Drake_Marcus

Yeah. That guy is like the cast of the Hills surgically attached to Mike Tyson. Moody, argumentative, stupid and irrationally violent.

Poor management. The Sabres dug their own graves by letting their two best players walk even though both wanted to play for them. The Senators are utterly incapable of maintaining a stable, mentally healthy locker room (something related to coaching and thus, via something like 3 coaching switches, related to management). Plus they seem to fail at putting the right pieces together, even when they have the full puzzle sitting in front of them.

In that case, Howe should just carry a sack around with him that contains 801 NHL pucks and ~170 WHA pucks in it. Smack the kid with it and say "1000 professional goals *****".

True. It'd be more fitting if that story had Yzerman talking to an awstruck Crosby. Note that Crosby worshiped Yzerman growing up... the area he played hockey in (Cole Harbour) has their uniforms modeled on the Red Wings (including the wheel). Funny enough, my local club used the Ducks jersey (but not the logo). So whenever I saw Crosby he was playing against the team I was cheering for but wearing the uniform of the NHL team I liked and our side wore the colours of the Wings' current arch enemy.

Well his opinion is based in reality... I mean you can't fault the guy for calling it the way he sees it. I'd rather Gordie kept speaking his mind than trumpet the company line (assuming dissing Crosby is the company line, which it isn't- Lidstrom said it wasn't a big deal and I'd bet my last cent Holland would do the classy thing and say not to worry about it too). Guys like Z and Draper were standing up for Lidstrom when he was slighted. And Crosby did slight Lidstrom, there's no doubting that a more mature captain would respect his opponent and go shake hands like everyone else does. A captain is expected to shake his opponent's hand at the end of the game- to make the classy gesture and follow tradition like that. That's the captain's job. If anything this just shows that Crosby was too young to wear the C. He's great at the whole hockey thing, but he didn't make his team look very respectful or classy by treating Lidstrom like that, whether he did it intentionally or not. When you wear the C you can't use the "just a kid, I'll learn" excuse, you have to act like the captain of your team. All that being said, I don't think Crosby was being malicious, just immature. He's not a bad guy, he's just not the most mature kid in the dressing room.

Oh yeah man- when you're 6th on your team in defensive PK mins/game and 3rd in the league in give aways (2nd among defensemen) you definitely deserve the award for "best all-around defenseman" (NHL's words, not mine). What's that? You score lots of goals? Cool, well you do play all 2 mins of every PP your team gets along side Ovechkin (Green's PP time per game is almost triple that of the next d-man on his team, he literally plays nearly the entire PP time awarded to the Caps in an average game), so I'd expect you to do something with all the f***in' pinching in and constant time spent playing offense instead of watching your own end. I mean when you take that many risks you better get a good pay off. And he does- he's a very good hockey player. But he's a piss poor "all-around defenseman". Nice try. Edit: You do realize that in a Sports Illustrated poll of NHL PLAYERS this year Lidstrom was voted the best defenseman by a wide margin, right? And you did notice that Lidstrom was putting a point a game up in the playoffs before his scrotum was torn open, right? I guess disappearing Mike was helpful to the Caps, though. Hey! Green is a magician with the puck! He can make himself disappear!

The thing is- the players vote for the Pearson and the hockey media votes for the Hart, so you can't really complain when they go to the same guy- it's not a matter of agenda, it's just that both groups agreed independently on the same answer.

Oh I completely agree man- I love watching Ovechkin play- he's a f***in' force of nature.

Hey man- stick around. I wish we had two or three regular posters from all 29 other teams. You'll catch some flack, so here's a few tips: --> Get a signature and put one or two Red Wings in it. Add Pens too, but pick some Wings you like (Lidstrom and Zetterberg are a great choice- you know how good Crosby is and those two completely shut him down two years in a row, so you can't argue you wouldn't want them on your team). --> Contribute to lots of different threads, give some props to the home team when they deserve it. --> Feel free to post Penguins threads, but don't make that your bread and butter- it will only breed resentment, especially after we lost the Stanley Cup to you by a single goal. We're all still pretty sad about that around here. --> Don't listen to the guys who tell you to f*** off and stay in a Pens forum. We have plenty of well liked fans from other teams here (ok, I guess that's only if you count Duck Guy as multiple people).

No. The Penguins beat the Wings because they were more hungry, not because they were more talented or a better collection of players. Now the Pens deserved to win this cup, no question in my mind. You guys played better than we did, hands down. It's too bad Hossa was a no show, because that 7.45 million dollars could've bought us a few goals in the finals and the Wings would've been champs again Or hey, maybe if Datsyuk wasn't injured in two places, Lidstrom didn't have his nutsack stapled shut or Rafalski didn't have a herniated disk in his back we would've been good. Also, Lidstrom's nutsack was stapled shut. Again, it bears repeating here- I'm not trying to devalue your win- you got the cup, you earned the cup, enjoy eating and drinking stuff from it*. But the Penguins do not have the depth or quality of talent those teams did. Both teams had superstars at every position and were loaded to the gills with impact players. The Pens just can't do something like that in the salary cap world, especially with Crosby and Malkin earning a third of the maximum cap value. The Yzerman Red Wings that won 3 cups in 6 years were the closest thing the NHL's seen to a dynasty since the Oilers. The league's too competitive and too large to haul in 4 cups in 5 years at this point. (assuming you guys don't suddenly draft a bunch of superstars in the next 4 years )

I think the real distinction is that Datsyuk would be a league wide MVP, but not necessarily the guy who provided the single greatest contribution to his team. Datsyuk has too many good players around him. Ovi is swimming in a sea of mediocrity. I understand where Puckloo is coming from- scoring 97pts AND being the best defensive player in the league is pretty f***in' impressive. The problem is that Ovechkin is the Capitals AND he's the best player in the league (and hey, he averaged 60 goals a season over the last two). Ovi definitely deserves his haul tonight. If there's a carpenter in the Washington area that's reading this give Ovi a call, I heard he needs a bigger trophy case.

Datsyuk deserves the Norris more than Green- he scored more goals, killed more penatlies, played more defense and played better defense. On the upside, Green gave the puck away more often than anyone in the league (well except for two other guys, but top three is good, right?).

Must be the guy who did this:

Care to eat your crow Shoreline?

I just assumed he decided to create his own turn of phrase.

If Crosby raped my mom the last thing I'd be worried about is slandering him on the web

Quoted for truth.

He'll fight, just don't expect it to be a regular thing. Ericsson is definitely the kind of player that picks his spots when it comes to fighting.

Fixed it for you. Once the summer's over his wrist will be fully healed and he'll be able to start firing his 100mph rockets from the point. If Sammy leaves we just might see Ericsson out on the 2nd PP unit beside Kronwall (assuming Babs is willing to play with two lefties out on the PP, hopefully he will be). Plus, Ericsson's already mentioned he wants to get back in the gym as soon as possible... he's only going to get bigger and stronger over the summer .

If the Canucks don't sign the Sedins they better aquire an elite offensive threat or two. Luongo wants to play for a Cup contender, so he's not going to sign with the Canucks if their chances of winning the Cup are regressing. Right now they need to show Luongo they're seriously committed to putting together a winning club long term.

Those two are both 80+ pt players that have been consistently posting a point per game pace for a few years now. They're never injured (oddly enough) and both just had a great playoff run. Paying them 5.25 million a year each is actually very reasonable. The contract length is where it gets risky, but they're more likely to stay healthy for 12 years than Zetterberg so that makes up for the contract length factor (Zetterberg got a long contract because the Wings need the cap room and if he retires early it won't affect the cap). There are lots of teams that would pay 10.5 million a year for a pair of players that produce 160+ points a year. That's better than most top lines produce... I really don't think this is a crazy deal for the Sedins to ask for. Vancouver should go for it and pray they don't decline in production too much 8 years from now

There's no way Holland trades Holmstrom, Maltby or Draper. It goes against the team commitment atmosphere the Wings are so careful to cultivate. The only chance we won't see them in October is if they decide to retire. I'm pretty sure Draper and Maltby would still count against the cap because they signed after 35. I could be wrong there, though. Before the playoffs I figured they'd trade Filppula if they had to create more cap room for Hossa (due to his lack of an NTC and his disappointing play in the regular season). But Val's fantastic play this post-season cemented his (already solid) position in Detroit. I'm willing to bet that Holmstrom, Maltby and Draper all retire when their contracts are up, with Holmstrom possibly retiring before then if he continues to struggle with injuries.

I do. If the Wings don't put Howard on their NHL roster by the start of the season he immediately goes on waivers for any team to claim. Given that he's one of their top 5 prospects and their top goaltending prospect they don't feel like pissing that time, money and pick down the drain. And before someone asks- if they send him down at any other point (other than for conditioning) he'll be exposed to waivers too. You can't avoid it- he won't be sitting in the minors. They could carry 3 goalies but they've already got a huge cap crunch as it is and they can't afford to throw a million away and a permanent third goalie. I'm not Howard's biggest fan either, but I do think the Wings have to give him a chance because he has the tools to be a starting goalie.

First of all, I'm super cereal here. I was just thinking, when Franzen destroyed Crosby and sent him off the ice in game seven was similar to another defiant act in history. The struggle between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins was epic, spanning two entire hockey seasons. Initially, the more disciplined, professional and ultimately more team oriented Red Wings were victorious over a young, impetuous Penguins. Happy dudes standing in front of a wall of people with dead eyes. Sweet. They did so in the Igloo, where they were vastly outnumbered but undaunted (we're trying to stay with a theme here). However, after suffering the sting of defeat the Penguins fought back against a wounded, reeling Wings in their epic rematch. The use of sharp stuff definitely had the potential for causing bodily harm. Also, Hossa is this guy. Ultimately, the Penguins fought harder and pushed their numerical advantage to ultimately push the Wings to the edge of defeat in an epic rematch. For 20 seconds the ice was flooded with the enemy* Defiant, Franzen struck out at their leader in a moment of epic hittiness. Being super classy, all the Wings fans were pumped that Crosby was hurt/constipated (Maltby probably still thought Crosby was faking it). Crosby won the battle, but he certainly felt the sting of mortality (or, judging by the picture, possibly constipation) Ultimately, however, the Penguins were victorious and the Wings defeated. Franzen's down, but Lidstrom was the guy who took a Sharp arrow in the balls. So what'cha think, is Franzen actually King Leonidas? Men with impressive beards. Hopefully my comparison doesn't hurt the Wings' chances at finally getting a shot at the Pens next year for a good old Best of Three. *For the purposes of this comparison, this 20 seconds was a decisive moment

Relax man, the Hossa comparison is just in fun, it's no more poignant than the too many men on the ice reference.