imisssergei

It's tough to say how long the Pens will be able to keep them together. I imagine Malkin will be the one to leave, but you have to figure that the Wings will have Hank and Pav longer.

I just can't wait to hear Grapes eat some crown when Lids hoists the Cup. How many times has he said no team with a Euro captain would win the Cup? It's just a matter of time!

You can try to label your defense of this as calling it 'by the letter of the rule' but that's not what it is at all. You are simply manipulating what the rule says to defend your standpoint. You are also claiming Holmstrom hit Fleury with his stick which is not the case. Holmstrom had his stick there first, therefore 'by letter of the rule' it's Homer's ice not Fleury's. You are correct by saying Homer made not significant attempt to avoid Fleury, but you have a few things out of line here too. First, the rule says nothing about making a significant effort, it says reasonable. And most important, Homer was there first, so it doesn't matter is Fleury didn't have room to make the save without coming into contact with Homer since all of this happened outside of the crease. Just face it, you are wrong.

You are finally catching up. You need to realize two things: 1. In order for it to be goaltender interference, the contact must be initiated by the skater, not the goalie. Fleury initiated the contact. 2. It doesn't matter if the goalie is partially in the crease, it's where the contact takes place. He has to be fully in his crease to be protected. ANY ice outside of the crease is up for grabs. I'd be all for reviewing of this type of call. They already look at every single goal anyhow. They need to give the boys upstairs more power to call down and overturn the on-ice officials call. I'm not saying that this one would have been overturned, but the one against Dallas most certainly would have.

You are absolutely wrong, here is the rule, word for word straight from the official 07-08 NHL Rulebook. "Rule 69 – Interference on the Goalkeeper 69.1 Interference on the Goalkeeper - This rule is based on the premise that an attacking player’s position, whether inside or outside the crease, should not, by itself, determine whether a goal should be allowed or disallowed. In other words, goals scored while attacking players are standing in the crease may, in appropriate circumstances be allowed. Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal; or (2) an attacking player initiates intentional or deliberate contact with a goalkeeper, inside or outside of his goal crease. Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact. The rule will be enforced exclusively in accordance with the on-ice judgement of the Referee(s), and not by means of video replay or review. For purposes of this rule, “contact,” whether incidental or otherwise, shall mean any contact that is made between or among a goalkeeper and attacking player(s), whether by means of a stick or any part of the body. The overriding rationale of this rule is that a goalkeeper should have the ability to move freely within his goal crease without being hindered by the actions of an attacking player. If an attacking player enters the goal crease and, by his actions, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed. If an attacking player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by a defending player so as to cause him to come into contact with the goalkeeper, such contact will not be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact." I bold-faced some text for reference. Here is why it shouldn't have been a penalty. 1. Where Fleury was plays a huge part in this. The first bolded section is about the position of the goaltender. It clearly states that the crease is Fleury's only true safe zone. Once he is outside of the crease, the ice is up for grabs. If he gets there first, it's his ice. But let's Fleury comes out of the crease to cut off an shot, and Hank passes it cross ice to Pav. Homer is standing still in betwee Fleury and where Feury needs to be. Outside of the crease Homer doesn't have to move to allow Fleury to move freely. It's Homer's ice. In the crease it's all Fleury. Remember, the call in question happened outside of the crease, therefore it is Homer's ice since he got there first. 2. Homer did not initiate the contact. This is imperative to understand. Again, since Fleury was outside the crease, and Homer was there first, it's his ice. This isn't a judgement call. It's Homer's ice. 3. It was incidental contact. The second bolded phrase clearly states that incidental contact, the goal stands. You are saying it's up to the ref to use his judgement. Clearly that is what the rule says, but you are taking it out of context. Fleury made contact with Homer's stick. Homer was in position. It should have been a goal. Case closed.

That's the one, I'll be wearing it to Game 3 in Pittsburgh along witnh my Hank jersey. I think I only paid $25 out the door for it at the Joe. The only stand that had them at the time was a really tiny shop directly in front of the main enterance. Only thing that sucks is it's that one size fits all bs.

This isn't the first time they have done this. The hats are really sweet, I picked one up at the Joe earlier this season.

Did you miss the Dallas series?

Please go re-read the rule. It explicitly states that any time there is goaltender interference, the minimum is to be a minor penalty. Furthermore, we are talking about the ice outside of the crease which does make a big difference. The reason being is that the ice outside of the crease is just as much Homer's and it is Fleury's. Homer was there first, therefore it is his ice. Fleury initiated contact. Horrid call. Not nearly as bad as the call against Dallas, but at least here they got the penalty correct.

First, regardless if blowing off the goal was correct call or not, a two minute minor is the correct call in accordance with the rules. Second, it wasn't interference, for two reasons. 1. Fleury initiated the contact, and 2. Not only did it happen outside of the crease, but it did not impede Fleury from making the save.

Don't forget, Vladdy was and is coverd with HEALTH INSURANCE. I'm willing to bet that he has pretty good coverage that takes care of just about every medical bill he has seen.

It all stems from greed. The bible is wrong when it says money is the root of all evil. Saying greed is the root of all evil is a much more accurate statement. There is no way you could possibly justify $300 million for this. I could see the $88+ million in lost wages, as Vladdy could have earned that fairly easily, however the extra $200+ million is nothing more than greed on the part of everyone involved (obviously Vladdy excluded). It makes me sick to see people putting together lawsuits like this. But it's time for bed, so I'll leave my ranting for another day.

Yes, we will be there. It will be epic. I'm not worried too much about what the fans will say to me about wearing a Wings jersey as much as I am worried what they will say to you for bringing a Wings fan when you are supposedly a Pens fan. Anyhow, should be great fun for the both of us. All I can really ask for is a good game, obviously I hope the Wings win but as long as it's a good game I'll go home happy. This is something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

I wasn't aware that car manufacturers were supposed to make cars impossible to be driven if the driver is drunk. Oh wait, that's right, they aren't. This is just one example of the many things wrong with this country.

On the Mario issue, something that hasn't been publicized much. After his most recent retirement he began to experience side effects from the meds he was taking to fight his cancer. I'm not sure how common it is, but he now basically has the same heart condition that Fischer suffers from.

You could argue the same for the Wings. If they didn't have Pav/Hank you wouldn't see Franzen, Rex, Flip, ect. putting up the numbers they do. How can you argue that the Pens management didn't show any skill? Outside of Crosby, the other guys were all solid picks. Everyone knew Crosby would be a star. Letang was taken 62nd overall, Kennedy was taken 99th, Talbot was taken 234th, and don't forget Fleury, the Pens traded up to get him. The Pens management has drafted very well, and made a few necessary small moves to get where they needed to be. Great example again is Fleury. If the Pens don't make that trade, who do they draft, Staal? Zherdev? If they don't make that pick, they aren't where they are today. The Canucks problem is they don't draft well. Great example, they select the Sedin twins in 99. By doing this they passed on Connolly, Jackman, Boynton, Havlat, and Commodore. The only saving grace is that they didn't instead try to trade up for Stefan. I'm not saying any of the players that they passed on are necessarily better or would have been better picks. This is the point. Yes, the Pens have had good luck with the high draft picks they have made. You can't fault the system for working as it should. However, Pens management made wise late round selections. They deserve a lot of credit there. Again, just because a team finishes last, doesn't mean they are garunteed a franchise player, just ask Atlanta how the Stefan experiment worked out for them. Better yet, look at Detroit's draft history. The Wings have only hit 2 true studs in the first round of the draft, Yzerman and Dionne.In 90 Detroit took Primeau over Jagr, Tkchuk, Kidd, Sydor, Hatcher, oh and some guy named Brodeur. In 87 Detroit passed on Sakic and Marchment to take Yves Racine! In 86 with the first overall selection Detroit took Joe Murphy over Leetch, and Damphousse. Drafting players isn't a science. Number one picks don't always emerge into stars.

Look at it like this, how many hockey fans do you know who are also basketball fans, and visa versa? I would assume not many, as that's what it's like for me. In fact, most of the guys I know who like basketball couldn't care less about hockey. The same goes for most of the hockey fans I know. Saturday night is a bigger ticket no matter how you look at it, the NHL will reach more casual fans on a Saturday than a Friday. I wouldn't say it's a mistake by the NHL, they may even get some people tuning in that aren't pleased with the basketball game.

I find it amazing how little respect the Pens are getting. Scoring: Advantage Pens Without a doubt the Pens top 2 lines trump that of the Wings, and the 3rd and 4th of Detroit trumps that of the Pens. However, with Franzen this is much harder to call, possibly a draw. Defense: Advantage Detroit Defense is easily Detroit's biggest advantage, with both Lidstrom and Rafalski being better than anyone on the Pens d roster. Goaltending: Advantage Pens Goaltending I give an edge to the Pens, Fluery is just playing betting than Ozzie right now. PP: Advantage Detroit The stats give the edge to the Pens. However, the Pens have taken 9 more PIMs in 2 fewer games, Detroit will get plenty of chances. Factor in Detroit's strong PK units, and the Pens could be looking at a long PP scoring drought. PK: Advantage Detroit Statistically it's a draw, both teams at a stifling 87.3%, but Detroit has more players who can play an effective PK role than the Pens. Without Franzen in the lineup, Detroit becomes a one line team. With Franzen in the lineup, you are now forced to defend against two scoring lines, something that the Pens really don't have the defensive personnel to do. Crosby isn't given enough credit for his defensive game, he isn't in the same class as Pav or Hank, but he is no slouch either. Both teams play a puck control style, so faceoffs will be even more key than ever. With the way Detroit dominates the faceoff circle, the Pens could find themselves doing a lot more chasing than they are used to.

The Rangers were one of 5 teams to allow less than 200 goals this season. That's pretty good. Philly was middle of the road during the regular season, but somehow managed to shut down the highest scoring team the regular season saw in Montreal. Give credit where credit it due man. Pittsburgh is not going to be a pushover. Stats don't lie, the Stars and Pens were just about equals during the regular season in GA and GF.

First I think you are misunderstanding something. It's a draft lottery. Simply finishing last does not 100% you get the first overall pick. I believe it's the bottom 4 or 5 teams that are in the lottery with the worst team have the best odds of winning, and no team can fall more than like 3 spots. Meaning if the Pens finish last, the worst pick they can get is 4th. Second, Columbus does hold, in fact they are a perfect example of what poor drafting looks like. Finally, the Pens traded up to get Fluery. They need to soildify the most important position in hockey, goaltender. Fleury was the closest thing to a can't miss prospect as it gets for a goalie. As for Staal, he wasn't that hyped. Everyone was talking about Erik Johnson. The Pens wanted him, but the Blues took him. So they took the next guy on their draft board. Keep in mind that the Pens already had two top centers in Crosby and Malkin. Staal fits the 3rd line center or 2nd line wing role much better than Toews could fit 1st or 2nd line wing role.

You aren't supposed to use the flash during the game either.

Credit is due because Pittsburgh drafted well. Look at the Blue Jackets. Someone else pointed out they haven't drafted lower than 8th, EVER!! What do they have to show for it? Nash and Zherdev. Zherdev isn't even a PPG player. The Pens have made great use of their picks, while not trading away their future for a quick. They can't be 'blamed' for drafting Crosby, remember the Wings had just as much of an opportunity to get Crosby as the Pens did. Literally the ball just didn't drop in Detroit's favor. So tell me this, how does Pittsburgh not deserve any credit, but Detroit does? They are one in the same when you look at the success stories, since the cap. Good drafting, smart trading, and the right UFA signings.

What I find ridiculous is picking a team in 7 games without seeing the first 6. What if Detroit goes down 0-3, then storms back? Who has the momentum now? The game is at the Joe. Detroit has to have the advantage there. Visa versa, if Pittsburgh goes down 0-3 then comes back, you still have to give them the nod in game 7. I'll take the Wings in 6.

If you want to call someone out on not doing research, you sure as hell better get your own examples right. Detroit Red Wings traded Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau and 1st round selection (Nikos Tselios) in 1997 to the Hartford Whalers for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn. In the 1995-1996 campaign the Detroit Red Wings sent Ray Sheppard to the San Jose Sharks for Igor Larionov. And not to sound too much like an ******* here, but it might help if you could spell the players names correctly: Sheppard not Shepard Fedorov not Federov Zetterberg not Zettburg In a few years the Pens will feel the constraints of the cap. Hell, they might feel it this summer if they can't find a way to retain Hossa. The Pens have drafted well, by no means have they done as much with their late round picks as Detroit, and Crosby fell into their lap.

Did anyone else watch ESPN today? They showed a great replay of the goal. It was an over the head shot of the goal, it clearly showed no part of Homer was in the crease when the goal was scored, or even before the shot was taken. The whole 'his butt was in the crease' argument is officially busted. As for Melrose, you can count on him to point out the obvious. If Detroit scores that goal it is mentally demoralizing to the Stars. Up until that point they had played a really strong game, and outplayed Detroit pretty badly. If Detroit gets the first goal again, it's a different game. I'm not saying Detroit wins, but they are definitely in a better position to get something done.