Drake_Marcus

Tell that to the Leafs fans. After their recent history this preseason must feel like a run to the Cup.

Thornton deserves a spot in the top 30, no question, but if we're including goalies and defensemen in the list I can't justify putting him in the top 15.

No way should Crosby be posted above Ovechkin or Malkin. I'd even argue he doesn't deserve to be above Datsyuk given that he's good for, what, 10% more points than Dats but can't provide a quarter of the defensive strength Dats has. It's pretty impressive that Datsyuk can put up almost the same number of points as Crosby AND win the Selke in the same season. If you prevent 30 or 40 goals a season isn't that better than being involved in 10 more on the offensive side?

Don't be offended-- think of Carman as the Mike Babcock of post formatting.

Hey now. We can't all have nice, fully flushed out paragraphs like you.

Someone spill glue on your keyboard?

Oh yeah. You don't rent prostitutes in Russia-- you can buy far too cheaply.

He'd take at least a kitchen garbage bag.

Was it:

There was an ex-NHLer on OTR a week or so ago who played in the KHL last year. He mentioned some oddities about playing there. He said at one point he had a disagreement with someone about something (he wouldn't be specific) and ended up having a gun held to his head. He also mentioned that he got paid by a little old lady who showed up to the rink with a shopping bag full of cash. Seriously. Nothing about the KHL screams "on the level". That includes their ex-KGB executive (VP I believe) getting a rape suspect out of trouble using questionable means.

Seeing your avatar and reading that post made me think of Carl.

Yeah yeah, but I was trying to be funny! At least the Leino and Filppula line was buzzing all game. No way those two get split up early on. I was hoping Leino would play with Datsyuk for most of the season so his Calder hopes would be improved, but looks like he's got enough chemistry with Filppula for the pair to put some nice offensive numbers up

Defense. *clap clap* Defense. *clap clap* Defense. *clap clap* Plus, let's be honest-- every goalie is entitled to have a terrible game here or there, no way Babs would've kept Ozzy in net in this game if it were the regular season.

Yep-- if the Wings decide to permanently switch to a roster made up of 75% AHL players, this year's Red Wings will be terrible.

That dike kid sounds like a good player.

This is an excellent point.

Points, defensive ability, every single tangible other than physical play? Lidstrom wins. Pronger won't be regarded as the greatest defenseman of his generation 30 years from now. Lidstrom will. Nice try though. EDIT: Seriously man. I'd love to add Pronger to this team-- he's an elite defenseman. But he doesn't come close to being the level of player Lidstrom is. Lidstrom is a generational talent. He slows the game down and controls the flow of a game. He directs play like a quarterback all game and is simily flawless. Very, very, very few players in the history of the game were as dominant for as long as Lidstrom has been.

Getzlaf over Datsyuk! Haha, I just noticed that. Again, he's never outperformed Datsyuk in any season, nor has he given an indication that he's ready to step past a dominant player like Datsyuk in his prime. If anything, Datsyuk is poised to take another step forward. Getzlaf will continue to get better, but he certainly hasn't given a logical reason why he'd outperform Datsyuk this reason. But he is Canadian!

lol Canadian bias much? Bouwmeester and Pronger over Lidstrom. When in either of their careers were they better than Lidstrom? Never. Not even for a single playoff round. Crosby over Ovechkin and Malkin. Even though he failed to outperform either of those players at any point over the last two years. Crosby was better than Ovechkin one year in his career. Ovechkin was superior in three of the four years, including the last two. Anyone who chooses Crosby in this senario is chosing based on nationality-- there's no other logical explanation because all evidence points to Ovi or Malkin in any consideration of those three players, unless you're talking about lack of durability, lack of personality or lack of professionalism (someone had to tell him afterwords that you shake the hand of the other captain? What is he, 12?).

Another interesting note-- although he was poor in his one game call-up last year, the year before he had a four game call-up in which his numbers were 2.13 GAA, .926 SV%. People point out that he didn't win those games, but those numbers clearly indicate it wasn't Jimmy's fault he didn't win them. That call-up happened to be during the horrible 11 game streak in February when the Wings only won a single game and everyone was injured..

You know Babcock-- no way his team plays the same lines throughout a game. He'll tinker away like he always does.

I'd like to see the Hawks sneek in at 8th and lose to the Wings in 5 or less games in the 1st round.

Adorable. He thinks he's a professional journalist.

I'd be softly weeping while staring at my empty ring finger and remembering how the Wings dumped me the season before they won the cup.