WhiteLightning91

I think the management is satisfied with what they have seen from XO. They know what they have with him and are pleased with his performance. Unfortunately for him, like others have said, Marchenko is in the same boat, except he can paddle on the other side, which is slightly more important to Babcock I'd imagine. If another injury happens, Ouellet would be the first one called upon I would imagine. Until then, they want him to be playing over 20mins a game down in GR for their playoff run rather than around 15mins up here.

Tim Murray didn't fire Nolan because he believed Teddy was a bad coach or that he did not provide the results the organization expected (which in a way, he did). Rather, because Murray was hired after Nolan was already behind the bench. He inherited Nolan. Now that the McEichel situation is about to be resolved, Murray wants to bring in his own guy so he can be 100% certain the team is going in the direction with which he is happy. It's almost a foregone conclusion whenever a GM is preceded by the coach that, eventually, the GM will replace the coach for his own guy.

A nice compromise. Although, the cynic is me believes if the owners were interested in this compromise, it would've happened already.

My rebuttal to this qualm is pretty basic. As most of us are aware, if you get rid of 3 point games, less teams stay in the hunt for the playoffs as the season wears on. This leads to teams, and more importantly fans, realizing their season is over. Less fan interest in the last 20-30 games of the season results in less tickets being bought, therefore, less overall revenue for teams is generated. When less revenue is generated, owners ***** and moan that they are unable to afford buying another beach house for their mistresses to stay at. Guess what we get at that junction. Yup, more lockouts. A vote against the 3 point system is a vote for future lockouts.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/hobey-baker-finalist-zach-hyman-potential-ufa/ Similar to the Kevin Hayes and Blake Wheeler situation. Here's the low down on Hyman: - 22yrs old - 6'2" 195 lbs - 2014-15 Hobey Finalist (Michigan) "Hyman has above-average speed and is a smooth and shifty skater. He has good lateral quickness and excellent stability on his skates. Hyman has shown dramatic improvement in his defensive and physical play during his college career and plays a disciplined, hard hitting game in his own zone. He has become a quality possession player who takes a lot of defensive zone starts and converts them into up-ice pressure." - Hockeys Future He's one of the leading scorers in college hockey with 54 pts in 37 games, 22 of those being goals. Now the interesting thing is that he plays alongside Dylan Larkin. Clearly there is some great chemistry between the two of them because Hyman had never put up more than 17 pts in his previous 3 seasons before Larkin became his centerman. Hopefully that can be an aspect that the Wings can use to there advantage to lure him. Anyone know anything more about this kid? Other than his Dad, not looking to go down that road for obvious reasons.

Might as well save the capspace and just throw in a shooter tutor. I know Datsyuk has a guy he can call.

Very possible. But it is also possible he does not want to play for the Panthers, which is his right, technically. Many people had the same reaction of "screw him" with Wheeler and Hayes though. Both of those guys have turned out pretty well for the Bruins/Jets and Rangers. And let's say Larkin is the straw that stirs his drink. Hypthetically, would that bother you if they were able to display the same chemistry with the Wings? Highly doubtful.

Watching the game tonight got me thinking about Filppula and his time with the Wings, as well as Hudler. Both of them were young, promising players that ended up leaving during the prime years of their career. No matter how you feel about the two players, at some point or another we could've used them since they've left. There have certainly been numerous occasions the last two seasons that the offense has been asleep for stretches. My question is, what are the reasons you think Tatar and Nyquist will be any different when it comes to their future contracts?

I second that notion. I must've had a lapse in judgment by bringing up Hudler and Fil. I should've known the responses would veer off quicker than a student driver.

I wasn't necessarily saying Hudler and Fil were better or worse than Tatar and Nyquist, rather that during their first couple seasons, most people agreed they would be decent top 6 players for us after the Yzerman/Shanahan era Wings were gone. Because they never made that happen, whether it be through performance or contract circumstances, it did not turn out that way. Why will Nyquist and Tatar be different? Or won't they? Just playing the hypothetical Devils advocate.

Well that basically sums up Jurco's season...

Just heard Ozzie say that as well, haha. If that was Murph, people would claim he was drunk.

Just cuz it's from ESPN doesn't mean LeBrun is just some hack writer. Seems like a irrational reaction. He does some of the best work around the league and is highly respected. If Bobby Mac switched to ESPN, would you brush aside his articles too? Just playing devil's advocate.

Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but why would they chant the back-up goalies name?

Not sure if I heard correctly, but did the NSH crowd just start a "Howard, you suck" chant?

Why so many commercials this period? Breaks are scheduled at less than minute 14, 10, and 6, with maybe one or two unscheduled ones. I feel like there has been double that this period.

99 out of 100 he has that shot...Coach Q knows it too. It happens to every goaltender who's career is worth a damn in the NHL. Moving on...

Pierre wonders why people think he's a creep, and then he says Jimmy Howard has a pretty smile...

Off Topic: too funny seeing some of the old school names that came up in this thread.

Kneecaps...

OEL making sure that Kenny notices him... Ericsson gets a -1 butt patt on that goal as well due to not knowing what to do with the puck behind the net.

1. Jeff Taffe © Linköping 43 17 30 47 1.09 37 7 2. Derek Ryan © Örebro 44 10 32 42 0.95 14 8 3. Broc Little (LW/RW) Linköping 44 22 16 38 0.86 32 11 4. Mathis Olimb © Frölunda 40 6 32 38 0.95 51 18 5. Johan Ryno © Leksand 43 12 24 36 0.84 32 -12 6. Martin Johansson (LW) Örebro 44 21 14 35 0.80 8 9 7. Greg Scott © Brynäs 37 16 19 35 0.95 16 1 8. Jacob Micflikier (LW/RW) Linköping 43 16 19 35 0.81 22 8 9. Erik Christensen © HV71 36 11 24 35 0.97 8 6 10. Bill Sweatt (LW) Brynäs 44 16 18 34 0.77 30 -1 Per EliteProspects.com I remember back during the '05 lockout being pretty stoked when we drafted that kid, but it seemed he never took to earning his spot through GR. He did pretty well during his short stint in GR if I remember correctly, too. Oh well, I'm sure if he was all that some other team with less talent on their roster would have given him an NHL spot to see what he could do. The fact that it never came to that makes me believe he just didn't have what it takes to be in the NHL.

NHL Numbers is still around. I've only poked around there once since CapGeek went down but it seemed to be essentially the same thing.

I think Franson is one of those guys who could really benefit from a change of scenery. Then again, you could say that about every player on the Leafs roster. I think he is definitely a top 4 Dman and his RH shot, as well as his size, would certainly help. On this team however, he is certainly not going to out-earn Kronwall. Personally, I never put much stock in rumors that begin with team X interested in player Y. Virtually every team is interested in adding depth to their blue line this time of year. Each GM who is preparing for a playoff push is going to be interested in each player who is remotely available to him. Therefore, of course Kenny is interested. To what degree, no one but those involved with him truly know.

In no order, Puck Podcast Marek vs wyshynski Hockey central at noon The illegal curve hockey show Those are the only ones I listen to. The others I've listened to just don't have the same consistency of content for me to recommend them. If anyone can offer other podcasts, please do.