haroldsnepsts

I would say they are his mobility, puck movement, good offensive skills, and good hitting for such a small guy. If I were to criticize Kronwall for anything, it would be trying to do too much--trying to make the big hit or the big play when he should be making the simple outlet pass or hanging back in coverage. He needs to pay more attention to how Lidstrom picks his spots.

If you haven't seen anything from Kronwall then maybe you haven't been watching. As I said, his decision making isn't what it needs to be, but even aside from the hitting, at least once every game I've seen, he shows flashes of the talent that has the Red Wings so high on him. Even in the loss to Boston, the Wings were able to run a set play and get a great scoring chance in spite of the Bruins playing the trap, because of Kronwall's mobility and passing from his own end. This is his first full season on the Wings. (I don't understand why that's not a valid argument with you, considering it's the truth) I'm not ready to give up on him yet. My major concern with Kronwall is all the freak injuries he's had already in his short career. If that continues, he may never be able to put it all together.

When there's a brawl like that, everyone's supposed to tie up somebody on the ice. I just took it as a half-hearted attempt at tying up your opponent. If you look, they're both holding the other one's jersey.

I miss seeing the guy on the Wings, but I'm glad he's in New York. He's a good player with a lot of personality. It's good for the league to have a guy like him in a big market like that. He's already become the heart and soul of that Rangers team. Hopefully he'll be back soon.

so you're saying he won't be retiring.

It's been a couple weeks since we've had one of these threads. Because of his injuries, this is Kronwall's first full season with the team. Think about that. It seems like he's been around a while, but this is seriously the first time he's ever played more than 30 games at the NHL level in one season. He has a lot of skills you can't teach. I've seen him make some great moves on the blueline to hold the puck in offensively. He can move the puck well. And then there's his hitting. He keeps guys honest by hitting them at the blueline. All that being said, he hasn't put it together quite yet. He needs to pick his spots better. Hopefully he will in time. But in the new salary cap era, good defenseman come at a premium. The Wings are much better off developing this kid than spending the money and resources it would take to bring in a defenseman who's as good or better than Kronwall.

Now there's a crayola color I haven't seen before...

definitely. I looked through the NHL rulebook a while back, and the maximum perimeter of a trapper is something like 48". The catching glove can be four freaking feet around. That's ridiculous. I can't remember the length, but the maximum distance from the heel of the palm to the actually trap part by the fingers was insanely long too. And the width of the wrist protection is about 4 times the average wrist. The chest and arm protection is a more difficult matter. I think there's probably still some ways that equipment can be reduced without compromising safety, but because it varies so much on the size of the goalie, it's gonna be awful hard to police it. But the trapper, blockpad, and leg pads all can easily get smaller without compromising safety. Imagine how much more net will be exposed just by reducing the length of the trapper a little.

Is it the PA that's fighting the goalie equipment regulation? That's annoying. considering the other players in the PA should outnumber goalies by a wide margin, you'd think it would be easy to pass. The increasing the nets is a terrible idea. I didn't realize that it was Campbell pushing that. They better take a long hard look at the goalie equipment before they touch the nets. The current equipment still goes well beyond what is needed to protect a goalie from injury.

the work stoppage that didnt fix any problems was under Bettman's leadership. He also could have addressed the clutch and grab hockey and the goaltender equipment issues earlier. he is the commissioner of the NHL and ultimately responsible for the product. Instead he denied there was a problem for years, as fans, commentators and some NHLers (like Hull) complained about how slow and ugly the game had gotten. Then during the lockout which resulted from his failed economic vision in 95, he decided to go ahead and finally make those changes to the game.

Yes, I do understand economies of scale. Do you? Because ecomomies of scale involves reduced production costs as a result of larger production runs. How exactly does that relate to hockey being on ESPN? I'm not sold on Versus either. The only hope is if the channel grows and hockey is its premier sport. Right now being neglected on ESPN still would've reached more fans. But the reality is that hockey has become a marginalized sport (and yes I do blame Bettman for a fair share of that, considering where the league was when he took over). It has to increase its popularity for ESPN to even be interested in carrying it again. EDIT: After looking around a bit, what happened is ESPN didn't renew pick up the $60 million option they had. There was no deal in place between the NHL and the NHLPA at the time, and they didn't feel like the risk of ponying up the money for a season that didn't exist yet was worth the potentital reward. If you want to blame Bettman, blame him for his role in the lockout, which was a factor in the loss of ESPN. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=126216&hubname=

It's a beautiful dream.

Maybe it wasn't any different. Not sure. He just looked slow. It might be me projecting that onto him because I know he's coming off injury. I'm admittedly a little paranoid about his health as the playoffs get closer. I just can't stop worrying about Dom's groin!

I will talk about the goalie who was actually playing. I think the first goal was questionable. I'm sure Dom was screened, but it was from a terrible angle. An NHL goaltender, especially Hasek should make that save. I'd like to see a replay to find out if it ping ponged around first or something. The goal on the flukey bounce was a little aggravating too. It was an odd play off the boards, but by the way it was headed in, it didn't look like Hasek had a play on it anyway. All the others were great shots or nice plays. Nothing to fault the goalie for at all. My main concern is he looked a bit slow today. Hopefully it's just some rust he can shake off. I agree that if Ozzy had been in net, he would've been crucified. Especially on the first goal. And the one where Dom went behind the net. But making that point rarely accomplishes anything other than bringing other people into the mix to start bashing Ozzy for past goals. Ozzy haters seem to have photographic recall of any puck that got behind him. I'd love for people to be this civil when Oz is in net and the Wings lose (or hell, even when the Wings win), but unfortunately, I just don't see it happening. It all comes down to how people already feel about the goalie. Those who hate Ozzie will look at the same type of goal and say he should have had it. where if Dom were in net they'd call it a goal that most goalies wouldn't stop. The reverse is true too. We tend to latch on to instances that reinforce the opinions we already have. And unfortunately, a lot of people hate Ozzy.

Seriously Ozzy supporters, you may not have meant to stir things up, but look at the last pages of this thread. You did. Ozzy didn't play today, Dom did. Let's talk about that.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=199380&hubname=nhl All for a good cause The NHL could definitely use some good press these days. And I love the idea of big tough hockey players skating around with pink sticks.

True. I forget how many guys were missing. It's just disheartening to see some of the defensive breakdowns though.

All right, I'm outta here. If the Wings want first place, they're gonna have to do it the hard way head to head with the Preds. Should be good preparation for the playoffs

The Wings are playing like they don't want first in the West. Anytime they have a chance, the don't show up for 60 minutes.

Yeah, but he's on the ice for half the game. When the team plays bad, his numbers are going to be bad. I just don't remember him making a bad play is all I was saying. I know one of the goals was a 2-1 because of the Dats turnover and Kronnik being out of position. Then another was that weird change up.

Can I make a pre-emptive request that people upset at the loss don't start a bunch of threads about who sucks are what all the Wings problems are? Keep the game stuff in the GDT.

See what happens when you switch to the white jerseys at home?? Mojo gone.

No, I totally think it's Ozzy's fault. But can we stop talking about it?

I thought Home played well. Calder. Lebda.

Seriously. Osgood is on the bench right now. He hasn't played a minute of this game. Can we have one GDT that doesn't turn into arguments about him?