datsyukismyfriend

i should also mention schedule. really the only good team the sens have played so far is carolina, they lost that game. then canadiens are decent, too, but that was a close game. every other team they've played has been pretty s*** terrible so far this year.

yeah, we know, what's to stop him, right?

well, it's pretty hard to argue with a 9-1-0 record. but as far as sens first line being better than zdh, here are the stats: zdh- 50 points and are a +23 in 13 games which averages out to 3.9 points and a +1.8 per game hsa- 38 points and a +10 in 10 games with averages out to 3.8 and a +1 per game. so zdh has a very slight scoring advantage, but it plays in the notoriously more stingy conference-advatntage zdh zdh is about +.8 better a game +/-, so if you put any stock in that stat, zdh is better defensively-advantage zdh it looks like zdh is the better line for now as for the sens are deeper, they are getting 5.2 points a game from players other than their top line, wings are getting 5.3. we'll call that a wash. the sen's defense better than detroit's? thats a long shot, i'm not going to look up stats, but i think we have them there considering our shot differential is nearly double that of any other team.-advantage detroit i have to go with gerber in goal so far, though osgoods been awesome-advantage sens it's a tight call, but as of now i'd call detroit the better team.

LOL that's the best post i've read all day.

for homer to do his thing, sammy and whoever else would be on that line would be almost exclusively responsible for gaining the zone and setting up the play. now, i know sammy like to act like he can handle the puck like datsyuk, but i'm afraid the reality of the situation is much more grim. anyway, i wouldn't mind seeing different line combos, to see if anything works, but i don't think homer's the asnwer to balanced scoring. datsyuk homer and flip is good i think. they were great last year. maybe z sammy and franz. i don't know. it'll be interesting when franzed comes back. if babs finds something that works, then great, if not, i think zdh is doing great right now. our team has been very good since that line's been established. when it comes to playoffs hopefully we'll have attended to our issues of scoring depth. until then, i don't see a problem with keeping zdh together if nothing else is working.

i don't think that works. homer does what he does on the first line because of the talent levels of dats and z. homer's not going to raise anybody else's game, dats and z raise his. he's a perfect fit for that line, but we don't have two other forwards talented enough to let homer play his game. homer's only job is to park in front of the net and pick up garbage and screen. puck possession and gaining the zone is almost exclusively the responsiblity of d and z. it's a difficult dynamic to recreate. it works because z and dats are so incredibly talented.

i know he's been fine otherwise, but you have to admit his shot has been pretty poor thus far. 4.5% is terrible by any forward's standards, let alone datsyuk's, who normally has such an accurate shot.

lol... thank you

great goal, but other than that goal he's done nothing to impress me this season. who knows what the future holds for hudler, but my hopes have diminished quite a bit. i don't think he has the size or speed to ever be a legitimate and consistent threat at the nhl level.

at this point i've liked downey in the lineup more than drake. there are going to be some touch choices when everybody gets healthy. especially zdh, and osgood too, he's been by far our better goalie.

i'm scared for when franzen comes back. especially if it breaks up z dats and homer. this team's got some real chemsitry going, even the second line has been clicking lately. i hope franzen coming in and changing up our top lines doens't disturb that. good game tonight. i didn't think the wings were great, vancouver definitely had more jump and were skating harder for most of the game, but we did enough to win. nice to see hudler have some space to use his talent. lidstrom made quite a few bonehead plays in our end tonght, one of which resulted in a goal. of course he also made several beautiful plays, but i'd say just a so-so game for him. meech looked good, i was surprised. got some decent ice-time, too.

homer's so successful because he plays with zetterberg and datsyuk. he's not going to raise the game of flip and rex, he's more a complimentary guy that fits in exceptionally well with datsyuk and zetterberg, but he's not going to make anybody better. homer's never been known as a scorer until he played with dats and z.

the talent significantly drops off after the first line.

toronto's media is about as reliable as ecklund when it comes to hockey. holland's not going anywhere.

the class sign in the center of the bench makes the joke funnier. i doubt it's photoshopped.

sold out building?

hopefully having another russian on the team in datsyuk can help grigs understand the situation. as somebody else said, who knows how much he understands in this situation. maybe dats can get him excited about his opportunity and communicate to grigs how important it is that he gives it all he has because this is likely his last opportunity to make this team. anyway, that's my last glimmer of hope. i just hate hearing about prospects for so long and being so excited about the guy for so long to see it nipped in the bud without him ever even playing. i'm with most other people, if he's not one of the top twenty, he won't play, i just want very badly for him to be one of the top twenty. actually i wanted him to be one of the top four! i just hope dats can be our embassador and help right this boat.

what's the word on grigs? how is he looking in gr? anybody know. any chance of him coming up before november, and if not, will he go back to russia? i only ask because it'd be wonderful right now to have the next ilya kovalchuck winging the second line. i'm guessing since i haven't heard anything about him that it's not good news.

i doubt very much we'll be seeing him for less than the 7.6 he's currently making. that is already a discount. i just hope it doesn't go up from there, as it well could.

true, but they're not one of the most important hockey markets in the nhl, and they don't call themselves hockeytown.

if he goes back, he's done. i think holland's said as much. besides, if he hasn't developed into a player we'd want by now, he probably never will. he's had plenty of time.

well that sucks. it really sucks to have been waiting for this kid for like 5 years and have such high hopes and then not have it pan out. did you guys see the bottom where babcock said the go wings go chant was louder in phoenix than it is at home? our home crowd is embarrassing. this is getting ridiculous. i think it's fair to say that hockeytown, if not dead already, is on life support.

great game. great road trip. nice to see us do well on the west coast.

hmm, let's see, flip: 0 for 1- open nets 0 for 2- breakaways. c'mon flip.

lol