stevie for president

Yeah but then you said "He played that EXACT role", in reference to the second line power forward...

No one said you did?

I dont care how many points he scored, thats completely irrelevant. I'm not saying he sucks. He doesn't suck. He's one of the best red wings of all time, but if you or anyone else says he worked as hard as Yzerman, lidstrom, or the rest of his teammates youre lying or delusional. Fedorov has the reputation of taking games off because he took games off. Not because he held out for more money. He got the prima Donna rep for holding out. Highlight reels and statistics can be misleading.

Outside of ovy and dats, I'd say all those players you mentioned fit the bill almost perfectly. Especially Malkin and fedorov. I'm not saying all Russians take some games off, I'm just saying you chose some bad examples.

I hate to derail this thread but the fact that the lions draft picks almost never pan out should indicate a problem with the lions themselves and not so much the draft picks. It is very possible that Joey Harrington would have realized his potential if he were drafted by say Dallas orgreen bay. At the same time it is very possible that Dats and z wouldn't be NHL players if they were taken by a team like the islanders. I guess that separates the men from the boys in pro sports. Scouting and development, and I'm glad the wings the best personnel in both

Carcillo really isn't a bad 4th liner if he learned to stop all the nonsense and just play hockey. Wings won the central division last year and swept the coyotes without guys "eager" to drop the gloves. And the reason San Jose beat us is because their 3rd and 4th lines out played ours. Not out hit or out fought. Finally perry didn't need retribution. Dats dropped the gloves and stood up for himself. You get retribution on a guy who cheap shots your stars, but you shouldn't need to when your stars are willing to drop the gloves in a fair fight (obv with a guy like perry. Now if Godard enticed Datsyuk all bets are off but usually goons wont do stuff like that. It happens but not too often that you'd need to waste a roster spot on a goon to protect against it)

So basically they gave up Cody Franson and Matt Lombardi for a prospect that will never make the team, they have to pay Lebda $1mil to not play, and if Lombardi does not play 60 games over the next 2 seasons they have to give the Leafs a 4th rounder. I hope this sends a message to their guys and around the league that they are not serious about putting a winning team on the ice. I kinda feel for Barry Trotz. He probably could be a Stanley Cup winning coach if he was on almost any other team.

I think with the way the NHL is today, your top 6 offense and top 4 defenseman for the most part will be just about as good as any other cup contending team. The difference makers are the 3rd and 4th lines. Their 3rd and 4th liners outplayed ours and thats why they won. It sure as hell wasnt cuz of marleau, heatly, and thornton. Their third line is worse entering this season than it was last season, so I dont think they are better as a team. Plus, Im not sold on niemi at all. I think a lot of teams out west got a lot better this season, and the 1st round wont be as easy for top ranked teams. The kings made a huge splash, the preds got over a big hump and could be a force if they get their act together, the ducks certainly can never be counted out with their goalie, the hawks are gonna be pretty solid this year, the avs might be one of those surprise teams with a lot of young talent that might break out this season, id like to see how jamie benn develops and if goligoski can bring anything positive to the stars who looked great at the start of last season and shares a record for most points by a team that did not make the playoffs. The flames and blue jackets could be two teams that sneak into the playoffs and if their over rated goalies live up to the hype they could shock a team (I dont think thats likely though). I wouldnt look ahead to the second or third round if i were the sharks, or the wings and canucks for that matter.

I was talking about cheli. I had no idea tkachuk was a thrasher. So they traded him and he went and signed there the next summer??

I thought he ended as a thrasher?

You're worried about what Bettmans making? CEOs bankrupt this country and their businesses while making tens or hundreds of millions of dollars while their employees made 5 figures. Bettman has made the BoG more money, players more money, and made the product more exciting and more available to it's fans than any other sports league. He makes less than some of the top players and little more than 10x what the lower tier players make. IMO he's earned it too.

the ultimate goal of every team should be to win the cup, and i just dont think thats possible if you dont draft your own talent. free agency should be used to fill holes in a roster, not assemble an entire roster. so what, they might make the playoffs this year, but what would accomplish long term. look at the islanders in 2006. sure they had a decent team and made the playoffs, but what good did that do. they are just as bad now as they were 10-15 years ago.

It is also very possible that holland is only saying this so that he still has the upper hand in trade/FA negotiations. He doesn't look/sound/come off as desperate and won't be taken advantage of.

Instead of the verification goal line, why not just say "on video review, if the puck is conclusively over the line, it is a goal. otherwise, it isnt a goal" or im sure they have the technology to surround the puck's surface area with some sort of infrared rays that trigger the horn when it crosses the goal line. puck over glass=icing intentional offside=icing no instigator rule unless theres 5 minutes or less left in a game with a 3 or more goal margin. in that case, coaches and players get fined and/or suspended. no intent to blow the whistle. you either blow it or you dont. intent should be irrelevant in hockey unless its intent to injure. goalie interference can be overturned on video review line change box to eliminate some too many men calls i hate the no icing on pk rule, especially because so many phantom calls still haunt our game. i think there should be an independent committee that can review embellishment on penalties. maybe 1st offense is forgiven, 2nd is a fine, 3rd a bigger fine,4th is a 1 game suspension, 5th is 3 games, etc. i couldnt watch the world cup because of all the diving and its making me pretty fed up that it happens in hockey too. id like overtime to be a 10 minute 4 on 4 with no on-the-fly line changes followed by a 5 round shootout. 3 points for a win, 2 points for a shootout win, 1 point for a shootout loss. overtime would count as regulation as far as points are concerned. thats what i would do to the on-ice game.

theres a chance this could be their last season in phoenix... wouldnt that be something if the jets last game was against the wings then 14 years later the coyotes last game was against the wings?

sorry to be an ass but LILJA needs a WITCH doctor

FSN Detroit showed a chart that showed when the injured players were expected to return, but, Ericsson was listed as indefinite. I think this is bad news because he's already a week into a "2-4 week" injury. Am i just being too pessimistic or is there a legitimate cause for concern?

ahhh the beauty of a salary cap. we have easily the best front office in the sport. we take time and develope our draft picks, we dont go throwing out this wild contracts, in fact every big name on this team is underpaid, we have players that said publicly they wanted to stay here yet we still couldnt afford them, and now were probably going to lose our RFAs too. and why? because OTHER gms and teams dont know how to run a franchise or increase revenue. this makes no sense. why was there a lockout? and how is this CBA better than the last one?

yessssssssssssssssss!! lets poach kane or toews next july!

they could trade huet to edmonton since roloson is leaving, and then sign roloson or bulin assuming edmonton wants that contract

is higgins under contract? on nhlnumbers.com hes listed as a rfa.

the hall of fame is not run by the NHL. the hhof waived a 3 year waiting period, not the NHL.

off topic, but to everyone that is mad about the move out of winnipeg, Bettman was not to blame and if it wasnt for him Canada wouldnt have their 6 teams, vancouver, edmonton, calgary and ottawa would not exist if it wasnt for bettman. and buffalo would probably be gone too.

"sold the call" why not call it what it really is...DIVING!

and possibly racist, depending on the ethnicity of Blackmon