Hank

I would never say 'never'. He's a UFA after this year and could fetch a pretty nice return. Plus, I don't know if Pitkanen wants to return to Oiltown. The Oilers need all the picks/prospects they can get.

I'm ashamed that I've never thought of this before, but seriously, why hasn't Nick won a Hart trophy yet? In my mind he's been the best player in the league over the past 6-8 years. Ask any GM in the league who they'd choose for 1 season - any of the last 5 Hart Winners, or Nick Lidstrom. I'm a giant Crosby slappy, but if I had my choice last year, it'd be Nick. Just like it should have been Nick over St.Louis, Theodore, etc. But it seems that the Hart only goes to guys that were on the cusp of greatness and then had a monster season. The only other player I can think of that's close to Nicks skill and importance is maybe Luongo.

Me neither. But just like Lapointe, I'm not going to be surprised in the least when he starts putting up 10 goals a year for a team with far less talent and even less potential to win a Cup. Cleary should be smart and accept a deal that's closer to reality. He knows he's not going to score 25 goals anywhere else. And as far as hockey markets go, Detroit is one of the best, with some of the best talent. I mean, we're the best team in the league for crying out loud. $1.5M/yr is a reasonable amount for his services in my opinion. Nick took a paycut to stay here and I'm sure Zetts will give the Wings a break as well. Why shouldn't a 3rd liner like Cleary do the same?

I don't think Holland will deal Cleary even if they know 100% they won't be able to resign him. Cleary has great chemistry with this team right now and you know he'll go through a wall for you come playoff time. Cleary will be a Redwing until at least July 1st. After that, who knows?

Hahaha. That jokes so bad it's actually funny.

I was actually hoping to see Meech get in some action. Let him show the brass what he's got.

I remember he did the stickhandling through pilons competition as the anchor for team North America. Despite the Europeans having a massive lead, Yzerman nearly caught Teemu Selanne. I was shocked at how fast he still was even though his knee and back were garbage.

Have you ever played team sports? Do you know how this makes John Paddock look? This is more than just missing practice, it's about insubordination and disrespect for his coach and his teammates. Emery is a primadonna and by doing this I believe he IS asking to be traded. He's obviously ticked off that he has to share the crease with Gerber and he doesn't like it. If I were Bryan Murray, I'd send him to the farm. If he gets picked up, big deal. It's $3.5M off their books. Then let him miss practice with another club. Zoolander needs a kick in the ass.

Not to mention his love of chocolate and his disdain for treadmills.

I agree. But what would really fix this guy is if he was forced to volunteer in a children's hospital. If he doesn't realise the error of his ways after only an hour, then there's no hope for him.

It sure sounds like the kid didn't have an idea what his dad was doing until he heard him mention the word 'Cancer' in the Wings dressing room. He must have felt he was in too deep once he figured it all out. But I was happy to read that the kid started crying when he confessed to not being sick. That tells me that he has some remorse and some heart in him. Stevie should do the kid and his mom one last favour and pay for the legal fees needed to separate this a'hole father from his kid for good. At least we all know that this dad won't ever ask 'why?' if he gets bad news from his doctor.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but I didn't think Yzerman was lashing out at the kid at all. If anything, it seems like he's acknowledging that the boy now realises what he did was wrong, and that even though he's got an idiot for a dad, he can still become a good person. I saw no ill-will towards Braxton on Stevie's part.

Wow! I remember reading that article when it first hit. I felt so horrible for that little boy. If there's such a thing as Karma I imagine that kids dad is going to get it 1000 fold.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/1132...Alfredsson.html I was reading a recent Hockey News and they were talking about this kid Fabian Brunnstrom. Aparently he was passed over in his draft years but since then has blossomed in the SEL. In the magazine, they felt that he'll be offered an NHL contract by June 1 and that Detroit might have an advantage because of all the Swedes we have on our team. If Dick Axelsson makes the team next year, we'll have more Swedes than the Swedish National team.

Exactly. He's garbage. When's the last time anyone here saw him make a save when the puck wasn't headed directly for his fat pads? Remember game 5 last year when Lilja fired a puck over an unmoving Giguere? Or how about the time Chelios fired a puck off the cross bar from just inside the blueline. Again, Giggy didn't even move. He has no skills other than to be 'big' and play sound positionaly. I can't wait until bigger nets or smaller goalie gear are forced on the tenders. Giggy will be in the IHL with McCarty after the first weekend.

This isn't surprising. The Ducks were playing on back-to-back nights so I knew the defense would be tired after chasing Detroit around all night. And if Giguere "Giant Pads" doesn't have sound D in front of him, he folds like a deck of cards. Giggy sucks.

I'M SHOCKED! Downie not doing the honourable thing when fighting is concerned? I am SO sick and tired of the new wave of pests coming into the league. Guys like Downie and Perry takes runs and cheapshots at players every night and then they hide behind their massive shields and refuse to take them off when a fight they caused breaks out.

Those rumors only come from Toronto. The media there is basically a pack of liars that make crap up because it sounds good to them. How many times have we heard that Jim Nill was going to Toronto even though his contract strictly prohibits him from even talking to other teams. Toronto's biggest problem is Toronto. Fans come out in waves to watch a horrible hockey team while the execs play grab-ass while the $$$ roles in.

What an unbelievable game. It had everything! If every NHL game was like this one, the NHL would never have an issue with TV contracts or ratings. The showdown between Ovechkin and Malkin was one of the best I've seen in recent memory. Both scored 2 goals and added an assist and everytime they were on the ice, they made something happen. And that hit that Malkin narrowly avoided (and sent A.O. into the boards himself) was awesome! XM204 this morning said there's been rumors for years that AO and Malkin don't like each other a whole lot and it showed on the ice yesterday. Give me more games like that and I'll never watch anything else.

Which only ticks me off even more. There's no reason this guy shouldn't be a top 10 scorer in the league. He lacks character. I can't tell you how many times I've heard former players or GM's say on XM how he's the most talented hockey player in the league bar-none. What a waste.

Not to mention the style they play. Bruce Boudreau was an offensive powerhouse in junior and you can tell he likes an offensive type of game. Under Hanlon the Caps were pure death to watch, but now they're so much fun. And I don't think it's a coincidence that since Boudreau took over, the Caps have the 3rd best record in the league and AO has 40 points in 27 games - the most during that span. I'm really hoping that 'hockey people' are taking note what an aggressive offensive plan can do for you. P.S. speaking of which, I heard an interview with NJ coach Brent Sutter. He talked about how he hates the trap and if his forwards want to skate backwards they can be defensemen. They're actually fun to watch now.

I hear what you're saying. But for my own personal tastes, I find good defense and goaltending to be very boring. I think it's because it's the only thing you see in most hockey games nowadays. Even most of the so called 'jaw dropping saves' aren't even that great. How many times did we see Giguere make a 'great' save last spring when in actuality he didn't even move and the shot went right into his belly? Watching guys like AO and Malkin do what they do best was a pleasure to watch. Even Mike Green made some terrific end-to-end rushes. Anyone can block a shot or play sound positionally. But only 1% of the NHL can do what those guys can. And it was nice to finally watch a game where offensive skill overshadowed skills that anyone can learn or perfect.

Which is exactly why they need to shrink the goalie gear. Force goalies to wear 8" pads, normal sized pants. shrink the gloves in half and make sure that their upperbody gear is in the same relation to their bodies.

If Cleary wants anything over $2M he's crazy. He won't get the kind of numbers he has here and he won't be close to winning a Cup anywhere else. Saying that, Toronto will sign him where he'll average 11 goals per year while making $4M/year and having his pick of golf courses in April.

Me too. I think Quincy is more than ready to step in and do more than what Lilja can do.