toby91_ca

You would be an idiot to say he doesn't have a chance. He certainly has a legitimate shot (especially since he is leading now). That said, I don't think he ends up winning the scoring title. Not sure if it has been mentioned before, but did anyone notice that Zetterberg is the first Wing to hold the scoring lead AT ANY TIME during the season in about 40 years or so. As great as Yzerman and Fedorov were, I do not believe either of them ever held the scoring lead (even for just a day)

I think 1,000 points is an EXTREME long shot.

Very, very early to thinking about Dats and Z getting their numbers retired. Neither has accomplished anything yet to warrant that type of discussion. Not diminishing their abilities, but Fedorov had accomplished a lot more here than them and no one thinks his number should be retired here. I find you may be contradicting yourself a little as well when talking about them, but making fun of Crosby in Pittsburgh. Again, Dats and Z are great players, but you have to admit that Crosby is a pretty special player as well. Think about this for a minute. When Dats was Crosby's age, he was 3 years away from playing his first NHL game. When Z was Crosby's age, he was 2 years away from playing his first NHL game. Prior to his 20th birthday, Crosby had won a scoring title (youngest ever in any sport), won the Hart and Pearson and had set about 9 NHL records. Who knows that the future will hold, but for him, it looks fairly bright.

Well, I agree for the most part, but remember these facts as well: - Maltby was drafted in 1992 with 263 other players. Of those other 263 players, only 2 have played more games in the NHL than Maltby. - Maltby's 91 points in the OHL was great, but there is a big difference between being the 23rd highest scorer in the league and being tied for 1st with a whopping 32 pts in 14 games. That said, it is unlikely he will translate that to eventual NHL domination, but at this point, most would at least assume he will be able to make the jump to an NHL roster at some point. He's a long shot for sure, but he's still young, you never know. What you have to watch out for is the overage junior players that put up big numbers. McGrath put up 114 pts when he was 20. Matthias is now putting up big numbers (his 4th year as a junior). Crosby is probably not a fair comparison, but he played his last game in Junior as an 17 year old and dominated the league for the previous 2 years. When you are putting up big pts as a 20 year old playing against 17 and 18 year olds for the most part, it doesn't necessarily paint an accurate picture of that players potential.

Do we really have to discuss again? Seriously though, we have discussed this quite a bit in the past about Wings players. In terms of other teams, it is really hard to discuss because different teams have different policies on this. For example, probably a lot easier to get your jersey retired in Colorado than Detroit. You mention Sundin, well, the Leafs don't retire jerseys, they do put jerseys in the rafters, but do not take them out of circulation.

You get to see more hockey, but I think the last thing you want to see in a game between 2 of your division rivals is for 3 pts to be awarded (that would be worst case scenario). I think the best result for the Wings at this point would be a Chicago win.

He may have been more deserving than Turco, but there were other goalies ahead of both in my opinion. Dom was not tops in stats, or at least the most important stat as far as I am concerned (save %), all other goalie stats are too team influenced. His save % was something like 15th.

Why would he fight Crosby?

Hey, it's better than paying $10 million this year and an average of $7.4 million a year for 7 years for a guy that has 2 goals an 1 assist over 10 games so far (Gomez). They also have another expensive off-season acquisition that isn't exactly blowing the roof off either (though he never really has).

This is the Holland comment I was thinking about: "I look at this as our one shot," Holland said. "If things don't work out, I don't anticipate us heading down this path a year from now." Why would they have signed him for that much anyway?

It's the hits where the player is a few feet from the boards that you need to really worry about. Normally, when the player is right up against the boards, the hits are actdually not that bad....they seem huge, but normally when you are on the receiving end, it really isn't as bad as if it would have been a big open ice hit.

Didn't Holland basically already say that he didn't think they would bother trying this again next year. Anyway, it was something like that, which leads me to believe that Grigs will never wear a Red Wings sweater.

Just out of curiosity, anyone that has lost respect for certain players, do you respect Chelios?

I would have guessed forehead just because of the amount of blood. I'm not sure how many people have seen it, but when someone gets stliced a little on the forehead (even just a little gash), blook will gush like you wouldn't believe. I will then all of a sudden stop. I was playing a game and the other goalie got hit in the face with the puck (facemask I should say). Anyway, somehow he got cut and hit entire head was just covered in blood. After a few minutes, it stopped and he resumed playing the game.

Absolutely no way is that a photoshop job. I have never done one, but I would think if it is, it is the best photoshop job I have ever seen and most definately not simple. I think the picture was set up that way for the specific purpose of the joke. Look at the reflections on the floor. Just far too difficult for a photoshop if you ask me....but then again, I'm lower than a rookie on that technology.

I hate to have to defend Bettman all the time, but really, none of this is his fault. Everyone was on board with the changes, the technology simply isn't working they are not able to fix it apparently, even though they said they would be able to and even new jerseys delivered as early as the first Friday of the season, which obviously didn't happen.

In terms of those thinking "great, I didn't like the look of the new jerseys", you may be misunderstanding what is likely to happen. I think all they will do, if it happens as noted above, will be they will simply use different material for the same jersey. I don't think you would even notice a difference by just looking at it.

Out of curiousity, is Pat Lafontaine a bust? Bobby Orr, Mike Bossy? All of their careers were cut short due to injuries. Lindros may be a bust in some people's minds from the point of view that he did not accomplish everything that was expected, but when he was healthy, he was nothing short of dominant. He's actually only 100pts behind Maurice "Rocket" Richard's career total and he's played in 218 less games. He also has close to the same number of goals and close to 200 more points than Mr. Hall of Famer, Cam Neely. I think the problem is that he didn't have to keep his head up in Junior, he was a monster amongst boys and guys would just bounce off of him if they tried to hit him. I think genetics probably has something to do with it as well since his younger brother retired due to concussions at the age of 20 or 21.

I doubt he's in the lineup, but you never know.

My point was, Lebda put in the time in the minors and actually did something to win a spot on the roster, Grigs has done neither. If Grigs works his way into the lineup by beating someone like Ellis out now, that's fine, he would have earned that spot, but I think there are others who deserve to be in the position his is right now more, such as Cullen.

Chances are, he may not get in the lineup (just on the roster, therefore, more money), so no big deal to players like Ellis. However, you have to imagine it stings a little for a guy like Cullen, who isn't given the opportunity to be here and potential win a stop in the lineup. Yes, I agree pretty much. I think the bigger issue with a lot of people around here are the expectations they had during the season when they knew he was coming. Maybe the expectations were far too high, but I think that is what has led to some people having a sour taste in their mouth.

Cullen?

I'm sorry, I just don't think that is a good comparison at all. #1 - I don't think Kronwall was ever thought of as "one of the best defensemen in the world", he did have a good Olympic tournament or World Championship, whatever it was, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything when it comes to the NHL. #2 - When Detroit needed a defensemen, Lebda was probably the best available option. He played 111 games in the AHL (a lot more than 5), he didn't make the jump to the NHL. His last year in the AHL, he had 18pts in 25 games, not bad for a defensemen and I think that is worthy of a shot at the NHL. #3 - Probably the same as number 2, but he point is, Lebda didn't take a spot over Kronwall, or anyone else that put in more work and/or who was more deserving.

With respect to the schedule, I can understand why Bettman (and the league as a whole) would prefer to see the Wings play most of their games in the West. While as a fan, I would love to see the Wings play more games in Toronto and Montreal for example, does it really matter economically? Toronto and Montreal are going to generate more revenues than most other teams regardless if Detroit comes to town or not. This is not the case with some of the Western teams where the Wings are a big draw.

At least one person is using some common sense.