toby91_ca

Actually, no, unless you consider his first 3-4 games all season long, I would have to say that you are wrong. They occasionally play together on the power play (occasionally) and very sparingly are put together late in the 3rd period if they are down a goal and are really pushing to score. Not sure why you think they have played on the same line pretty much all season.

Same reason the Pens do not put Crosby and Malkin on the same line. And as good as Malkin is, at 2nd in scoring on the team, he's still 28pts behind Crosby. However, the Pens are currently in a different position in the standings, so maybe the Caps having nothing to lose by playing those two guys on the same line, it's worth the gamble I think. Yes, it is the longest of his career and the second longest (3 games) only happened a couple weeks ago. The longest he went last year without a point is 2 games.

Crosby has certainly taken the spotlight from pretty everyone, but that obviously would not impact Ovechkin's performance. You may have a point in potential discouragement due to the team not playing well, but they are a better team this year than last year. He certainly sounded discouraged after last night's game.

Crosby slumps as well, but it is really just slumping compared to the norm. When he slumps, he still puts up more points than most. I remember hearing someone from TSN earlier in the year saying that he is starting to show how special he is, especially when going scoreless in 2 straight games gets media attention. Until he had 4 points in his last game, he was actually in his worst slump of the year, scoring only 13 points in his previous 10 games.

I occasionally check out the "Frozen Moment" at NHL.com and happened to catch it today. When first looking at the picture, I thought it was pretty cool, different angle, all you see is Crosby and the ice. Then I looked at his stick.....check out that curve!! http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&am...ge=FrozenMoment

What does Bettman have to do with this?

A Crosby stick you buy at your local store is not going to have the same curve he uses, it doesn't work that way. Crosby indeed uses a very straight stick, it's been commented on several times. Also, if that isn't the actual curve that he uses, why is he skating around the ice with that stick??

No, it is not a photo shoot, the picture is as described. If you take the time to look at the ice, that's what it actually looks like, lots of skatemarkes on it. Yeah, that's the point. While the straight stick takes away from shooting ability (forehand), it makes for a pretty good backhand, but the real reason he uses a straight stick is for passing, especially passing off the backhand.

Nope....he's not a centreman, he's a winger. And even when he does take a draw (few and far between) he normally loses it. 05/06 - 11 draws (45%) 03/04 - 24 draws (45%) 02/03 - 5 draws (40%) 01/02 - 13 draws (30%)

He hasn't won a single draw all year........though, he's only had 1 attempt.

The Pens have a terrible defense, but if Fluery plays great and covers for them, they are a tough team to beat. Problem is, I think Fluery is still too young and inconsistent to do that throughout a run in the playoffs. Fluery continues to improve, but he isn't quite there yet.

What I found funny is that the 3 stars were all represented by Islanders (1pt, 2pts and 3pts respectively), even though Malone had 3 points, Crosby had 4 points and Recchi had 5 points. Obviously, you wouldn't expect the Pens to get a lot of stars in a game they lost, but to have the other team sweep in a 1 goal game where a few guys on the other team had big offensive outputs is kinda strange. That's what happens when the local guys are picking the stars.

Christiansen doesn't play on the 2nd line I don't think, at least not regularly, the third spot on that line is held by Oulette or however you spell his name. While some of the other lines are starting to score, they have still only won 1 game when Crosby goes pointless (luckily for them, that doesn't happen too often).

I'm not sure how any of what you are saying even makes sense. Firstly, Bondra didn't sign with Ottawa, he was traded their by Washington. Ottawa was trying to make their team better for the playoffs. Players do not trade themselves at the deadline to other teams, their teams' GMs trade them. Sometimes the players are consulted, etc., sometimes they are not. More importantly, this type of transaction couldn't be further from having anything to do with money (from the player's perspective). Bondra did not earn a single penny more with Ottawa than he would have earned if he stayed with Washington.

Not so much this year, especially the last couple months. The 3rd and 4th lines usually do not chip in much offense, but they have been doing well in their roles (especially the 4th line). I think if they put their best players on the first line, they would be a one-line team, but they don't. Crosby is so good, the line is able to be productive regardless of who plays on the line. They are then able to play Malkin and Staal together on the 2nd line. I have to be honest though, I wouldn't mind seeing Staal playing with Crosby occasionally. Crosby and Malkin work well together in isolated situations, not sure it would make sense to play them together a lot, mostly because both of them want the puck all the time. Malkin is more of a shooter than Crosby, but he still isn't that pure sniper that would work best on Crosby's wing.

Not sure how you would conclude the first one was an elbow. It wasn't a devastating hit or anything, but it was a nice open ice hit. On the next two, the Colorado players initiated the contact, so I do not see how that could have been interference, unless you think it should be the Colorado players getting called, which would have made the moment even more funny.

10 points out of the playoffs with 22 games to go seems like a pretty slim to none in terms of chances of getting in.

Definately not the only team to do it. The Penguins did it earlier this year and I know of at least a few other teams that do it regulary, or at least have done it before.

No offense, but you can't just take the lines you give and compare if those other lines are not actual lines. You suggest if it was you, you'd have Crosby, Malkin and Staal as the line for the Pens, but that has never happened. In fact, I am not sure Staal has even been on the ice at the same time as Crosby (other than the odd time due to broken line changes).

And that's what it will take. Not only do they need a much better GM, it is useless getting a top notch guy unless he is able to run with things using his rules. I suppose if the same ownership gave the control necessary to Colangelo, then it is possible for something similar to happen, but I still feel that ownership views the Leafs a little different than the Raptors and it may not be as easy having the same thing happen.

It may be a long time. I think part of the problem is that the GM cannot really make any of his own decisions and the team is probably more focused on profits than winning.

I'm not sure why it is still going on either, but mostly since it would never happen. What's the point in discussing?

Yzerman whined quite a bit as well, he even joked about it in his jersey retirement speach.

I think you are delusional, at least temporarily.

For accuracy, I am not sure I would say the NHL is fed up with them, this is really a writer's views for the most part. I am sure the NHL is fed up with them, but not publicly.