Earthhuman

Looking at the talent coming up, they better be good! I believe Cam Barker (or whatever) is the next big thing in Chicago on defense.

I was going to say that you spoke too soon, but amazingly, you typed that at a point in time where 3/4 of the goals scored in tonights game were by them. They have gotten better and better all season. I was going to say Hudler especially (24 points in 35 games), but Filppula has elevated his game with 7 goals in the last 9 games. Are these not 2nd line numbers? It also amazes me that anyone at all can look at the best offense, defense, goaltending, and individual performances, together on one team, and clamour for more. Settle!

Well, he has been called the 'next Forsberg'. It makes sense that a similar playing style would bring all the same perks and disadvantages.

I don't know... could go either way. I was all pumped up till I saw that last post. Still, how can St. Louis possibly win? Against Osgood?

Lets look at some of the younger players who have stepped up. The most obvious is Hudler. Next, Kronwall, especially defensively. Filppula needs to quick the fancy stick handling, and get it behind the net. He's not gonna be like Datsyuk. He'll start putting up more assists when that happens. Franzen looks to finally be living up to his scoring potential. Not much, but Calder-esque. Ellis, Downey, Kopecky- they will all round out as the season goes on, filling in the bottom line. Drake and Hasek will pick up their games as we approach the deadline. The only way we'll need to add another scorer is if New York figures out what the hell is wrong with them, or Philly adds, well, anything. I see them as the closest to the top. Ottawa... meh. Against a team that is defensively in charge up and down the lineup, like us, their three-man offense would probably stutter.

No more PKs! Hasek might crack .900%! EDIT: He does it!

"I want to see Sammy and Franzen picking it up. They are not bringing much, they are capable of much more." point each this game. And 3 assists for Kronnic.

Nothing else seemed blindly powerful enough. Don't mess with tradition!

He has really impressed me this season. Becoming very calm on the backcheck, breaking up plays, improved breakout passes... gives us 4 solid d-men. Lebda and Lilja are not slouches either.

Cleart is becoming a genuine force on offense. Nice pickup, Kenny.

So 4 games where he is not accountable.

Definitely. If Hasek is the starter, let him prove it. The team has given him plenty of chances to win. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl Down a little way on the right is tonight's games. If you have anything other than dial-up, it should work ok.

I hate to bring up the goalie thing when it seems finally on the verge of death, but I didn't get to throw my two cents into the cesspool that is LGW forums (not a knock against Matt, layout is perfect). Dominic Hasek is here to carry the team to the Stanley Cup. He wants to play in the playoffs. The fact is, though, that he has numbers comparable to LA goalies. In my opinion, he should be playing 20-30 games a season, and we should be riding Oz to the Cup. The problem that management faces is that Hasek would not put up with. He's playing for one reason. No other coach in the league would snub Ozzie like that. Good thing he takes what he gets. I do get hope, though, when he plays a bad game and has a fire in his eyes, like, "You just wait until the next one." Also, Babcock is right about older players. They've played 15+ seasons. Hasek isn't fired up for every single game. Approaching the playoffs, I'm sure we'll see someone who at least thinks about starting him in the playoffs.

Going with K's this game? Are you the one that wrote that Wings song to American Pie? If you still have that, can you PM it to me? I thought it was pure genius.

Always hoping for the Wings victory, but always want Kopitar to have a good game. 3-2 Wings. Goal & Assist for Lidstrom, Anze.

You mean Happy Holidays. I'm listening to Marigold by Nirvana. Actually, it was written and sung by Dave Grohl, who is usually the drummer. I believe he was also the drummer for this song. Krist naturally played bass.

You rock.

Zubov has really improved his defensive game. Comes with age. Just sayin'.

When I said 'very enlightening,' I was being a little sarcastic. We've seen all the quotes several times lately. As for the Lids comment, it was just a long-term future hypothetical. Finally, I'm sure we will be fine without Lids, just not great. Off-seasons will be a good possibility.

Very enlightening. Also, I think Lidstrom would make a terrific GM. An article was posted on here saying that if he wasn't a hockey player, he would have been Prime Minister of Sweden or the Manager of the Greatest bank in the world. Do people here think he has the capability to replace Holland?

I'm a stats junkie, and loving this. What a great start so far.

Missed a winning streak. What else is new.

I've gone to 4 Columbus games, and I can tell you, there are only 10,000 people in that city that know the rules of hockey. The rest are only at the games because they have expensive seats. I saw plenty of people who were surfing the web in the middle of the third period. No, definitely not a hockey town. But there's money there.

lol, Dats is a funny guy. And according to Babcock, the best player in the league right now... hope he proves it!