sibiriak

I have a few concerns with the Wings play both tonight and in the series so far. - They played too timidly after getting leads. - Defense made way too many boneheaded errors that led to goals. - Hasek seems to have run out of miracles at the end. Not that he really can be faulted for any of the goals tonight, but 1990's Hasek would have somehow stopped at least one of them. And the major concern is that the Wings got all their chances off the rush or on PP. They just can't establish any puck posession in the Nashville zone 5-on-5. In all 3 games, I can't recall any even strength positional offensive sequences at all, let alone anything resulting in a scoring chance for the Wings. Nashville on the other hand was able to cycle the puck and create chances almost every time they gained the zone. So far, the Wings dominated the neutral ice and got all their 5-on-5 scoring from that, but Nashville was better in both offensive and defensive zones. PP and transitional game may be enough to get by Nashville, but ANA/SJ will eat Wings' lunch if this trend continues.

WEST: (1) Detroit 4-1 over (8) Nashville (2) San Jose 4-1 over (7) Calgary (3) Minnesota 4-2 over (6) Colorado (4) Anaheim 4-1 over (5) Dallas EAST: (1) Montreal 4-1 over (8) Boston (2) Pittsburgh 4-2 over (7) Ottawa (6) Philadelphia 4-2 over (3) Washington (4) New Jersey 4-2 over (5) New York Rangers

One really ought to stayaway from overbroad ethnic stereotypes. Did Vladdy not play with passion? Did Pavel Bure not carry a good but not great Canucks team all the way to the finals in 1994? Just how many Russian hockey greats do you know, to compare Ovechkin to? Have you ever seen Alexandr Ragulin, Boris Mikhailov, Valery Kharlamov, Vsevolod Bobrov, Veniamin Aleksandrov, Vyacheslav Starshinov, or Sergei Makarov in their primes? What would you think if I write something like "Ovechkin has already shown that he has more passion than any North American to ever play the game"? OV is a great player, let's enjoy watching him and not put down all the other great players of the past and present. OV would be the first one to tell you this.

Friday: NY Islanders @ NY Rangers New Jersey @ Philadelphia Florida @ Carolina Boston @ Ottawa Nashville @ Chicago Phoenix@ Dallas Saturday: Anaheim @ Los Angeles Columbus @ St Louis Buffalo @Boston Toronto @ Montreal Florida @ Washington Tampa Bay @ Atlanta Calgary @ Vancouver Sunday: Chicago @ Detroit Minnesota @ Colorado San Jose @ Dallas NY Rangers @ New Jersey Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia St Louis @ Columbus Phoenix@ Anaheim

Saturday: Ottawa @ Boston Dallas@ Los Angeles Montreal @Toronto Philadelphia @ NY Islanders Washington @ Florida Carolina @ Tampa Bay Chicago @ St Louis Edmonton @ Calgary Sunday: NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh Nashville @ Detroit Colorado @ Minnesota Boston @ Buffalo Columbus @ Chicago Dallas @ Anaheim Phoenix @ San Jose Calgary @ Vancouver

Right, those early-fading Eastern Europeans like Hasek, Larionov, Fetisov, Fedorov, Lang...

Friday: NY Islanders @ New Jersey NY Rangers @ Philadelphia Toronto @ Buffalo Washington @ Atlanta *games already started* Minnesota @ Vancouver Anaheim @ San Jose Saturday: Colorado @ Edmonton Chicago @ Nashville Los Angeles @ Dallas Boston @ Montreal Toronto @ Ottawa Tampa Bay @ Florida Detroit @ Columbus New Jersey @ Pittsburgh Anaheim @ Phoenix Minnesota @ Calgary Sunday: St Louis @ Chicago NY Islanders @ Philadelphia

Friday: Atlanta @ Washington Chicago @ Columbus Carolina @ Buffalo NY Rangers @ Florida St Louis @ San Jose Saturday: Philadelphia @ Boston Nashville @ Detroit New Jersey @ Colorado Vancouver @ Dallas Buffalo @ Toronto NY Islanders @ Montreal NY Rangers @ Tampa Bay Los Angeles @ Minnesota Edmonton @ Phoenix St Louis @ Anaheim Sunday: Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh Calgary @ Chicago Boston @ Washington Ottawa @ Carolina Detroit @ Columbus Atlanta @ Florida Edmonton @ San Jose

Friday: Tampa Bay @ New Jersey Edmonton @ Columbus Minnesota @ Atlanta San Jose @ Chicago Nashville @ Calgary Saturday: Washington @ Boston Dallas @ Colorado Montreal @ Los Angeles Ottawa@ Phoenix New Jersey @ Toronto NY Islanders @ Philadelphia Buffalo @ Carolina Atlanta @ Florida St Louis @ Vancouver Sunday: Pittsburgh @ Washington Edmonton @ Chicago Boston @ NY Rangers Nashville @ Detroit Tampa Bay @ Columbus San Jose @ Minnesota Montreal @ Anaheim Colorado @ Dallas

I don't doubt your word, but where can I see the details of the contract that Detroit offered to Markov and that he declined? I heard totally different numbers and nothing about the NTC.

Friday: Washington @ New Jersey Montreal @ Buffalo Minnesota @ Florida San Jose @ Detroit Toronto @ Tampa Bay Columbus @ Vancouver Calgary @ Anaheim Saturday: Atlanta @ Boston Philadelphia @ NY Islanders Pittsburgh @ Ottawa New Jersey @ Montreal Toronto @ Washington Tampa Bay @ Carolina Los Angeles @ Colorado Nashville @ Dallas San Jose @ St Louis Calgary @ Phoenix Sunday: Philadelphia @ NY Rangers Vancouver @ Chicago Atlanta @ Pittsburgh Florida @NY Islanders Detroit @ Buffalo Los Angeles @ Minnesota Columbus @ Edmonton

1. If Markov were signed to a 2-3 year 3.5 mil. (or so) contract, and the Wings wouldn't have , for some reason, wanted to keep him around after the 1st year, they could have traded him for something, at least a 3rd round pick, instead of having to give up 2 picks. That would have been a net gain over the current situation. 2. The cap room is not a factor right now. The Wings have enough room to accomodate Markov's hypothetical salary. 3. The reason the Kings paid the most of Stuart's salary, is because he played the most of the season for them. Don't you think the Wings could have used an extra NHL-level defenseman this season, instead of having to play Meech, Ericsson, Quincey, and perhaps having to play Lilja and Lebda for more minutes than the managemant wanted to?

Great, the Wings could have had Markov for a whole season, for less money, and without giving up any draft picks. Truly, a mizer always ends up paying twice.

Friday: Edmonton @ Dallas Detroit @ Calgary Colorado @ Phoenix St Louis @ Anaheim Saturday: NY Islanders @ New Jersey Ottawa @ Pittsburgh Chicago @ Los Angeles Washington @ Carolina NY Rangers @ Buffalo Atlanta @ Toronto Florida @ Philadelphia Columbus @ Montreal Boston @ Tampa Bay Dallas @ Nashville Detroit @ Vancouver Sunday: Calgary @ Minnesota San Jose @ Pittsburgh New Jersey @Washington Florida @ NY Rangers Chicago @ Anaheim Colorado @ Edmonton St Louis @ Phoenix

Friday: Atlanta @ New Jersey Washington @ Florida Columbus @ Detroit Dallas @ Anaheim Calgary @ Los Angeles Saturday: Buffalo @ NY Rangers Boston @ Toronto Philadelphia @ Montreal New Jersey @ Ottawa Atlanta @ NY Islanders Florida @ Carolina Washington @ Tampa Bay St Louis @ Nashville Los Angeles @ Phoenix Edmonton @ Vancouver Sunday: Colorado@ Chicago San Jose @ NY Rangers Detroit @ Dallas Columbus @ St Louis Pittsburgh @ Buffalo Montreal @ Philadelphia Calgary @ Anaheim Nashville @ Minnesota

Friday: Anaheim @ New Jersey Carolina @ Washington Boston @ Buffalo Columbus @ San Jose Saturday: NY Rangers @ Philadelphia Los Angeles @ Pittsburgh Detroit @ Toronto NY Islanders @ Minnesota Edmonton @ Calgary Florida @ Boston Montreal @ Ottawa Carolina @ New Jersey Tampa Bay @ Atlanta St Louis @ Dallas Colorado @ Vancouver Nashville @ San Jose Sunday: Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh NY Rangers @ Washington Anaheim @ Detroit Minnesota @ St Louis Los Angeles @ Columbus Florida @ Buffalo Nashville @ Phoenix Chicago @ Vancouver

Did anyone else have technical difficulties with the CenterIce picture in the last 3 min and OT? I DVRed the game and the picture was lost and the sound became intermittent at about 2:48 left and never came back. Was there a problem with the feed or is it my DVR? I had the same problem with the 2nd and most of the 3rd periods of the last game as well.

Friday: NY Rangers @ New Jersey Buffalo @ Atlanta Vancouver @ Florida Colorado @ Detroit Anaheim @ St Louis Dallas @ Edmonton Saturday: NY Islanders @ Montreal Chicago @ San Jose Detroit @ Boston Ottawa @ Toronto Los Angeles @ New Jersey Anaheim @ Philadelphia Atlanta @ Washington Minnesota @ Columbus Carolina @ Pittsburgh Florida @ Tampa Bay Phoenix @ Nashville Colorado @ St Louis Dallas @ Calgary Sunday: NY Rangers @ Montreal

Adam Foote was a healthy scratch in tonight's Jackets-Coyotes game. That usually happens when the deal for that player is just about done.

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

Actually, in Detroit's system there's no room for a pure sniper. All forwards are supposed to be responsible defensively. And Hossa is a good skater, but not a particularly good defensive player. I've seen him. He is excellent offensively, can sometimes steal the puck in the neutral zone, but is fair defensively at best. He's got 2nd worst +/- among all Atlanta forwards.

How is his +/- deceiving? He is career +89 in 673 GP in spite of playing on a very good (if only in the regular season) Ottawa team. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have higher total +/- and they only played about half of the career games that Hossa played. Jagr, the "noted defensive specialist" , has a better per game +/-.

Hossa is a great player. There just two "buts" : 1. He will take too much cap space, or, as a playoff rental, willl cost too much in players/picks. 2. For those who think that he is good defensively, he has worse +/- than Ilya Kovalchuk. Think about that for a second. If he can be got at the deadline for a couple of 2nd/3rd picks and a mid-level propect (very unlikely: e4 ) , then good. Otherwise, no way. I think Holland should look at Marcel Hossa instead.

Khm, they did win 3 Cups in the last 11 (is that =10+? ) years. Lets not overreact here.

The hits were 25 to 25 today. That wasn't a problem. Team movement was not there and and their passing was off a few crucial inches too often. The teamis in another slump, I think. Fortunately, their slumps were all very short ones this year. In a couple of games they will be back to normal. Giveaways were 14 to 10 and missed shots were 13 to 8 in Ottawa's favor. The Sens were just a sharper team tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if Zetterberg wasn't the only Wing with a flu.