hockey&beer

Interesting question: If the Duck's have the "best" defense in the league and the "best" positional goalie in the league, why are they not 1st in goals against in the league? As has been stated many times in these forums, players on paper do not translate into an elite group. To evaluate a defensive core, the group has to be compared as a whole not individual persons. Not only that there are 3 other skaters on the ice that will also have a sizeable impact on the stats if that's what we are looking at. On top of everything, an elite NHL defensemen should be able to play with any other defensemen in the league and make that player better. Yes, Lidstrom is the BEST defensemen in the league, period. But Pronger and Nieds are both better than Rafalski. But as a whole the 8 "regular" D-men for the Wings are better than that of Anaheim. I guess my final answer is.... I don't know.

The biggest obstacle I can see in renovating the Joe is that the building itself prevents some of the neccesary upgrades. The 2 biggest upgrades the Joe needs is restrooms and parking. There is NO WAY to make these improvments to the current building. The third, and less important in my eyes, is the need for suites that aren't in the stratosphere.

I don't expect to see a change in personnel, but hopefully there will be a change in procedure. With all the recent injuries, continuity has been lost. Babcock's system relies on crisp passing and near constant puck control. Right now, everything is just a little off. Too often last night (SJS) the Wings puck carrier skated right into the path of a teammate basically allowing one defender to cover two Wings. Even worse the play was usually along the boards and as the play progressed they would end up near the blue line and then there is 3 Wings within 6 feet of each other. It seems that right now the only answer may be to "dumb-down" the current system. D-man to forward to get out of the zone, forward over blue line dump that puppy in with the other 2 forwards full speed ahead. Extremely simple, especiall yif you take a look at the last few games. Some of the best scoring chances have been when one of the D was charging up ice and was first into the zone while the forwards were standing still at the blue line waiting for the puck to catch up to them. This is why we seem to miss Rafalski and Lidstrom so much... good first pass to keep the players skating up-ice. Also, I'll just throw this out there, I think Hank is having some issues with his back again. I've noticed over the past 4-5 games that he has been skating a little slower and when he makes the inside-outside swim move when coming into the zone he hasn't been turning his upper body as much, which allows the defender to simply bump him off the puck.

Ummmmm, ESPN tried to "stiff" the NHL by offering a completely ridiculous contract. The way the contract was presented it would have COST the NHL to have games broadcast and not only that ESPN had two "out clauses" included. They could either opt out of the contract if they felt they weren't benefiting from it and also they reserved the right to bump any NHL game for alternate programming. So all-in-all Versus was the best answer at the time and more than likely NHL will never go back to ESPN because they will not cover any hockey news. The "worldwide leader in sports" is a self proclaimed title, "media nazi's with an agenda" is more fitting.

Sounds like somebody needs a nap. Just because certain players are moved for a certain "price" does not mean the price would be the same going elsewhere. Holland is probably the best GM in this league, period. Take a pill dude.

If you check out his info on RedWingsCentral all of the scouts/coaches are pretty pumped about this guy. I have caught the Griffs a couple of times this season and he seems to be the real deal.

I thought this was an interesting take on the idea of "important goals". Of course all goals are significant in some way, this is just an interesting way of providing a "real number" to a clutch player. http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/1305...ics-Jan-29.html (Of course this is another stat that the DRW seem to score well)

Pav will win it if Ovechkin doesn't score. The AO's ego fueling his moves I don't think Pav amazing stick work will be able to compensate.

Niedermeyer.... interesting. Just to relate back to a thread I started just after Niederwiener came back, Nick is going to get SCREWED out of the Norris, which should be his by a long shot. I mean, how in holy peppermint ape-s*** is it possible that Niedermeyer played well enough in 17 G-D games to warrant playing the ASG?? Niedermeyer 2 goals, 9 assists, even +/- Rafalski 49 games, 8 goals, 33 assists, +14 (not saying he should be there either but it seems a little odd to me).

If a goalie were to participate in the shoot out he would have to wear all of his goalie equipment as described in the rulebook or change all of his equipment to that of a skater. I would imagine this would take more than a couple of seconds, so with like 4-5 skaters left to shoot the goalie would have to get to the locker room, change like Superman and get back to the bench. It would be real funny if all that occurred and the last shooter scored the GWG.

As angry as it makes me to type this: Nick will have a long way to go to beat out Niedermayer. If Niedermayer puts up any kind of respectable numbers this season he will be handed the Norris. The media is already making him out to be the savior of the Ducks, and if their season takes a turn for the better then he will get all the credit. Just wait, at the end of the season Nicks numbers will be stellar (like always), but the powers that be will site the fact that Niedermayer played a shortened season, had decent numbers, and made a larger impact for his team as reasoning to pass over Nick. For example last year, looking at JUST the numbers for Nick, Pronger, and Scott, Nick was clearly better on paper. But up until the winner was announced every media person was spouting reasons why the trophy could go to either of the other two. I hope I'm wrong... we'll have to wait and see.

I hate Comcast! I actually have the opposite problem. In my area, Comcast is the only provider and they "only offer digital". Except the only thing that makes it digital is the cable box. They are really not charging you for anything to have the digital package. I have 3 TVs, two with boxes one without. The TV without receives the same channels,except you don't get the guide or the ability to order ON DEMAND or the premium movie channels, that's it. Those schemeing schmucks told me that I had to have digital service but any TV without a box received "basic" cable. Sooooooooo... why do I have to pay for digital service if I don't NEED digital service?

I usually try to get SR tickets (depends if the wife is going or not). I really like the vantage point and if need be you can hit the troughs and be back before anyone else has even stood up for intermission. The biggest key is to try to get there early. SR is kind of like bleacher seating, JLA calculates how large that an area a person occupies and then simply divides up the space. Let's just say I've been to a couple games where it was a little cozy. You may also get lucky like I have a few times and one of the season ticket holders (8th row) handed me his stubs as he was walking out at the begining of the 3rd.

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/mckenzie/?id=223380 I found this relatively entertaining. I really like the bit on the crackdown on hooking/holding/interference, it basically reads like a quote from Mickey Redmond. “You could call a penalty every time there is contact if you went strictly by the rulebook,†Sinden said. “If someone says you have to call the game by the book, that person doesn't know what they're talking about. The idea is to strike a proper compromise with the rulebook. They're taking too stringent a view of it and I don't know if that's the way to do it.†Didn't somebody once remark that history repeats itself.

I only through this up because of the NSH game where by the end of the game all of the players were scared to touch anybody and end up in the box. What it really comes down to is there is no consistency between the pairings of refs. I general, there probably are the same amount of "real" penalties that occur over the course of a week. But if you look at all the box scores there will be 3 games with 5 totals calls and then there will be games like Thursday with 20. Yes, human error blah blah blah, but all the refs go to the same meetings, read the same book, and have the same boss, so why such a noticable difference in the way a game is called?

Unfortunately the memo was sent to the tail-end of his mullet, it usually takes 1-2 business days for it to reach his brain.

I guess I'm looking at things in terms of interference. If a skater were to handle the puck and then not allow the opposing skater to then chase the puck... that's interference. But a goalie can do just about anything to prevent the skater from getting by (although hooking may be called). Yes a goalie can very easily fall and injure himself if he is not aware the hit is coming. But he would know the forward is coming at him and then would maybe not leisurely (sp?) skate out to trap the puck behind the net and impede the forward.

Yes, lose the trapezoid rule. I can understand that the goaler should be off limits while trying to make a save or being in the crease at all. But there is no reason he shouldn't be fair game if he's out of the crease playing the puck. Especially since he's usually trying to stay in the path of the opposing forward. That has always gotten on my nerves.

I hate to be the one to say this but changing the net size, equipment size, or the size of the ice will not alter scoring in the long run. All that these changes would do is MAYBE change scoring for a couple of years and then we will be right back to where we are now. The game has gotten to the point where the athletes are so well trained and conditioned that goals rarely occur unless someone makes a mistake. I can use my "other" sport as a good example. Lacrosse is played using the same basic priciples as hockey, without the skating of course. Box or indoor lacrosse is played on a surface similar in size to a hockey rink, the nets are similar size and the goalies are twice the size, yet many games end with 6+ goals per team. When lacrosse is played outdoors, the field is larger than in football, the nets are 6' x 6', and the goalies don't wear much more than a helmet gloves and chest protector (baseball catcher's size) and oddly enough many games end with the same type of scores as box. I guess it means that if fans don't watch the game for what it is:great skills, hard hits, awesome saves, and amazing goals then hockey is destined to go by the wayside pretty soon. BTW, has anyone actually watched a soccer match from beginning to end? Talk aboot snooz-fest!!

Since I'm late getting in on this topic and didn't read through all five pages i'll assume that this point has already been brought up: Datsyuk's faceoff numbers will probably be poor this season for the simple fact that when DZH is on the ice, Z takes the faceoff and D only comes in if Z gets tossed. Therefore, D must be much more cautious in the circle to avoid taking the penalty. As far a point production... a point is a point. The goal would never occur if the play was never setup by a sometimes amazing move by D, and never finish without the confidence that Z has right now. At some point this streak will end and you'll see D getting more quality chances. But don't be fooled D is the setup man and Z is the finisher, end of story.

So should this topic be merged "Trading Salaries", doesn't it seem kind of odd that Burke makes this comment then it comes out that Nieds is skating? Who does Burke want to unload so that he can make room for Selanne to come back too?

I always park Cobo roof. In 10 seasons of games I have only had problems during the Auto Show. I find it convienent because it's close to JLA and also easy access to 75, the Lodge, and 94 (via the Lodge). Unfortunately late last seasonthe price jumped from $4 to $10. If I recall the lot stays open for 2 hours after the game (night games).

I am going with the all-encompassing "organization". It seems that every interview I hear or read coming from a player/scout/coach/water boy/hairdresser/shoe-shiner all say the same thing... "The Red Wing organization is top notch". To me that means that the idea of team starts from the top and it doesn't just trickle down, EVERYONE believes in the philosophy. I also think that is why certain players just don't seem to fit *cough Lang*. All of the interviews I have seen during pre-game, whom ever it is, always seem to say that they know what their purpose on the team is and does not question it.

Isn't Wednesday's game against "bottom feeder" Nashville.... Wings should be OK.

There have been a few games this year where play looked a little sloppy, but (esp last night) quite a few games where the Wings seemed to be playing an AHL team. I am enjoying the fact that that before the season most of these noards were crying that the offense was going to be sparce and we only have one scoring line. Well, yes one line does most of the scoring but everyone else seems to finall be coming around and my pre-season prediction of the Wings averaging well over 3 GPG is coming true. I am kind-of jealous you are going to the Blues game, since I think they are much improved this season. Overall I think the Wings-Blues series may be real close to 50-50.