sibiriak

Vsevolod Bobrov, closely followed by Valery Kharlamov, Vyacheslav Starshinov and then maybe Fetisov.

This thread is about Russian NHLers. Thus Makarov and Krutov, who didn't have long NHL carreers don't get on the top10 list. Same for Konstantinov, who would have been on it if not for his injury. As to Yashin, Khabibulin, and Kovalev, who would you put above them on your list?

Lilja and Cross were hired to do the same job: depth defenseman/insurance. Lilja is not as good as other Wings' D-men, but he is better than half of the other teams' 4th or 5th Dmen. So he isnot that easy to replace, in his role and at his salary. And having 1 or 2 enforcers on the team will not make it less seceptible to physical play by the opposition. Brashear did not prevent Ovechkin from being speared in the groin and being bruised everygame, and neither did A. Roy, Brookbank or Cairns protect Crosby from nasty staff. To be successful against SJ, Calgary,and Anaheims of the league palying similar style of game, the Wings would have to retool their lineup completely. Until then, they have to rely on their skill and puck posession to compete against them.

I'm not against having big, tough, fast players, if they are skilled enough. But those go in the top of the first round of the draft. By the time the Wings 25th to 30th pick comes up, there are either large pylons or small skilled guys left. Detroit would have to pick real high for 6-7years to amass the talent that Annaheim has. Or dismantle the team and trade everyone of value for high picks. Either way it would be 4-5years until the team becomes competitive again. One single exception where Latendresse was picked later in the draft does not disprove this.

That was before I started following the Wings, so I didn't catch the fine distinction between "the old 80s Wings team" and "the old 80s Wings team with Probie, Dave Barr, Snepsts, Kocur, Gallant and Norwood". My bad. I'd guess the watershed moment came in 1986?

Yay, bring back the "Dead Wings" of the 80s. This current team (2 pts away from leading the league) obviously sucks!

What do you mean "out of Kentucky"? Any damfool knows there's nothing outside of Kentucky. The Earth end just over them thar hills.

SJ is currently 4th. Do you have a reason to believe that they will finish 8th?

1. Fedorov - best all-around Russian player in his prime. 2. Pavel Bure - best scoring forward, in his prime. 3. Ovechkin - best natural talent to come out of Russia in the last 20 years. 4. Zubov - best russian defenseman, in his prime. 5. Mogilny 6. Kovalchuk 7. Khabibulin - best Russain born goalie in the NHL. 8. Kovalev 9. Yashin 10. Larionov, if only because of the 3 Cups. Honorable mention to Slava Kozlov, Fetisov, Konstantinov, Gonchar, Zhitnik, Nabokov, Makarov - if only he could come over before he turned 34...

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

No, Holland should get a power winger, I just want Harding to be above Bertuzzi on the list of candidates.

Oh, yes, the dreaded Russian Greed. So much greedier than the Swedish greed, Finnish Greed, Canadian Greed, and the american greed which really isn't greed at all, it's just sound business practice.

I know! Instead of trading for Bertuzzi, lets sign Tanya Harding. She'll play for the league minimum, she's a free agent, and Babcock wouldn't even have to dress her for games, just issue her with a 2x4 and she'll do her job hiding in the hallway near the opposition dressing room. She's a convicted felon, too, so we won't be lacking in that department.

Refer to the earlier posts. Bertuzzi may not have intended to cripple Moore, but he did, and aside from the crocodile tears for the media, he is yet to make any restitution. If I were at the Wings lockerroom, I'd be more afraid of this thug than of the opposition.

There's violence, and there's violence. If I bring an M-16 to the playoff game and kill or wound half of the opposing team, would you take the win anyway? What if it wasn't a rifle, but a crowbar, or a baseball bat to the kneecap? Violence within rules, where it is not intended to cripple the oposing player, is a part of hockey. Violence out of control (and with no genuine remorse afterward) that does lead to crippling injury has no place in any sport. Truly, there are other power forwards, gritty players, enforcers who are not convicted criminals. Wings don't have to have Bert the thug to add toughness.

Thought experiment: if OJ Simpson was good at hockey, would you want him on the Wings?

Can you substantiate? How many of Datsyuk assists in the last three playoffs were "2nd assist here or there on the PP"? I seem to remember Zetterberg scoring from Dats 1st assists a few times. Really? Evidence? I wonder, do you even watch hockey, outside of "the Coach's corner"? And why taking the puck away at the blue line is any worse than doing so in the corner? In fact, losing the puck on one's own blueline is considered a cardinal sin because it often leads to the opposition counterattack, with half of your own team caught on the other side of the red line. While losing it in the corner usually means that your team is back to defend. Yes, Datsyuk obviously has room for improvement in playoff scoring. I think that he will figure it out, and soon. We'll just have to wait and see. If he does not, Detroit has the option of not signing him. I think both the management and Datsyuk himself have arrived at that conclusion by now. What color are the "Datsyuk coloured glasses"? The $7 million number hasn't been mentioned anywhere outside these boards. What we know for sure, is that Datsyuk hopes to do better than $5 mil. for 5 years, because that is the offer that he declined. So I'd guess that signing him would take at worst about $5.5 for 2-3 years or over $6 for 4-5 years. To help Dats, Holland doesn't have to sign an established sniper. Datsyuk needs a winger that has a good hockey sense and half-decent shot. Doesn't have to be particularly strong or fast. And there are plenty of such players, some of them in the minors, some in Europe. And the Wings have one of the better scouting teams in the league. I'm sure they can find someone under $1 mil. Total for the two is going to be closer to $6 mil. maybe 6.5. If that buys you 25G 60A from Datsyuk and 20G 30A from the unnamed winger, that would be a good deal. Besides, why invent the wheel, if Detroit already has one of the best lines in the NHL in Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom? Let's examine that claim with stats, shall we? As Ken and Mickey said yesterday, Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Holmstrom were reunited on Dec. 20. From Oct. 5, 2006 to Dec.19, 2006 Zetterberg averaged 0.38 GPG and 0.22 APG. After Dec. 20 he averaged 0.52 GPG and 0.91 APG. Last season, he averaged 0.51 GPG and 0.60 APG. From Oct. 5, 2006 to Dec.19, 2006 Datsyuk averaged 0.22 GPG and 0.53 APG. After Dec. 20 he averaged 0.45 GPG and 0.95 APG. Last season, he averaged 0.37 GPG and 0.77 APG. So, from Oct. 5 to Dec. 19 Zetterberg was scoring goals at 74% of last years avg and was getting assists at 37% of last season. After Dec. 20, he is scoring goals at 103% of last yr and assists at 153% of last yr. 1.4 times increase in G and 4-fold increase in A after his reunification with Datsyuk and Holmstrom. Oct.5 to Dec. 19, Datsyuk was scoring G at 59% of last yr and A at 67.5%. After reuniting with #40 and #96 he gets G at 120.5% of last Yr's avg and A at 121%. That is doubling in G and 1.8 times increase in A after reunification of the line. In overall points Zetterberg went from 54% of last year to 130%, 2.4 times increase. Datsyuk went from 65% to 121%, an 1.9 times increase. Seems that after the line was reunited, Zetterberg stats improved more than Datsyuk's stats did. You see, if one actually looks at the stats, the subjective memories of the few recent games won't cloud the objective view of what happens over the long season.

Actually, it's more like freedom of religion, you Bert -worshiper

Yeah, I'm joking, but it'll be real close.

And I will excersize it. If the Wings sign Bertuzzi, I'll ... I'm gonna start rooting for the Blue Jackets! :flamingmad:

Have you ever heard of settling out of court? It's done all the time. A civil suit goes to court only if the sides can not reach agreed settlement. If I hit someone with my car (not intentionally) and that person would incur medical bills in excess of what my insurance covers, I'd feel obliged to make up the difference, if I at all can. They would not have to go to court, just would need to show me the receipts. I wouldn't respect myself if I didn't. Why should I respect Bertuzzi?

I believe you that Bertuzzi didn't intend to cripple Moore. But since he directly caused the situation that did, whatever legalistic excuses you may advance in his defense, he should have put his money where his tears are, and tell his lawyers to settle, instead of trying to block Moore from filing his suit anywhere on North American continent. Until he does settle, he is an unrepentant thug in my book, and I wouldn't want him to touch a Detroit jersey, let alone wear it. And I never wanted any Detroit players to cripple anyone else, even Claude. Beat him up, split his lip, knock out a tooth or three - yes, make him unable to play hockey again - no.

Talk is cheap, and tears are even cheaper. If he is remorseful, why hasn't he told his lawyers to settle with Moore, instead of doing their damnedest to avoid paying anything, even if that would mean paying a little more?

A someone mentioned before, he HAS NOT paid for his deed yet. When he shows his remorse by reaching a decent settelement with Moore, instead of stonewalling him every way he can, I'll start counting him as a human being again. Until then, I don't want this sleeze wearing the Winged Wheel.

I would hope that the Wings would have enough class in their organization, to refuse to hire an unrepentant violent criminal, however good a player he is. I certainly would have hard time rooting for them, when Bertuzzi is on the ice wearing red.