Drake_Marcus

Quoted for truth.

Haha- Caca Haven't heard that word in a while (and no, that doesn't mean I need a laxative!).

I have to assume that guy's a fan of The Shining.

So... if you had to characterize this song in one word, what would it be?

I agree that it's not fair to characterize the QMJHL as a league where "playing defense is a sin". But let's not go crazy here- the Q is hardly a defense first or even defense balanced with offense league... in the QMJHL defense is most definitely secondary to offense, at least for most teams. I mean look at the European leagues in Russia and Sweden- the Q is definitely run and gun compared to those leagues. The Q and OHL both tend to produce way more high scoring players than any other major league around...

Uggg... I really hope Babcock manages to get these defensive pairings gelling again because they still look like s*** compared to last year He loves mixing up the forwards and leaving altered lines up for a few games... why can't he just do the same with the defensive pairings? It worked pretty well in the middle of the season.

Agreed.

Damn you Keith Primeau!

Which is why I'm hoping against hope that he can scrape it together this season and push it just up to or a little past 60 pts. Like I said- that's not a huge stretch for Lidstrom, even given his reduced level of play this season... and hey- I'm really counting on that 7th Norris to further solidify his already sterling legacy.

Stuart has been especially guilty of this after returning from his injury. He was really solid in the weeks leading up to his injury, so it's rough seeing him regress like this. Hopefully he'll round back into form before the playoffs start.

I completely agree with you. Because I mentioned that I felt you analysis was thoughtful and thorough you were bound to get at least a shot off the bow given the nature of the person I was arguing with. For the record- my argument was identical to yours- that Green's poor defensive play is a significant strike against his chances of winning a trophy for the best defenseman. He's a guaranteed candidate, I'll be shocked if he doesn't make the top 3 in voting on the basis of his point producing ability... but as you've said, when he's forced to stand beside his peers and has both his offensive and defensive impact evaluated the crazy offensive numbers become less and less of a factor. Although I'd argue that Lidstrom and Chara are much closer than we all fear they are since Chara's numbers have dropped off significantly over the second half of the season. Chara would probably have been better off if the Bruins had their super hot portion of the season in the second half. Chara and the Bruins' current struggles are definitely a boon for Lidstrom at this point. He just needs to heat up in time to make the doubters quiet. If Lidstrom can break 60 points he's got a great chance to take it all other things remaining the same. The odds of him putting 10 points up over the next 7 games aren't terribly good, but if anyone can do it it's Nicklas Lidstrom. Like you said- at this point it's Chara's to lose, I just think Nick has a decent chance to steal it back.

Oh I'm right. And your willful ignorance can't change that. This is your pathetic denial of global warming all over again. And once again I'll be the adult and walk away from your childishness. No need to bother responding because I won't be reading it and you've already made an ass of yourself in front of everyone (again).

Are we done mud-flinging yet? This whole bag has grown pretty tiresome. How about this: never speak of me or to me, either directly or indirectly, and I'll do you the same courtesy. I'm willing to bet that people here are as sick of reading our personal insults and arguments as I am of making them. So let's just f*** off, yeah?

You make a good point here.

It's all just wizzing over your head. Keep thrashing about Shoreline- at least you're entertaining us.

Quoted for truth .

That's the best you could come up with? Just as we've seen in the political forum- you're as boorish as you are loud, opinionated and oh so frequently- wrong. You're such a massive ******* ******-canoe. Honestly Shoreline- go swallow a knife.

SOLD. Send us some Estivaz signed Mighty Ducks DVDs and we're golden

It's ok- Hossa taught the Red Wings training staff to always place triple orders on spare sticks. Edit: sorry, I forgot the offer... Hmmm... I'm not sure I could make it work in a cap world without some real thought into it... so how does an autographed, game-used Howe jersey AND a personalized photo of Stevie Y sound? If you can beat Holmstrom's time for one lap around the rink we'll throw Kopecky in too.

Just what it'll take to balance out their home and road win record!

So... Duck Guy. I've been meaning to speak to you about something. Can we have Giggy? Hiller's been dynamite for you guys and good for him. Giggy's had a terrible season so far but I've got a feeling he's still the same guy who won the Conn Smythe as the losing goaltender, so I think he'd be worth a shot as an acquisition. What do you say? (I wonder how many posts will separate this one and the one where Shoreline passive-aggressively explains that Duck Guy isn't the Duck's GM)

Really? Damn. And here I thought we could scratch a panel to reveal who Filppula is! Thanks for setting me straight! Now go! You have many minds to change- too many people are fooled into making fruitless comparative analysis of a developing athlete's talent using their similarities in play with other established athletes! Little to those poor bastards know that these thought exercises aren't going to affect the final development of the player... Quick! Surely the word "analogous" is a crime against nature! Imagination and discussion are the tools of the devil! God speed Black-and-White-man!

Here we go again- desperately trying to puff his argument up by inexplicably tieing his questionable argument to one that's blatantly obvious. Anyone who argues that Crosby isn't an elite player or that he isn't a top 5 player is either an idiot or doesn't watch much hockey. I think you'll find that the vast majority of the people you're labeling as having argued against that were in fact arguing the supposition that Crosby is the #1 player in the NHL or even more absurdly, is the next Gretzky. You do love taking the most extreme viewpoint held by a small number of people on the other side and painting all of your opposition with that brush, don't you?

You're still wrong. As much as you cling to your original argument and search for reasons (persecution! hahaha- Green and in a completely unrelated subject- Crosby are persecuted against! If I'm smart enough to watch hockey and understand the level of poor defensive play Green demonstrates I'm clearly just a blind hater! ). Anyone who honestly thinks Green's not at least as s***ty defensively as Markov or Souray is either willfully ignorant/blind in hockey terms, simply hasn't watched him play and believes the few Caps fans who don't cringe when he's the only man back defending against a forward, or doesn't understand the subtleties of defensive play. There's really no two ways about it. Even the talking heads on TSN had a panel recently where they questioned whether Green's poor defensive play had to be addressed by Bruce Boudreau. They decided that he's playing so hot Bruce would be crazy to try and screw with the formula (and rightfully so- Green's going to play the way he plays, there's no sense trying to change it all at once while he's at his hottest offensively). Regardless, we're not going to agree and I don't really care that you're wrong. Whoever is wrong here will figure it out as time passes and they see more of Green's play and hear more experts speak of it. If I'm wrong I'll gladly eat crow. But, based on having seen Green play quite a few times this year and having read and spoken to Caps fans on the subject, I can say he's undeserving of being called the best defenseman while his defensive skills remain this poor. Let's just drop the banter then. You're not going to believe me and I'm certainly not going to overrule my first hand observations on the subject to believe you. Repeat the first three words of this post.

Because it's convienent for comparison's sake? It's not terribly fun to speculate that Filppula might, one day turn out to be a player kinda like a better Filppula.