Pskov Wings Fan

4 minutes 4-on-4
3 minutes 3-on-3
2 minutes 2-on-2
1 minute 1-on-1
30 seconds goalie-on-goalie
Still tied: goalie fight

I very much prefer to just watch games at home, instead of going to the games. I don't have to shell out a hundred bucks for parking, overpriced crap beer, etc. Instead I can sit at home with my friends and enjoy great food that only cost what the ingredients cost, good beer, not have to deal with assholes, actually be comfortable, etc.
Oh, and to the person bitching about the people who complain about how the seats are too small, well they are. I am your average tall guy and I am not fat, but I could barely fit in the seats. They are made for shorter/skinny people. Its like the people who say the people complaining about the seats on planes are just fat whales, when in reality if you are over 6'2", there is no way you can comfortably sit in a coach seat. Thats just facts.

I do not recall anything special about his celebration. Given that he scored 4 goals in one game it was rather tame.
And Oates got OV on his team who likes to jump into the glass after his goals.

If Rangers do not like opposing team's goal celebrations then maybe they should consider not allowing them to score. If they can't then shut up and go cry quietly on the bench. I never understood this "not rubbing it in" crap. These are both NHL teams with similar payrolls. It is not like Sharks ran over Pee Wee team while laughing at the kids.
Listened to the players comments about this goal on TSN. I am with Luongo on this one.

I think the problem is with "fighters" not fighting. I have no problem at all with a guy like McCarty, Shannahan, Drake, Big E, etc having the odd tustle when the chips are down.
I do have a problem with guys like Parros, Orr and the like who have no business being in the NHL. These guys are in the league exclusively to fight, any points they earn or plays they make are minor miracles.
I like tough hockey players who can fight when called for, I don't think a player who can only fight at the NHL level has a place in the league.

Like I said, I'm not sure exactly how I feel about fighting being taken out of the game, but the more it gets talked about the more I see there's not a lot of strong arguments to support it. And I'm kind of hoping someone will make one. Because overall I like fighting in hockey. But think of the guys you just mentioned.
Cooke and Torres have a long history of cheapshotting players. All while fighting is still a part of the game. It's apparently not an effective enough deterrent for either one of them to stop cheapshotting. What finally got to Cooke's attention was a 17 game suspension from the league. The league's suspensions clearly haven't gotten Torres' attention yet, but neither has any enforcer.

Perry, while bigger than Datsyuk, is hardly a comparison to John Scott dropping the gloves on a faceoff to go after Kessel in a preseason game.
Perry is not a very good fighter for starters, while Scott is a straightup goon. Perry is also a top line player squaring off with another top line player. And it was still a bush league move when he went after Dats.
There is no earthly reason why Kessel should've dropped the gloves with Scott there.

I figured I'd create this thread for the benefit of those of who could not see the game. Apologies to the mods if this belongs in the GDT.
First off: the Pens’ broadcast team was atrocious. Paul Steigerwald couldn’t even remember the names of some of his own team’s players---Olli Jokinen plays for the Penguins in his world---and botched the pronunciation of others; apparently the Wings have a player named Agleketer. Meanwhile, Bob Errey couldn’t even properly recall his own time with the Red Wings; he reminisced about how the Wings racked up 62 wins only to suffer a heartbreaking loss to the Devils. Needless to say, the two of them were also biased in typically inveterate fashion; they are collectively known rightly as one of the most homerish duos in the league. To their minor credit, they did lavish some praise on certain Red Wings.
General impressions: the PK was very good; the PP was not so great, but then there were a lot of rookies playing on it; after the Wings scored their fourth goal, the top line didn’t see much playtime even when Crosby was on the ice, Babcock instead opting to give the youngsters more time on the ice. Generally a good effort; the first period went the way of the Penguins, but the Wings dominated the 2nd and 3rd frames.
Now to the players:
Abdelkader: Meh. He battled in the corners and did some dirty work in the crease, but his biggest contribution was making little Sid unhappy. The two were jawing at each other all game. Aside from this, Abdelkader was not particularly noticeable; then again, the top line got less and less time as the time went on---particularly after the Wings went up 4-1---and so he really didn’t get much time to show anything.
Almquist: Wow. Though small and not particularly good on defense, this guy’s offensive instincts and hockey IQ are as high as advertised. On both of his goals, he picked the correct time to shoot the puck and picked the correct place to shoot it. If he does as well in the AHL, it’ll be silly to let him go (he’ll be out of minor league options); if so, he might get Quincey’s spot after this season.
Andersson: Good enough. His skating has improved, and he plays as hard as we’ve become accustomed to. Unfortunately, at even strength he was handcuffed by his association with Cleary and Samuelsson. He did well enough on the PK.
Cleary: Sad. He was totally unremarkable. I can only hope that he was simply not trying, because his play on the PK appeared totally lackadaisical. If that's the case, then this was an extremely poor showing after what the management went through for him to maintain his spot on the team. I don’t recall him being used on the power play. He might have been there. I don't remember.
Datsyuk: Typically brilliant, though he was not trying very hard; this was, needless to say, not really a big deal given that this is the preseason and he is an established superstar. That said, he stickhandled wonderfully, defended ably, and scored a beautiful goal. Some of the Pens’ prospects seemed spellbound by his play.
DeKeyser: Excellent. He was functionally the Wings’ #1 defenseman, playing excellently on defense and ably on offense; indeed, he ended up on a breakway at one point and the Pens had to haul him down to stop him (sadly, there was no penalty shot). He did well with Kindl, and was substantially better than either Smith or Quincey.
Evans: Steady but unspectacular. He’s an AHL-caliber defenseman.
Ferraro: Impressive, if not flashy. While small, he’s feisty, hard on the puck, and full of effort. He’s got a right-handed shot---rare for the Red Wings---and has decent offensive instincts. He certainly seems to be better than Emmerton. Look for him to replace the latter next season.
Glendening: A basic grinder. Good on the PK, good speed, good effort, but ultimately unremarkable. While he performed decently in his first NHL game, he doesn’t appear to be anything special. He’ll be a decent call-up option in a pinch, but he’s got to improve if he’s going to have any sort of career in the big league.
Howard: Very good. He made some good saves while being bombarded by the Penguins early on, and let in only one goal on 16 or so shots in the first two periods.
Jarnkrok: Clearly unready for NHL action. This was his first NHL action, but he’s currently too small and too inexperienced to really make an impact of any kind. This was his first NHL action. That’s natural, as he doesn’t even have any AHL experience yet.
Kind: Very nice. He seems to have made significant progress in his two notable problem areas: defense and confidence. He laid down a nice hit, too. As with DeKeyser, he played substantially better than Quincey or Smith. Look for he and DeKeyser to make up the 2nd pairing this season.
Mantha: Like Jarnkrok, he’s simply not ready. He looked alright in his first few shifts, and then disappeared. It was obvious that he was dying to take some shots, but right now he just doesn’t have the experience to find the sweet spots in the offensive zone yet, and he was easily shut down by the Penguins.
Mrazek: Steady. Barring a catastrophe, he’ll be with the Wings in 2014-2015 (obviously).
Quincey: Not very good. He did a passable---but only passable---job on defense and took a few shots, all of which missed the net.
Samuelsson: Gah. He was terrible on the power play and invisible at even strength. Babcock seems to have agreed with this assessment, as Samuelsson’s playtime in the 2nd and 3rd periods decreased while that of the other bottom-sixers increased.
Smith: Worrisome. He showed no improvement over last season. Unfortunately, he was also paired with Quincey yet again. Not good.
Tatar: Quite good. He drove to the net to score the first goal of the game, and throughout the game exhibited his excellent stickhandling skills and willingness to go to the tough areas. Steigerwald and Errey seemed certain that he’ll be on the roster this season.
Tootoo: Invisible. He was simply an unnecessary piece of the roster, though admittedly he did not receive much playtime and is probably aware that barring a miracle, he won’t be on the roster in three weeks regardless of what he does.
Zetterberg: Good enough, though, like Datsyuk, he was obviously not putting forth maximum effort. As with Datsyuk, this was not a big deal.

disagree 100%. goalie gear grew exponentially in the last 20 years. its just shameful how big the gear is. it has to be reigned in. and part of the problem is that they always talk about it but change very little. so there is this impression that they have been taking away all this real estate from goalies and it ends up being like half an inch or something not even worthwhile. then add to that that the goalies often just replace it with other pads to compensate, and its just a circle. in the article it already mentions that many goalies are trying to make the knee pads larger to compensate for lost inches. until goalies stop looking like the michelan man out there, they have no room to say anything.
i also think you are way off on allowing more hitting making the game more exciting. all you have to do is go back 10-15 years to the dead puck era. there was far less regulation on physical play. yet did you see more hits, more excitement? no way. you saw more clutching, more grabbing, more bear hugging. it was terrible.
nhl hockey has a fundemental flaw right now that prevents it from being as exciting as it should be. teams, coaches and organizations focus not on scoring more goals than the other team, but giving up less goals than the other team. and no i dont think thats just semantics. teams constantly play a style which is to not give up scoring chances at any cost. even if that means not taking any chances offensively. why? because its become too hard to score a goal, so teams are afraid to give one up. if you make goalies human again, then you will see scoring increase, which will change the entire dynamic of the game.

You know what? I'm glad he did it. Him and Lou too.
We lost a full season so that the league could get a cap and all of the stupid rules that went with it.
Then when Holland figured a way around it and signed Z to a long-term deal, I was worried that Z might have issues with his back, and everyone reassured me that it was ok because if Z retired, it would come off the books.
Those were the rules that Z signed the contract under. Retire and your team is off the hook.
Then we get another lockout, miss another half of a season, and all of a sudden... "OOPSIES! We don't like how people figured out how to get around that. We're going to change the rules. Now if the guy retires before the end, there's a penalty. So what if we're changing the rules in the middle of the game? We're the league and if you don't let us do this, we won't let you play hockey."
I can see them changing the rules for future contracts, but they have now changed the rules for existing ones. When teams and players sign contracts, they abide by the rules set by the league. If they find a loophole, we admire them for it. If you don't believe me, go back and find the thread where Z was signed. Kenny was a genius to the point of being a saint on this board.
Lou and Kovy played by the old rules and got the carpet yanked out from under them. Instead of crying over the lack of carpet, they went with linoleum. Good for them.
The league stuck out their tongue, and Lou and Kovy flipped them off. I feel some satisfaction knowing that Bettman is probably sitting in his office throwing a Rumplstiltskin-like tantrum yelling, "Curses! Foiled again!'

I am not sure what is the basis for the article stating that Grabovski got a "volatile personality". If it is only because of his words about Carlyle (and only after he was no longer with the team) then I would not give it a second thought.
He is a fast skater. I think more speed would be nice for Detroit.

VANEK.
Stop focussing on Lecav. We dont need a soft frenchie pass first old guy.
We need VANEK.

Good God, they really offered him that much? Letang has "Brian Campbell" written all over him (remember that Blackhawk's contract?). Or maybe "Sergei Gonchar", for a more familiar, Pens-centric reference.
Top-level offensive performance from defenseman really is a fleeting thing in the NHL. It's as much a product of your system as it is the skill of the defenseman, and it can be gone in a heartbeat. Just look at Jay Bouwmeester, or any number of Florida or Nashville defensemen (Andy Delmore?) that were 20 goal scorers once and never again. True shut down defenders are rare, but that is a commodity that carries over from year to year.
Yes, Letang is a skilled powerplay weapon, but he also plays with Crosby and Malkin. Even more than the money, I really wouldn't want Letang on my team if you had to pay him and play him as a #1 defenseman. He's been involved in way too many 5-4 games where the defense was a complete mess, and that could never have happened as consistently as it did if he were an elite defender along the likes of Chara, Keith, Weber, etc.

We would agree that $5.5 mil AAV is too much for Filppula, but in terms of Filppula's right to be a free agent or demand whatever he wants, I think you're off-base.
You're saying Filppula owes it to the Wings to accept whatever low-ball offer we throw his way? That a player in the prime of his career needs to "prove" himself by taking one-year deals until he either (a) Has an outlier season where he blows up and then gets overpaid; or (b) Gets his head run into the boards and sees a serious diminution in his value and future earning potential?
Um, no. If I'm Filppula and another team offers me $10 million more (over the life of a multi-year deal) AND a higher profile role on the top lines and PP unit...and all I have to do is live somewhere else and wear a different color sweater? Yeah, I would at least consider that. Filppula is no longer the "property" of the Detroit Red Wings come July 5th - there was nothing stopping his from extending him previously if Holland wanted to lock him up on a multi-year deal.

Not with that oxygen tank on your back. Just make them all astronauts.

Not with that oxygen tank on your back. Just make them all astronauts.

I don't really mean much offense by this, but you are exhibiting a clear lack of understanding of all the factors at play here.
Firstly, this doesn't happen if the Players Association didn't agree to it...they did.
Secondly, if the players were to play for free and waive 100% liability of anyone involved (rink, team, league, etc.), then sure, no one would care, let the guy do what he wants. HOWEVER, that is not the case. The players are being paid very significant amounts of money, teams want to protect their investments and rightfully so. Someone might say they shouldn't care, they have insurance, but that just saves them a bit of money in the future should something happen....it doesn't give them the player back. Also, if everyone was wearing visors, I'm sure their insurance premiums would decrease.
I'm sorry, but the extreme short-sighted views that grown men should be able to decide (it's their life) annoys me to no end.

After Ottawa got up 4-1 they had a full 5 on 5 fight. Simply awesome.
10 fighting majors at 7:04 in 3rd.

My issue is this: In recent years in all sports the head seems to have become fair game, there have been a lot studies that show such hits can cause permanent damage, even if there is little or no symptom presentation at the time of the injury. The head MUST be made off-limits, and even accidental contact should be punished to keep borderline plays out of the game. A player should do the mental calculus before a hit to make sure there is no way they hit the head, and Abdelkader could have gone an inch lower to make sure his hit was perfectly shoulder to shoulder. He didn't, he sacrificed safety trying to make a big play, even though its clear it wasn't his intent to hit the head. And that's the exact issue I have, if it comes between making a huge play and jeopardizing someone else, everyone should be trained from a young age to let up and adjust point of contact. He didn't and the Wings are suffering now because of it.
PS if you look at most head shot threads on this forum I say the same thing as I am now, I will not be a hypocrite because its a Wings player involved.

NAD timing for Abdelkader. I just don't understand why Pavel's hits are always flawless and the most devastating, while our other players (Kronwall & Abdelkader) can't ever just deliver a good body check. Watch the beginning of Datsyuks goal against Nashville this year. He starts by knocking a guy on his ass. No elbows, no flying arms, no leaving his skates. Just good technique.

Most of the times I see Wild power play it very much looks like they just do not know what to do.

Why, both of course. Left fist for defense, right for offense.

Why, both of course. Left fist for defense, right for offense.

I totally disagree here. Columbus is playing the best hockey in our division right now. They have won the last 5 in a row, 3 of which they came from behind. Bobbrovski has been unreal.....second in the league in save percentage at .931. They were in 13th spot before the trade deadline and they have played hard, physical hockey and deserve to be where they are. We have a game in hand but the last 5 games they have NOT been playing the oilers....they have consecutive wins against SJ, St. Louis! Minny, Col and Anaheim last night. Everyone on that team is contributing and they frighten me. Detroit needs to take a page out of that book....never say die, never give up and keep it SIMPLE! Let's hope we can do that

Bob is playing very good for Blue Jackets.