swedishconnection

Yeah, I am with you NFM. I dont understand why people always want superstars to take paycuts because they have been in one place for a long time. Lids has given us everything. Hes still competing for the Norris. Find 5 other defensemen that can put up 60 points. Pay cut? Why? Because he is not 26 anymore? I simply dont get it. Lids is worth whatever Holland will pay him. We should count our lucky stars that he is and has been on our team. With once-in-a-generation players it doesnt matter about money.

To me this was not nearly as bad of a check as some would have it. Forget the breakdown of "he was on his 3rd stride" crap. Charging? Charging is what Raffi Torres or Jordin Tootoo do on every shift. Charging is what Dallas Drake did to Lebda a few years ago when he was still on the Blues. This hit was Rome's shoulder (with elbow tucked in) smack into the middle of Horton's chest, just above the "B" crest. No targeting of the head. The only reason the aftermath looks terrible is that his skates come out from under him and he hits the ice with all of his weight on the back of his own head. Thats why the curtains fell and the lights went out for him. He wasnt out prior to hitting the ice. This is the Cup Finals. Anyone who doesnt see that the game is called differently from the regular season needs to go and watch a regular game right after tonite's game. There is a massive difference. Every time that the puck is in the defensive zone on a defender's stick - and they pass it up and out of the zone there is ALWAYS a fore-checker that hits him well after the puck is gone. In the finals a hit on a D after the puck is gone (and the camera pans away to follow the puck) is called "FINISHING YOUR CHECK" even when it is well after a second later. If that is not interference then this should not be either. No one is clamoring for suspensions or penalties there because its against the boards and no one got hurt. You cant claim that this was a "late hit" if you dont examine all of the "finishing his checks" that happen every playoff game. They should be viewed one and the same - regardless of whether someone got hurt. Personally I love the physicality and finishing checks. Some times people get hurt when they dont have their head up. But if the league wants consistency then late hits are late hits - whether open ice, boards, injury etc.

Well, if we are going to take it that far, then why not go further - Entire TEAM of Datsyuks and even more Datsyuks in GR. Although on second thought that may not be the best of ideas... "Datsyuk wins the faceoff. Passes to Datsyuk. Brings it up center ice, passes to Datsyuk, passes to Datsyuk. HOLY COW dekes around 3 players, makes a great pass to Datsyuk who in turn passes it to Datsyuk. Play is broken up (somehow) and Datsyuk is on the back check. Lifts his stick and steals it. Datsyuk back on the attack and passes to Datsyuk just inside the blueline. Dekes around the defense! Passes to Datsyuk. Skates around Hall Gill, who might as well have not even tried to skate towards him. Passes to Datsyuk behind the net, makes a great pass to Datsyuk at the top of the circle. Touch pass over to Datsyuk. And the whistle blows for the end of the period, 0-0.

How quickly we forget Bobert Lang. On another related note, anyone else find it funny that there is a thread about Laich this offseason?

So we are calling for league review of all hits, then? - and during game time? I wonder why no one brought up what I like to call the "Pronger Defense?" Remember when Pronger (and was it Needavacation?) elbowed Homer in the playoffs? The argument at the time against any suspension was that Pronger is a sasquatch and his elbows are at a normal human head level. Bertuzzi is pretty large himself... why not just throw him into the same category? His arms are at a normal player's head level. Seems like the same concept just applied several years later.

I don't get it. So they can "allow" him to go Swiss, but they get cap relief? How the hell does that work? If that's the case can't we "loan" ritola to the elitserian? And if that's the case what makes any minor leagues any different than euro leagues? Why can't we loan Miller or ritola to the AHL, OHL, QMJHL to save roster space? Obviously I don't fancy myself an international hockey transfer specialist. Point being its crap that Chicago looks to be getting away with this. Taking Huet aside and saying " we will have no choice to bury you, so you should start looking elsewhere... besides it will help our cap too..." Anyway... good luck signing free agents of note... they are making a run at the champs... leafnation.

Wow. I must be the luckiest man on earth. I am crazy hockey addicted... and she's worse than me. She could tell you all 4 lines and defensive pairings of the 90s thru today, the numbers they wore, and how many points they got. She could tell you who we traded to get Kyle Calder.... as obscure as that is. She's been a hockey fan longer Than me and she's younger, but I credit that to her being a 'gander and I'm a Chicago native. She's an active poster here and has been for years. I've had to go to such lengths as to hold her back from jumping over the glass at western Michigan games when we played Ohio state. I love it, her, and wouldn't have it any other way. Its part of why we moved back from San Francisco... so we can go to more home games!

Edit... double post. And thank you for the image... easy enough to see he's lefty. Its hard for those of us who are so addicted to the boards that they check them on mobile phones... not so easy to get that info.

Thank you. This helps immensely. Except for the fact that ritola and kindl are screwed warming the bench, or that Miller is gone. Either way we have a metric s*** ton of players for bottom lines. I take it that this is all going to be ironed out in camp. Sad to see either ritola or Miller go, but don't let the door hit ya meech.

Hmmm. Not sure I liked this signing on first reading about it when I ft home tonite. After reading about it here I gotta say I feel more confident about it. At first my reaction was "why the hell are we signing a broken defensman ?" Few questions: righty or lefty? I hope he's a righty. Is ritola on a two way contract which would allow him to play in the minors without being subject to waivers, ala abdelkader last year? Is kindl out of minor league options? Or can he be sent down without waivers too? If ritola can be sent down with no issues, then look for Kenny to put him there (which is what I thought it was for ritola). I haven't read one thing on the boards this summer that pinned these issues down. If kindl is out of options, what's the point of having salei? I'm hoping for some informed responses...

Core.

I would totally take that. Why not have 3 players from the State national championship team on one line? I'm all about it!

If there was a canoe full of ******, and that canoe was the size of delaware, then Perry would be the ****** canoe captain. I hope it sinks into a black hole surrounded by an ocean of acid and fire with razor blades tainted with aids. I hate that guy. He talks trash, picks fights (sometimes) but only if he thinks he can win. He has skill, and sometimes uses it. I hate the lack of drive - and even more infuriating is that when he is able to step it up it is always against the wings. The last player that I want to see scoring on the wings or getting in a hit on a star is Perry- and he always manages to be noticed by me. Hasn't anyone ever had someone that is just their nemesis and couldnt place why? For example - that baby with the unibrow vs. Maggie Simpson. Or Frank Grimes and Homer Simpson. No explaination - just pure opposite hatred. That and he is a big canadian right-handed scoring winger that hits and is able to fight and gets under the oppositions skin - something that a lot of people that I have been reading over the past 4 years on the boards wishes existed on the wings. Not to say that I agree - but just saying that he embodies a lot that people think they want on the team.

I am really sad to see this happening. A few players I can understand. I really thought highly of Grebs. He is a really skilled, calm first pass player. Steadying on the point. No real shot or anything, but just a good defenseman - uses his brain more than brawn. I loved watching him on Edmonton and he was usually a player that I traded for as soon as possible on video games. I can't believe that this is happening a second time for the Preds. Is there something with the management team there that can not handle Russians? First Radulov now Grebeshkov? I wonder where Legionnare is and what he is thinking... Thats a big hit with those 2 players. Grebeshkov was supposed to be a replacement for Zidlicky - same type of player. Imagine if Hudler AND Rafalski left for Russia over a 2 year period. Yikes.

Vandermeer would be decent, but Nokelainen is where its at. I guess I could take the argument that we dont really need any more centers, but this guy is right handed and destroyed us both with the 'Yotes and the Ducks - when speaking of faceoffs. Think of a younger, right handed Draper. Remember, Drapes isnt going to be around forever. Nokelainen is one of the guys I have secretly been following. I love his play. If it is offense you want, dont hop off the trolley here. But if you want a defensively sound, right handed faceoff winner - this is the guy. I'd love to see him on the Wings.

Dont lump me in with the OMG people. And to NFM's point I never suggested that we needed anything else on the free agent market. Huds is coming home, which pretty much solidifies the 2nd line. Cleary, Eaves, Miller, Draper, Ritola/Abdelkader, and Helm will round out the bottom six. Meech in the presser just in case. A lot of people seem to go under the assumption that Bert is required - hence the whole "who else are you going to get on the market" argument. I am simply proposing that he(or his role)is not. And is not goes for the salary amount as well - especially with the space diminishing rapidly with our qualified offers. Call me conservative, but I for one would like to see some extra come deadline time or for next July 1. My point was that we are paying Bert more based on the fact that he played well for us last season. Lids did too, and so did Homer. Why is it that our loyal players that have been here forever are the ones that stand up and take the cut for the team, and we give more to a player that performed marginally above expectations the second time around? I guess we need to go under the assumption that we underpaid last year on the 1 year "tryout" and he has earned his keep. I trust Holland, and I am sure Bert will be decent on the wings once again. He gets dogged too often, and even I jump on that one a bit with the lackluster passing. My only question is if Bert is on the 3rd line why are we paying him more this season - if that is where he ends up? Consider my previous post a solid retort. If we are not here to armchair GM, read news, or post ideas, what are we here for? Why judge someone for something they take pleasure in, even if you dont?

I never thought of it that way. That kind of makes me throw up in my mouth a little. I like Bert and what he brings for the cash, but I will still scream at the TV every time he passes up a hit or does a terrible drop pass to no one. As someone else put it - even Lids took a moderate cut. I dont get why that theoretical cash is going to Bertuzzi's pockets. He's no Brett or Luc. What are we really getting for the scratch, especially with Huds coming home?

In the words of the late Chris Farley, "Haha, why?" To answer your question, while avoiding the personal attack, is NO. However I have been watching the 2010 winter olympics. Gleason can't skate, Suter pinches ALL THE TIME, and B-Raf is (inarguably) tied for Second on the goal scoring count, 1 shy of J.I. So we have watched Lids and Raf all season long. Lids hasnt been great, which is remarkable in its own right. Raf has been terrible in his own zone. Now that there is some shaking up with their partners they both have been playing noticebly better. So why not try something new? Let Kronwall destroy 1st line forwards for a little time with Lids sitting back as the defensive lynchpin. Let Raf be a little more offensive (on the scoresheet, not the other way) while Stewie (as another poster has stated, think a little less and play more defense. That is, unless, you believe the pairings are working for the wings thus far into the season.

Really? Suter? That dude thinks he's a forward. I dont know if its the fact that he has lineage to Olympics past and feels he needs to live up to the name, but seriously no other Defensman on Team USA (besides Gleason who has been just awful) has been more noticeable as being out of position. Its ironic that even though B-Raf is technically an Offensive D-man, on this pairing hes actually the Defensive one, but still manages to kill it on the scoresheet. I vote for B-Raf / B.S. pairing once the Wings season returns.

I guess the argument is that if the American player was not there the goal would not have happened. IF it were a Canadian player, then that would just be a consequence of the game unfolding- and since it would not have been intentional it would not have counted. The American player was in the offensive zone, intending to score. That is the difference. I agree though- at least just for this instance- I wanted a B-Raf Hattie!!

I saw that last night after the last men's hockey game, but it sounded like they were going to do an overview of it with 3 of the players from the game- not show the whole thing in its entirety...

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /> This is great! A fantastic win. Oh and at 1:31 of the video (just after Cleary scores) You can see Eurotwin and Me clapping as we were at the last game and somehow made it on FSN-Detroit. Sadly, we cannot afford to go to another game Anywho... LGW!

And so the Mule returns. I went to try and find the thread from the 2006 off-season where I was posting that Franzen should be a decent 3rd liner, and showed defensive prowess with a knack for some decent puck handling. Someone retorted with the idea that "Franzen had stone hands". Stone hands. That comment has stuck with me for years regarding a player that I saw something in. I have held on to it - pointing it out to anyone that would listen (usually my hockey insane G/F and friends that would give me the time of day). I could not find the thread. Maybe it is just me, but looking back I love to see something in our players at different times in the beginning of their careers that will translate into NHL success. Call it self-gratification, but look at the history of this forum. In 2006 I was calling that Zata would be a Conn-Smythe winner in his career. In the off-season of 2006 I was saying that I saw decent to above average puck handling ability in Franzen and he should not be traded for a jar of mayonnaise. To look back makes me feel better. The way this season has been going, how can it not? For me, I am exuberant for the return of a fantastic, beyond expectations, game breaking, clutch, power forward. But, being a realist on the other hand- he will not be a player that you remove the cellophane from on Christmas day. He will show his ability, but getting back into the game will take time. He has missed a lot and gone through a lot. I for one will not jump trolley when he is not the second coming of the player we all wish he was. We need to understand as a fan base that it will take time, it will be hard, it will be something that he needs to work through - and there will be mistakes. If we can resoundly call for the return of the turn-over-at-critical-time gaffe machine Lilly-Pads with unequivocal rose-colored pride, then we can hash out the expectations as fans surrounding the return of a pure sniper who needs some time to catch his breath and develop chemistry. LGW.

I will be at this one with EuroTwin. Section 114, Lower bowl, on the side that the Sharks shoot on twice (D'oh). A friend had the seats and remembered I am a huge Wings fan and offered them to me. She will be sporting Datsyuk Home Red and I will have Zata Home Red. What a great way to spend an Anniversary! Anyone else going to the game tonite?

This conversation is nothing. I am a Football fan. (Soccer). There is no more harsh of a gear shift from a fast, grueling, hard-hitting, fluid, decent scoring sport to a sport that rewards fake injuries, primma-donna's, low-scoring, and relatively slow moving players. That being said, I still love the only sport that the WORLD watches, and I am looking forward to the World Cup. Overall, though, my heart is a Hockey heart. No ifs, ands or buts. But still... its freaking hard to switch my mind from Post-season hockey to mid-season Soccer. (Not an intentional threadjack, just sayin...)