Anomalously

It's actually kind of interesting... Holland picked up two guys with really disappointing seasons for relatively cheap. But I'm happy with these deals. I hope the junior player isn't Kindl, though.

Laraque has waived his NTC for the Penguins, as per TSN.

Conklin from CBJ also involved.

Schneider, Hudler, and a 1st. That's my offer sheet as soon as Hell freezes over.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20062007/SC020373.HTM Look up the shift charts if you guys want to accurately fight about this stuff. Yes, they played together on the same line ES earlier in the year, but by December, this wasn't the case. They almost always play on the powerplay together, although sometimes after a long shift for Crosby or Malkin they'll split them up.

''I have a better sense of the market now as I head home,'' said Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland. ''The prices remain too high. Whether or not we'll be willing to pay that price next Tuesday at the deadline remains to be seen.'' An update from TSN (source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=197041&hubname=nhl).

From TSN: He's just having a bad streak; he'll put up good numbers once he gets a good bounce [or two].

I'm not a Penguins fan. I'm a displaced Wings fan, having moved to Pennsylvania nine years ago. I am, however, a season ticket holder because I love going to games. To watch games when the Penguins aren't playing at home, I have Center Ice. Obviously you haven't watched more than one Penguins game, and it's even more obvious you weren't looking for #3 when you did watch. I didn't call him a number one defenseman, that's Sergei Gonchar. He is, however, the best defensive defenseman that the Penguins have and obviously if the Penguins are 18-5-1 with him in the lineup, they don't really need to search for another player -- it seems to be going just fine for them. How long have you been watching hockey? Plus-minus is a lovely stat but it doesn't tell nearly the entire story. Lang and Draper are both +8, but I think one plays better defensive hockey. Kyle Quincey is on pace for a +41 season. Does that make him as good defensively as Lidstrom? Andreas Lilja was a +18 last year and he's a -1 this year -- did his game decline that much or was he bad last year, too? Or maybe he's changed defensive partners and he doesn't look quite as good now. Watching games is a lot better than resorting to misleading statistics.

If "keeping pucks out of the net" is important, how is blocking shots not important? If it hits Eaton's shin pads, gloves, or chest protector, it's not going into the net. Also, if the PK is in fact a "small majority" of the game, then it would be important, no? You're taking it further than I would! In reality, I see it as a large minority*, but I'm not going to sit here and debate the merits of +/- vs. shot blocking, or the importance of 5-on-5 vs. special teams. A lot of people in this thread were arguing that the Penguins desperately needed a defenseman. I merely said in response that they were missing a big piece of their defensive puzzle as a result of Eaton's injury. And it's not just this streak. They were 7-4 to start the season before Eaton got injured, which prorates to 52 wins. A defensive defenseman is not the only thing a team needs to win. All year long this team has had Crosby, Malkin, Recchi, and more recently, Staal (I think I saw he had 12 goals in 16 games). Good one-two punch when you have Crosby and Malkin anchoring the top two lines. They have puck-moving defensemen in Gonchar and Whitney (2nd and 9th in scoring among defensemen). But the Penguins needed a good stay-at-home defenseman this season, and if they have Eaton for the playoffs... it won't guarantee they won't be a complete bust, but it'll help. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's a quality player..." totally kills your argument, because you quoted me as saying he's not their savior but rather a piece of a puzzle, and you've never even seen the guy play. You certainly don't believe yourself to be an authority on the Penguins by the way you've phrased things. You were able to catch the game because it was on early... I'm a season ticket holder. * 1,594 goals have been scored on the powerplay in 8,978 chances in 894 games. That's about 1.8 goals/game on the powerplay. And it means there's 10 powerplays, about 5 for each team, per game (average conversion rate is 17.8%); 10 powerplays per game (not including fighting/coincidental calls) means potentially 20 minutes or 1/3 of a game on special teams--that is, if the penalty killers do their jobs

Guys, I wasn't saying that Eaton is their savior, I was saying that Eaton is an important piece of the puzzle, and he's only played 24 games (of which 18 have been wins). He's averaging 2-1/2 shot blocks per game, a pace that would launch him to 7th in the league had he not been injured blocking a shot earlier in the year. And he's most important on the PK [second on the team in SH TOI/G], which has nothing to do with his plus-minus, nothing to do with his goals, assists or points. You'd know these things if you watched more than one game.

With Burke, it's probably been: Other GM: "We're interested in these top prospects..." Burke: "What the %#!^??? For a &@#$ing rental?"

The Penguins are 18-5-1 when Mark Eaton is in the lineup. 14-14-8 without. Maybe they already have the defenseman they need, eh?

Not against Chicago... you sure you've watched the Penguins since about game #12?

Pretty sure in more than one case these aren't the actual first lines: take Pittsburgh, for example, where Malkin plays with Staal, but not Recchi, on the 2nd line, and Malone-Crosby-Recchi have been the number one unit.

Was this an active list or all-time? I missed the intermission.

Please continue this conversation in the newly-created GameDay Thread (GDT): http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39457

There are other places to put your thoughts [GDT] and better ways to express them.

Double.

Right (about Whitney). We don't have Shanahan, Yzerman, Robitaille, Hull, or Fedorov anymore. It's completely different. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Carter, Holmstrom, Williams, Lang is a top 6 in Detroit now (with Carter). Samuelsson and Hudler probably replace Williams and Lang, though, on the top two lines. Carter Datsyuk Holmstrom Hudler Zetterberg Samuelsson Williams Lang Franzen Cleary Draper Maltby I REALLY hope Draper and Maltby play like it's 2003. Maybe then I'd trust Drapes up on a scoring line, and there could be changes. Carter plays well with Swedes, so I wouldn't mind putting Hudler with Datsyuk, but I'm afraid of what that'll mean as far as extra duties for Holmstrom. He'd have to work harder on a line with Datsyuk/Hudler.

I hope not. Lang has a steep salary and doesn't always bring the goods, but I just don't like Zednik much.

Well, this is pretty ridiculous, and I'm sure it'll end up being a lot of spamming, but...whatever works. We do end up with a lot of posts in the GDT, eh?

Andy Delmore: the next Niklas Kronwall. Stay tuned.

Take it back. Apparently they're gone.

Oh, oh, I thought of one... My Stick - Your Dick: The Art of a Clear Crease - Ed Belfour

This quite possibly could have been more concise... "War" -- norrisnick