toby91_ca

Just for accuracy sake, I wouldn't say Datsyuk has a great ability of avoiding injury. So far in his career, he has missed an average of over 9 games a year due to injury. Granted, he hasn't missed any this year and only 3 last year. Hopefully he is able to keep games missed due to injury at a minimum, but I don't think I'm ready to say he is consistent in that area yet. Now Lidstrom, that's a different story. He is doing great this year, on pace to have a career year in points and after a slow start in goals, he's picked up the pace there. I don't think he'll ever be a huge goal scorer, probably 25-30 goals a year, maybe a few years with more. I'd be surprised if you see him in the top 5 in scoring, but maybe top 10, which would be pretty impressive.

That's the exact spot of the replay I was looking at and it looks to me like he pushes off with his left skate and his right leg is pretty much stationary from the blue line in. When I looked again, he did turn his right skate slightly just after the blue line, but when you push with one skate to go in one direction, if you don't have your other skate pointing in the right direction, you fall down, so I don't see anythying wrong with that slight movement, his knee didn't come out or anything.

Here's my take, which I'm somewhat hesistant about simply because it's Ruutu, but I don't think he was at fault for anything. Ruutu got a 5 minute major for kneeing, game misconduct and 5 minutes for fighting. Let's deal with the fighting first: looks like he got jumped by McCarthy and took several shots to the back of the head....how was Ruutu fighting? The hit: I've looked at the replay, his elbow came out, which to me is reactionary as Kovalchuk is moving away, but it doesn't matter, he didn't catch him with an elbow and the elbow wasn't head high anyway. In terms of the knee, I watched the video and focused solely on Ruutu's right leg, his leg didn't seem to move at all. Looks to me like Kovalchuk tried to jump out of the way and his leg was left there to get hit. Like I said, that is my easy conclusion based on the Penguin player being anyone other than Ruutu, but since it is Ruutu, you gotta wonder. Combine that with the fact that Kovalchuk isn't a popular player with that team.

To be honest, I think Bondra may have a hard time getting in ever. The only thing he has going for him as an argument is 500 goals. He has less than 900 pts, less than a point per game and has never won anything.

Actually, Larionov's pre-NHL career is what gives him a shot at the HHOF. If you are looking at his NHL career alone, he'd have no shot at all.

I thought it was Versus that exercised their option to extend.

Let's think about the possible scenarios first before making conclusions about selfishness: Scenario 1: Let's assume both Niedermayer and Selanne wanted to have the chance to play for the cup again this year, but they didn't feel like going through the rigors of a full season, so they decided they would sit out for awhile to rest and come back when they are ready. In this scenario, I would agree that they are both being selfish. For the record, I wouldn't distinguish between the two because one had a contract and the other didn't, doesn't really matter as far as I'm concerned. Scenario 2: Let's assume both players were really contemplating retirement and made decisions to retire (I can understand how difficult a decision this would be) and after being away from the game for some time, they realized they couldn't go just yet and decided to come back. In that scenario, it's hard to call the players selfish, but I suppose you could be a little upset that they couldn't make up their mind in time for the beginning of the season. However, I have to imagine that this scenario could exist and that they decided they wouldn't play and didn't really know they wanted to play until they were in the situation of not playing when October, November and December rolled around. You may not know what that feels like during the summer months. Scenario 3: Let's assume both players, management and the rest of the team knew that these players were going to be playing later in the year. They were nearing the end of their careers (though, not sure why Scott wouldn't be playing for many more years, but anyway) and in order to get a better team on paper, everyone agreed that they would sit out for awhile and come back later in the year when their cap hit would not be as high. In this scenario, it's a little hard to call them selfish, seeing as they are giving up millions by not playing, but at the same time, I can see where people would be upset with the whole situation. I know a lot of people consider scenario 3 and a lot of people, including Burke have shot that scenario down, but I'm not so sure. I understand those that would argue against it since it would be a huge gamble keeping out 2 stars for much of the year (i.e. maybe you miss the playoffs), but I also can't figure it out. A little strange that 2 players on the same team? Also, whose willing to bet that this type of thing wouldn't have happened a few years ago? Cap manipulation? I'm not sure what the correct scenario is, but I'm not completely convinced it's not #3.

Okay, I just gotta know, am I the only one that was completely unimpressed with the Ovechkin breakaway challenge attempts? Firstly, I must say, I actually missed almost the entire event, I saw the last 10-15 minutes, so I caught only the backwards attempt by Getslaf (which I thought was the best attempt by far) and the attempts that came after that. Kovalchuk's attempts were just plain......well....plain. So, here's my beef. I will admit that Ovechkin's attempts were different, which is the point of the competition, but shouldn't the highest scores go to something that blows your mind, is amazing, how did he do that type of thing?? I could do what Ovechkin did.....and I did it yesterday just so I could say that I could do, except I actually touched the puck on my attempt to bat it out of the air. The good about his attempts was that they were different, the bad is that anyone else there could have pulled off the same thing. He wasn't even able to hit the puck on his swings and this is what we say was the best?? I guess I just don't get it.

It is in quotes, starting with Yzerman - "

But let's be honest, the experience would not be the same if you took away the jumbotron, announcers, goal horns, etc. and were just left watching the game.

No it certainly isn't news to me, just funny to actually see Ozzie say it.

Looks like he was either saying Hasek used to have a big ego, or he did.

I'm not sure I'd make that claim.

Yes, you are correct, but the very sad thing is, the leader in that division (Carolina) is currenty seeded 3rd in the East, even though if they seeded the playoffs based on overall standings, they would be out of the playoffs (3 pts behind Boston, who sits in 8th). Carolina is actually 20th overall.

I honestly don't remember him being in the hardest shooter, faster skater or most accurate shooter contests. Of course, that doesn't mean he hasn't been.

He's not the only guy that got bumped because mutiple teammates were going. Malkin for example. He's 13th in league scoring and wasn't selected. He's going now, but wouldn't have been if Crosby didn't get hurt.

No, but consider the fact that Fedorov is 4th alltime (3rd best ppg) and 2nd alltime in playoff points for an original six team, with 2 of those 3 guys ahead of him being the #3 and #6 scorers in the history of the NHL. The 3rd guy ahead of him is number 31 on the alltime list and played all 23 years of his career for the team. My criteria: 1st question - are you a HOFer? If the answer is no, then no jersey retirement for you. If the answer is yes, then we need further consideration. Problem is, it is an organization's decision and the criteria is vastly different, organization to organization.

It is a little odd. He was a good player and put up some good numbers, but nowhere near what you would consider worhty of jersey retirement. However, he was a fan favourite and meant so much to that team and city. He did so much humanitarian work, apparantly, that is what is being cited as the main reason for retirement. That said, I still don't think that is a good enough reason. It's great that he does a lot of charity stuff, but I think to have your jersey retired, you also need to have done a little more on the ice.

Just watched the video, no doubt a huge acting job by Downie, who appeared to throw himself into the boards. You could tell that Laraque wanted to cream him, but in the end, didn't hit him. He gave him a little shove that propelled him into the boards like a missle. I know Laraque is a strong guy, but come on....

FYI, they average 18,600+ per game, or good for 7th or 8th in the league.

Yeah, I guess I have to agree with your thoughts. If I look back on the Jones hit, I don't see that as dirty as the Kovalchuk hit. Clearly, the difference is the fact that Bergeron was hurt, which shouldn't make a difference.

When you think about plus/minus, I can't help but think about Orr and Robinson. Orr had +124 one year and Robinson had a year at +120. Think about how great Lidstrom has been over his career from a plus/minus perspective. His career +/- is around +370 or so. Compare that to Robinson at +730. Unbelievable.

Why would you say the game has little importance? Atlanta is 3 pts out of 8th (Rangers are in 8th). A win by NY puts them 5 up on Atlanta, a win by Atlanta puts them within 1 pt of NY. I see this as a big game, other than the fact that it is only January.