Shaman464

Very nicely put except for I am hoping we give our top notch euro scouting staff a break and start working our top notch Canadian scouting staff.... we need to get tougher

Canadian youth hockey players tend to be like Texas youth football players, hyped for years, and rarely any surprises come draft time. There is a reason why there are more Europeans that are draft steals than there are Canadians.

My thoughts on Callahan:

 

I watch a lot/most Griffins games and Callahan is usually a stand out performer. GR coach Jeff Blashill has really raved about Mitch this season.

 

 

Although he only scored 11 goals in 70 regular games, he must have hit the pipe about a dozen times or more from the games I saw and was at his best when playing on a skilled line. A real agitator at heart though. When he gets to the NHL he'll be right up there with Maltby. It's not usual to see more than one player go after him after a whistle, just in the last game a few days a go at the buzzer about three Barons players went straight after him.

 

Didn't fight as much this season, which was probably down to injury. He got beat up pretty bad in two fights early on in the season which seemed to knock his confidence a bit. Still hits everything in sight and down low in battles along the boards there's no one better than Mitch on the team. His defensive game is great, physical game has declined but his offensive game has come leaps and bounds, if still not quite there yet.

 

I'd expect him to make an impact in preseason with some physical games, but don't see him getting a call up yet with the Wings/Holland quite keen to put skilled prospects on the 4th line when a spot opens up. Call-ups with Holland are never about how well you've played or your role.

I think Callahan will be a Darren McCarty type player. Not a true enforcer, but gritty, can fight, and can score a few goals. I think he will be at the heart of the teams 3rd line for many seasons.

 

I must admit I don't watch many of the East games but I have seen internet people say that one conference is tougher than the other. Realistically though, what is the majority consensus on the tougher of the two conferences? I always thought other than Boston who plays like a West team, East is more skill-based type hockey with less thuggery/goonery/clutch and grab?

Rhah: The East have a lot of teams that have very skilled top lines with very physical bottom 6 and defensive corps. The West has more of the power forward model, but, all in all the East is much tougher top to bottom.

There will be plenty of room for Bert and Sammy because we always have injuries; namely theirs.

That being said, I do like what Bert brings to the team. Of course I wish you were healthier but I'd take him anyway. Sammy,... that's a tough call. I am afraid that at his age, all this time off will be difficult to come back from.

With his back becoming a liability I don't see Bert being as physical as he was in the past. As for Sammy, the only tough call that anyone should have to make about him is what color the condolence flowers should be to mourn the end of his lackluster career.

A team that scored 5 goals in 3 games that they could have eliminated a team is NOT good enough. Once Chicago figured out the Wing's system they pretty much neutralized the Wing's top two lines, and became only the 25th team in the history of the NHL to battle back from 1-3 and win in game 7. Next season the Wings will find themselves in the East, were they will find themselves playing much tougher teams for 82 games, and doing so without a true #1 goal scorer, a true #1 D-man, and no back up goaltender. If you think that will end well, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. 

Abdelkader doesn't deserve to be on the first or second line, he had 3 points in the playoffs, he was outplayed by the likes of injured Dan Cleary. He was a plug and an experiment, his season totals weren't out of his normal averages, and his playoffs were trash. 

Drop Cleary, Sammy, Bertuzzi, go after a top 6 forward, keep Nyquist, Tatar, and Anderson up. The Defense is young, but is adapting well. Also bury Monster, he blows.

Hes their Osgood. Put him on a team that isn't as dominate, I think hes a middle tier goalie, but, with their team in front of him he doesn't really have to steal games, just make a few big saves, and then be solid and they do the rest.

Still, he put up a 41 goal/95 point performance this season. Hes not paid to play defense, hes there to put the biscuit in the basket. 

My issue is this: In recent years in all sports the head seems to have become fair game, there have been a lot studies that show such hits can cause permanent damage, even if there is little or no symptom presentation at the time of the injury. The head MUST be made off-limits, and even accidental contact should be punished to keep borderline plays out of the game. A player should do the mental calculus before a hit to make sure there is no way they hit the head, and Abdelkader could have gone an inch lower to make sure his hit was perfectly shoulder to shoulder. He didn't, he sacrificed safety trying to make a big play, even though its clear it wasn't his intent to hit the head. And that's the exact issue I have, if it comes between making a huge play and jeopardizing someone else, everyone should be trained from a young age to let up and adjust point of contact. He didn't and the Wings are suffering now because of it.

PS if you look at most head shot threads on this forum I say the same thing as I am now, I will not be a hypocrite because its a Wings player involved. 

That other angle makes me feel even more confident that his left skate was still on the ice, and that the hit was shoulder to shoulder first then to the head. Lydman being hurt is the only reason that received a penalty at all.

 

The comparisons to the Gryba hit aren't valid anyways since the only reason Gryba got suspended at all was because of the damage done to Eller and the visual of him laying out on the ice in a pool of blood.

Then you're blind. He clearly hits the head first in all angles, and even if he leaves his feet after initial contact, you're still not allowed to leave your feet on purpose to make a hit worse. By the way his body was during that hit, it appears that he left his feet in a controlled manor. The only way you don't see it for what it is is if you're a homer. And I am 100% if this were Perry on Datsyuk, you'd be crying for blood. 

And the point remains, if Abdelkader kept himself on his feet, and his shoulder down, this would have been a big CLEAN hit, no penalty, no misconduct, no possible suspension. Just another case of Abdelkader being an idiot and making the worst possible play and costing the Wings a playoff game, just like 2009, 2010, and 2011.

This is par for the course for Abdelkader, he is infamous for taking boneheaded penalties that cost the Red Wings games and series.

1. Abby hit WAS NOT a penalty, not now, not then, not in 1935. The Ref was standing two feet from the hit, watching the play with his own two eyes. The Duck had the puck, Ref's attention was not elsewhere.  He watched the guy fall to the ice. He saw it was shoulder on shoulder hit, he saw that Abby was gliding and not "charging" towards him....bulls*** call from a ref 200 feet away and it will be bulls*** if he should get suspended....

 

 

#1 principal point of contact was the head, he got body too, but shoulder first went into the head. Rule 48

#2 He left his feet on the hit, that's also against the rules, and according to rule 42 that makes it a charge

 

42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.

 

So this is just another case of Abdelkader being a bonehead, and making a stupid play in the playoffs that costs the Wings a game.

Shouldn't it say Pi posts for victory?

sorry

ducks win this game 3-2 and the series in 6

pens win the stanley cup

I hope you're wrong on both accounts, but if the Wings don't find some depth scoring, I don't see them going far either. As for the Pens winning it all? I'd rather see Toronto win it, and I hate the Leafs.