Heroes of Hockeytown

My bad. He'll be around in the playoffs so I guess we'll all get a good look at him. And if you block the shot and the goal isn't scored and you have lots of success? Lilja routinely leads the team in blocked shots, it might not be as effective as preventing chances by eliminating the opportunity for a shot altogether, but if you're good at it it can be more effective than some guy that's mediocre at trying to play positionally (Rafalski rings a bell). EDIT: And Nick and Pavel are Norris/Selke guys, Lilja wishes he could see the game like they do.

You're putting a lot of confidence in a guy who has played all of 16 NHL games. He's played well, and he's going to get his chance, but he hasn't been given the PKing duties that Lilja has yet. It's awfully premature to label them as PKing equals. In my mind, it doesn't matter how you get it done, so long as you get it done. The Wings have a style and a system but on the PK it's just about preventing the puck from entering the net and getting it out. It's no secret why he plays on the top PKing unit with Nick and logs nearly as much SH ice time per game. He's good at what he does, no matter how he goes about doing it.

Or the Gump. Too many old guys, not enough spots.

He's a typical workhorse third pairing guy, so he would be. Guys that can make Lidstrom-like plays get Lidstrom-like money. I get your angle, but Lilja's shot blocking meshes fine with what the Wings do, and there's not enough room to sign more skilled guys besides.

Or he's always the first guy over the boards on PK and EN situations, and is willing to step in front of the shot to make the play.

I'll say no, but you can't rule it out. If he has one or two big 3-4 point nights it'll happen.

With that, the Sharks only have one more potential point over us in their games in hand.

Wooooo

I'd be surprised if the Sharks don't win this game. They'll tie it late and win in OT, if their first forty wins are any indication.

He was good on the PKs, but Datsyuk was the only guy with any jump for a couple periods.

The Red Wings' formula for "sleepwalk through most of the game, then be totally great for 5 minutes" pays dividends again. Datsyuk has got to be the best forward in the league. The moves he makes, even when they don't turn into goals, are absolutely mind-boggling. There's no way he should be able to do those things with the puck.

Did they? I don't have any knowledge on that particular matter. But one from the 70s versus one from today? There's definitely a difference. And even if the goalie equipment didn't change, the rest of the game did, and that affects the goalie and reflects on his stats, too. Also, you're own two eras don't sound consistent with themselves. You'd have goalies in the mask era with no masks on. I'm not trying to tear you down here, you pose a legitimate question, but I disagree. You can't just divide NHL history into two eras for goalies and call that fair. If it were to really be fair, you'd have to break it down into segments for every major innovation in the game as it went along, which would create so many sets of data it'd be completely impractical and useless.

Would you create separate set of stats for skaters as well? What's more, any date you choose would be completely arbitrary and only divide incompatible eras further. You can't compare a goalie from the 70s with a mask to a goalie today with a mask; and you can't compare a goalie in the 20s without a mask with a goalie in the 50s without a mask. The game changes, folks will have to accept that. Even the definition of a W has changed in time. It's impossible to compare eras but he's not necessarily wrong for saying Roy and you're not necessarily wrong for saying Sawchuk. You're asking the wrong question, which is "Who's Number One?" If you're compelled to get the answer to that (as we are wont to do) then the only thing you can really use are the stats.

Be pretty neat. Just like old times with Hull, Pronger, MacInnis and the rest of the gang.

If this were a playoff game they could stick Leino in there and the big red machine would keep on chugging. It isn't, and management obviously wants to take as long a look at Ericsson as they can before Lilja comes back and they have to send him down, so we get the Laughalympics Squad Featuring Brett Lebda at Forward.

Ugh, you're right. Talk about bad timing. Not only are we going to have to listen to some screwball who doesn't know Kris talk about him, we're likely going to be hearing it all game long, to the exclusion of everything else (like, you know, the game).

He's played lots of regular shifts with Hossa and Zetterberg, less with Franzen and Cleary, the first lot more capable than the last, but all very good players. As for Homer, he's not a good skater but he works hard at fighting for the puck in the corners and getting it back to Pavel so he can work his magic; it would be folly to dismiss how he helps make ZDH (or whatever mutation thereof) click so well.

Yeah, everything is relative. What was impressive one season won't necessarily be as impressive the next. Of course, the Wings, relative to the rest of the league, are easily the best run franchise in the NHL of the last decade-plus, and the numbers help bear that out.

I'll drop in to say that since the LA game a few weeks ago Kopecky has been excellent. He's sustained a steady performance as a contributing fourth liner since then. And while he sucked pretty hard for 60 or so games this year, it appears that I completely underestimated the effect that recovering the injury had on him (go figure, I said the same things about Fisch -- we are doomed to repeat ourselves), and was totally wrong about his ability to become an effective player. I'll throw in the disclaimer that he has only been on this roll for a couple weeks now so he's got a ways to go, but if he keeps on playing well I will gladly keep on being wrong.

Usually top 3-5, not first, actually. Just to pick nice round number, in the last decade the Norris winner has been the leading scorer amongst defensemen only 4 of 10 times. Being a good scorer is important, but being the leader does not, nor has it ever, guaranteed anything.

Facts, I got some for you.

Dun dun duuuuun.

He strikes me as a very intelligent and articulate guy. This popped up on MLive a few weeks ago about Downey and stuck in my brain, as well. Deep stuff, bro.

Nash didn't get a hat trick, and he didn't even get a breakaway, which is a victory of its own kind.

Thank god, that's completely awful.