Heaton

How do you figure he could step into a top 4 role when he couldn't even make the bottom 2 on Nashville?

Vishnevski would not fill the void that Markov would leave. With that said, Quincey is a cheaper and younger option.

There's a lot more players to re-sign, Lang's 3.8 isn't going to get us a ton right now.

2 good years and he's yet to play with a #1 center yet. Vanek will score 50 goals many times in his career.

Looks like Sutter is going for the hat trick in coaches.

They're showing it again tomorrow starting at noon on FSN.

You make it sound like other teams fans don't make the exact same excuses. I'm sure if the Ducks lost to the Wings they'd all believe that the Wings were just better than them.

Of course he gives approval, but you're making it sound like the only thing he's been doing for the past few months or years or however long this has been in the making is focusing on this. As for who is all for the change, well, the owners are for it, most of the GM's, most of the players. If I remember correctly, the majority of the players at the All-Star game loved the new jerseys.

First of all, it is actually possible to do more than one thing at a time, how do you know what he is focusing on? He's done an awful job, but there are more peopel in charge of making decisions than just him, it's not like everything else is on the backburner and the jerseys are main priority. I highly doubt Bettman is really the one picking out the fabrics and the style of the jersey. Second of all, what am I supporting? I like the new jerseys so I'm supporting Bettman? I choose to actually put blame where the blame is deserved, so I'm supporting Bettman? I don't think everything that is wrong with the NHL is his fault, so I'm supporting Bettman? This goes down as the same line of reasoning that if you disagree with the War in Iraq then you aren't supporting the troops, it's completely baseless and ignorant. Just because I don't blindly point the finger at him for every single that that is wrong with the NHL doesn't make me a Bettman supporter, nothing would make me happier than him stepping down as Commissioner.

I like the idea without actually reading the article, my main problem with a lot of fighters these days like Fedoruk is that they don't actually know how to fight and keep themselves safe at the same time. It's a lost art these days and if more kids learned how to do it the right way before they started fighting at higher levels it could save a lot medical anguish.

1) There is nothing to address about the TV contracts, the contracts are already signed for next year and have options for 3 years after that. 2) It isn't Bettman's responsibility or job to talk about any teams ticket prices. 3) Do you honestly believe that Bettman believes that new jerseys are an answer to problems? The jerseys were going to change eventually no matter who was the commissioner, the All Star jerseys look fine and I like the problems they're slated to fix. The NHL has changed the style of their jerseys multiple times in the past, every league has changed the style of their jerseys multiple times. At this point all of this bitching is just bitching for bitchings sake. I'm with you guys with getting Bettman out of the NHL, but be rational and level-headed with your opinions.

I dunno if Mark Bell is the total package, but he could be a physical presence for sure. I doubt he'll be anything higher than a 20 goal scorer on any good team though, you can't count on him for a ton of minutes because he's prone to take stupid penalties. As for SJ taking Hudler for Bell, that wouldn't happen. The Sharks are going to do everything in their power to get players who will help fix what went wrong in the playoffs and I really don't think Hudler fits that mold. They need defense, not smaller forwards. FYI, Mark Bell is an example of what went wrong for SJ in the playoffs, bar none their worst player.

I'll say no. I think he obviously helped the team and was a reason why they won the cup, but at the same time I don't think he was necessary to their success. I believe that the emergence of their young players was the main reason that they were so successful this year and Pronger was more of a luxury than anything else. I remember watching Pronger last year and he was playing like he was the best defensemen in the world, it was incredible. This year outside of his illegal infractions I can't say that he was that outstanding that people like Jim Rome who probably don't watch the Ducks that often believed that he was their best player. There's two ways to look at Pronger's value to the team: 1) Their team was just playing so well that it didn't matter which player (outside of Giguere) went down because of the level they were playing at or 2) On the Ducks, Pronger is their Mathieu Schneider a guy who can come up huge but also a guy who isn't completely indispensable when you have a guy like Niedermayer or Lidstrom to pick it up. Thoughts?

He's a very good skater with the puck, without it not as much. He's no where near fast, he's an average skater at best which is a concern because of his size. I think he's made for the NHL because of his hockey sense, but even though he battles and goes hard to the net it really adds up to nothing when you can get man handled by teams like SJ. The last game he played in the playoffs he was rendered useless because he wasn't capable of battling through it, not because he wasn't trying, just because he couldn't. Is that to say throughout his entire career he'll never be able to play against bigger opponents? Of course not, but at this stage in his career I don't think it would've been smart to put him in. Hudler with the right linemates could be dominant, hopefully he keeps working and he'll get to that level. As for the original question, sure in the regular season he should've played a bit more, but everything seemed to work out and if he's signed I'd be willing to bet that he'd be given a bigger shot next season. He's going to be a very good player. Yes they do.

Whatever. Anaheim has just as much of a right to win the cup as any other team in the league. No one deserves the cup, you either win it or you don't. I don't feel sorry for any team that hasn't won in X amount of years, it certainty isn't anyones fault but the organization.

No it isn't. He's had injuries and it's fine if you call him injury prone, but none of his injuries are related, none are related to his style of play, none are lingering injuries like Forsberg's groin/ankle or Hasek's groin/brain or Yzerman's knee or whatever other example you'd like me to point out. There's plenty of very good players who had injury problems early in their career and went on to be a very important part of their organization. These trade soandso threads are never thought out, 90% of the people who post in these threads do not incorporate facts and the entire conversation is basically recycled garbage. His play in international competition and in the AHL is no fluke, he'll continue to grow as a player and hopefully some luck will bounce his way.

Ignorant comment. How many of his injuries were do to his style of play? It's the _ONLY_ example, and to be honest, it's a weak one. It's taking one thing and making everything about it. How many players go into the corner to take a routine hit to make a play? Uh, how about literally every defensemen in the NHL? How's that?

Kronwall is effective, he was all season. He has the potential to be better, but so does Zetterberg and Datsyuk and Filppula and Hudler and all of our guys under 30. He may have not met expectations, but he was good enough to be at very least our 4th best defensemen all season.

Do you really not understand the difference? It's apples and oranges to compare Quincey's 8 minutes to Kronwall's 20. You've already made up your mind on Kronwall and that's fine, but I'll sit here and basically guarantee that he'll continue becoming a very important part to this teams future. Most of his shortcomings are completely overblown, completely. Get the nickname out of your head.

A pattern where nothing is linked.

Heh, I guess. Smyth isn't re-signing in Edmonton, though.

Such as?

Which injuries has he sustained due to his "reckless" play? Here I'll give you a clue: none. It's funny, if Holland were like most Red Wings fans who were so willing to give up on young players early in their career like some of you do we'd be the New York Islanders. Do you guys want to be the team who trades away Bertuzzi and Luongo before they hit their stride? Hell, in all honesty if this message board were around when Stevie got drafted if people had their way he would've been gone as well. Patience, Kronwall hasn't been nearly as bad as some of you claim he was, he was creating chances, logging important minutes and doing a lot of things right. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't lead the team in giveaways and as a positive stat for him he actually led the team in blocked shots even with missing time. He's an important part of our future, don't make knee-jerk decisions.

Documented where? I'm sure Fernandez was pissed, ther'e usually an unwritten rule that you don't lose your job to injury, but in this case it wasn't. Backstrom was on a tear and he rightfully kept the #1 and as for Harding he's the future of the Wild and I believe Lemaire's reason was since it was working, why mess with it? Obviously he wasn't happy with what Fernandez was saying or how he was preparing to play, but just because he was pouting about not getting his job back doesn't make him a cancer in the locker room.

Eh? Another Gerber?