toby91_ca

I'm wondering if this injury trouble is going to hurt his chances of playing beyond this year. Prior to this year, in his 19 year career, his missed about 29 games in total (or about 1.5 games per year on average). He's already missed 9 games this year, which is easily the most in his entire career. Is age finally catching up to him....is this a bad sign for coming back? Or, maybe he is just taking an extra long break to rest up for playoffs? Eevn under that scenario I would be thinking (is age catching up to the point where he needs too much rest....will he come back next year?)

I think Bettman's job is safe for awhile anyway. League revenues have almost doubled in 6 years....why would the owners want to get rid of him?

The issue will be how the puck ended up across the line under the goalie. If the ref blows the whistle and calls no goal, there is no way you can end up with a goal in that situation (well, there is one way), here's why: - go to video review, in that video, the only time you are able to see the puck over the line is when the goalie gets up (long after the play is dead. In that scenrio, there is no way of knowing how the puck got there or when, there's no conclusive evidence. - could be a goal if on video review you see the puck go into the net then bounce back under the goalie (all before the whistle.

So, here is an excerpt from this guys blog for the Denver post after the Avalanche lost to the Penguins over the weekend. Now, I'm not sure what his problem is....maybe it is because the Avalanche are fighting for their playoff lives and this was a huge loss for them, or he's pissed that that home team didn't get more support from home fans....I'm not sure. So, this guy is suggesting the Pens fans look foolish. Is this guy honestly suggesting that if you go to a hockey game (any sporting event actually), you better be sure you are only a fan of the home team...or at least, don't wear the visiting team's jersey or cheer for them, otherwise you will look foolish? The biggest "huh?" part for me was when he's suggesting that they loved the Pens or the city of Pittsburgh so much, then why are they in Denver. This is the most absurd comment I've ever seen. Some of those people may have travelled from Pittsburgh, that happens....but more importantly, who cares. I grew up in Nova Scotia...spent my whole life there until after University when I moved to Toronto to start my career. So, I grew up, spent approximately 20 years cheering for Detroit.....when I moved to Toronto, was I all of a sudden supposed to stop cheering for the Wings and change my team to the Maple Leafs? The writer didn't make a single logical point in his rant.

It also not just that people don't always cheer for the local team...because in a lot of cases, there is no local team. In my case, growing up in Nova Scotia, there is no local NHL team. I ended up cheering for Detroit for strange reasons, but I was young and no matter how you start, the tie bonds you over time. A lot of people where I came from cheered for Montreal or Toronto or Boston. After I moved to Toronto I obviously didn't flick the switch and say "I guess I'm a Leafs fan now" - same with a cousin of mine who is a Leafs fan (born and raised in New Brunswick)....he moved to Calgary, he didn't all of a sudden become a Flames fan.

Haha, yes, it is mind blowing. This is my first exposure to this guy. Edit....I should qualify my statement. With everything I've read over the years, I'm sure if I've seen something from him before, but I haven't taken notice of the author.

But in 2009, Green finished with 73 pts, 2nd place Dman had 64 points. Quite a bit different from projections this year for Karlsson to finish with 83pts and number 2 at 55pts. Astronomically different actually.

Wonder what it would look like if all games that went to shootout were considered ties....ie. rather than removing loser point, removing the extra point the winner gets in the shootout (I think that annoys me more than the loser getting a single point).

Bobby Orr did not play at in the original 6 era.

It's a tough one. I guess you have to consider how much Letang moved by reaching to poke the puck and how short of time it was before he took the hit.

Yes. I don't know (or haven't bothered to dig through records) from back in the 30s, 40s and 50s, but their record was pretty bad in 97 and 98: 1997 - 18-14-9 1998 - 19-15-7 Edit....actually, those records aren't as bad as I thought as the 9 and the 7 are ties, not losses as they would appear today.

I think that is absolutely asinine. If you want to argue that people won't give him Norris because they don't want to admit Lidstrom is just as good or better, those same people could just fall back on this: Orr, ignoring his rookie year, effectively played 8 seasons in the NHL, in those 8 seasons he has won: - 8 Norris trophies - 3 Hart trophies - 2 Conn Smythe trophies - 2 Art Ross trophies Some would argue that if his career was not cut short, he could have won 15-20 Norris trophies. The problem is that there really are no defensive stats. Any stats you find that you can try and present as defensive stats are subjective at best. That's the problem I always have with trying to determine who the best is defensively. You can do that with the Wings because you watch them play all the time. You can't really assess a player's defensive play without watching them all the time. Unless you watch every player just as much as every other player, you will never be able to form an objective view.

So, you think he might deserve to win becuase of his +/-, even if the stat is useless?

Okay, I would guess that the pride and bragging rights from winning it mean absolutely nothing to anyway. That said, this year, like no other, it may be more important for the Wings due to their crazy difference in home vs. road record. The other thing to consider though, a team could have home ice advantage all through the playoffs without actually winning the PT. Winning the PT would guarantee that though.

I don't know about that. If Lidstrom was playing above and beyond everyone and didn't win, maybe we discuss conspiracy theory then.

I will be blunt, I think he's got a chance at being a finalist due to reputation, but I think he has close to no chance at winning it. Karlsson is destroying the competition offensively, but I don't think that will be enough either. Webber probably is the favourite. The Karlsson case is hard though. When Green had those big years, most didn't think he'd win and he didn't, but he was close. If you look back, he only outscored the competition by a handful of points (7 in 2010). Karlsson will likely outscore the competition by close to 30pts (that is absolutely massive....especially with scoring lower these days). Green finished 21st overall in scoring in 2010, Karlsson currently sits in 6th.

I think you also need to consider cap space. You are talking about adding $x for Suter (big number) and JVR is at about $4.25 million I think + he's just coming off a concussion isn't he?

Karlsson?

I think the media may have been talking about Malkin because he has been piling up a lot of points more recently. While he is not blowing Giroux out of the water on ppg overall, I think he has been over the past couple months. Re: last year, highly likely that Crosby would have won by a margin of 30+ points if healthy.

He was much better when his team was much worse though. He was much better when the team was much better as well....just pointing out that pinning it on the crappiness of the organization probably isn't a good reason.

to be fair, it used to be deserved. As good as he has been since, not sure I'd say he's become the best playoff performer.

Edmonton has had the best ice for about 30 years.

His cousin is one of my best friends and he agrees, he's a bit of a ******.

I'm not sure Nick has much of a chance this year based on his reduced production.

I think they are just trying to get a record of their own since the Wings just got one. Another 9 losses in a row and they'll have the record.