Dabura

Ban.

Good post "Y'know, this Mrazek kid, he'll be fighting for your job well before your term runs dry. At that time, we'll be trading one of you. Also, I got you chocolates...buuuut I eated them."

Maybe a bit premature - but it looks like we've just about got #7 in the bag, baby.

White played with Lidstrom last season. I feel like a lot of people forget that.

You, me, and about five billion others, friend. I want no part of the 'hawks. They're for real, and they have our number this season. Now, the Ducks...

Fixed. We shouldn't kid ourselves. We all know he's coming back next year.

I think some of you are missing the point. The guy's had, like, 25 different injuries in the past 3-4 months. And he's played all of, what, two games? And in those games... . And he was brought back to the fold because he was considered a sure bet, a safe move, reliable, rugged, gritty, durable, etc. Holland even gave him an NTC. "Oh, come on, how could they have known he'd have such bad luck this season?" Well, he's had injury problems in the past, and he's older than ever (35 or 36), and this is - as George Malik puts it - a demolition derby of a season...

This all day.

I'd add #3 and #4.

Why do people say diving will be the death of this league? Does the average casual fan pick up on these things? Does he care? Death of its integrity, maybe. But then, the NHL's integrity's been dying a very slow death for a very long time, even without the diving.

At least a couple of these apply to us.

I love the idea on paper. But, damn, we need more goals. It's what did us in last year against the Predators, and we've done all of nothing to make sure it won't happen again. I guess that's one reason why I might actually prefer Abdelkader to Bertuzzi in the playoffs - the whole us-being-reluctant-to-break-through-the-defensive-boxing-in-the-offensive-zone thing. If Babs tells Abdelkader to kill, I'm pretty sure he will relish it. Bert, on the other hand, I can't help but think he's going to be even less of a factor in the physical contests than he was before the back (and leg?) (seriously???) injuries this season - and that's if he makes it back (no pun intended) at all, which my gut says is unlikely. And my gut is never wrong.

And often they're not. "That's the problem with back injuries." That may be pessimism, but there's realism in it.

Ideally, Justin Abdelkader is not on your first line, flanking Pavel Datsyuk. Nor is Todd Bertuzzi, or Daniel Cleary, or Mikael Samuelsson, or even Johan Franzen (most nights). We could try to, y'know, get a guy who really deserves to be there. A young, high-end power-forward. A guy like Wayne Simmonds. But, to be fair to Holland, every team wants one of those - even the teams that already have at least one of them! Which shows how important they are (or, at least, are perceived to be). And which is why we'll never part with Franzen, for better or for worse. All of which makes me less than stoked re: our top six situation. I know, I know - we've got Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Jarnkrok, Pulkkinen on the horizon. But not one of them is even close to being a power-forward. (Maybe Andersson.) Here, just look at this: Top-6 Guys Brunner Datsyuk Filppula Franzen Jarnkrok Jurco Nyquist Pulkkinen Tatar Zetterberg It's no wonder Datsyuk wants Abdelkader on his line (if in fact he truly does). At this point, he'll take any size and muscle he can get - even if it's a blue-collar grinderbanger with very little offensive upside. Bah-bahhh, bah-bahhh This is the sound of settling

He jumped on the ice and stabbed Ovechkin with his own skate. I was there.

And again I ask: Filppula? (Bueller?)

He deserves leeway because - as far as I know - he's 101% Swiss (i.e. born, raised, lived). How many factories in Switzerland? How many world-class programs? How many all-world Swiss players in NHL history? In the Hockey Hall of Fame? Versus, say, the States. Say you're a six-year-old living in, I dunno, New Jersey. It was decided 300 years ago that you would play in the NHL and crush Gretzky's records before you're 24. That's just how things are in Your Family. Seven years old - you're playing AAA. You're in Canada every other weekend ("playing-up" three years). You're getting your ass handed to you, but it's good for your development. Still, you're getting your ass handed to you. So, you start juicing. So, by the time you're twelve, you look like you're thirty. You have no life outside of hockey. Literally. And it only gets better (worse) from here until draft day! You go to such and such a prep school because Coach So and So has a great program there. You play hockey, you drink, you play hockey, you play hockey (you drink). Same deal in college/university. Except, well, you're, what, a freshman? And you're not even 300 pounds? You might as well stop now. Just give up. Obviously you lack the internal drive and natural love of the game. Henry So and So over there on your right wing? He's only 11 years old and he's 6'5 and 500 pounds and he's scoring 900 goals a shift. You think Henry sleeps? You think Henry eats? No. He f****** doesn't. So you push yourself, lose your sanity, see to it that Henry gets tossed out of school for such and such a federal offense, and - before you know it - it's Draft Day! And...you're just barely in it. The Coyotes take you dead last, and you're never heard from again. (No one cares about the AHL.) And you get fat. And you never really stopped drinking. And then you die. That's the U.S. Machine. That's not even Canada. And here's Brunner, who probably never tasted this "developmental grind." And he's coming to The Big Show "cold." (No "soft intro." No "acclimation period." No growing up eating, sleeping, breathing, s***ting, living, dying ice hockey. No steroids. No hardcore track. No soul-shredding pressure. No fanatical, cut-throat environment to keep you "on-track" your whole life.) And you know what? He's doing pretty well for himself. He's lived a certain kind of life. He's played a certain kind of way. All of that is being run over by a truck called the National Hockey League. I'd give him points for even being in one piece come the postseason. And, again, this is an absolutely ridiculous grind of a season, even for the best of the best of the best (which Brunner is nowhere close to being. Which, if you step back and think about it, is kind of insane.)

I'm just glad The Powers at Be were able to rein in the Devils. How many Cups has Lou bought them? Seems like every season from the mid-90s right up the switch they were just running on money and local goodwill (The Meadowlands being, as we all know, one of the hockey capitals of the world). And every time a big-time UFA hit the market? You knew there was about a 60% chance he was bound for "Greener Meadows." F*** them. Them and the Stars. "Oooo, look at us, we're the Dallas Stars! La-la-la-la-la-la-la!" You know why their colors are green & black, right? Green for money - and black for the way they burned through it. Such greed, stupidity, incompetence.

I imagine that'd mean a lot to him, and her, and the Mrs. It'll probaly come down to the money, though. As it probably should. You take of your family. Which decision would fetch him more for his family?

Yes.

All things considered, he's doing much better than I (and many others, I'm sure) had expected. The Swiss league he hails from is nothing compared to the NHL. This "season" is ridiculous (by NHL standards), and it's wearing down guys who are legitimate NHLers. Franzen, our vaunted Goaling-Scoring Power Forward, isn't exactly tearing things up. Datsyuk and Zetterberg (and maybe Kronwall) have basically thrown the team on their backs. Are we going to get on Brunner's case because he's not Datsyuk or Zetterberg? And, hey, Datsyuk and Zetterberg though he may not be, he is, what, second in goals on our team? I get that you sort of have to "put those goals in context," or whatever, but, at the same time, goals are goals, numbers are numbers, we can use all the help we can get, and I see no reason to ride this guy especially hard. I mean, what happened to Filppula? Remember him? Anyone seen him lately? Perhaps he fell down a well?

Great. Embolden "The Penguin" some more, why don't we.

This. This post. It doesn't surprise me that Helm needs more time. You don't f*** around with back issues. I said in the other Helm thread that it felt, to me, almost like they were rushing him back. And then, whaddayaknow, a setback. I give him credit for being as "positive" as he's been in his interviews over the course of the season. I'd carry a cane and chase the media away, hurling expletives and such. Because, seriously, back pain is death. And then, what, Bert's just magically better? Come on. Sammy gets a 3-year extension this summer. "We like his size." Calling it now. And yes - OFFSEASON ACQUISITIONS FTW!!!!!111

The Elephant in the Room (Since 2009)

The Cap's done wonders for Calgary.