NeverForgetMac25

Obviously pressure pays off but if the players doing so have rocks for hands, not only will the goals be few and far between, the talent of the opposition will more often than not have them chasing in their own zone the entire shift thus negating their effectiveness.

Only to an extent. Guys like Abdelkader, while hard-workers simply don't have the natural talent to stack up with other teams' top-6. Obviously it will help bridge the gap, but you're still going to have too sizable of a space for it to even matter. That's why the term "role players" exists.

Please! All that's going to happen by sticking anyone else in that slot is wasted space and poor matchups. Has Bert's defensive play been weaker than it was earlier in the season: you bet. Does anyone below him have the ability to put the puck in the net better: no.

It's not the stink for his sins that caused the discount, its that he plays without the edge he used to due to it. Not only that, his career is winding down and he's not as effective as he once was. How many great offensive players you know kept up their numbers toward the end? While Bert's defensive play isn't typical of most great Red Wings we've come to be used to, it's certainly improved leaps and bounds. How many players can say that at this point in their careers? Perhaps we're saying one in the same and I just misunderstood you.

As opposed to who in the current lineup that would make it better? ...and I stated that.

As can any pair of players, they absolutely can independently suck or excel, but the point of my post was simply a response to another. Nothing more, nothing less.

Really? Could've fooled me.

While its true that ShanahanMan started the derail, you responded regarding Fil's play. If you can do that, anyone has the right to respond back...*especially* when my post was related to Bertuzzi's level of play given it pertains to the OP.

Neither was I. My point is that Bert is playing equally well if not better than Filppula who should be playing far better given the salary he was awarded for his potential and at the same time given the fact that he's in the prime of his career where as Bert's is winding down. I don't understand how this point has been missed.

First and foremost, I find it convenient that you only quoted the footnote of my post. The initial guts of it had everything to do with what I was talking about. That being said, when someone chimes in and slightly derails a thread by knocking one Wing to make their favorite seem better, especially when they are wrong...I'm gonna call them out on it. Not every post is going to 100% only relate to the topic on hand, and I'm not about to (nor should anyone) break up a post into two threads because you thought you understood what I was talking a bout. You clearly didn't, because I wasn't really bitching about Val. The point was the poster I was responding to called out Bert in order to make a stronger argument for Val. My response showed simply how strong Bert has been for his salary. The minor jab thrown out at Filppula was just that, a minor jab. But if you really feel that way, we could always watch every single one of your posts and dump anything within them that doesn't 100% relate to the thread title/OP at hand. Seems pretty silly to me........

Let's paint it then. Bert's well passed the prime years of his career while Val is in the heart of his. He makes over a million dollars less than Filppula, yet he has more points. Val's got a 2 point edge in +/-, but as was just mentioned before Bert's got a 2 point advantage. Bert has rounded out his game in an area he's lacked most of his career, while Fil's PPG ratio (which we've been waiting a few years to see make a serious move) has dropped slightly. When Kenny signed Val, he said the term and dollar amount were for his potential. So far, Val hasn't lived up to it where as Bert earned his modest raise.

Hi, My name is the Salary Cap. Have we met?

Friday, January 7 Carolina at Florida Toronto at Atlanta Ottawa at Chicago NY Rangers at Dallas Detroit at Calgary Edmonton at Vancouver x2 Columbus at Anaheim Saturday, January 8 New Jersey at Philadelphia NY Islanders at Colorado Boston at Montreal Tampa Bay at Ottawa Minnesota at Pittsburgh Florida at Washington Nashville at San Jose NY Rangers at St. Louis Buffalo at Phoenix Detroit at Vancouver Columbus at Los Angeles Sunday, January 9 Atlanta at Carolina Tampa Bay at New Jersey Dallas at Minnesota NY Islanders at Chicago San Jose at Anaheim

Sidenote: The picture in the OP of Salei "finishing" (pun intended) his check! No comment.

Sidenote: David Steckel went to high school with my wife.

Trust me, *Everyone* will be in before mindfly says the Wings will lose.

Zettertrain....that's good stuff! It's always entertaining to see stuff like this. I wish we had video of the boys during the Huntington Beach Police simulation. Anyone remember this gem? “I with Homer and Fill,” Datsyuk said. “We special KGB group, me and Homey and Fill. We have European style, jump in and everybody shoot. Ask later, who still alive.

I think we're both missing each others' points. I agree with what you're saying about "owning" a sport, but I also believe countries are far superior at certain sports than others. That's my point.

Never did I claim it wasn't. I was simply stating the fact that Canada produces more top-end hockey players than the US. With that, the US produces leaps and bounds far more talented football players than any other country. Nothing more, nothing less.

I'm not necessarily agreeing with the poster your debating with, but I have a hard time saying Canada doesn't produce a greater amount of talented hockey players than the USA. The same can be said for the US producing football players that no one in the world has come close to matching at this point. Sidenote: Just because you can rattle off a few great players from other countries, doesn't mean those particular countries can produce the amount of top-end players as another country can.

Fixed it for you. Sorry, but I'm just so sick of hearing people say the Wings don't know how to play a full 60 minutes. Obviously they haven't lately but it sure didn't seem to be an issue when the lineup was healthy. Take a look at any other team at any serious level and you'll find lapses and games where they don't "play" the full 60 minutes. This isn't some solely Red Wing-centric problem like far too many make it out to be.

So this one time, I blast a shot from 3,000 feet out and it splits in two upon impact! So, can I buy you a drink? Better yet, you wanna buy me one?

Nice answer by the USA after the Swedes set up a tense finish! 4-2 USA w/ 1:53 Remaining.

You telling someone else to open their eyes....Oh, the irony.