skacore

I think you're talking out of your ass. Ericsson is not skinny, nor is he weak. He has a big frame and he has skill and hockey sense to go with it, he very well may be a top 3 D-man, why would you think he won't be? Kindl may have more upside but last year was a bit of a set back, when Ericsson came over to North America he jumped right in and had a fantastic year in the AHL and he improved that much more this year. Smith could potentially be a top 3 D-man as well but he is so far from it right now that it's impossible to label him as a "certain" top 3. It's difficult to compare prospects when their ages range anywhere from 18-24 but I don't see what the fuss is about that someone considers an NHL ready 1984 born D-man above a 1987 D-man who really, really struggled in the AHL last season.

I've heard this 1000 times and I need to point something out, Meech played like 2 games on forward and he didn't look out of place playing limited minutes. It's not like he's shown he is some incredibly versatile player that is just as good on forward as he is on D, I'm sure if Quincey was put on wing for a couple of games he could have played just as well. I really don't think Meech's "ability to play forward" is going to be the deciding factor whether he stays or not.

According to this link: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=246953&l...s=secStory_nhl Stefan Legein has decided to retire at the age of 19, he says he won't be attending the Bluejackets training camp but his father says "he hasn't quit anything until September 20th (training camp)", that's basically all the article says, kinda weird, he was a beauty for Canada and is a good agitator.

They don't just punish them after the fact, people are aware of the consequences and it changes the way they act... you say you go 10 over the speed limit, so does everyone else, if cops were non-existent you'd see people going 50 over the limit constantly, a drag race at every street light. Lappy hit Lidstrom with Downey in the line up, yes... but that's probably the only significant incident that happened all year that's worth mentioning, a big change from last year and the year before... The world isn't perfect with cops and the game of hockey isn't perfect with enforcers, but they both help the cause dramatically.

Nik Kronwall

What a horrible comparison... do you think the streets would be the same if cops didn't exist? You basically just agreed that enforcers/cops prevent a ton from happening but they still can't stop absolutely everything. How would you be able to tell if having an enforcer prevented an incident? You can't, because it never happened... here, I'll make one up... March 5th against St. Louis, Wings are up 4-1 and on the PP late in the game, instead of Downey being on the ice and Walker, Mayers, and Johnson end up stalking him for about 15 seconds, Hudler is in his place. Mayers takes a big run at Z and knocks him head first into the boards, he's slow to get up. Hudler comes in to push Mayers but Walker grabs a hold of Hudler and pounds him until he's 4'5, every single person on these forums whines for the next week for Mayers' and Walker's head on a silver platter. There I can make up s*** too..... Downey prevented that!!

Chris Neil is the #1 guy I'd like to have on the Wings out of everyone in the league

Where did I give him credit for being an agitator? He is undisciplined but not in the sense that he'll put his team on the PK, and definitely not 2 PKs a game...

How'd you manage that inaccurate stat? PIM divided by games played? The majority of his PIM comes from fights and misconducts and they don't leave his team short handed.

I don't really think Dustin Brown is a good example for that, he actually had 4 fights this year. He's being challenged much more often now that he has established himself as an elite hitter. He's actually a decent fighter though so that's almost becoming just another elemental to his game.

He's suggesting that Drake, Downey, and McCarty had an impact on how the other players on the Wings play, not just what they bring themselves. If people don't want to believe that there's a different aura when Downey is in the line up then that is fine but I've seen a few people now bring up the fact that Datsyuk lead the Wings in hits in the playoffs, and I remember reading an article where he specifically gave a lot of credit to Dallas Drake as a mentor. I've stayed out of this thread because I think people are getting worked up over nothing, Holland has stated we'll be carrying an enforcer next season, so at the very least we're looking at Darren McCarty, that's a lot is better than 05-06, 06-07.

I think they just want to play it safe with Filppula before they offer anything more than a two-way contract to either.

The Leafs won't be that bad this year compared to last. A healthy Mark Bell alone puts them at where the Wings were in 05-06, Newbury, Mayers, Hollweg, possibly McCabe and Ondrus? And I still have a feeling they'll pick up a heavyweight, if they're going to bomb the year, why not carry one?

He lost 1 fight all year... ?

Yeah, that was the message they're trying to send... tard.

Good signing for 550k. Brandon Prust wouldn't be able to carry the heavyweight role that Eric Godard left but Andre Roy will fill it nicely, also a better player than Godard. A top notch fighter is a key ingredient to Calgary's tough image. Monday, July 21, 12:48 AM - this thread is going to become 5 pages, not about Andre Roy signing with Calgary

I like Jiri Hudler because I remember a few years back watching his highlights on I think redwingscentral where he deked the s*** outta I think the Swiss junior team, and he was kicking a soccer ball around on the ice. Then when I went to a handful of Grand Rapids games between 04-06, he always seemed to have so much fun out there. The first time I ever saw him live, it was during warm up and for whatever reason he decided he was only going to take slapshots all warm up. He would skate around and every loose puck he would just fire at the net, no stick handling and no wrist shots, and he ended up getting a hat-trick in that game I remember. After the game we went down to the family and friends part to meet up with a close family friend Matt Ellis, and I remember Jiri Hudler came out and he was by far the smallest pro hockey player I've ever seen.... and he had a HUGE plate of spaghetti and he was all smiles (just scored a hat-trick...). Even though his past few years on the Wings have probably been tough for him because he doesn't get top 6 minutes like he probably wants, he is always smiles and still finds ways to contribute even in limited minutes, never complains. I have a hard time saying he'll "stick up for teammates", but he'll definitely do whatever he is capable of and he'll never back down from a play while the game is on. I know a lot of people don't like him because they think he's taking away a spot from Downey (who I also want in the line up so, so bad), but there's no comparison between the two at all. Hudler was 4th in forwards scoring during the regular season and he had 14 points this playoff run to boot. Oh yeah and he's only 24...

Canada - Brendan Shanahan Sweden - Daniel Alfredsson Czech Republic - Jiri Fischer United States - Derian Hatcher Russia - Pavel Datsyuk Finland - Olli Jokinen Slovakia - Zdeno Chara

Funny you say that because I see it completely the other way around, those who have played COMPETITIVE hockey (AAA, Junior, not men's league) tend to value tough guys much more than those who just watch the sport on television.

lol

I'll take that bet if you have paypal, I'll give you 2/1 odds.

http://www.delcotimes.com/site/news.cfm?ne...62709&rfi=6 Good fit for the Flyers... he's a pretty good, rugged 3rd-4th line player who up until last year was pretty consistent for 20+ points

Exactly... beyond whether it's needed or not or if it helps the team win or not, a lot of fans have grown up loving that brand of hockey and it's disappointing to have it taken away, almost completely. All in all the NHL is entertainment, sure it's the best hockey around but without it's loyal fans it wouldn't exist, don't the old school hockey fans deserve a little treat once and a while? Hockey is as manly a sport as you can get, when you watch your team, idols, heroes, etc. back away from every challenge and when push comes to shove they bail or hide behind a referee, it can get frustrating. 18 guys play a night, is it that hard to consistently keep at least SOMEONE in the line up who has the ability to fight?

I might be wrong but I thought that was only if he was picked up on re-entry waivers, I think because he was bought out and an UFA, it's an entirely new salary, but the Ducks still pay him what they owe him.

I don't think he starts the year in Detroit but he might find his way up later due to injuries... he should also be playing in the playoffs because he was a beast last run. He shouldn't have to compete with Downey/McCarty for a spot, entirely different roles, he should be competing with Maltby/Draper, and there's no way Maltby is still a better player than Helm, yet he'll get the spot anyways, too bad.