Icer

Doh!.. Sucks to be them.

MSU gets to kick off it's title defense against #1 North Dakota on the road. Rough start. State's in great shape, though. Lerg is back. The 09 Line is back. They only lost one key player and they have a lot of freshmen talent coming in. The only problem I see is no veterans on the blue line. ND lost their starting goalie so I expect them to slip back into the pack. Michigan is full of freshman. Talented freshmen, but still freshmen. Miami returns a loaded team so I think they will be the main competition for the Spartans. As for the rest of the league. UNO lost a lot. I don't see them doing anything. OSU is also full of freshman. 14 I believe. Western lost the rookie of the year. Ferris has no offense and a freshman goalie. Lake Superior has a goalie and nothing else. Northern is full of juniors and seniors, but so far they haven't done a lot with their careers. Bowling Green is awful at every position. Alaska has a new coach and is rebuilding.

Dear LGW, The real reason I signed with the Rangers in 2006 was the negative comments I read about myself on your board. They made me sad. Signed, Brendan Shanahan

Get off Sammy's back too. Almost every coach I've ever had said "Put it on net. Good things will happen." Nobody takes this advice better than Sammy.

Hmmm. Let's see. Boyd Devereaux, he's playing with the Leafs now. Jason Williams and Bobby Lang are with the Blackhawks. Osgood's the backup. Who should we blame this year?????? What about Lilja?!? Yeah, Lilja!!! I think he'll make a great scapegoat this season. Odd man rush leads to a goal? Blame Lilja even though there were 5 other players on the ice. Shootout loss to Chicago? Blame Lilja even though he didn't shoot in the shootout. Hasek's hurt? Blame Lilja. He shoulda blocked the shot. Red Wings arent' selling out? Lilja doesn't have enough drawing power. No donuts in the lockerroom? Lilja shoulda picked them up. I do admit he's made some mistakes and he should probably ride the pine if he keeps pinching, but give the guy a break.

No one plays clipboard better than Ozzie. Ladies and Gentlemen, your Detroit Red Wings starting lineup: Right Wing - Henrik Zetterberg Center - Pavel Datsyuk Left Wing - Tomas Holmstrom Defense - Brian Rafalski Defense - Nicklas Lidstrom Goalie - Dominik Hasek Clipboard - Chris Osgood

Normally every liquor store, sporting goods, hockey shop, rink, and bar has these schedules out. I haven't seen any yet this year.

I bet Hudler does. He might even wear a Youth L.

Like he needs more calcium in his diet.

I'm an alum so I like to see MSU do well, but they don't deserve a top 25 ranking until they win a few games against Big 10 opponents.

Too bad. I've watched Meech come up through the system and he is a coaches dream. He's a hard worker who has improved every year and he consistently plays beyond his ability. Do I think he is good enough to crack the Wings lineup? Probably not. Do I think he's good enough for the NHL? Yes. I feel he could become a solid top 6 defensemen.

Hockey Insider

Bowman switched around his lineups so much that Brown played on just about every line at some point that season. He played 3rd/4th line minutes, though.

Since we're reminiscing about former third and fourth liners, I thought I'd give a shout out for Doug Brown.

One of the voters in the coaches poll still picked Michigan at #10. They either mailed in their vote early or didn't turn on a television or radio, read a newspaper, or surf the internet all weekend.

Absolutely. He's probably been trying to get this done behind closed doors for months. Since that didn't work, he's trying someting a little more agressive.

He probably did it for a bunch of reasons. First, to send a message to management to get better players. Second, to send a message to the players by saying "I don't think you guys are good enough. Prove me wrong." Third, to send a message to the media to stay off their case because they have a way to go before they should be considered contenders. Besides he's not saying anything that anyone doesn't already know. I think Koivu is one of the better captains in the NHL.

Lucky you. You get to watch Michigan lose twice...

I love the seats on the glass right behind the goalie. That's where I always stand when I watch high school/kids games. Those seats give you the same view the players have. It feels like you're actually in the game and the collisions are great. if you bring up the arguement that you can't see the action at the other end then you need glasses. The other net is only 200' away. As for the goal judge, I've never seen much use for them. They don't even have them at most levels. The refs make all the goal decisions and I think they do a pretty good job. Since the league reviews every goal anyways, the goal judge is really just a waste of space.

The thing I hate about defense is that even when you play in the perfect position the other guy still finds a way to score on a deflection or a lucky bounce. I prefer center.

I'm in a men's over 40 league in Grand Rapids. The nice thing about the over 40 league is most of the jackass 19 year olds who start fights every game are long gone and only the serious hockey players are still playing. I also play with a group of guys who rent ice every week. Definitely non-competitive. We don't even keep score. The main purpose is to get out of the house and away from the wives and drink beer.

Or a bra.....

The tough guy I was asking about was Stothers. Was he that kind of player? If he was, maybe he can teach the prospects a thing or two.

If brains is a prerequisite I'm not sure Gordie qualifies. In his autobiography he clearly states he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. How about Darryl Sutter? He's done a good job running Calgary. I bet he'd do a good job running the league.

I just checked his stats on hockeydb.com. Pretty impressive pim totals. Quite a few 200+ seasons. Did the Griffins get a tough guy? Also, Paek is still with the team. Isn't Stothers going to want to name his own assistant?