Heroes of Hockeytown

He also led the Flames to the Cup in '89, lightning doesn't usually strike twice. Vernon was a good goalie. He played in a different era, so his stats aren't the greatest, but he got the job done.

I remember that night in Nashville where the Wings were getting completely hosed by the refs. Steve let him have it, he was totally irate, and got tossed for his efforts. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before from him, I'll never forget it.

Dohohohohoho. Great catch, best one so far.

This has seemingly flown under the radar but the Canucks have also signed Matthieu Schneider.

They're not clearing space for Heatley, they're clearing space so they can sign a full roster. They were over the cap with like 19 guys signed beforehand. Salary dump to avoid the cap crunch.

Aren't you... forgetting someone Patrick? Ay dios mio.

They probably deserved a shot in 2006 but nobody wanted a rematch. Florida was the best team anyways -- which UM then inexplicably beat the next year.

You're not one of those guys that thinks Gelinas scored in Game 6, are you?

Maybe splitting hairs, but there's no way Joe Sakic wasn't the best player on that team, or best player in the league, that year.

I was a groomsman at a friend's wedding recently. I got to wear a nifty suit.

Shanhan-Fedorov-Yzerman was probably the best line I've ever seen, when Steve was healthy.

He was a big part of this team for many years, and author to some of greatest and more important moments in Red Wings history. Nothing but love for Mac.

We got even less use of that bum. Being a big Dman in Detroit, and subject to that awful curse, we're lucky we got three whole friggin' seasons out of Lilja before something random and stupid KO'd him.

What are you basing your opinion off of, exactly? I've never seen him do anything to convince me that he'd be good at that, or anything else for that matter. He's almost certainly behind Williams, Stuart, and Ericsson for that fourth point position. Two of those guys have experience on the power play in the NHL, and after last season's playoff run Ericsson's sure to get a look.

After he finishes the last six games of the year with 4-5 TD passes and 10-12 INTs he'll be cut anyways, so it's as good as a one year deal.

Considering Kenny has had no problems bringing in some of the other great villains in NHL history to don the Winged Wheel -- think Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson -- it's no shocker to me that he's willing to bring in a less than reputable character if he thinks it can help the team.

He is dead last in the top nine in minutes played but has finished ahead of some of his contemporaries in scoring the last two playoff years. He didn't have a great Finals last year but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive a guy for having one bad playoff series. Maybe this will cheer you up. But, far, far more relevant to the point I was trying to make from the get-go: When has Bertuzzi ever been impressive in the playoffs, at any point in his career, or even had a season comparable to what Hudler did last year or the year before?

My point was he has never done anything in the playoffs even as impressive as Hudler. Hudler was never given a chance to on the top line for more than two games during the season, so we had no opportunity to see him mesh with any of top six. Flip unequivocally does not have better hands than Hudler.

Health is an important factor. And Iginla has had 50 assists in the last three seasons, so he must be doing something right. His PPTOI was proportionally much greater than his ESTOI, so half of his points were indeed on the PP. This doesn't affect his ESTOI shortage in any way though, where he was getting less time than Sammy and Homer, and barely more than Draper or Kopecky. The last three years teams have been looking for it and not found it, I'm not optimistic about him transforming into a dominant power forward again. If he can provide good secondary scoring that'll fit the bill. What has Bert ever done in the playoffs?

I wouldn't expect him to get 20 minutes a night. But he was badly underused at even strength, unless you believe Homer or Samuelsson were more effective scoring options, or that someone with 57 points ought to barely clear Draper/Kopecky territory in ice time. Do you fancy Bertuzzi to be the bone-crushing power forward of a bygone era? When he does hit it's effective, as befits a man of his size, but he's still primarily a finesse player, moreso now that he has a bad back to worry about. Based on what? The last two seasons where he didn't score as often, while playing more total minutes, alongside Jarome Iginla?

I'd gladly trade ESPN2 for you, TSN.

Cool non-argument, bro. I'll get back to you when you've got something a little more constructive than "lol ur rong."

Mike Babcock does not like him. This can best be witnessed when there's two minutes left in a game, the Wings need a goal, and he sends Tomas Kopecky over the boards to fall down and miss shots, while he glues sweet hands Hudler to the bench. I'm sure we both know that's not what I'm saying, but it would be virtually impossible for him to not improve in a better situation. Perhaps there is, but it's neither here nor there. No matter which way you look at it, Todd Bertuzzi has not played as well as Jiri Hudler these last two seasons. Do you suppose Homer would do as well on the fourth line as he would playing with Hank and Pavel? Good players score more despite the opposition, otherwise they wouldn't be on the top line to begin with. Playing with good players is better.

Is that why Hudler has managed to outscore Bertuzzi in the last two years in less time and with inferior linemates, and has also put together two playoff runs more impressive than Bertuzzi ever has? Because he's too small to make in the NHL? His paycheck has everything to do with that. You've proved nothing.