egroen

Crosby is just annoying...

At their peaks, Mikita was stronger offensively and defensively -- and was a physical player as well. Mikta even had a long, good career, so Messier doesn't exactly kill him there. Both were playoff beasts as well. (I actually think Top 10, even Top 20 is overrating Messier)

Great team! I'd replace Messier with Mikita.

Hasek has 2 as well.

One of the best! Hope he is with us for a long time.

They're also blocking pucks as a team much better in the regular season than they ever have before -- which is great! In previous years, they seemed to save it for the playoffs... and of course sucked at it (having not done so in the regular season). Pittsburgh, for example, more than made up for a lack of good defense by consistently blocking shots... I'm happy to see the Wings getting better at it.

I keep getting told Green is underrated defensively, and yet every single time I watch him I come away thinking he is atrociously abysmal defensively (Rafalski is much better, for instance). As far as I am concerned, he is overrated defensively.

Blame the NHLPA for diving rarely ever being called nowadays. A couple years ago, officials were really trying to hammer down on it - they were reviewing games and publicly fining players ($2,500) for diving, but the NHLPA had a huge cow over that and they no longer do it. In my opinion, that largely led to the Burrow/Auger situation.

Actually, Yzerman (rightly) publicly questioned some of those trades early in his captaincy, like Oates and MacLean for Federko and McKegney.

I have a feeling someone had a boom mike on that conversation as they circled the rink for that long.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/frequen...Pittsburgh.html I love it!

I was really young, but already playing hockey by 1980 -- watched the Miracle on Ice with my dad and still remember it to this day. Unbelievable! Couldn't not be a fan of the Oilers in the 80s, but always rooted for the Wings, despite them struggling a lot at the time.

They had the right idea when they could review and fine divers, and publish it. The NHLPA freaked out over this, so the refs take it into their own hands... ... but if Auger was doing this, he did it at pretty much the worst possible time, in the closing minutes of a tied game, where his actions potentially affected the outcome of the game.

Give me a break -- another NHL ref outright admitted they do this (off the record, of course), just not when a game is in contention. We all know they do it. Unless they literally had a mike zoomed in on that conversation there is no way to prove Burrow's accusation. "Hey, bad calls happen." This is beer league crap, and while I can understand the NHL wanting to keep it all in-house, I hope it gets seriously looked at.

I didn't mean he had to be great offensively, but I think being a good player either offensively or defensively (like say a Maltby) is a definite huge plus in really getting under an opponent's skin. Avery is a decent player, but not like several already mentioned.

He and Theo Fleury were two guys I was thinking of as well - two feisty little guys with big mouths and could score big goals.

Yes, but the 'out-clause' that if you showed up for the weekend, despite not playing, was created only a couple days before the ASG - when they found out Crosby would not play. Holland did not even bother to tell Lidstrom and Datsyuk they could get out of it - he wanted them resting their injuries. Right. I think the NHL is trying to adopt the NFL's parity and assuming that the success the NFL enjoys is largely due to the fact that 90% of the teams could legitimately win a Super Bowl each and every year.

It was quite simply absurdly unusual the way they scheduled it -- all because of a potential scheduling conflict if a game went into 3rd overtime on the night of one of the talk show host's new show. The Series not only started earlier than usual, but had back-to-back games that had not happened since the early 70s and something like 3 games in 4 nights and 5 games in 8 nights.

I also do not think Avery is a good enough player to earn the distinction of "best agitator". To be truly annoying and consistently throw your opponent off their game, I think you need to also be a great hockey player. A true offensive player or a true defensive stalwart... as that agitates more than anything. So Avery really can not compare to someone like Claude Lemieux or Tikkanen as they can be argued as just as 'annoying' but the fact they back it up with elite play (offensively and defensively) makes it all the more bothersome and grating. Even someone like Holmstrom is probably a much more effective agitator than Avery is -- he scores a lot more goals, and while he may not have Avery's winning personality, his ass is probably #1 on a lot more goalies' and players' lists of 'Annoying Things'.

"Best Agitator" is certainly a difficult one to measure, and compounded further if we consider other eras. My nomination: Ted Lindsay Elbowing and tripping penalties were created largely because of Lindsay's play and he was even barred from Old-Timers games for playing dirty. Almost everyone in the game hated him, on all levels -- a dirty, small player who could back it up with a cheap shot at an unexpected moment (he had a long memory), a fight or with a goal. Upon receiving death threats from Toronto fans in 1956 during the playoffs, Lindsay scored the game winner in over-time and proceeded to skate out to center ice holding his stick up like a machine gun, "shooting" the Toronto fans. I just don't think Avery can come close to that.

Heh... I think back-to-back Cups for the Penguins, in the NHL's eyes, is enough to establish them as a modern day dynasty and Crosby as the greatest captain in history, then they'll be looking for the next story and Pens fans will be bitching with the rest of us

I do not exactly understand that one - other than it is "boring" to see the same team on top year after year. The NHL clearly does not want this. But it's downright weird to note the NHL and its affiliates handling of the Red Wings in commercials -- maybe Detroit really has become the 'Evil Empire' that everyone loves to hate, despite having such a huge and diverse fan base. But it was just a week ago that I was watching a new commercial for NHL apparel, and I turned to my wife and said "I bet there is not a single shot of a Red Wings item"... they probably showed 20+ teams in the commercial, and not a single Winged Wheel. Isn't that strange? Honestly? Again... coincidence most likely. I halfway wonder if Ilitch or Holland has pissed off the Board of Governors a bit too often -- not hard to imagine, what with simply winning constantly, and 'buying' cups.

The rule at the time was you had to play in order to avoid being suspended... Crosby was going to the ASG anyways, for all his endorsement deals, he just had to hop on an earlier flight. The new rule was obviously explicitly created for him and as a result of the way the NHL handed it, Lidstrom and Datsyuk were completely thrown under the bus as "spoiled" players. I can understand not wanting a stupid rule to suspend a star player (just like Malkin in the playoffs last year), but the NHL should take their lumps and fix it for the future, as opposed to blithely ignoring their own rules and finding a way to squirm out of it for certain players. It just reeks, and it is not only Detroit fans that feel screwed. It was the first time in like 40 years that there were back-to-back games in the Stanley Cup Finals -- it was incredibly unusual. Dates were announced after the teams were known. This is not just bitching about penalties and non-calls (which of course any fan is going to notice the ones that hurt his team), these are potential game-changing, series-changing events that continue to stack up in the Penguins favor. The idea of a modern playoff game with 0 penalties to a team is unheard of -- yet it happened for the Penguins in a tightly contested series against the Capitals. It just keeps adding up. The way I look at: Do I think refs in the NHL have purposefully affected the outcome of a game? Yes, of course. The NHL is not immune to it any way. Do I think the NHL had a vested interest in seeing the Penguins win? Of course. By no means is that even close to an indictment, it just means I would not be surprised if there was something going on... it's an awful lot of coincidences in favor of the 'chosen' team. Let's face it -- it was awfully ballsy of FSN Pittsburgh to withold the key camera angle from Toronto - but they did it, and in an insignificant game to boot! It would not surprise me that a culture has been created in Pittsburgh that they can simply get away with these things and that the league will turn a blind eye to situations which inherently favor Pittsburgh. I am not convinced of it, I just would not be very surprised if it turned out to be true.

With the heightened intensity of the playoffs, rebound control is so vital.... and Osgood is still a lot better than Howard at it. Hiller last year gave up a ton of juicy rebounds, despite playing unbelievable... and while the Ducks were superb at clearing most of them, it had a lot to do with why the Red Wings won in the end, IMO. Giguere does not give up rebounds like that.

I think something very unusual needs to happen for Osgood to not be the starter this year in the post-season. Assuming Osgood struggles again in the regular season next year, the final year of his contract, is when management strongly considers making the transition.