egroen

Ahhh... that must be why Phil Housely won so many Stanley Cups and they shortened the usual waiting period for him to get into the Hall of Fame. History has shown that the truly great and most valuable defensemen of all-time, have excelled both offensively and defensively. In fact, that is exactly the type of player (Red Kelly) the Norris trophy was created in order to recognize.

Could it be.... both? :wow:

In other words, let's drop all the awards and start calling the Rocket Richard the Hart?

Pronger has slid defensively this year.... Phily fans will even admit it. Lower +/- on a team that is better than Detroit 5 on 5. Ovechkin has the best +/- in the league --- Do you have him down to win the Selke this year?

Fetisov, Larionov, Tretiak and Kharlamov are the only great pre-NHL guys in (I believe). There are plenty who are deserving... but I think the committee (almost all old north-american dudes) still harbors a lot of resentment from the cold war days.

Most likely Howard will join an esteemed list of Red Wings who were runner-up for the Calder: 2003: Zetterberg (behind Jackman) 1992: Lidstrom (behind Bure) 1991: Fedorov (behind Belfour) 1984: Yzerman (behind Barrasso 1966: Bert Marshall (behind Selby) 1963: Doug Barkley (behind Douglas) 1960: Murray Oliver (behind Hay) 1954: Earl Reibel (behind Henry) 1947: Jim Conacher (behind Meeker) 1941: Johnny Mowers (behind Quilty) 1936: Bucko McDonald (behind Karakas) A few other notable Red Wings, who were not Wings at the time they were runner-ups: 2000: Brad Stuart (behind Gomez) 1999: Hossa was runner-up to Drury 1988: Ray Sheppard (behind Nieuwendyk) 1985: Chelios (behind Lemieux) 1982: Larry Murphy (behind Statsny) Roger Crozier was the last Red Wing to win it in 1965! Glenn Hall won in 1956. Terry Sawchuk won in 1951. Jim McFadden won in 1948. And Carl Voss won it the first year it was awarded, in 1933.

Well, it is technically the Hockey Hall of Fame, and not the NHL Hall of Fame - though clearly there is a big bias there. Makarov is better than probably 75% of the players already in. Then you have Mark Howe who is blacklisted largely because he jumped to the WHA.

Rask, Neimi and Halak do not have enough games to be up for the Vezina - which puts Jimmy firmly at #3 in both SV% and GAA. I understand and accept his age will be used against him - but then they should go ahead and change the definition of a "rookie" if that is the case. Age really should have nothing to do with the voting, when talking about which rookie is having the best season.

It's not a shock all these kids go on to have alcohol and drug problems. Brian Shaw is another guy who ruined the lives of many young hockey players - like John Kordic (drug overdose at the age of 27).

Nope - and it's a travesty. Makarov is easily the best player *not* in the Hall of Fame right now... he better get in this year. Krutov is not in either, largely because he did by far the least of the 3 in the NHL (thanks to a fondness of American fast food). Igor also has a huge edge on Pavel in playoffs and tournament play.

I'm impressed he managed to work Crosby in there for an award he never even won. If it's close, and it is - Howard's age will be used against him by the writers. Which really sucks. Howard very well could be a finalist for the Vezina, while Myers will definitely not be there for the Norris.

Larionov was a better passer, had better vision and most have not mentioned his defensive play, which contributed a LOT to what made the KLM line so great. This is actually a tough one... Datsyuk is by far the more creative player and has more physical talent. I think I would give Larionov the slight advantage in prime play right now (though Datsyuk could pass him if he keeps it up for a few more years). Larionov's career will always be more impressive than Datsyuk's.

Wrong team and time to flaunt the participation award to, and I'm surprised you received so much sympathy here. Not since the 70s has the Division Title meant a thing around here.... sure Lions fans would parade the streets, but not Red Wings fans. Go ahead and enjoy it, but don't fool yourself into thinking it really means much to the rest of us.

Nope. I have faith that Babcock will bench Williams. I truly believe Williams could have contributed to this team (he has talent), but his injury is one he simply has not recovered fully from, and he is ineffectual out there right now. Management has to see that.

Phine with a P-H! Campbell has only been consistent with his inconsistencies.

I'm favoring New Jersey from the East, though who really knows... whomever it is will get beat. The West is ridiculous this year and whichever team is lucky enough to escape this year will still have enough in them to beat an Eastern team with an easy road. I won't lie, I'll be really disappointed if that team from the West is not the Wings.

That job better pay. Would definitely suck to hear everyone bitching about Shanahan constantly (though there's no conceivable way he could be worse than Campbell).

Lol, I can't stand Messier nowadays... so we have an award like American Idol now? Sweet. Oh, I'll agree with you that Lidstrom played a very important role in the leadership of this team; well beyond his few years as Captain... but we'll just be those old guys grumbling to ourselves over a pint one of these days - there just won't be any arguments for it at some point, when it is not fresh in peoples' minds.

Are you kidding me??? If Lidstrom does not win this it is an insult! Th award is such a farce, I wouldn't be surprised if it went to Ovechkin

Wings could literally be up 8-1 right now.... 8-3 if Howard was not playing so well.

If Bertuzzi did that on purpose he is frickin' amazing.

Wings have that '08 look to them.

Awww.... I kinda liked E_S_A_D He must have done something I didn't see, because his posts never seemed to cross the line to me. Oh, and OP - agreed. Though I am honestly not sure if that is a good thing for this team, however. The reason being is it is not part of their ingrained, perfected 'style'. I think part of the reason the Ducks have given the Wings so much trouble is that they successfully throw the Wings off their 'game', and get them playing chippy - which is fun to watch, but I don't think the Wings (at least this team) excel at that sort of play (they do well playing with grit, but not necessarily a chip on their shoulder). I think we could see them play more successfully with that style in the future, with a lot of the prospects coming up.

The FAQ here is a great source: http://www.nhlscap.com/cap_faq.htm

Yep... their cap hit will be larger than what the sites report now because those incentives have not officially been rolled over yet (like $3 to $5m I believe). Though with Campbell out, it will allow some of it to be used this year (though not a lot of it).