egroen

He didn't even list them all... Ericsson called for phantom interference while Gill was routinely allowed to bear-hug players at the line A brand new, last-minute rule created so Crosby would not be suspended for not playing in the All-Star Game Phantom goalie interference on Holmstrom The crazy, very unusual schedule last year that clearly and inherently favored one team over the other Yeah, it could be coincidence, but it really is adding up.

I honestly expect nothing to come about this... Bettman will barely have to dust off his canned "we have the best refs in the world; they have a tough job to do; they get it right 99.99% of the time" and that will be that. At the very least, you probably will not see Auger in any playoff games, hopefully.

Worse, with an official currently in jail for betting on games and effecting their outcomes (and wrote a book stating it was common practice amongst officials). Large part of the reason I can barely watch the NBA any more. Though at least in the NBA you are not surprised by the BS calls (always favor the "star") while in the NHL there is often no rhyme-nor-reason to them -- unless Pittsburgh is playing.

Well what does it say? Bork! Bork! Lidstrom never makes an announcement about his status during the season... not too worked up over it.

Hate seeing this kind of reffing and have no doubt it goes on all the time. Happy a player said something about it, and even more happy it was a player on another team (he is never going to get a favor from a ref for the rest of his career).

I hope so, as Lebda probably has more trade value right now...

wrong thread.....

Kocur didn't fight nearly as much as Probert (which makes Probert the king - would fight anyone and still rarely lost), but won the vast majority of them, often with one punch. Grimson didn't become a particularly good fighter until later in his career. Red Kelly was a Golden Gloves boxer -- how many NHL players can say that? -- though he fought rarely. Dave Hanson (from the movie Slapshot) was in 3 fights in less than a dozen games with Detroit in the 70s

If you want to make it fighters from the past couple of decades or so, fine... but you do not need to tarnish Howe as fighter in the process. Gordie fought plenty, just not as much as what we have come to think of as "enforcers" (no one fought that much back then, and fighting majors were not handed out like candy back then, either). But his destroying of Lou Fontinato in 1959 was the modern day equivalent of someone like Iginla breaking in the face of Laraque or Chara, two of the unquestioned toughest guys to ever play the game. Of course Gordie Howe was an excellent fighter.

This kind of thing would be funny in a movie... but only when we have allowed reality to be so diminished that we accept Charlie Sheen and Paul Newman as professional athletes.

Kronwall is really underrated -- he would be a #1 D star on a lot of other teams. 52 pts last year on the 2nd defensive pairing, definitely better offensively than defensively right now, but consider: he had one less point than Campbell last year for half the salary -- and unlike Campbell, Kronwall plays in all situations. If Kronwall hit free agency he would be fielding offers of $6m+ right now.

Although all 4 cups have come with the wings rolling 4 lines, and with a lot of depth scoring. Tougher to do with a cap, but hudler at such a price helps a lot. If your top lines are also checking lines it is nice if your checking lines can also chip in offensively.

Hudler + bertuzzi/Williams is much better than frolov. Hudler could take guys like helm and eaves and make a bonafide scoring line out of it.

Amateur games are completely different than pro games - I really would not have a problem if NHL rinks were slightly larger to reflect that difference in speed, skill and size. That's what I pay the big bucks to watch. New amateur rinks built could have the larger rinks, existing ones could be expanded or they could keep them the same size... I don't see a huge problem. The benefit to the NHL game would be worth it, at the very least.

Of course I want it different - or I would save all my money and watch high school games. I don't pretend to have a blueprint to go about making it happen, but adding 7 ft to the width of NHL arenas does not seem like an impossible feat to me.

Did you think Bettman took over in 2002 or something?

Then they need to go back to wooden sticks and old skates... not only are the players bigger, faster and stronger, but they are using equipment that allows them to skate faster and shoot harder. It's gotten to be too much and there's not enough room out there for us fans to me 'wowed' as often as we used to be... I am also convinced it's a large reason for all the injuries. Pads have already been touched upon in this thread - I agree. Ultimately, I do believe they need to do something... I just think the rink size should be increased to accommodate the huge difference in speed and size we see now, versus 50 years ago. Rule changes are a huge part of hockey, nothing wrong with trying to make the game better -- or do you wish the forward pass was still illegal?

I am convinced the 'solution' will simply be expansion. Yes, there is absolutely no question that more teams and more AHL-caliber players on the ice for the stars to school will result in more goals, but I am really against it for a variety of reasons.

When anyone points to Bettman, and how profits and revenues have increased over his tenure, they are missing the point. The NHL was exploding in popularity at the time he took over, and has failed to keep that pace nor match with the growth of numerous other major sports -- I think of all the profits and revenues 'missed' and the growth not realized with Bettman at the helm.

Lol, yeah that point really deflated his whole article.

I would love for them to seriously take a look at expanding the rink size. I was pleasantly surprised to see Devallano in favor of the same thing in a recent issue of the Hockey News -- players are bigger and faster than they were 50 years ago, give them some more space. I also think we would see less injuries out there. Tough to see increased goal scoring when half the NHL's stars are out with an injury. NHL rinks are 85' wide and Olympic rinks are 100' feet wide.... somewhere right in the middle would be perfect, IMO.

I know a lot of cops that are heavy, heavy drinkers and use their badge as a 'free drunk driving' pass. Side issue, but it really peeves me off. Nice post. MADD really has become an abolitionist movement.

So can having a conversation with the person in the car with you (and talking on the phone, texting, fiddling with the radio, eating, etc...). Obviously after a few drinks, talking to the person next to you, sending a text and eating a burrito at the same time while driving is not a good idea Great post from gcom earlier!

Assuming there is no lasting damage (which they could be, especially in Franzen's case), some of these guys got some much needed rest after all the long post-season runs, and could come back and light it up.

Yeah, the part about the offense carrying Osgood in the playoffs is pretty dumb... I think he had him confused with Fleury - Not too often will you see a Stanley Cup winning goalie with a .908 SV% nowadays.