Drake_Marcus

Well I still stand by my opinion Here's what Red Wings Central scouting report says:

Yeah, there was no way he'd make it very far through the waiver-wire without being picked up. They knew someone would take him.

Can anyone watching the pregame tell me if Leino is playing? Babcock gave the impression last game that Maltby was rotated in but that he'd prefer Leino to play. He said they'd be rotating the fourth line, so I'm hoping Leino's back in.

I'm not really a Howard fan (I think he's too inconsistent, regardless of his talent). But I will say this- I've seen all of his games in Detroit and he was much better than his win-loss record shows. Check out his GAA and SV% for a better reflection of how he played in those games.

Well first of all- weed is a less damaging drug than alcohol (socially and personally), so I don't care about that. As far as coke use goes- that's part of the reason why Detroit parted way with him and certainly one of the reasons why the league was always looking to distance themselves from him. The coke probably made him a better fighter, though

Huh? When I think of an ideal player with size I think of someone who can deliver big hits, absorb hits and is tough to knock off the puck. Fighting? That's a bonus but it's way less important than hitting, absorbing hits and being tough to knock off the puck. Those three things are what guys with size should be good at. There have been tons of great fighters under 6'2.

NHL players are held to a much higher standard than NFL players. Until very recently it seemed like NFL players could do whatever the hell they wanted with impunity... the NHL has always demanded high standards of ethical conduct from its players. I think this case is a mix of the ethical conduct thing and a healthy mix of sensationalism brought on by the fact that it's a story about the Canadians and it's written in French.

Exactly. Guilt by association doesn't work in the courts. Sure they've been associated with this shady guy, but that doesn't prove that these young hockey players had any idea the degree to which this guy was shady. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't more than a bit naive about the whole situation. I mean it's one thing to be suspicious of someone but it's another to have the instincts to know something shady is going on. That's just something you learn over time. I don't think these kids are automatically innocent because they're young and naive but I'm not going to slide my judgment all the way to the other end of the scale either.

You're right- Kenny isn't stupid enough to trade a top six forward who can kill penalties and play on the pk for a hard-nosed Canadian fourth line player.

Based on previous trades between Ottawa and the Islanders I imagine this will end up somehow being horrible for the Islanders (I have no idea how).

I actually expect Jimmy to play pretty well tomorrow. Here are his NHL stats: 05-06: 4 GP 1 W-2 L-0 T 2.99 GA 0.904 SV% Those games were during his first pro season. 07-08: 4 GP 0 W-2 L-0 T 2.13 GA 0.926 SV% He played really well last year, but the D in front of him played poorly. He's been hot lately in GR, so I think we'll see a good game from him tomorrow.

My thoughts exactly. Hedman is a pure goal scorer. He's been the talk of Canada for 4 years now.

All three are actual hockey players. I'd love to have Laperriere on the fourth line... he's a tough guy that hits and can score. But he's scored quite a bit more than usual lately so he might fetch a higher price than he would have earlier in the year.

Double.

To be fair- Sammy's a piss ant when it comes to after the play "chats". He draws a decent share of penalties that way... kind of like a poor man's Maltby that has better hands.

We don't need Stuart to fight- we have Lilja! You of all people should know that Lilja provides more than enough incentive not to f*** with the Wings.

Leave Draper out of it dude- Downey's not one of the top faceoff men in the NHL. Face it guys- Downey's played horrible in Grand Rapids. Go read what the people who watch every GR game thing of his play so far: http://www.griffinscentral.com/ I love what he could provide up here- what he did provide last year, but he hasn't shown that play this year in the AHL (where by all rights he should be a far more dominant player).

Dude- that so works for me. However- your signing hopes are usually below what they should be (judging from the link in your signature ), so I'll put the number at $2.25 for 6 years. Realistically I think we'd have to offer him $3million at very long term to keep him happy, but who knows when it comes to Holland.

In my mind I'm planning for him to put up a minimum of 24 points in the next 24 games I've got him penciled in for another Norris (I hope the voters consult me!).

Friday: Colorado @ Washington Tampa Bay @ Carolina Anaheim @ Detroit Saturday: Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia Chicago @ Dallas Ottawa @ Montreal Phoenix @ Los Angeles Atlanta @ San Jose NY Rangers @ Buffalo Vancouver @ Toronto New Jersey @ NY Islanders Boston @ Florida Anaheim @ Columbus Detroit @ Minnesota Nashville @ St Louis Calgary @ Edmonton Sunday: Pittsburgh @ Washington Colorado @ Carolina Boston @ Tampa Bay Minnesota @ Chicago Toronto @ NY Rangers

Yeah man! Hudler's on pace for 70pts- just imagine what Filppula could do with all that ice time they recklessly throw at Hudler!

Atta boy Lilja- blocking shots like a warrior!

Great hit against Tooltool! Uggg... Franzen needs to stop the no-look backhand passes. Every time he has a turn-over in his own zone it's due to him throwing the puck behind him while he's facing his net.

Schneider does add an element the Canadians lacked- a decent second pp unit QB. There was a big drop between Markov and their second best offensive d-man.

*sigh* My thoughts exactly