55fan

Sounds hot if you ask me  

Yeah.  Kronner/Modano (assuming Lids/Raf on the 1st) still leaves Stuie, who does a decent job, for injury relief.

I'm liking it.

Maybe he'd rather stay near home (as opposed to moving to another state) and play with the GR kids where he can be "the Man" and show them a thing or two.  Then he can be a Black Ace for the playoffs.  IfWhen we make it to the finals, he can hop in for an injured player for at least one game, still get his name on the Cup and retire with his good buddy Drapes.  

Or maybe he has just been a Wing for so long that it would be icky to be anything else.

"... So I said, 'Sidney, if the towels aren't hot enough, I'm giving your trophy to Alex.' and he told me that he could win it on his own.  I laughed, but the darndest thing happened.  Right after I called you and told you to give it to Alex I got bumped in the head by a penis- hard!  No, the bump was hard, not, well now that you mention it... Anyway back to the trophy.  The guy who bumped me said it wasn't his fault; that it was a matter of physics.  He's 6'6", you see.  Yeah, really.  What?  You just mind your own beeswax, mister.  That's for me to know and for you to find out.

"And so I really need you to re-engrave that Hartford Whales trophy.  What?  Oh, sorry.  Prince of Wales.  I don't know these hockey things, man.  I'm just in it for the money.  Yeah, it can wait until you get back from your trip to Vegas- just don't forget to do it or we'll both be embarrassed.  Right...Flyers.  Thanks, and this conversation never happened, right?  Right."

As a Lilja fan, this is sad for me as it now looks like he will not be returning to us.  I wish him happiness wherever he goes.

Salei has not caught my attention in the NHL, but he did catch my attention during the Olympics.  I think that since players put it all on the line during the Olympics, that this is a better indicator of how someone plays during the playoffs than the regular season.

That said, if he is playing as a bottom pair guy, he really can't hurt us too much if he is just consistent and steady with no intellectual interludes.  If he brings it in the big games, he will do well in the playoffs.

I'm trusting Babcock on this one.  He knows better than anyone.

EDIT to add:  Off to find Edi and share a bottle of something that will knock our livers to San Jose or further.  

Please don't.  I'm allergic to most kinds.

EDIT:  Lucky I don't hold a grudge, Dawn.  You beat me.

I don't hold grudges, but I do reserve the right to be cautious around someone in the future.


Greatest American player ever: Cheli or Modano?

Howe taking out Pronger would warm my heart.


Let's see...

Lilja returns to the Wings and has a great season.

Someone finally tells Pierre that he's creepy and needs to back off in an interview.  If they say, "Quit rubbing your **** on my shorts." on live TV, I will be their fan for life unless it's Pronger or another untouchable.

Tampa wins the Cup by beating the Wings, which causes Wings fans to experience such a paradoxical situation that LGW disbands for the summer so that we can all get extensive therapy.

The Canadian government reveals the results of a super-secret DNA project from the 80's and 90's wherein they took DNA from the best to create the Ultimate Hockey Player.  Excitement dies down when "Wayne" -as he is called- proves to have the hands of Bill Clement, the pugilistic skills of Wayne Gretzky, the masculinity of Pierre McGuire, the face of Mike Ricci, the speed of Derian Hatcher, and the singing talent of Darren McCarty.

Someone spells Valtteri Filppula right.

Perry is the annoying kid that followed you around on the playground.  You'd love to smack him, but he'd tell the teacher and you'd get detention.  He threatens you, but all it is is talk and bother.  You know that one of these days he'll get his, and you'll laugh.  And laugh.  And laugh.

I don't wish an off-ice injury on the guy.  I just hope that he gets ragdolled like Ericsson did to him again- only this time by someone with serious fighting skills.  I'd have loved to see what Probert or Kocur could have done to him.

I miss his photos.






I wish him well no matter where life takes him.  Even if he ends up a Duck, I still wish him well off the ice.

And he's keeping up with getting his degree as he promised his mother.

Good boy.

They have Kopecky.  Right there's their chance to repeat.

Hey, a few months ago we were all glad that they were becoming a force in the otherwise dull central.  

As has been said, they still have their core.  Add to that young guns that (according to the article) should have made the team last year (sound familiar?) and you have a team that has more of a shot than many others.

Will they make it?  Only time will tell.  It's hard to repeat, but it can be done.  I'm betting not, but I've been wrong before.

He's a UFA.  He can go where he pleases.  If he chooses to go elsewhere, that's his business.  I can understand going to his home country.  I can also understand playing for the Cup.

He's talented and has every right to decide what he wants to do.  I don't understand the animosity.

2008 for me.  At the time, I didn't think it would mean the most, but my dad was in the hospital for much of the summer of '08.  No matter how dull the stay, or how painful or annoying the tests, he'd always raise his spirits by saying, "oh, well.  At least we won the Cup."  It got him through.  He died in February of '09, so he went out on top.

Money can't buy happiness, but at this point, I'll settle for renting it.

That said, I couldn't do it.  I went without a computer for a day and a half and I went nuts without LGW.

  Yeah, like when we pushed that one new kid to the fourth line in 2001-2002 in favour of some old folks like Hull and Luc.  What was that kid's name?  Oh, yeah.  Datsyuk.  Yeah, he never forgot that.  

Sarcasm mode off.
Helm and Abby have worked hard to make the team, and make the team they will.  No one is promised anything.  A contract does not mean that you can't be traded or that you won't be sitting in the press box.  Only training camp can decide that.

If they spend one single year at the beginning of their careers on the fourth line, is this going to stunt them any?  I say no.  If they are better than Modano, then they will rise to the third line.  If not, then they stay on the fourth.  

Of course they want to push up in the line-up.  All players want to be at the top.  This is just one more runner to pass in the race.  Competition is a good thing.

If we get Modano, great.  If not, great.  Either way, we have enough forwards to cover the positions.  Adding Modano only means that the competition goes higher.