Dabura

Darth Kader.

My guess is Vanek's been playing hurt.

I'm hoping for Tuch, but I'm expecting Kempe or Perlini.

I'd forgotten about this: http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41032-Campbell-Brent-Burns-trade-moves-Sharks-closer-to-Stanley-Cup.html Specifically... Maybe there's something to the notion that Babs isn't exactly thrilled with where things are at.

I just realized the Habs don't have a truly elite centerman. Desharnais, Plekanec, Eller, Briere. wtf.

Agreed. Just a crazy-weak class this summer, even if none of the big names re-sign. I'd totally forgotten about Schneider. He wasn't so bad.

They're pretty similar. Big but not especially physical. Streaky. Can look lazy, disinterested. Not great two-way players. You'll get 20+ goals from them in the regular season, guaranteed, but the postseason is anyone's guess. Good net front presence, sometimes. Etc. FWIW: Canadiens could sit struggling Vanek for Game 3 [NHL.com]

So basically, if you're down by two or more to the Kings, you're pretty much screwed. Your defensemen have to pinch and you have to press like crazy, but that opens you up to a world of odd-man-rush-going-the-other-way hurt, as we just saw.

Empty Net lets in a softy from center ice, score is now 6-2. Empty Net yanked, Crawford back in. I believe that gives Carter a hatty. (I think he got a piece of Doughty's shot.) Yup, just confirmed - hat trick for Carter. Six consecutive goals. Craziness. First ever playoff win for the Kings in Chicago? Did I hear that right?

SADHOUSE ON SADISON Crawford pulled with about four minutes left.

5-2!!!!!!!!!!!! LA's transition game is killing it.

Somewhere, Edzo is crying.

4-2!!!

Tied at 2! 3-2!!! Coach Q's about to lose his mind, I can feel it. Then again, he loses his mind every five minutes. Momentum is a funny thing.

Step 1 - Watch the Blackhawks move the puck out of their zone. Step 2 - Watch the Red Wings (try to) move the puck out of their zone. Step 3 - Cry.

I said it in the first round, half-jokingly: it's about time Lundqvist drags his team to glory and wins the Conn Smythe. If not now, when?

Babcock for Crosby, str8 up.

This. Vanek's a very good top-six forward, but, truth be told, he's basically Franzen. Would you want Franzen with a $7.5M cap hit for seven years? (And don't forget the NTC/NMC.)

It's trendy to trash Jarnkrok, even trendier than it is to call him the next Gretzky (which, while I get the hyperbole, no one's come close to doing). All players struggle. Nyquist struggled this season, and then he exploded, and then he disappeared completely. Z's had his struggles. Datsyuk's had his struggles. Tatar had his struggles this season. Bottom line: Elias Lindholm's Late Cousin (RIP) is gonna be a Realgud good player in this league (or in Sweden) for a long time, while David Legwand's probably played his last game as a Wing. And Patrick Eaves will score 75 goals next season playing on Crosby's wing. And that second-round pick we gave up will be the next Lidstrom, because of course it will. If anyone should be mocked for all that, well, it's not Jarnkrok. I want to see us get bigger and stronger on the wing. I want to see us work the boards and corners more effectively and such. Hence a guy like Wilson or Smith-Pelly (though, they're not really prospects anymore. Though, that doesn't really matter.) Mantha's big, but I see him becoming something along the lines of a Thomas Vanek - a sniper and a playmaker and maybe even a screener and maybe he even throws his weight around here and there when he's Feeling It, but probably not the most physically imposing sonsabitch to ever lace up a pair of skates. In a perfect world, Bigger Stronger Guy would also be a righty. Hence, again, Wilson or Smith-Pelly. "Yeah, we get it, you like Wilson and Smith-Pelly. We heard you the first several hundred times, bro. Problem is, we can't just become the Bruins overnight. If it were that easy, more teams would be built like that." It's not that I want to see us go all Boston Strong or whatever they're euphemistically calling it these days. We're just very cuddly and vanilla. It's an honest-to-Goc fact. And it'd be fine, if we could kill with skill like we've done for the past couple decades, or even just push back when necessary (see: the Habs). Then I might be totes down with adding Pulkkinen to an already diminutive top six that didn't exactly set the world on fire in our one-win postseason run. Skill and scoring prowess is all-important, while size and strength and physicality only get you so far. But we have the former and need to supplement it with the latter. In this way, we'd be a more well-rounded team. I like teams that can play any way the opposition wants to play. That, I think, is the new school. The good thing is, we've drafted really damn well re: our future blue line. We clearly saw that today's top-four defenseman is big and mobile and good with the puck, and we drafted accordingly. Now we have to shift our focus to the forward corps, specifically the future top six or nine. There needs to be size there. I'm not saying take a pugilist over Nikolaj Ehlers. You know what I'm saying.

Considering we never pick in the top ten, our pool is pretty great. As is our development. We could really use another high-end center, though. With Jarnkrok gone, all we have is Janmark. A power forward would also be nice. Like I've said elsewhere, I'm hoping we can steal Kevin Hayes from the 'hawks and maybe trade for Tom Wilson or Devante Smith-Pelly.

I don't disagree with any of this. But, the topic is Next Season's Needs/Team Future. I think we, like every other non-contender, need a top-four defenseman and a big scoring winger. We wouldn't get both in free agency, so the (admittedly completely unrealistic) thought is we'd land one in free agency and trade up for the other. The one thing we have going for us on the let's-stupidly-hope-for-a-big-trade front is the future logjam on the back end. Ouellet, Sproul, Marchenko, Backman, Jensen, Almqvist. And Smith and DeKeyser. And Kindl and Lashoff. And maybe even Mitchell Wheaton, in a couple years. That's a whole lotta bodies. Also, as we all know, this UFA class is shaping up to be the worst in recent memory if not of all time - so, landing a big name will almost certainly require beating out half the league in a bidding war, which isn't exactly Holland's cup of tea these days. So, hurray for blockbuster trades and misplaced optimism!

Dat obstruction tho.

I have to believe that being a Penguin has something to do with it. Malkin's a thug. Orpik's an assassin. Crosby's no boy scout. Remember when Jokinen unloaded on one of our guys with a couple thousand crosschecks? It's the Penguin way. Regardless, I have to believe it'd be made exceedingly clear to Neal, probably in a private chat with Babs, that if he's going to continue with that stuff as a Red Wing, he's not going to play. I suspect he's never really been tought how to use his size and mean streak effectively. I just get that impression when I watch him play. Babs could work on that with him. Maybe Chelios could share some honest words of wisdom. I dunno, I don't see it as a really big issue. We don't play that way, he's 26, he can change, problem solved, everyone comes away happy. You'd say no to Neal because we have an abundance of young wingers on the way, but you'd say yes to Letang, even though we have an avalanche of young defensemen on the way? (Ouellet, Sproul, Marchenko, Backman, Jensen, Almqvist. Plus Smith and DeKeyser.) I'd want Neal because he's a first-line 40-goal scorer in his prime who'd bring a couple dimensions to the fold that we're otherwise sorely lacking. Same basic idea as the Shanahan trade. We didn't need another winger, but this was Brendan Shanahan. If you can add a Shanahan or a Neal, you do it. Especially if you're a team of diminutive cream puff choir boys who had their collective ass handed to them a few months ago by a new rival team that they'll be seeing a whole lot of in the coming years, a rival team they'll most likely have to go through if they want to make a real run in the playoffs. We do need to start thinking about our future @ center, but adding Neal wouldn't bar us from acquiring a high-end centerman. Personally, I don't see Letang getting moved. He's their #1 defenseman and they may be losing Niskanen and/or Orpik. Losing Neal would be a less serious blow, especially if they'd be getting a productive young top-six forward on an early contract (e.g. Nyquist, Tatar) in return.

I'm assuming Neal would clean up his act. He's only 26. His soul can still be saved. What do you think it'd cost to get him?

I wouldn't be so sure. My impression - for what little it's worth - is they'd like to move a key player, whether it's to free up money or adjust the team's dynamic or play the accountability/optics game. I guess in Neal's case it'd be more the second one (team dynamic). Neal seemed really lost without Malkin. And when Neal gets lost, he gets frustrated. And when he gets frustrated, he gets stupid. And when he gets stupid, the Pens spend too much time shorthanded. Don't spend too much time shorthanded. Get rid of Cable and upgrade to DirecTV.