b.shanafan14

Hell Yeah, Kings over Preds. That will help the Wings catch Nashville and LA hasn't been playing their best hockey lately so I'm decently confident the Wings can keep them at bay. Blues over Hawks , too

Jimmeh Woward Cause he can go from the 'meh' of blowing a rebound to the 'WOW' of a huge ass save.

Hossa. Period. The guy was great during the regular season, so powerful. But then the playoffs... yuck. Invisible most nights in the second season and you got the sense that while he played out of his mind with Pittsburgh the playoffs before this time around he thought the team would just win him a cup. He had his good games, granted, and its probably just because the wound is still fresh, but going from "OMG HOSSA!!! " in July 2008 to "OMG... HOSSA? :nonono:" in June 2009 was definitely high to low. Not that I would consider this a huge failure in the same sense as Cujo, Hatcher, or even Lang, but he really changed the culture of the team when he came from a Jennings winner to a defensive sieve.

Detroit: Datysuk Helm Holmstrom Edmonton: Whitney

Are the players honestly getting that much stupider? Horrible, moronic, 100% head hit. Its baffling that with all of the talk about head hits in the last year, especially in the last few weeks, guys are still deciding to take a guys head in a hit. Same as when Raffi Torres hit Helm in the head when the Wings were playing the Sabres a few games ago. The players all talk about how it needs to come out of the game, and yet...

Damn Avs... Couldn't beat Toskala....? Calgary back 1 pt, but the Wings have a game in hand and an easier schedule. Now's time to get it in playoff gear.

Datsyuk-Franzen-Homer Filppula-Zetterberg-EAVES Move Cleary onto a lower line and see if it sparks him. Plus, I'd love to see what Eaves playing consistently with Zetterberg and Filppula would do. They were on the same line for about 20 seconds and Hank got a goal a few games ago, couldn't hurt to give the guy a chance.

Homer has played much better than expected. Coming into the season I figured he would have a far more diminished role based on the play of Franzen and Cleary, which is also probably why Homer ended up surprising many. Cleary had a great post-season last spring and Mule is Mule, so I for one thought that Homer was going to bow out to the younger talent. But after the Franzen injury and Cleary's mediocre play all season, Homer was able to step up into his usual spot and production. Really great to see for him and he looks good healthy. Its sad to think of how many players we were hoping to step up and fill the void of all the lost offense and how instead nearly every player took a huge step back. Penciling guys like Filppula, Cleary, Bertuzzi, and Williams all in for 20+ goals and Franzen and Zetterberg in for 40+ goals and having not a one of them reach potential (granted some were injured for a good chunk) is the entire reason this team sits in the position it is today.

Datsyuk Franzen Helm Langkow

Lidstrom Datsyuk Franzen Vanek

I think the top banner looks good, sleek. The rest could use a bit more jazzing up, but its feeling more like home and less like that sterile stock board

It would be next to automatic PP goal for most teams in the league. Not only would the teams ice the puck over and over, but unless someone on the PK manages to take the puck and hold onto it in the attacking zone for long enough, a PK unit would never be able to change, it would be a solid 2 minute PK for 4 skaters or a goal, icing the puck would never grant relief. It is definitely an interesting concept if we are in the mode of constantly trying to find ways to increase goals, but no thanks. The NHL refs are inconsistent and responsible for deciding enough games with poor calls, doing this would basically be like awarding a penalty shot every hook, except most teams would rather face a penalty shot than 2 minutes without personnel change against NHL caliber PP.

The league is never going to take the hard stance they should on this issue and hit players who deserve it in the checkbook with suspensions. It really doesn't need any hard legislation on the issue, at the end of the day they just need to quit being soft on repeat offenders like Cooke. Give him 5 games to think about it. The NHL is run by morons and *******, and most times its hard to tell which is which.

Jeeze, can't wait to hear Peirre kissing Olczyk's as while Olczyk kisses the Blackhawk's ass on national tv. Should be a refreshing change of pace from the usual good commentary.

hahaha jeeze, +1 for Avery there

Yeah, real nice. The guy has plenty of skill when no one is pestering him. Soon as the league remembers he was the dainty flower the Wings ousted they'll be back to knocking him on his ass until his is riding pine.

Yeah, they've traded the Fedorov, Sundin, Forsberg, Sakic, Roenick commercials for Crosby, Crosby, Crosby, Crosby, fans of Crosby commercials

I think Parise or Ryan would be perfect, I think Ryan Miller would be great also. But the NHL would need to do it right now. Ryan Miller stood on his head for the USA and really endeared himself to America, even in losing. He was far and away the best player in the tournament and I think even the Canadians fell in love with the guy a bit. He is soft spoken just like Parise, but they both have that humble awesomeness to them. I think the best way to promote them is to do it gently and make them a symbol of U.S. work ethic, same with Bobby Ryan. The worst thing they could do is use the Sidney Crosby marketing model "HEY THIS GUY IS AWESOME!!!! HE IS THE BEST, NO ONE IS BETTER!!!!! LOVE HIM!!!! NOW!!!!", be subtle.

Absolutely HAD to be on Versus the day after Sid was once again the luckiest SOB alive.... here we go...

Pretty much this. The OP said himself, the little bastard was invisible most of the tournament. He was in the right place at the right time, lucky as f***. Canada didn't win because of Sidney Crosby, he was the last one of the scoresheet, it really could have been anyone. I hate that either way, if Canada won it was going to be about Crosby, this couldn't have made it any worse. Like after Pitt won the cup, you didn't hear about Conn Smythe winner Malkin or Maxime Talbot, it was the Sidney Crosby show. You honestly think this was going to make people love the biggest whiny brat in the league? Half of the problem with Sid is the exposure to the point of nausea, now it's only going to get worse.

Classic Nabokov, shut the door until it matters.... I hate the members of Team Canada, so many ****** bags. Also, sick of Olczyk's constant "look at SID! look at TOEWS! look at SID again!"

I actually love these pairings. I think the Nicks play great together and Rafalski could use the feeling of urgency and tenacity he shows when he doesn't have one of the best defenseman ever to lace skates on his other side. Though, with Ericsson not playing well and Lilja just getting back from his forever concussion, that 3rd pairing looks suspect as hell, at least until you suggest swapping in Lebda and Meech, then Big E and Lils look like Harvey and Orr

Agree 100%. The reason I didn't want Yzerman to get the GM job, its setting you up for an entire country to argue for a year who you should and shouldn't have on the team and at the end of the day, it all depends on who shows up to play in such a short tournament. Its basically picking a fantasy team which isn't based on the play of a whole season but instead about a week's worth of play. The backlash is going to be insane on Stevie and it sucks. Everyone thinks they have the remedy in hindsight, but look at how much s*** Yzerman got for leaving off just a Savard or Spezza. Imagine if a Smyth or Cleary type made it over a superstar like that, no telling the outcome would have been any different but the number of "I told you so" would have been triple, at least. Canada has to realize they hit two hot goaltenders, not a poor coach or GM. Pick a single week of hockey during the regular season and see if the best team in the league ends up with the best record that week or not, same concept.

Or there is that

I said it when Stevie Y was first selected as Team Canada's GM: With that much talent, its a crap shoot at exactly which star-complex superstars you pick to play on the team and the backlash in Canada for not winning these games is going to be over-the-top, out-of-this-world-ridiculous. I would have preferred he never got the job because its always the same story. Guy gets job, guy is told who should and shouldn't play by Canadian media for almost a year, then they get to the tournament with no time to actually prepare beyond who's on whose line and all it takes is a couple hot goaltenders to make an entire nation look at a GM who was basically forced to pick a fantasy team and a coach who does nothing but open the door as culprits for their incredible defeat. Its been done so many different ways, but its a short tournament and its based on luck straight out of the gate, which Canada has not had. I really hope this is blamed on the players themselves and not the coach and GM of the Canadian fantasy team.