Echolalia

http://robotmantheblog.com/2006/10/25/so-i...tle-pony-forum/

I am 100% against making any moves this year, unless that person is guaranteed to be here beyond the summer (which is always a big if). Everyone, management included, has already deemed this year an "in-between year" where we are stuck with a lot of players taking up a lot of cap space. Therefore right off the bat the Wings are at a greater disadvantage to win the Cup compared to usual. So why invest our future into a player or two that will be coming to a less than stellar Wings team, when you could invest the same amount of future next year when out team will already be better? I would think it would be logical to maximize our chances next year rather than blow our trump card on a bad hand this year.

So much for that 80 goal season

Eaves on offense because injuries follow him around like sunshine, and Stuart on defense because he's so reckless.

We lose Hossa to sign Franzen. Franzen is injured. We replace Sammy with Williams. Williams is injured. We replace Kopecky with Eaves/May (take your pick). Eaves and May are both injured. We lose Hudler and expect Filppulla to take a bigger role. Filppulla is injured. If we trade Lebda away for someone else, I promise you that person will end up with a broken clavicle before his 10th game.

No blame on Ericsson who pinched and let Draper take his place on D, or Draper for that matter, who couldn't sufficiently prevent a 2 on 1? I mean I understand why everyone hates Lebda, but he's not alone in his sucking.

The Wings get distracted too easy. Lose both games overseas and now Hockey Hall of Fame night.

It would be close.

This pic really takes the sting away from losing the Cup this summer. Honestly.

Hossa isn't better at winning Stanley Cups.

There are a couple other Bertuzzi threads that have been made in the past 20 hours, as well as a Lilja thread. Anyway, Bert has been following a steep sine function in terms of his skill, but overall he is steadily improving with familiarity on the team. I would love to hear an alternative for his role that Holland could pick up at Bert's price, if you can think of anyone. Also, welcome to the boards.

This guy has really been hungry lately, which is definitely a good sign for us fans, but I feel like he is focusing too hard on scoring the goal that he is losing sight of the rest of the ice. He had a great deal of scoring chances tonight (as well as a couple nights ago) but in the midst of the majority of those opportunities I also recall noticing a defensman or a Winger that was wide open and Bert opted to drive the net through a well protected area or go for a bad angle shot. I'm not necessarily complaining (maybe I am) but I do hope to see him get a little more patient with the puck in the next week or so. If he can do that I think he'll end up being more productive in the long run.

Three seconds is quite a long time. Anyway, the call could have easily went either way. Should the ref had blown the whistle I don't think my opinion would change much, but I am happy about the call simply because the Wings seemed like the better team tonight and deserved the two points. I would look at this whole situation much more differently had San Jose dominated the game but still only managed to get one goal on us.

Athletes are considered "low risk" because they are in peak physical condition and their systems can handle H1N1 much better than the general population that they cut in front of. Athletes should just "chill out" because they really have a lot less to lose than Grandma Smith who was waiting in line all day and still didn't get her vaccine.

Not any more

I have to say this is one of the most exciting fourth lines I have ever seen. Its especially surprising to look at our fourth line last year, and the one we have this year.

Hedberg's mask is probably the ugliest mask I have ever seen. I might be biased, but Howard's mask is probably one of the most badass masks I have ever seen.

Fair enough, and I understand your qualm with those who can't look past his face and name and form a valid opinion. Even though he rubs me the wrong way and you enjoy him, I feel comfortable saying we are both frustrated with the blind Crosby bashers.

Can they actually fight this?

I feel like the brunt of this post was aimed at me because the points that you tackle in your second paragraph follow eerily close to what I discussed, in the order I discussed it. I would like to respond by agreeing that he isn't the only one to dive or complain or whine or slash or spear, but the frequency in which many of these events happen is out of the ordinary, especially for a captain. I do expect occasional diving, occasional complaining, occasional whining, occasional cheap-shots, that's all fine and dandy and part of the game and its easy to put up with it when its relatively uncommon. Unfortunately almost every single game that I have witnessed Crosby participate in includes a plethora of the above in any combination. Yes Franzen dives like a ***** and I hate that about him, but because its one of a few personality flaws and I don't see him trying to sell a dive every game he's in its something that I can live with. Similarly, Iginla has bitched to the ref about a non-call or some other issue, but the majority of the games that I've watched him in he typically isn't breathing down the refs' back every 10 minutes. This is what irks me personally about Crosby, and I'm fairly confident that all of these issues stem from two traits pertaining to his personality: his "ultra-competitiveness" do-anything attitude that drives him to do whatever it takes to win a game, and his hot head which causes him to lose any self-control and lash out on a fairly regular basis. But sure, a lot of other players have issues too, and some players like Sean Avery go way overboard with their immaturity, but because Crosby is captain of a now Stanley Cup winning team and has had plenty of time to establish solid footing in this league I feel that I am valid in holding him to a slightly higher bar than your typical Sean Avery and hope that he acts more maturely. I don't think there's anything childish about my expectations at all.

No problem. I actually tried to join a pens forum a while back, but I'm still waiting to get the admins approval.

I'm still looking at the horrible economy as the primary motivating factor.

Its supposed to simulate a road sign.

The issues that I have with Crosby stem from his sportsmanship. He's willing to do more than most to sell a call, and he's embarrassing himself with some of the dives he's attempted. Its especially flattering coming from a captain. He also complains to the refs to an unparalleled degree, at least from what I've seen (but I don't watch Pens games religiously, so maybe I have an unequal sample size). I fully appreciate the necessity to talk to the refs, at the very least to let them know what's going on for future reference, but I'm almost wondering whether Sid's reputation for complaining is working against him because the refs have become so desensitized to it. He's also developed a reputation for being a cheap-shot artist as I'm sure you've noticed in a couple fights he has been in. Actually I was a bit disappointed in his last scrum because it was broken up so fast. He almost had an opportunity to redeem himself. But his cheap-shots aren't limited to fights. I've seen him slash people with intent to injure, spear people as they skate away, etc. Perhaps much of this has to do with maturity. Like you said, he entered the league as a boy and was still developing both physically and mentally. I can appreciate that and don't hold his earlier days against him. He was hot-headed and wanted whats best for the team and didn't know any better way to express that. But now he's a captain and he needs to keep his cool more than anyone else on the team. If he blows up and starts cheap-shotting and complaining, what example is that setting for everyone else? He had 9 penalty minutes against Minnesota a couple nights ago, which tells me he still gets hot way too easy, and that characteristic can easily cost a team two points (in fact a quick calculation shows he's on his way to a 147 penalty minute year). He's an adult now and has had plenty of time in this league to adapt. He needs to start acting like an adult. And its not that I have a "strong dislike" for him like you claim. A lot of players are that way, and for the most part I have about the same amount of respect for each of them. Besides, he's your team's captain, not mine. I don't have to deal with that immaturity on a regular basis, but nhl.com still allows me to see his magic.

Once again, I never said it was Crosby's fault.