dicksmack

OH thank gawd SOAP is gone... He's where he belongs: elsewhere. I kept imaging a nightmare scenario whereby Andreas The Goat and Soap were paired together due to injury or idiocy and opened up a tidy lil' turnover shop.

As I said last year: forget about him, if he was NHL calibre he woulda been here already. I mean the guy deserved a shot but who's surprised?

It's not a certainty that Markov won't be back yet. I for one hope he does, unless we want to rely on rooks to fill his spot or get a cheapo replacement.

We need Markov back. Who's to say he didn't help Lids out as well as the reverse? With a guy who makes opposing players lives a heck of a lot tougher, it might give a bit more time and space to a slickster like Nik. Is his agent's name Greenstin? He's likely just holding out to see what he can get and hopefully will be more amenable to signing soon. I'd rather see us spend on Markov and let the deadliners lose their draft picks on rentals.

What a sad schedule-- vis a vis the east and btw it's 'Skedule', not 'Shedule' because I don't send my kids off to 'Shool' next month...

I agree with the utter sages that want to prioritize Markov. Can't have enough gritty, experienced D. We'd still have enough left over for a sniper. I agree though that deadline deals cost draft picks and that is prohibitive these days. What to do... But I'd take either Fors or Selanne... though pref. the latter. I giggle when I picture them playmaking with 13 or 40...

'Zactly. We can be "fine" up front but to take us to the next level requires another big gunner...

If you find constant, brutal giveaways offensive, then Sopel is very much an offensive defensemen. Pass. I hope we re-sign Danny. We need his type of player. Is the sticking point amount or length of contract or both?

You can't argue this: The wings have lost some size.... Bert, Schnieder, Lang were all well over 6 '... On the bright side, we have lost an awful lot of untimely, costly penalties with that bunch... If Kenny has indeed put the check book away for now or is trying to drive prices down, or fills some needs between now and next post season, we'll be ok--can't say I think we'll do as well as this year but hey, it was a good run...

Yes but Matt could hit hard and was pretty big. Rafalski can dish out a bit too. It will be fun to watch he and Lidstrom on the points (Rafalski's a RH shot and is slick)

Elite NHL'er? I doubt it, but you never know... He'll most likely be a solid d man for the wings, perhaps a pp specialist. I saw him in two world juniors--not overly impressed. He's a smooth skater, good first pass out of the zone and he definitely has a knack for getting shots thru from the point on the pp.

QFT. Smyth would be a total misfit on this squad right now. Homer does the crease crashing/deflecting as well as or better than Smyth and bert does some of that too, plus he'd cost too much. I Khan't imagine what he's thinking...

I'd stick with Sammy. He's streaky but if he, uh, streaks in the playoffs for the better, watch out... that shot can be deadly. He can make some slick plays, too... I've kind of warmed up to him after initially hating him, since his size often goes unused.

s*** spit

Yes, as long as they resurrect the name the "Fincups"

Anybody know how many times he's been the runner-up?

So many said it was just our Datsyuk blinders...

And Luongo wins the best goomba mullet...

Yay Pavel.... way to stiff 'em...

I was hoping they'd put Hudler in at the end. While Kopecky had an immediate impact, he seemed to fizzle after that--they might have given Huds a shot--the kid can get open and score. I saw him play a couple of times at the start and the end of the season, and I swear he gained a step in speed toward the tail end of the regular season; he fit right into the tempo of the game. He'll likely be given more of a chance next year. I noticed that around the league though, his ability to score with very limited ice time hasn't gone unnoticed--I hate to say it but perhaps we should see what his trade value would be. He might fit better with a bigger team. Put some big dudes with him and watch him go!

Fixed it for you.

You get the feeling the Wings are the true runners up, since Ottawa aint much.

Apparently the Ducks were rather fired up in the hallway after the second period, and were shouting at the Ottawa guys. You could argue that sparked the Ducks since they were all over the Senators in the third. Dumb, gutless move.

Ducks were mighty impressive. But Giguere is the key to bailing his team out of dumb penalties the whole post-season. He's got another MVP coming. Spezza =SOFT yuck, he'd rather give the puck away than take a hit. What a puss. He's been worse than invisible, he's been a defensive liability. Then Alfie sparks the Ducks with his dumb shot at Niedermayer. What an idiot.

I agree with you. The Ducks aren't that bad to watch at all-there's lots of skill there. I have to give them some credit--and as you say, if the other team can't make 'em pay for the penalties that's their tough luck (literally). I'm as frustrated that we didn't take advantage of their foibles as the next person. I figured it would come down to bounces and it basically did. We missed our chance to advance. Well I'm still damn proud of my guys, though