sibiriak

That article is a year old. That suit did not go forward in ONT, something about jurisdiction. So far the score is: Moore has a broken neck and can't play hockey, Bertuzzi... cried on TV and was sentenced to a few days of probation and community service, IIRC.

At least some money in compensation would be nice.

<sigh> Lets not exaggerate. Datsyuk could be blamed for three "playoff busts" at most. And he only played in 4 NHL playoff series in his life.

Are you comparing Datsyuk to "Crosby or Yzerman or Fedorov or Larionov or Adam Oates "? One could reverse this argument, and compare Zettrberg to Stu Barnes, who got about 40 goals one year playing with Mario, then signed a large contract with another team and never came close to that many goals again. Neither extreme applies here. Hockey is a team game. Every successful line needs balance. You need passing, defense, shooting, speed, and grinding ability. Take any component away, and the line suddenly doesn't score so much anymore. Take away Datsyuk, and Zetterberg scores half as many goals. Remove Zetterberg, and Datsyuk becomes much less effective. In other words, PB and J sandwich cannot be made without both PB and J. (and bread, i.e. Homer).

Would you make up your mind as to who Zetterberg played with last season? If that was Holmstrom and Samuelsson, then why Datsyuk was on the ice for more than half of Zetts goals? If it was Datsyuk, then why do you say that Zetterberg does not need him to shine? Without Datsyuk on the ice. Zetterberg scored 16 goals last year and 8 goals this year. With Datsyuk on the ice, Zetterberg scored 23 goals last year and 22 goals this year. This suggests that Zetterberg production with just any other line is not very good. Zetterbeg scores at less than half rate, when he is not paired with Datsyuk. Datsyuk's production doesn't fall as much when he is not with Zettrberg. See above posts. What does "will survive" mean? If Zetterberg would be scoring 20-25 goals per season w/o Datsyuk, how long until the posters here would call for trading him? Right now, he is scoring a lot, so everyone says trade Datsyuk, keep Zetterberg, he will carry the team in the future. The point I am trying to make, is that Datsyuk makes Zetterberg a great player, instead of a very good one. And if Dats goes, are all the posters here prepered to see just a very good Zettreberg instead of a great one? To clarify, Zetterberg also makes Datsyuk much better player. I am not saying that keeping Datsyuk and trading Zetterberg is a good idea. I am just tired of people praising Zetterberg and bashing Datsyuk, while ignoring the Datsyuk's contribution to Zetterberg's success.

OK, good point. Does that explain why Datsyuk was on the ice for 23 of 39 Zetts' goals, and they weren't even on the same line last season?

I quite agree. I was answering the claim that Zetterberg can score by himself, when Datsyuk needs Zetterberg to score. Which is not true, and seems perhaps to be the reverse. I just did a rough count of the last season, when Zetterberg scored 39 goals when playing significant time without Datsyuk and Holmstrom. Of that 39 goals, do you know how many did he score when neither #13 or #96 was on the ice? a) 9 b) 15 c) 23 d) 31 Correct answer: a Of his 39 goals last season, Zetterberg scored only nine without Holmstrom or Datsyuk on the ice. Hope that puts the matter in prospective for those who think that Zetts is a stud and can carry a team on his own. He is a great player, and I love to watch him, but Z with Dats and Homer are so many many times better than each of them on his own. EDIT- my space button is stuck...

After the line was reunited in December (Dec.20), Zetterberg's scoring went from 0.59 pts per game to 1.61 PPG. Datsyuk's scoring went from 0.75 to 1.4 PPG. Holmstrom's from 0.38 to 1.04 PPG. You tell me who benefited the most? Zetterberg is getting more than 1 PPG more when playing with Datsyuk and Holmstrom, than without them. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that Zetterberg scored 6 of his 12 pre-Dec. 20 goals when on PP with ... Dats and Homer. When I'll have time, I'll do the same analysis of Zetterberg's last year scoring, and I won't be surprised if a similar picture emerges. EDIT-typos.

Of the 30 Zetterberg's goals this season, only six! were scored without either Datsyuk or Holmstrom being present on the ice. Eight without Datsyuk being on the ice and nine without Homer. Put Zetterberg with any other line, and he is a 20-goal scorer. Put him with these two, and he is 50-goal scorer. Hockey is a team game. Sometimes a scoring play doesn't happen without a good defensive play, sometimes the crucial pass was the third one, that doesn't go in the books. But it is hard to argue that playing with Datsyuk and Holmstrom doesn't make Zetterberg the dominant player that he is right now, when he rarely scores without them. To answer your other claim, Datsyuk is playing wing now, with Zetterberg playing center. Doesn't that make him flexible also?

But that would be the Zetterberg of the first three months of the season. By himself, he wasn't anywhere near the dominating player he is now. There are about 30 other forwards in the NHL, that I would take over the Oct.5 -Dec.20 , 2007 Zetterberg. But very few that I would take over the Dec.20-present Zetterberg. That would be the Zettreberg+Datsyuk+Holmstrom effect. Without the others, each of them is half (or less, statistically) of the player he is when they are together.

Zetterberg does look like the more complete player of the two, but, interestingly enough, after the line was reunited on Dec.20, Zetterberg's stats improved far more than Datsyuk's, compared to both last year and the first half of this one. It could be that Zetterberg needs Datsyuk more than Datsyuk needs Zetterberg. Or maybe they both just can't live without Homer...

Korolyuk is playing in Russia, and has been for at least 3 years. On top of that he is currently injured. What SJ wants with him I don't know. Or did NJ trade a pick for cap space again?

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

So it wasn't the phone that he was holding in that hand?

Hands off of Columbus Blue Jackets. I'm moving to Columbus next month, and I want the team to be there for a good long time. I need to line up some tix too, and if Nationwide arena is not being sold out, they should be easier to come by.

Anaheim is losing to Phoenix right now, badly. They are in a long slump, and I'm not so sure they will get out of it by the start of the playoffs. Edmonton is good, but without Pronger they have some weaknesses on D. SJ lacks stability, and lives and dies with their PP. All those teams are beatable. I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet. EDIT-spelling

Great! If Eklund said it, it will never happen!

DiZzy? DZ Tops?

Bondra was born in what is now Ukraine, but his parents were Slovakians working in the USSR on a temporary basis, and they went back to Czechoslovakia when he was still quite young. So heis neither Russian, nor Ukranian, but Slovakian, and played for their national team for years. Kovalev won a Cup, an Olympic gold, and may have won the Calder (I'm not sure on that.) What did Kovalchuk win? Half a Richard?

Oh, I see. Thanks for a heads-up.

Just don't forget to let that Laughs fan know it, when his team gets beat by Philly tonight.

If you want to bash a player in a thread celebrating his achievement, at least get your facts straight. Datsyuk scored 3 goals in the 2002 NHL playoff (less than 5 years ago) and 6 goals in the 2005 Russian Superliga playoffs, leading his Dinamo team to the championship beating Jagr-led Omsk Avangard on the way. Either way (if you count NHL only or not) you are incorrect.

I don't think Yakushev was more dominating in his time, than Larionov was in his. Yakushev played really well in the 1972 Superseries, but over a carreer, I wouldn't put him in the top 10. He is not even the best "Spartak" player of all time.

I didn't know Lou owned the Devils Oops, someone beat me to the punch.

Because Larionov was part of KLM line, the vote would be split three ways, so to speak. He is one of the greats, but I'd think there would be more than 10 players above him. But that's just my subjective opinion. Mikhailov, Ragulin, Tretialk, Makarov, Ven. Aleksandrov, Loktev, Tregubov, Konovalenko come to mind before Larionov.