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How is this even a question? Hudler, hands down. Followed closely recently by Jimmy Howard... After them, Salei gets bashed for not being the 2nd greatest shutdown defenseman of all time (Andreas Lilja).

I cannot stand Brian Burke. As most of us on LGW would probably agree, this dude is just arrogant and kind of a joke. He left Vancouver in shambles when he left, short of the Sedin twins (who underachieved until he left), left Anahiem a complete Salary Cap disaster while losing Bryzgalov and others for next to nothing, and now has single handedly set Toronto back at least another few years by the epic disaster known as the Phil Kessel trade. I feel bad for the Toronto fans, but as Shanahan said once, it almost didn't/doesnt matter who they ice, the fans think they have a chance at the Cup. It's just too bad because had Burke not made that deal, they'd already be much closer to being competitive for a longer period of time. On top of that, "Neon" Dion Phaneuf's rockstar mentality that Burke loves could easily do more harm than good in that locker room. It's just a mess. He makes trades based on players so called "blue and white" disease (because playing for Toronto is every players dream) but brings in players with volitle personalities and other problems at a huge long-term cost to the franchise. Makes me thankful for Kenny and Co. My sympathy aside, I can't imagine the ensuing delusion and prideful, chaotic ranting that would ensue if ever they were to even remotely challenge for the Cup. I'm sure it would easily eclipse Chicago's dreamland of hockey dominance.

OK. That commercial is certainly suspect. It's also curious that of all our players, Jimmy would have a commercial. Here's my beef, we have been trashing Howard the last two months. With more than one member essentially calling for his head. Jimmy is not playing great, that's for sure. Now the "Osgood is going to save the world" posters ar coming out. None of our goalies have been exceptional or game-stealing this year. Can we please give this kid a break. The Red Wings have almost never played in front of Howard the kind of defensive hockey that they're capable of. Howard didn't play in '08 when we iced the best team I've ever seen. But, Howard showed that he is capable of stealing games and carrying this team during a season where we seen more adversity than we have in 15 years. He let in some soft goals in the playoffs, but terrible officiating and inconsistant play cost us more. He started this year strong but has been inconsistent since. If the playoffs started today, I would not be comfortable with Howard as our starter, i might even give JMac the nod. That said, Howard has the highest GAA of any goalie over the last few seasons that's played a significant number of games for the Wings...except for OSGOOD! Howard, at very least, has been a decent/adequate starter, while Osgood has made a career out of being a DECENT goalie. Osgood is has a long history of giving up the untimely and soft goals that Howard is getting flack for, as well as recently giving up goals in which he has seemed to forget where he's even suppossed to be in the net positionally. While Ozzie has had playoff success (with 08 and 09 possibly being the best he's ever played), I personally can count the number of times that he has undeniably "stolen" games, on one hand. Last year, I watched Howard play Hart Trophy hockey for three months while we iced the Grand Rapids Griffins. He has been replaced before, arguably because he isn't/wasn't a frontline starter. His best numbers/best season were in a season where our defence was the best I've ever seen and he only played half the games. On top of all this, until late last season when he apparently concedied to the fact that it wasn't doing him any good, he openly complained to the media about how his play wasn't his fault. Whether it was his defence not playing well, not getting enough games in a row, or Babcock's personal mission to destroy his career and confidance (ala Mike Commodore), he just wouldn't take responsibility. That's un-Red Wing like, and I'd bet if he wasn't Chris Osgood, because of his play and attitude he would have been gone already. Ozzie has gave us some great memories and deserves his place in Wings history. I don't hate Osgood, I just don't have the same unrealistic view of what he is as a goaltender as some. I believe it should be a certainty, with his level of play and recent injury, that he does not start in the playoffs. Going by the Nabokov saga and Holland's pedigree, I imagine he agrees. My point is, judging by what we've seen of Howard so far in his career, he has a good chance of being a decent/adequate goalie in the mode of LGW's favorite 1B goalie and he is as good of a decision for the playoffs as an aging, hurt, and inconsistant Chris Osgood. All I'm calling for is a little more patience with Jimmy and some concession to the fact that Osgood isn't the answer this year either. Note: Here's to hoping McCullom or Mrazek turn out to be bonafide big time goalies.

Ehh, beat me to it. Anyone suprised by this? This dude breaks easier than Manny Legace after a playoff loss If your Garth Snow, what do you do right now? He already looks like a fool for the Nabokov saga. Why not semi-redeem yourself and acquire another goaltender and drop Nabokov. Suck up the pride and do it because its better for your team. Martin Gerber? Ray Emery? Speaking of Manny, isn't he available? Heck, call Kenny about Larsson (even though the Nabokov saga probably left a 3 day old green bean casserole-esque taste in Holland's mouth). I'm sure one of these goalies would love to show what they got to possibly garner a decent contract somewhere next year...except Nabby, he will probably be an Islander slave until the trade deadline next year:hehe:

I decided to pull out the dvd of the game, watching it again. Here are some of my observations of a great hockey game... Pushor vs. Severyn - Pushor has no idea what he's doing. Severyn starts it but Jamie doesn't get much but thrown to the ice. Sakic butt ends and holds Yzerman blatently then trips him...old time hockey? Federov is on defence. He goes end to end like his first name's Bobby. Oh, and he stands out kinda like Datsyuk does now, its wild to see these guys in their primes again. Valerie Kamensky scores the first goal. Beautiful, top shelf one-timer off the draw. A big scrum a few minutes later leads to a tussle between Maltby and Corbet. Maltby was theoretically 'fighting'...weird. The highlight: Murphy and Kieth Jones wrestling a bit. FSN vs Versus! Apparently Colorado had won the last four And seven of nine. The guy doing the game with Mickey on PASS sports is annoying. Almost all of our players could hit and fight. Konstantinov, Pushor, Shanahan, Ward, Knuble, LaPointe, McCarty, Maltby... Holmstrom #15 Knuble's 1st NHL game. Then IT happens... I'm still blown away that Forsberg/Larionov sets it off. The play by play guy is talking like its no big deal throughout. Mickey hasn't said anything halfway through, wth. McCarty knees Lemieux in the head when he's on the boards. Vernon/Roy is vicious. I love the off their feet hit between Shanahan and Roy. Kamensky and Lidstrom had each other, never knew that. Marc Crawford looks like he's 27. Vernon's helmet is classic. Deadmarsh/Konstantinov. A whole :30 seconds later. Mickey: "Sticks, gloves, arms, elbows up..." And that was just the first period!!!

I was at that game. It was my second Wings game ever, my Mom's first game. December of '96 against the Capitals, I believe. It's one of my more vivid memories in my childhood. Konstantinov skates into the Caps zone in OT and drop passes it to Federov who rockets it home!

Wouldn't be surprised. Garth Snow is suiting up for the next game....Breaking news: Zach Follett's shoulder pads were stolen from his locker late last night.... With all the goalie troubles the Isle's have they may be forced to get rid of Nabby if he wont play, they need the roster spots. Goaltender's invited to next years Isle's camp: Ray Emery, Manny Fernandez, Roman Turek, the Washington Capitals web site producer, and Yutaka Fukafuji. Emery wins the fight with DiPietro for the backup spot, didn't take much. Fukafuji wins over the Isle's legion of Asian fans (Charles Wang, Bobby Lee from Mad TV) and gains the 3rd spot. Snow is unimpressed by the rest and, in a bid to return to the playoffs, trades John Tavares, Calvin de Haan, and their 1st round pick to the Wings for Jiri Hudler, Daniel Larsson, and the rights to Brad McCrimmon (who they dress as a defenseman). LGW'ers rejoice.

Resuming... Kocur was scratched for this game. I'd like to know why he was, knowing all the animosity brewing. Wife pointed out that the score and time in the game are almost never shown. It's like radio, gotta wait 5 minutes to know the time. 3rd period starts slowly compared to the rest of the game. Continuas play though, something this game lacks until this point. Big Scrum, Ozolinsh goes after Maltby. Maltby going ballistic after biffing on a breakaway McCarty dings the post! Ahh. Down 5-3, waiting for a furious comeback... LaPointe! Nice rebound goal. Shanahan! Had to be less than a minute later, banks it of Roy's leg. I remember that goal especially. I mustang flipped out pretty good at the time. Wow, they showed that 8 players scored 50 or more goals the year before this. That's wild considering the stuff these guys are getting away with. Starting to get some end to end action. Shots are 41-16 Detroit near the end of the third. Federov looks like he's far more talented than almost all the players. Like its just too easy for him. If you were introducing someone to the game of hockey, just show them this game. Hitting, fighting, tons of goals, breakaways, 2 on 1's, good passing, agitating, rivalry...its incredible. No real goaltending though. Lol. But you already knew that. Wow. Sandstrom was playing Gretzky, pass to himself off the back of the net, then a beautiful pass to Homer out front. I forget about Sandstrom being on that team. I wish Toronto was still in our conferance. Last five minutes of the third are pretty intense, all Wings though. OT is very short...but man I love that goal. Beautiful. Larionov to Shanahan to Mac. And who wouldn't have wanted Mac to get the goal. Just wonderful. "We had it all tonight boy, that's for sure" - Mick

Pretty good advice bud. Oh, and the bathrooms smell and look almost exactly like a bathroom in a hockey lockerroom.

Me and Wife will be there too, part of my Christmas present from her parents. Pretty stoked. I have a Bruins hat though. I wonder if I should rock it?

Yea, she actually used that fact to try and get me to stay home. Said she needed me to tell her who these guys from the late 80's/early 90's were (Basil McCrea, Troy Crowder, etc.). I was tempted for sure. She's a big hockey fan though, so its not exactly new. She was the one that actually told me about LGW about 7 years ago. Aww well, drop-in was a blast anyway. Those kids were making me feel like Adam Oates to their Brell Hull. Too bad they didn't wait a couple years though, the 08 run isn't on it. I wish there were DVD's of that Wings documentary from 03 we could buy.

Shanahan, Pushor, Foote all fought twice. Hopefully I can resume tomorrow. Baby lost my spot, wife is now watching a Wings fights DVD, and I'm off to drop-in.

It's like my Sakic comment above. I think Sakic got a penalty, for tripping, but only after he essentially butt-ended, interfered with, then literally held Yzerman with his arm, before Yzerman fell. The penalty's weren't really called unless the transgression was pretty blatent. Lots of hooking and holding.

Wondering if Severyn did 'roids... "Holmstrom, 5 for fighting..." LOL, what? The Dead Puck era happened for a reason... Mike Ricci was scratched for this game. I wonder how history would have changed if Federov kept playing D? Rene Corbett, forehand to backhand on the breakaway. 3-2 Avs. Shanahan taking faceoffs? McCarty/Deadmarsh. Nice little scrap, Deadmarsh landed a couple nice rights. Mac wasn't phased, took him down. There's probably more fights in this game than we've seen in the last three seasons. No nets over the glass, pcuks go to fans! Pushor/Krupp. Wow, Pushor does know what he's doing... This game must of been 5 hours long. My baby just turned the DVD player off...three times...

2nd period. Foote/Shanahan, again. PASS guy - "that took exactly four seconds" This makes me miss what Shanahan brought to our team. 19:25 - 2 on 1, Sandstrom and Federov, Federov scores like Roy is a child. LaPointe attacks Kieth Jones, gets the only penalty. Shanahan, McCarty, LaPointe and maybe more in the box... Kamensky scores again, on the PP. Colorado has like five or six 20+ goal scorers, headed by...wait for it...Adam Deadmarsh. Ozolinsh leads all d-man in goals. Yzerman is intense, he probably doesn't smile until we win. Kozlov and LaPointe 2 on 1. LaPointe scores on a beautiful saucer pass from Slava. Keane/Holmstrom - Keane was wailin' , Ward/Severyn - Severyn is a beast. Mickey - "What a donney brook!" It's only been four minutes into the 2nd.

That would be ridiculous. Go Retro but keep some of the worst Jerseys to ever hit the ice? It would be like the Isle's using the early 80's Jerseys for home-away but having the Fisherman as a third...schwhat?!?! If they have a third, it should be their original road Jersey (when roads were dark). The more I look at this, the more disappointed I become. Why would you not want to definitively stand out from the Laughs? They are both in the East too, their games will look like an intrasquad scrimmage.

I kinda figured this was coming, but didn't see Toronto2 suiting up... I like it but the blue should of at least been darker, I mean Toronto could almost file a suit for copyright infringement. If they were going to do only two colors the blue has to be darker. If not, it needs black trim. Also, the alternate logo should be the main one. BTW, we should have a celebration for never having to see those wretched BOLTS Jerseys again.

Here's my problem, because obviously Snow did nothing wrong in terms of the rules Hockey, just like any other business, has "guidelines" apart from the rules. If you want to be a well respected franchise where players will want to come and play their best, you have to act a certain way in business, considering all sides of a matter... 1. Players who sign a deal with a contender, halfway through the NHL season, who are 35 plus years old and haven't won a cup, probably don't want to play on a team that has already forfieted their season, traded veterans, been a perennial bottom feeder, continuesly ran into the ground, and is essentially certain to miss the playoffs. a. Considering above, player may not report when claimed. b. By not reporting, he makes said team look even worse in the media. 2. By claiming said player, you may: Instantly create an unhealthy relationship with the player, agent, agents other clients, signing team, or all. (Very much like Offer Sheets for RFA's) 3. By doing so you may: Confirm to the entire NHL community (again), on a large media scale mind you, exactly what kind of short sighted hockey operations decisions (Yashin trade and signing and releasing, Luongo trade, DiPietro signing, etc.) got you to be in the predicament you're in to begin with. a. Repercussions include, but not limited to: even less ticket sales, corporate sponsership, or new fans. Of course we don't expect anything different from them. But that doesn't excuse Snow from a little bit of responsibility for his short sighted actions. I still blame him because its a bad PR decision that is a huge high-risk, low reward move. Some unlearned fan somewhere is saying, "Geez, what kind of smart, successful, business and personal relations trained GM would do such a thing?" And we all laugh and shrug our shoulders, trying to make them look as big as a certain late '90's back-up goaltender from the Flyers. A 'tender who's rags to more rags story has uninspired us all and left us wishing Mike Milbury would return to bring the Isle's back to their former glory!

Exactly. I've been saying Datsyuk is the all-around best forward in the NHL since at least '08. People always blah blah blah about Malkin or Ovechkin but look how much of a hit those guys have took. Crosby may be #1 now, but short of the extra 25 points (although that's a big deal), Datsyuk does everything Crosby does and some stuff he does better (defensive play, takeaways, hitting, stickhandling, fighting etc.). It doesn't help him that whenever the highlight reels are shown the just show Pittsburgh or Washington. It's funny how if it were almost any other player on another team he would be huge in the media, entertainment wise. Imagine if Datsyuk played for Toronto? We'd never hear the end of it. If we didn't win Cups most NHL would probably know next to nothing about him or us. I don't understand how ignoring the dynasty helps the NHL.

Exactly. He isn't worthless with his stick, looks confident, and plays physical. Good signing.

Mason had a good case for the Hart that season too.

This shouldn't take long... Rinne plays for the consistantly over-achieving, well coached, hard working, and most importantly, defensively responsible Nashville Predators. Mason plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets....who don't even know what style game they're going to play from year to year. Also, I wonder who their best defensive defensman was that year...Klesla? Commodore? Point is, obviously, Mason was pretty much a one man show and basically single handedly got them into their first ever playoff. He deserved the Calder.

Thank You

The Panthers have $130 tickets? No wonder their attendance is bleak...besides that whole 'no playoffs in a decade' thing...

I'm surprised Don Cherry and the Old Time Hockey Warriors haven't publically ridiculed TSN and their affiliated micro-bloggers.