imisssergei

I think 30 games is too harsh. As I said before 20-25 would have felt right. I think the NHL should skip the anger management courses, that isn't going to help him on the ice. What he should have to go through is a psychiatric evaluation, and prescribed treatment. He obviously has some issues that need to be worked out.

I see 2 points here, not 4. It's true that a goaltender does cover more area when wearing bigger pads. But that doesn't necessarially make him a better goaltender. In fact, wearing equipment that is too large would hamper his movement, thus not allowing him to cover as much net as he could with smaller pads. So because defensemen play a better defensive game now, goalies should wear smaller pads? That doesn't make any sense. Since Ottawa doesn't play as defensive as Detroit does, should that translate into Gerber getting to wear larger pads than Osgood? The point is that what's going on in front of the goalie should have zero impact on the limit placed on his pads. The idea that no many shots are scored by shooting low can be solved by one things. Chicks dig the long ball. Meaning, scoring on a shot low isn't nearly as sexy as putting one next to the peanut butter. That, and goalies are much better down low than ever before. There just isn't room down there. This has nothing to do with the size of a goaltenders pads. Watch the save a goalie makes on low shots. Most of them are made either with the lower toe portion of the pad, or the stick. The saves made with the section of pad from the ankle up could be, generally speaking, made with pads that were much smaller. Making the rink bigger WOULD allow AO to use his speed to get past defenders more than he is able to now. It's a simple result of angles. Just because there is more room for AO to use, doesn't mean he has to use it all. The biggest impact is that the defender would have help as close as he would on an NHL surface. This would create more one-on-one match-ups, in which AO could use his speed to take the slower defender wide and blow past him. A friendly reminder, next time you want to be a jackass and 'destroy' some of my thoughts. Don't incorrectly number your 'arguments'. It makes you seem even less intelligent than your posts already do! P.S. Using your scientific approach, making the ice smaller would make less surface area for the d to cover and a d partner would be closer, thus making it easier to cover AO.

I never said that the pads weren't different. But if you want to get technical about it, the only real difference in pads is the glove, and chest protectors. The leg pads aren't much different in size, the biggest difference there is materials. Back in Dryden's day, the pads would soak up water and become very heavy, not to mention they were much heavier to begin with. But if you are going to use the argument that goalies equipment is decreasing scoring, you then would have to concede the fact that players equipment enhances scoring. Yeah, I know, the sticks break. But there is no way around the fact that they give an a player with an average shot a good shot, and a player with a good shot a great shot. It's a two way street. As far as the Olympics having All-Star teams, yeah, they are better players. But that isn't why things work better. If anything, having guys that aren't as good as the next (as in the NHL's 'watered down pool') would create more opportunities for the stars. I mean, it isn't like the NHL All-Star game, those guys actually hit and play defense. The reason things work better is that there is more ice surface to work with, and the rules promote a game with much more flow. If stopping a team offensively is as easy as collapsing around the net, why hasn't any NHL coach done just that? Because it isn't as easy as collapsing around the net. I agree that some coaches may find a way to play a defensive style on the larger ice, but it still would be that much harder to play it as there is that much more ice to cover. In the offensive zone, passing the puck around is the best way to get defenders out of position, more ice to pass the puck around would create more offensive chances. On the larger ice surface, puck control (yes, the European style) becomes the way to play. More teams would play a puck control style. Couple the puck control style with the larger surface, and you have a system that allows teams to beat the trap much easier. What's the biggest complaint against the trap? You hear players say it all the time, 'there just isn't any room out there, they are taking everything away.' If you have more surface to play with, that makes it that much harder to take away chances. It might take Ovechkin two more step to get out of the corner to get that scoring chance. But I'll take that everyday if that means he has two more steps in to neutral zone to blow past a defender. Also, it would give AO more ice to be creative with, or to just simply take a dman wide and blow past him. I'm not saying that Olympic ice is the be all, end all fix for the NHL. But I think it is a great start.

The problem with goaltenders isn't the size of their pads. I'm so tired of hearing about this. The difference between today's goaltenders and the goaltenders who let in those record amount of goals are easily summed up in 2 points. 1. Today's goaltenders are MUCH more athletic than they used to be. Seriously, look at any of the 'highlight reel goals' Lemieux scored pre-1992. What you will see is a goalie who stands straight up, doesn't move much, and gives up a lot of the net to shoot at. Today's goaltenders pretty much all have the 'butterfly stance', and play various styles from there. They are taught from a young age to make themselves as big as possible in the net. They no longer hold their elbows at their sides, they flair them out to take up more space. Seriously, what do you think would have happened back in the 'good old days' if a tender would have played like Dom? Today's goaltenders are better at controlling rebounds, skating, positioning, and pretty much everything else than ever before. Bottom line is goaltenders have finally caught up to skaters in terms of talent and athleticism. 2. Today's defense is a team effort. Couple that with all the shot blocking, the goalies have an easier job to do. Again, look at the high scoring days, how many guys did you see dropping down blocking shots? How many teams played defensive styles? I also feel that making the rinks smaller wouldn't help, it would hurt. Back when the old barns were in use, the average player would be considered small in today's game. Making the rinks smaller might lead to more turnovers, but it would also allow guys like Hatcher to play more effectively. So what is left to do? Well, this is what I would like to see. I want to see the NHL implement Olympic size surfaces and rules. Everyone talks about how much better Olympic hockey is, and generally speaking, I agree. The extra size would allow guys like Ovechkin and St. Louis to use their speed to blow past defenders more often. It would create more space in all zones, most importantly, the neutral zone. This would help teams beat the trap. In the offensive zones, the extra surface would help on the PP, and allow teams with speed to create opportunities, guys like Crosby and Thornton would have more room to set up shop and make perfect passes. The biggest rule change (with the Olympic idea being implemented) that I think would help is no-touch icing. Not only would this speed up the games, it would reduce the chance of dmen getting clobbered trying to get to the puck. But just to make things interesting, I'd take out the trapezoid, and let goalies playing the puck behind the goal line fair game in regards to checks.

The extra travel won't effect WC teams nearly as much as it will EC teams. Even so, it won't really effect the Ducks all that much. After all, flying to Boston isn't much further than flying to Detroit. I hate when people say Nick is clearly the Norris winner. What happens if (knock on wood) he falls into the boards and breaks his ankle and boom, his season and career are over. Does he still win the Norris? Nick is not the clear cut Norris for the same reason Scotty isn't, the season isn't over and the voting hasn't taken place yet. Let it go people. Scotty is back, deal with it, and lets move on. I seriously don't understand why everyone feels the need to ***** and moan about it anymore.

That's weird, I edited the post to correct it, but it didn't go through....boy is my face red!

Yes it would, but no it shouldn't. No doubt if it was Crosby, Simon would get double the suspension he will get. It shouldn't change anything, but since when does Campbell and Co. give a damn about parity?

The announcer said '3-3 tie, third period...' It wasn't the winner....

The rest of the season is too much. Anything less than 5 games is too light. I think something around the 20-25 game mark would be correct. But what do I think he will get? About 10, probably less.

A lot of you are missing the fact that the Ducks now have, bar none, the best defense in the NHL, while still maintaining a solid offense. Add Giggy to the mix and things are looking pretty sweet for the Ducks. As for the Wings trying to get McDonald, I don't think Burke would deal him to Detroit unless it was a pretty sweet deal for him.

Hockey is much bigger out in Mass. than it is here in Michigan. Hands down.

Teams that NEED to play in Detroit.... Toronto Boston NYR Montreal Call me silly, but I remember growing up watching the epic Toronto - Detroit games. In those days Detroit was awful, but it was always a high intensity game against the Leafs. I miss watching those type of games. The league has tried to allow the weaker teams ride the coattails of the Wings success. It just isn't fair to us Wings fans to have to see Columbus more times in one season than we will see the Leafs in 5 seasons.

But what does this have to do with Bettman? People need to get it through their heads, Bettman does as he is told. He is nothing more than a highly paid errand boy for the owners.

You missed the point. Bettman isn't doing anything wrong. He is told what to do. He is just the face for what the NHL owners want to happen. If you want to blame anyone, blame the owners.

That is one of my all-time favorite, here are a few others.... Simon Gagne Andy Roddick Ozzie Guillen Tracey Morgan Does the kid ordering food look familiar to anyone? Think American Pie..... And my favorite of all-time....

Getting rid of Bettman would do the NHL about as much good as would the U.S. getting rid of Bush. Both are puppets who do what they are told. They only difference is that Bettman has an extensive vocabulary.

If the playoffs started today, or even a month from now, no way Dom gets the nod over Ozzie. Dom will have to prove himself, and earn the starting job in the playoffs. And that is something that looks like won't happen.

The Wings need both second line scoring help and a top 4 dman. This trade wouldn't help facilitate both needs as it would kill all of the Wings cap space, or at least enough of it to make it nearly impossible to acquire any second line scoring help.

Whatever it takes to get Dom out of town, I'm all for it!

I think it has less to do with Europeans, and more to do with less high profile names than Wings fas are used to. The Wings teams that were selling out the Joe every night, might as well have been a HOF roster. It's like every time you get steak for 5 years, eating fillet mignon , then having someone give you a sirloin. Yeah, the sirloin is a nice steak too, but it just isn't as good.

CHANGE?! OMG NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! CHANGE COULD NEVER IMPROVE THE GAME!! AHHHHH!!!!! Seriously people, get over it. It's nothing huge. From the SITE "Thermablade performance-enhancing skate blades are a patented new skate technology that's revolutionizing the game of hockey. Thermablade skate blades are heated to significantly reduce the friction of the blade gliding on the ice. You get a quicker start and skate faster, and every stride feels like you're skating on fresh ice..... Thermablade also helps you conserve energy. With Thermablade, starting resistance is reduced up to 75% and gliding resistance is cut by up to 55%. There's also a significant decrease in energy-robbing vibration. What it all means is that, on Thermablade skate blades, you have more energy late in the game, when it often counts most. The key components that set a Thermablade apart from an ordinary skate blade are a battery and electronics integrated into the heel of the blade holder. These connect to a resistor which heats the blade to 5°C. A full charge lasts a minimum of 75 minutes of on-ice time, and recharging the batteries takes just 2 hours...... Skating is possible because there's always a microscopic layer of water on the surface of the ice that acts as a lubricant between the ice and the skate blade. With Thermablade technology, the heated skate blade results in a thicker layer of water, which provides improved lubrication. Early testing confirmed that Thermablade technology cuts starting resistance by up to 75% and gliding resistance by as much as 55%. Additional experiments with actual skaters proved that oxygen consumption, heart rate and lactic acid build-up are all significantly reduced, creating an overall physiological advantage of approximately 10%."

Call me sentimental, or whatever else you wish. But no one will ever be as good as Dave and Mickey. I grew up listening to them, and to this day I will still watch any game Dave is announcing just to hear him call it.

This is one of my favorites. CLIP I think that more players in the NHL are willing to have fun, and make fun of themselves than in any other sport. Gotta love it.

How the hell did Avery 1. get on the list, and 2. get any votes?! My vote goes to the smartest man in hockey today - Scotty Bowman.

I think you are missing something. Remember when the Wings had Scotty behind the bench, the Russian 5, Stevie, and Shanny? It was the trendy thing to go to a Wings game. What's my point? People will, generally speaking, follow the crowd. If you can make it 'cool' to attend a hockey game, even people who don't like hockey will go. That is what needs to happen. Hockey needs to be the trendy thing to do again.