egroen

Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!!!

Eaves might be a better bet than Pyatt - it will be interesting to see. I would have loved Malhotra instead, as well as Prospal over one of Williams/Bertuzzi -- but Holland has done a pretty god job of stacking the deck for Detroit in the depth department this off-season. Not bad considering how free agency started.

Of course -- but age had nothing to do with Lidstrom's injury. Tendinitis is another matter. Ericsson did not need emergency surgery to remove his spotted liver - it was his appendix. Lilja and Kopecky were not out of the playoffs because of calcium-deprived brittle bones. Same for Datsyuk or Cleary. Draper's and Holmstrom's injuries are not unusual for older players, but Rafalski's were more than can be reasonably be expected for an older player.

Ah yes, another "The End is Nigh" for the Red Wings article -- one of these years they have to be right. I wouldn't be too concerned that they invited Luongo, Brodeur, Mason and Fleury ahead of Osgood. Yes, it was old age that caught up to them in the playoffs, and not an incredible rash of freak injuries resulting in 70+ man games lost to injury in the playoffs. If only Lidstrom was younger, perhaps his testicles would not have been hanging to his knees for Patrick Sharp to easily spear.

I'd say Crosby is "grittier", but Datsyuk is easily the better hitter.

Just thinking out loud.... Datsyuk is better on the PP (and PK) Better in shootouts (obviously not relevant to the playoffs) Better at hitting (Pav's hits are calculated masterpieces)

Hmmm.. that is true and I never it never really was apparent to me. Hopefully Franzen can lick that problem. The team in the Finals needed scoring... I would have been curious what Hudler could have done with more minutes - maybe nothing, but I'd like to see Babcock take that chance more in the future.

Crosby has also been injured in the regular season, which I count as a negative (you do nothing for your team when you are not playing). In the past two seasons Datsyuk has 194 pts to Crosby's 175. Including the past 3 seasons it is Datsyuk 281 to Crosby's 295 -- Datsyuk's two-way play more than makes up for the point gap.

The backhand is sort of a lost art form, with the advent of curved sticks. Gordie Howe was ambidexterous and had one of the sweetest backhands ever. Gretzky straightened his stick, and had a great one as well. Nowadays - Malkin and Crosby both have nice ones. Martin St. Louis has a sweet one. From the Wings: Zetterberg has one of the best in the league, and Datsyuk and Franzen have shown nice ones a few times.

Zetterberg's health and regular season play is exactly why I still would put him behind Datsyuk. This whole Crosby vs. Datsyuk is like Lemieux vs. Gretzky -- you might think Lemieux was a better player and had more talent than Gretzky, but you really can't rank him ahead of Gretzky simply because he didn't actually accomplish it, and Gretzky did. I may think Datsyuk right now brings more to the table than Crosby, but he simply has not backed up my opinion of him in the playoffs, outside of 2008.... not yet. So I have to vote on tangible results, and that puts Crosby ahead of Datsyuk for me. Datsyuk has an edge in the regular season IMO, but Crosby has given himself more of an edge in the playoffs. I also factor injuries, and for 2 of 4 years, Datsyuk has now been injured in the playoffs, making him less valuable to his team.

Cloutier is only 32 --I have no problem with him here to nip at Howard's heels. From my limited persective, Howard can use it.

Bertuzzi 2009: 2 fights 2008: 3 fights Ericsson 2009 NHL: 2 fights 2008 AHL: 5 fights Eaves 2009: 2 fights Stuart 2008: 1 fight 2006: 3 fights Lilja 2009: 3 fights 2008: 3 fights Doctor's orders to never fight again: 1 Abdelkader 2009 AHL: 5 fights Cleary 2008: 1 fight Datsyuk 2009: 1 fight Franzen 2008: 1 fight Maltby 2006: 1 fight Maybe Maltby will go down swinging in his final year Sheesh, this list was a little depressing putting together... The one area we are definitely lacking in depth.

Babcock "decided" to toughen down? How did he go about that? Was he the one responsible for all those freak injuries? Was it because he did not play Downey or McCarty in the playoffs? Or do you seriously think pulling Abdelkader was the death knell of the wings this year? For the most part, Abdelkader looked no better than Kopecky out there in the playoffs. The Wings had already been playing 3 other AHLers by that time, and I can hardly fault him for going with 2 proven veteran leaders with 4 Cup rings apiece over Abdelkader. Just seems strange to blame Babcock here. Nursing a Stanley Cup hangover, a lot of teams have not even made the playoffs following a win - Babcock kept them in the hunt for the President's Trophy. And I do not care how good a team you have - 70+ man games lost to injury in the playoffs will wipe out anyone - the fact Babcock got them to Game 7 of the Finals is pretty damn impressive. Calgary, by comparison, dealing with similar injuries was swept in the first round. And if you think Bowman is infallible, you'll have to explain Buffalo to me. Bowman also tried to trade Yzerman, until Ilitch put his foot down.

In 1995 Scotty Bowman had no counter to the Devils and their trap and was swept in the Finals. In 1996 Bowman and the Wings set the regular season wins record but did not even make it to the Cup Finals. Those were healthy teams, unlike this past year's -- no coach is infallible.

The largest reason I take solace in how injured the Wings were, is because it REALLY irritates Penguins fans to bring it up.

I think he will be given the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of the season, but might struggle to maintain it. Flip's playmaking usually comes about from generating opportunities with his strong backchecking and puck-carrying abilities (at even strength) -- and not necessarily from quick, accurate passes or going strong to the net -- so I am not sure if he will ever be that strong of a PP performer. One thing that might keep him on it is he is strong at faceoffs -- Williams is decent but will probably be on the point; Cleary and Franzen seem to be good, but do not take nearly as much. Ultimately, I just see Filppula, Leino, Bertuzzi and Cleary rotating in and out of the 2nd PP unit for a while before something sticks.

Without Tomas "Glass Jaw" Kopecky, I don't see more than 4.

If the league voided Pronger's contract, it would be a benefit to Phily... that contract itself is punishment enough (cap hit pretty much guaranteed to be on the books until Pronger is 42, whether he is playing or not).

I voted Williams -- simply because I think he has the least competition for the 2nd Power Play Unit, a righty on the point who has been there before. Not a single other player up there is a lock for the 2nd line or 2nd PP... and there could be a lot of shuffling. Unless Williams screws it up pretty bad (very possible) I think he will have the most time of all of them on the PP.

I do believe, right now, Datsyuk is a better player than Crosby and Malkin -- as I do believe his defense and all-around game more than makes up for the offensive rift. However, Datsyuk has been disappointing to good in the playoffs, while Malkin and Crosby have been nothing short of great (though not necessarily in every series) and that tips the scales for me. I think Datsyuk is capable of more of what we saw in 2008, but I just have not seen enough of it to put him ahead overall right now.

Crosby.

May as well hand Phoenix the Cup now....

I honestly have trouble putting Datsyuk ahead of Ovechkin, Malkin and Crosby right now because those three have now done significantly better than Datsyuk in the playoffs. Datsyuk has had injuries, but there is no denying he is not up to their level in the post-season. Lidstrom, however, should still be in the talks -- he is still probably the best two-way player in the game, despite losing a step this past year. He has also always been great in the playoffs.

I'd agree at face value +/- is pretty useless, and is often used in appropriately when comaring different players, but within the correct context, I think it is still a useful stat.

In all honesty, this is relatively new territory for Ozzie -- as I would never consider him a premier playoff goalie (instead, just a solid goalie who could find a way to win) until the past two years. Consider his regular season save % and playoffs save % vs. the league average over the two periods (numbers at even strength): 1998-2007: Season: Osgood .913, League .916 Playoffs: Osgood .920, League .927 2008-2009: Season: Osgood .910, League .919 Playoffs: Osgood .948, League .927 Can Osgood literally flip a switch in the playoffs? Has he become a better goalie with his change in style? Or did he simply get hot at the right moment? Last year he was not mentally prepared to get up for the minor importance of regular season games, and the Detroit offense allowed for that to happen. Not sure we will be so lucky this year, so it becomes imperative Osgood steps it up significantly in the regular season, as well as the post-season -- he does not even have Ty Conklin to bail him out this year. This will be a telling year for me, in regards to Osgood and the whole "is he a Hall of Famer" debate.