dicksmack

Yay Sammy! Pavel Datsyuk is Gawd

Lebda's Pre-season Debut: dicksmack: "This lebda will be a star." statsguy: "No way. He's rated YXZ--maybe he's too small? just sayin'..."

Pavel is the best stickhandler in the game. He knows his skill level is way up there and currently he's going to want something in the high 5's at least. He's showing a lot of hunger right now and I'd sure like to see how he plays for that contract. However, if Pavel has a strong outing in the post-season, and isn't signed, I fear the wings will probably be outbid for him in the offseason.

"Why hockey wives go for referees"

I have a feeling this will be Pavel's breakout year in the playoffs--every time he touches the puck he's been dangerous lately.

Yeah thanks for proving me wrong!

Kariya will win it in OT or S/O

I could feel it

Suck

Kronner still has that mask on? Maybe the little ***** likes the security HaHa!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats Matt!

C'mon Ozzie....

Datsyuk is king that second call was weak

Bertuzzi chased Moore up and down the ice, challenging him to a fight, not inviting him to dance. Moore might have suspected he was about to be clobbered and might have done better to protect himself. Hard to say, but so what? You've grabbed a few words out of context. My main contention was with the comparison above between the Lemieux and Moore hits. I think the Lemieux hit shows much more culpability. There certainly can be a dirty way to attempt an open ice hit but it's harder to tell intent to injure as compared to a hit from behind. A hit from behind into the boards is probably the most dangerous move in hockey and everyone knows it's taboo.

Not really, loosen your chinstrap a bit. Obviously I'm saying Mac was more justified. When a guy goes for an open ice check, he sometimes has to lunge a bit if the guy tries to evade it. The intent is to try to still make contact with guy and not miss him and look dumb. Maybe the guy hits high or knees him, ok? A vicious hit from behind shows intent to injure, no two ways about it. There's no comparing the two hits. Look at the results. Naslund had a small cut and a mild concussion, Draper needed reconstructive surgery; no call for Moore vs a match penalty and a (too short) suspension. The time in between the hit on Draper and the Mac beating of Lemieux had to do with them not playing again until the following year. Nothing but frontier justice was needed in this case, I don't mind saying it. I think the Moore thing could have been avoided if the refs called it or if the Av's didn't spank the Nucks so badly at home. Also, Bertuzzi chased Moore all around the ice--I remember thinking "he better turn and fight."

I used to record the games to watch Pavel's magic but I find I spend too much time doing this! I saw that move yesterday and jumped out of my chair. Pavel's the best dangler in the business.

Was # 9 an empty-netter? With Crow, ya never know...

Good point.

I think there are some basic differences between the Lemieux hit on Draper and the Moore hit on Naslund. Here's why. The Moore hit was an open-ice check, whereas Lemieux drove Draper's face into the boards. There's nothing good that can be said for a hit from behind: It's usually an attempt to injure the player and you have the guy basically dead to rights, as he can't defend himself. By contrast, an open-ice check has a much larger margin for error since the guy can see the hit coming and he's not confined to the boards area; the guy can try to evade the hit. Sometimes the open-ice checker will stick out a knee or bring his hands or elbow up (which Moore kind of did) when the intended target tries to move at the last second. Also, since a game was played by Van and Colorado in between the Moore hit and the Bertuzzi retribution game without incident, I question whether the Moore incident would have even happened if the Nucks weren't being spanked 8-2 at home. I think the blowout in front of the home fans exacerbated the situation significantly. The other thing is, Lemieux decided to fight whereas Moore ran away. But personally I'd find Bertuzzi a bit more intimidating than Mac... Moore would still get clobbered but it wouldn't have been as bad if he tried to fight back. The Moore hit, if it was penalized, wouldn't have needed to be dealt with by a fight. There's nothing to do to Claude but fight him for that obvious attempt to injure.

Went to high school and a few University of Windsor courses with Adam Graves... you won't meet a nicer, more down-to-earth cat than him. Once at a Spitfires practice I saw him shoot the puck the entire length of the ice into the net wrong-handed. He could out arm-wrestle anybody...

Vladyfan said that Moore is "crippled" (so-called). Is that true? I am aware that he hasn't played hockey again, that there was some possible nerve damage. Recently, his brother Dominic said that Steve is not currently "doing much of anything." Would that change if he received a settlement? I would be sad if he really is debilitated and his motives are being questioned. It's his responsibility to get the medical evidence out there to counter this. There is so much at stake it's hard to tell. But Moore is a Harvard grad so he must have some sort of plan B, no?

He won't even come close to any others... well, maybe the Most Assists on Wednesday Nights record

Nor did it do the real damage. This debate is old and settled. It was the punch and driving Moore's face into the ice. Period. Don't start to sound like NUCKleheads now... Bert meant to hurt to him and did so; there's no way around it. He totally lost it. But I doubt he expected to cause permanent, career-ending damage. And what a career! Moore was a marginal player, let's face it. I think it's a fair question to ask, whether he would make out better in a courtroom or the icerink in the long run... The fact that Moore looked like a mealy-mouthed little weasel with his neckbrace on afterward should have no bearing on the situation. Ahem... but I digress. Bertuzzi has been vilified because of it and he has paid dearly for his actions. I don't believe in shunning him for the rest of his life. Time to move on. And if you can't move on, atleast STFU.

We're all touchy about losing players in nothing games this time of year. Paranoid is more like it.

Bart's got some bees in the boot