haroldsnepsts

well, I think it does show it wasn't an elbow. how's that?

umm, I don't mean to nitpick, but you can't actually see the bottom of his skates in any of those photos.

From the NHL rulebook: It doesn't say anything about number of strides or leaving your feet. I think those are sort of general guidelines the refs use, but have a lot of discretion whether or not it should be a penalty.

Actually if you look at Steven's biggest hits, he almost always has both skates on the ice and his elbows pretty well in (with the exception maybe of the Lindros hit). He just had a knack for catching guys with their head down. He didn't do the jump up thing that a lot of guys have been doing lately. EDIT: and for the record I don't think Kronwall is a cheapshot artist in any way. He's a smaller guy, so I'm sure he has to throw the upper body around more than most, but he just needs to keep those skates more on the ice and the elbows in.

That's probably a picture of Mowers diving out of the way of an attempted knee-on-knee hit from Marchment.

I don't know if that second skate was touching the ice or not, but it was the upward jump and arm out that makes it a penalty. Honestly it's that kind of hit that seems to be happening more and more the last couple seasons, and it's a bad thing. Players keep pushing up through the hit, as opposed to just slamming the guy with their body. Because when you throw yourself up like that, you're more likely to catch someone in the head and throw an elbow, intentionally or not. You can crush a guy with a good check without having to launch up at their head.

Well, at least now with the cap the owners can rest easy knowing the will only overpay up to a certain limit.

I like what he's trying to do there, picking guys off on the blueline like Vladdy used to, but he's gotta keep his skates on the ice and his elbows in.

At first I thought you were going for Concrete Blonde's "Joey" but then I realized you changed the name and suddenly I could hear the tune in my head. Not that I've ever listened to James Taylor or anything.

how about reading the other threads on hasek before creating one that makes the exact same complaint, which probably belongs in the Game Day Thread anyway.

Did you really just quote James Taylor lyrics?

True. As many have said, adding one guy is not gonna solve Detroit's problems, especially as a rental. It'd likely help in this years playoffs, but next season we'd be right back to a team lacking grit. Holland needs to make more long-term moves to replace the toughness Detroit has lost.

I'm guessing there will be a lot of complaining about Holland in this thread based on those comments, but I'm withholding judgement until the deadline passes. These could be throwaway comments as he continues negotiations, or there could be truth to them. who knows.

Well said Gordie.

So after the Kronwall hit on Lupul last night, should Edmonton have put a bunch of fighters on the ice and dropped the gloves against Dats and Zetterberg?

Okay a few comments: Hasek's a great goalie, there's no denying that. But I can understand people's frustration on that goal. He has pulled that crazy flying out of the net maneuver through most of his career, but this season it seems like his judgement of when to do it or his timing or something hasn't been as good as in years past, because he's getting burned on it an awful lot. I don't think anyone's saying he shouldn't start in the playoffs, but I can understand being a little annoyed to have the game tied that way. If it had been Ozzy in net, they'd be just as hard on him. And I don't particularly subscribe to the "oh, this player is so great that until I can do something as great as him, I can't question anything he does." That's crap. We're Wings fans. This is a fan forum. Everyone here can and will be questioned and commented on. Even Hasek the great. Get over it.

You know, that's crazy enough that it just might work.

I agree to a certain extent. Someone goes after your captain, or hits any player on your team for that matter, you immediately go after him to lay on a serious beatdown. and he's got a big bullseye on his back for the rest of the night. You bring the whole sh*thouse down right there and then. But it's still weak to send your fighters out to go after a line that's clearly a bunch of non-fighters.

If you have to ask if it's a rivalry, it isn't.

For me it's not any past disappointment or failed expectations. And I don't even hate the guy. Anyone is welcome to post whatever the hell they want on the internet, that's the beauty of it. But he's the classic example of if you build it, they will come. He makes a big deal about being this anonymous blogger with inside sources, he throws out forecasts more generic than a weatherman. There's no reason to put any more stock in anything he says than anyone else on the planet who watches hockey. I have no problem with people reading his site or paying attention to it. I just get tired of it being a reason to start threads here and have Eklund cited as a legitimate source. I could post "Sidney Crosby traded to Detroit for Lilja and Williams" on my homepage. It doesn't mean someone should start a thread here called "Crosby a Wing!"

except he doesn't. he acts like he's got inside sources, but all the stuff he says is either totally obvious or so ridiculous that it's meaningless. I don't get why people read his site or pay any attention to him. In my book he has zero usefull information because it is all speculation, and not very informed speculation at that. For some reason people give Eklund credibility just by virtue of his site existing, even though he's done nothing to actually be a credible source for anything. Anyone could come to this site and get a better handle on what players are available, what teams they're likely headed to, and if it's realistic or not.

That's the thing. Yes Tkachuk and Guerin are older, and it would be great to have younger gritty guys that can hit, fight, and score some goals. But those guys obviously come at a premium, and not many are available, so be prepared to give up a big chunk of the Wings future to get them. Tkachuk and Guerin, or any one player they bring in, are not gonna solve the grit problem here in Detroit. But they'd at least be a step in the right direction. To really fix it is going to take time. Over the last several seasons we've lost Shanny, McCarty, Lapointe, Fischer, and a few other guys who were pretty tough and would stick up for teammates. None of them have been replaced in that capacity. It's gonna take major trades and drafting and developing guys to transform the Wings into a gritty playoff team. It can't all happen during one trade deadline. That's what I mean though, he puts so much crap out there and covers his bases so much that anything he says is meaningless. And with Forsberg, I seriously think he only broke the story a matter of hourse before TSN had a confirmed report. That's not a big deal in my book. Combined with the fact that most of what he says is unrtrue, I just don't find his opinion particularly informative. He cries wolf constantly, then people will point to the one time out of a hundred there actually was a wolf as proof he knows what he's talking about.

Why do we have to give him credit for the Forsberg thing? He had Floppa going to every team that made any sense to try and get him. And he "broke" the big news about the trade just before legit sites did. I've not seen Eklund really be any more helpful than a site like TSN. He just puts every and any thing up there, so some of it is bound to be true.

Yes! thank you. Ulf Knee-on-Knee Samuelson

I don't think he set out to throw a dirty hit or injure Drury. I think it's just one of those last second moves that turns a clean hit into a penalty. When you throw as many hits as Neil does, some are bound to go bad. I think the key is just overall in your career making the right decisions and respecting the guys so you don't end up with a reputation like Tucker or.. god i'm totally blanking on the name of the guy who was one of the worst knee on knee offenders ever! Anyway, I don't think he intended to injure. But I don't think that's necessary for it to be a penalty either.