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I remember many on this forum were high on Latendresse and wanted the Wings to draft him not only in the 2nd round, but also even in the 1st round of the 2005 draft. Latendresse was taken shortly after by Montreal and has now played two seasons in the NHL all ready. Knocks were that he was not defensively responsible and not a very good skater - all true. But he still projects to be a top 2 line power forward and has had over 30 goals in the NHL (amongst the 4th most of his draft class to date). I like him just because he had a run in with Patrick Roy. Roy had said he thinks the only reason 19-year-old rookie Latendresse remains with the Canadiens is because he's a francophone, suggesting if he was named Smith or Brown he'd be back in the Quebec major junior league. Guillaume talked briefly about it. '"It's me who's supposed to be 19, not him," said Latendresse. "I will act like a man. I'll leave it to him to act like a child. I don't know why he's acting like that. I've never spoken to him. He should be delighted by the success of young Quebecers in the NHL instead of making stupid comments." Ultimately, Kindl and Abdelkader were chosen because they could be held back in the organization for a long time and develop... and they fit the Red Wings "mold" more... but just curious what others think.

This kind of crazy thing happens from time to time. I knew a kid in highschool who fell out of his bed and his heart stopped working; another in college who was just about to start his morning jog when the same thing happened. Honestly, being right at a sporting facility is usually one of the best places to be for this to happen. That the ambulance was gone and there was no defibrillator did not help though, but I bet he was receiving chest compressions almost right away. My friend in college was seen when he collapsed and was in a hospital within ten minutes, but still did not come through. I also really, really feel bad for Jagr... I doubt he has the Ivan Drago attitude of Shoreline, "If he dies, he dies."

Neither Cleary nor Mule are nearly as good at setting up plays as Hudler is, but Hudler is being pantsed out there by other teams' checking lines right now. Cleary makes things happen and is full of energy, but he has had some awful giveaways so far... it's early and it will be interesting which line combos really mesh. Everyone looks a little "off" so far.

I may be rumor-mongering, but I hear it may be "from non-incidental contact" with Jagr??? http://newyorktrueblue.wordpress.com/2008/...uring-khl-game/ Please feel free to delete this if I am out of line. Obviously a terrible tragedy.

I'm genuinely suprised Holland could get nothing for him.

It's an interesting question to ask yourself: Do you want hockey to be a number one sport in the US? I'm not sure -- Pros: I might actually get to see and listen to hockey news, discussion and replays on TV and the radio. Access to games will certainly be easier. Favorite players will make a lot more money. Hockey as a sport will grow at all levels. Cons: Bandwagon and ill-informed fans. Will favorite players become prima-donas? Hmmm... not that many cons, but I do love that most hockey fans nowadays have either played the sport or are at least pretty knoweledgeable about the sport and its history. Kinda like your favorite band before it gets signed to a major label and your average tween is yelling, "OMG! I love Franzen!!!" You want them to have success, but you lose that fun "elitist" feeling you had when you were one of the few people able to appreciate their talent.

This is what Chicago, Nashville and other teams from the central have been using so effectively against the Wings over the past year. Obviously it is catching on. They need to stop the fancy passes when they are being relentlessly forechecked like that (bad passes lead to numerous turnovers and icings).

In the Ducks' Cup year they gooned it up at the end of every single losing game and often came out with fire the next. That team obviously responded very well to it... ironically, with the more classy Neidermayer as captain. Last year, with Pronger as captain, they rarely showed any of that passion as a team towards the end of a loss. With the Wings make up, if they tried to pull some thuggery at the end of a loss they would end up with their faces wiping the ice... so definitely not a good idea! I think the solution is to just never lose.

Wings looked like they had never played together and the Maple Leafs looked like they were playing a game 7 in the playoffs. What a buzzkill! Hopefully this will be a nice kickstart.

Iginla isn't nearly as bad as Messier... Messier has pulled some rotten sh!t throughout his career. Sometimes that style works really well though to rally a team, but I definitely prefer the Yzerman style of captain.

I think this may help finally answer the question burning in everyones' minds: "Is Finger for real???"

I don't like Avery but admit he is great for the sport. The canned, "Aw shucks... the team that works hardest is going to win it... " interviews are boring. It's nice to see some guys with character speak their minds -- Hull and Roenik in the past, Avery and Ovechkin nowadays.

I love to see fighting as well, but it is almost an embarrassment of riches the Wings are suffering from right now. It is hard to put Downey in over Helm and Leino, when they are such better players in every aspect of the game except fighting. I wish we could combine McCarty and Downey. Take: Downey's toughness and fighting ability Downey's penchant for drawing penalties Downey's lack of dumb penalties McCarty's better hockey sense McCarty's much better scoring touch McCarty's decent defense And you have a guy I would like to see in every single game during the regular season.

Apparently better eyes than mine have seen indications of Lidstrom, who has been almost a unanimous choice for the Norris, really losing his game. Sports writers predict a lot of things to garner attention and readers, but I am always curious what their predictions would be if they were betting real money on it. For instance, I am not sure I have seen a single prediction that Brodeur wins the Vezina... but if I were to lay any real money down and wanted the best chance of seeing it back, my money is on Brodeur. But that is boring.

You are such a weirdo (not necessarily a bad thing, mind you)... Have you even played team sports? Have you ever been a captain? I can not imagine just sitting out because you're not sure if you want to play or not... especially as a captain. What sort of message does that send to your team? At a pro level, the implications are exponentially increased because your actions directly affect the GMs team personel decisions, and even more so with a salary cap. Bad captain. Pretty simple... does not make him a bad person, but that is a terrible thing to put your GM and team through as a captain of a team. Maybe you would be fine with that as a player, but I would be really disappointed in my captain and obviously disheartened at his lack of drive and passion for the team. Would not exactly inspire me to give my 110% every night.

Love it!

GS&T - Are you seriously implying it would be fine and dandy and peachy keen if Lidstrom just sat at home for most of next season, not sure if he wanted to play out his contract or not.

If Yzerman decided to "unretire" I would have no problem with it... but that is not what Neidermayer, their captain, did. He held the team captive by NOT making any decision whatsoever. He did not retire, he did not say he would play, he just did nothing... that is a terrible position to put a team and GM in, and there are still paying for it. I lost respect for Favre because he whined to the press when it looked like the team had moved on after his retirement and he might only get the backup position. If Yzerman came out of retirement, I highly doubt he would be whining if he only made it back as a 4th liner, or even did not make the team at all.

Two players I lost a lot of respect for. I would be extremely pissed and let down if Yzerman or Lidstrom ever did something like that. I do fully believe he was not colluding with Burke, however, because that team is still suffering from the salary cap hell Neidermayer helped put them in.

I can not believe Campbell had as many votes for the Norris as Lidstrom. Campbell would literally have to put up Coffey-type numbers to beat out Lidstrom, whose defense is easily ten times that of Campbell. Phneuf's defense is very lacking as well, but because he can hit, everyone seems to forget that.

It's more about his stupid penalties this game for me. And yes, Franzen looked awesome.

Leino is well outproducing Brunnstrom so far. I will forever tie these two players together and compare them.

I think it will be Downey or Mac... man, Downey was a piece of turd tonight, though. There will be plenty of injuries, there aways is... and Leino and Help will be called upon often, especially if it is to anyone in the top 3 lines.

Lidstrom did outperform his competition in points by a greater percentage than Ovechkin did, despite Lidstrom missing more games. In addition to leading all defensemen offensively, he was at the top defensively, as well. Not too shabby of a year. The 65 goals is pretty unique, but so is the best defensive defenseman leading all defensemen offensively as well. A case can be made for Datsyuk as well - both of them were better than Iginla and Malkin, IMO.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=466980 A bit of a cry-baby? yes. But he has outperformed Hedburg in every conceivable way. Atlanta really is the most poorly run organization in the NHL.