haroldsnepsts

That's the point everyone is nervous about. If Hasek has a groin pull, he'll still be breathing, but he won't be playing.

Doesn't sound like anything too serious, but when you start talking about injuries to our 41 year old starting goaltender, it does make me a little nervous.

WHY YOU LITTLE.... *cough* I mean. no. of course not.

Best post ever.

Umm, earlier you mentioned Avery and Tootoo as guys who mouth off and back it up. Sure they do, sometimes. Under certain circumstances. Have you never seen Avery turtle? You seriously don't know what you're talking about if you think Avery is an example of a tough guy who only shoots his mouth off when he backs it up. And Chelios is not gonna back down from a fight. But he's smart enough to know how to keep from getting his ass handed to him when he's outmatched.

Up until the Bert deal, I think a lot of people here think Holland's trade blog would go something like this: Feb 7: Seem to remember something about a deadline. Taxes? No, I've got a while still. Maybe I'm thinking of Valentine's day. Hmmm... Feb 13: Trade deadline! Right. Thank god for Eklund's blog. Otherwise the whole deadline thing would've completely slipped my mind. So let's take a look and see what he's got listed as E4... Feb 16: Still avoiding phonecalls from Yzerman and Scotty Bowman. I don't want all their great ideas clouding my thought process. Feb 18: Made a lot of great trades today on my Playstation. Got Crosby and Malkin for Williams and a conditional 4th round pick. Feb 21: After looking around a little, this could be a tough year for us. I just don't see a lot of the soft small Euro players that I'm looking for. Instead everyone seems to be offering these big tough wingers who can score. Feb 23: Gone fishin' Feb 24: Tried to trade Lilja for a bag of pucks to St. Louis, but they were only offering practice pucks. I stood my ground and said no way. Game pucks only. Hey, I drive a hard bargain. Feb 25: I had some good offers for Datsyuk, but I figure if he bombs again in the playoffs I'll either re-sign him for the league max or let him walk away and get nothing in return. Feb 26: I've been glued to the Tradetracker on TSN all day. The trade deadline is so exciting! I wonder why won't my phone stop ringing? I think my voicemail box is full. Feb 27: Wow. Guerin's gone. Tkachuk is gone. Smyth is gone. That all happened so fast! Is Bernie Federko is still playing?

Which is why this site so great. It allows for heated debate, but keeps the place from being a senseless yelling match. Even if it does occassionally make me want to reach through my computer screen and slap the person on the other end.

We don't. But if you eliminate speculation from this site, you'd also eliminate 99% of the posts.

I think he may end up more like a Wendel Clark.

Definitely a great read. He uses a good analogy for the process: and I loved this: It's great to hear what goes on in all these negotiations, but I do wonder how the other GM's feel about him putting this out there.

Oh. I guess I form my opinions by actually watching him play, instead of parroting them from a guy who made his living getting punched in the head. And I can't imagine why 6' 185 lb. Chris Chelios wouldn't want to drop the gloves with a 6'3" 245 lb. enforcer in Laraque. I'm guessing those 3 inches and 60 lbs difference might've been a factor. Chelios isn't a great fighter, but he's been in many over the years, though they're usually with guys at least close to his own weight class. He takes his licks when he deserves them. I've seen him get his head taken off from a vicious check and get up smiling. Like I said, Chelios is a lot of things, but cowardly isn't one of them. And I used to hate the b*stard when he played for Chicago. But I still knew he was a man playing a man's game.

You're right. I guess we should've shut up about the Claude Lemieux thing too. Draper was just unlucky. If he had better balance he wouldn't have gone headfirst into the boards like that. Claude served his two game suspension. We should've respected his privacy. I apologize to Mr. Lemieux and his family for disparaging his name for what was just an unlucky hit.

ah okay. if you form your opinions based on what Tie Domi says, then I really have no use for you.

Yeah, but Marty ain't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

I seriously don't understand why people are making such a big deal about Bert and Chelios. Like I said, take a look at Stevie and Chelios before he was a Wing. Fight 1 Fight 2 Seems like if Chelios and his new captain could get past punching each other in the face, then him being Bertuzzi's teammate won't be that big a deal. Vancouver and Detroit didn't have nearly the rivalry that Chicago and Detroit used to.

you seem to be a Bertuzzi apologist. If you seriously believe that some guys piling up on Moore's body actually broke his neck, or want to debate his foot placement and it's impact on the strength of his punch, then you're so far gone there's no point discussing the issue with you. Bertuzzi chased down Moore and suckerpunched him from behind, knocking him unconscious and breaking his neck. It's as simple as that. Honestly I don't think the whole gutless cheapshot is much of an issue with Bert coming to the Wings anyway. My main concern is if he'll be back healthy enough to play, and if he'll be the power forward the Wings need. Though I have a lot more respect for the Bert supporters who at least acknowledge what he did and say it's time to move on, instead of making these deluded assertions about it. And I wasn't calling you ***. The man-love reference is yet another nuance you seemed to have missed. Like when guys here joke about having man-love for Zetterberg. It doesn't mean they want to have sex with him. Anyway, it's all wasted breath on your deaf ears or thick skull, I can't tell which. And honestly I really don't care. My prediction before the Wings signed Bertuzzi was that he would be a playoff disappointment. Now that he's a Wing, I hope I'm wrong. oh, and learn how to quote posts.

are you replying to me? what grudge? I just get tired of people claiming Brodeur's success is solely because of New Jersey's system.

or that they should retire his stall and make it a shrine. and retire his parking spot. and his place on the bench. and his favorite toilet stall in JLA.

really? New Jersey never gives up rebounds? or odd man rushes or breakaways? wow. Why has no one else caught onto this system? because if they don't give up any of those things, seems like winning the Stanley Cup would be a piece of cake. But you're right. The rest of the hockey world is wrong, Brodeur's isn't great. It's the system in Jersey. And you're the only one who's figured it all out.

No, because we're not talking about pushing someone. Nice try though. It was a blindsided punch to the head, THAT'S WHY the result was worse. We're talking about a 6'3" 245 lb guy hitting someone as hard as he can in the back of the head without that guy expecting it. What part of that don't you understand? Moore didn't fall and break his neck. Are you seriously trying to claim it was the pileup (which wasn't on Moore's neck) that caused the injury, and not the punch to the head??? Which do you think is more likely to break someone's neck. An unexpected punch by a 6'3" 245 lb. hockey player to the back of the head, or a few hockey players piling on a guys body? check the replay slick. no one landed on his neck. and see above for my answer. you're exactly right, because Bertuzzi falling on Moore almost certainly didn't cause the broken neck. Glad you're finally catching on. And if a boxer came up behind his opponent and punched him as hard as he could when he wasn't expecting it, there would be a lot more broken necks. again, watch the link you posted. Fedorov comes from the side, where the guy can see him coming. I'm sure he wasn't expecting a stick to the ear, but he had a little time to react. Dragging Fedorov into the argument really has nothing to do with what Bertuzzi did. And last time I checked, people's faces weren't on the back of their head, so no I don't call a punch from behind a punch to the face. you really need to watch some video. McCarty clearly jumped Lemieux, and Lemieux probably wasn't expecting it, but it wasn't from behind. Ahh yes, the weakest response by someone who doesn't have a leg to stand on. It's the "anyone who disagrees with me" either doesn't know hockey, or doesn't know the player, or is a homer... you need to quell your man-love for Bertuzzi if you seriously think that his hit was equivalent to what McCarty or Fedorov did. Seriously. Are you from Vancouver or something?

Chelios may be a lot of things, but cowardly isn't one of them.

Let's see, the first one broke a guy's neck, whereas the other one did minor damage, relatively speaking. so.... yes. and don't give me any garbage about the pileup breaking Moore's neck. A bunch of guys falling on your body doesn't break you neck, or else everyone in football would have busted necks. And it wasn't a gloved punch to the face, it was a blindsided punch from behind. Moore never even saw it coming.

He's also amazing durable, especially when you consider how many games he plays a season. That's not luck.

It's gotta be hard as an Oilers fan after watching last season's playoff run, then losing Pronger (who seemed locked in a long-term deal) and now Smyth. Ouch.

Now if we can only get Pronger too...