Drake_Marcus

Good point. At least Hossa did something other than float waiting for an offensive opportunity. Heatly... well I guess he's been hanging out with Spezza too much because he's supposed to be capable of being average defensively.

The big problem was Heatly's play. Apparently he was injured early in the playoffs. I'm interested in just how badly he is injured. Nabokov didn't steal games but he didn't lose them outright. He was brilliant against us game 5 so you have to give him credit there. In the end they were relying on Pavalski's atypical play to get them through the playoffs. Once Pavalski came back down to Earth they did as well. I look at it as being similar to the Wings in 08. Franzen carried us through the 2nd round based on his insane offensive output but was injured and didn't play the whole Dallas series. In Dallas Zetterberg and Datsyuk had to elevate their game up another notch to compensate for Franzen's injury. We all know how that went (Datsyuk had his first career hat-trick, for example). So really the Sharks needed Marleau, Heatly and Thornton to step their games up another notch when Pavalski cooled down. Thornton looked very good but he didn't get better between the 2nd and 3rd round. Marleau played well in some aspects of the game but failed to provide heart and hustle every shift (something the Sharks needed out of him). Heatly was a complete and utter bust. If I was a Sharks fan I'd be very, very unimpressed with Heatly's effort in the playoffs. He looked like 2009 Hossa out there.

Which is why I specifically mentioned the East.

Don't you wonder what kind of numbers Datsyuk would put up on Washington, though? If he was encouraged to focus 100% on offense? I know balanced play is Datsyuk's game, so I'm not suggesting that it'd be a switch he'd flip in his head, but still, he uses a great deal of energy on defense and he's very unlikely to take defensive risks in the name of offense. It'd be interesting to see what kind of numbers Datsyuk could put up in the East playing the kind of game all the scoring champs play.

Uggg I know. Same here. I can't believe there are Wings fans on here that say they want the Hawks to win. That's like saying you want the Avalanche to win.

Start wearing goofy suits made from old curtains and you're well on your way to becoming the Finnish Cherry.

Datsyuk had so many great set-ups today... if the rest of the Russian forwards could convert on those passes the game would've turned out much better.

:hysterical: LOL y wuld u put a 57pt skorer on da top line? :hysterical: Durrrr he won't be playing much international hockey given that the IIHF had a beef with him when he defected from the NHL. You're a fool if you thought he'd play international hockey within the first year of defecting from the NHL. But hey-- if your mental defect lets you honestly believe a 23g 57pt NHLer (and ppg KHLer who set a new club record for assists) can't make the Czech national team because he lacks the talent you just keep it up champ. Continue to ignore reality and pretend you've been even close to correct all along.

Yeah, I wish our top scorer could fight and score like the Flyers' top scorer. Alas, I guess there aren't many as tough as GAGNE around.

It's more interesting here because Hossa is coming up on his 3rd appearence all with different teams. All I care about is that Hossa loses the Cup three years in a row. Edit: Just to be clear-- I want Hossa to lose this year because he's a Blackhawk, not because I hate him. I just can't stomach the idea of Chicago having any kind of hockey success.

I'm operating under the assumption that Holland will tender him an offer. Unlike Liv he had a measure of success on NA ice (all-star in rookie year).

The fact that Holland made sure to include a two-way deal in the first year doesn't mean he plans on sending him down-- just that he's leaving the option open. I'm not worried about it. He looked fine in all of his NHL games so far and the Wings like his upside. So you're laughing at Heaton's judgment based on 5 games of play yet you are sure your judgment is valid? Interesting.

Note that this doesn`t mean the Wings lost his rights. He`s just not playing in the AHL. Larsson is still a Red Wings prospect. That being said, abandoning the Griffins to take an offer in the SEL won`t endear him to the Wings brass. In the end results are all that matters-- as long as Larsson gets better in Sweden the Wings won`t likely begrudge him. Things seem pretty clear for Larsson, though-- Howard is our number 1 goalie and McCollum is the goalie of the future. Unfortunately Larsson was just too close in age to Howard to fit in perfectly. It sucks that he didn`t want to stick around in the AHL but he did put 2 years in there so maybe the money in Sweden was just too tempting when combined with the comfort of being at home again.

It was very frustrating! I had him in my signature and he betrayed me Thus I had to change my sig to one focused on funny ex-Wings like Melrose (well not technically a true Wing but he tried).

I agree with you man-- but we both know how thoroughly he was slagged off on here. It wasn`t people saying `he`d be a good NHL player if he battled more` it was people calling him a flop who isn`t good enough to play in the NHL. I completely understand why Holland ditched him but the rhetoric we heard about Leino was absurd. And I enjoy pointing that out since I supported him the whole time. Don`t worry-- I`m not going to harp on it every day like the Quincey slappies did because I understand and accept the situation that lead to him leaving. Plus he`s 26 and Holland turned him into a 4th round draft pick who will be 18 this summer. I`m cool with that switch given how the Wings draft.

Wow... it`s almost like the retarded knee-jerk reactions people like to make about rookies on LGW aren`t rooted in reality. Hmm... I guess talent doesn`t evaporate when you fail to put it to use in your first season.

If only he was playing against NHL players surely their apparently superior decisison making skills would show even more? Or are we assuming that only Ericsson gets the boost and thus it`s an unfair advantage so we can`t judge him on it? Nah, Mindfly just discovered a flaw to the way people evaluate players in international competition. I`m afraid the NHL scouting community is going to feel real stupid all of the sudden for putting so much emphasis on play at the world junior championships

I can only assume you don`t remember a guy named Steve Yzerman.

That article goes against everything we`ve heard from other media outlets. I wonder if it`s a bit of a plant done as a favour to his agent... Regardless, it sounds like he`s got too many great assets to not take a chance on. This kind of elite talent is exactly what the Wings needs more of in their system. Plus did anyone else love that his hero is Valeri Kharlamov? How cool is that? He`s only 17 and has that kind of appreciation for hockey history...

That`s pretty generous but I`ll take it.

I love how Eklund says he won`t report rumours about players who are still in the playoffs... as if: A) Anyone in the NHL actually reads his s*** B) Anyone with hockey knowledge puts even an ounce of faith in his bulls*** C) His posting those rumours could even tangentially affect the playoffs So. Retarded.

We should be 21st. Remember that the division leaders pick right before the final four.

Travis Moen you say?

I think they should keep him. They need more guys who are willing to take punishment and block shots. And damn, he has a cool name. We have to find our next mythical beast named dude-- isn`t Holland always looking for the next Dallas Drake?

I agree. That should come with confidence and time. Once he`s not ***** footing around there and second guessing himself I bet he`ll have more snarl. You can bet that Babcock is trying to bring the snarl out of him.