Wombat

So that's what they call rehab now!

thanks Fin, i didnt bother to reply as i know the guys over the other side of the pond dont know alot about the geography this side !!
for you who dont know;
Baltic;
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania

Eastern Europe:
Belarus
Moldova
Ukraine

Transcaucasus:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia:
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Eurasia:
Russia
these were all part of the old USSR.
hope this helps with any homework.

Your original post refers to the "Soviet block [sic]".  The Soviet Bloc, also better known as the Eastern Bloc, is a term denoting the countries behind the Iron Curtain that were within the sphere of influence of the USSR.  These countries include East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Yugoslavia. So, the other poster was correct that the Wings have drafted players from the former Soviet Bloc states.

If you're talking about independent nations that were once a part of the USSR, those are Former Soviet Republics or Post-Soviet States.

/homework graded

I think Modano could have really helped out in Game 7.  It wasn't that apparent at the beginning, but when the Wings lost 2 of their top six forwards to injury during the game, it would have been nice to be able to mix in Modano for some potential scoring touch instead of Abdelkader.  But overall, I'm not upset he missed most of the playoff games, as I don't think he was consistently one of the 12 best forwards on the team.

I think you're being too hard on Franzen as well.  He did lead the team in goals during the season, and while he did have some cold spots, in the NHL he's making about the right money for a 30-goal scorer.  Plus, he started well in the playoffs before his ankle was messed up.

I definitely agree with your defensive reading.  Kronwall has really stepped up and finally become a bit of the "Nick Jr" he was advertised as.  Preferably, I'd like the team to get a youngish 3/4 defenseman with some physicality and match him with Rafalski.

I would like to see the Fil we got in the last two games for the whole season.  Maybe the answer is putting him with Datsyuk.  They both seem seem to play off of each other really well and can both be creative.  Those two with Cleary or Franzen might be really entertaining.

Ericsson is about what I expect out of a bottom pairing guy.  I don't want to give up on him quite yet, but if they can bring in a new 3/4 guy, I wouldn't mind having Ericsson and Kindl fight it out for that last spot.  Keep them honest and working.

It was tough last night playing most of the game without 3 top-six forwards (Franzen, Bertuzzi, Cleary).  Those are the breaks.  They still fought valiantly and I'm proud of how they played.

I think Franzen is great, but he's no Fedorov.  Also, I think the whole "both don't give all their effort all the time" argument is bogus.  They both have the ability to pot a goal every game, but that just isn't going to happen.  Even Gretzky in the high-scoring 1980's only did it twice (which is amazing in my mind that he could even do it once!).  I think lack of game-by-game production looks like laziness, but really it's not.  Just like any of us with our jobs, some days you are rocking and can do no wrong, and others you just can't get out of your own way.  It doesn't means you're working less hard... it's just the ebb and flow of life.

I feel that consistency is all relative to how the ref is doing.  There are some games I watch where its real loose out there.  Other games are very tight.  Its good to not see pre-lockout hockey thats for sure, but even in loose games you see a little more hooking and interference than you would in a tight game.  So how do you make things more consistent?  Thats hard because no matter what, refs are going to call different games.  When you see a trip happen out there, maybe 6 out of 10 refs would say it was a trip while the other 4 would say he lost an edge.

Good questions.  To me, I'm not all that concerned about 1 consistent standard over the season as I am concerned about consistency within the context of a single game.  In other words, I don't mind if Game 2 of the playoffs is called loose, but Game 3 is tight.  Too a certain extent of course... can't have too big of a range.  If you put reffing on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is a completely loose (no calls) game, and 10 is a completely tight (everything is called) game, I wouldn't mind if all games in the season floated somewhere between a 3 and a 7.

Officials can let the players know what they are looking for early in the game, either verbally or by calling (or not calling) a couple quick penalties.  I think refs start seeing problems when they start one way and finish the other, or if one team is getting some tick-tacky calls while the other is hacking away with impunity.  I think it's fun to have games during the season that are tightly called, and some loosely.  It allows more variability in style of play and makes the game entertaining (again, as long as they stay away from the extremes of calling nothing and calling everything).

Nightfall, wonderful post!  I don't think people realize how difficult it is to ref a game of high level competition in just about any sport.  I myself do not ref, but I know it is very difficult.  I think that refs are doing the best they can, but sometimes a couple mistakes end up on the wrong side and it looks like bias.  It's sort of the same thing when fans complain about players not giving their all... the players and refs are trying to do their jobs to the best of their ability, but everyone has off days.  I'm certain that people who complain about players/refs don't have perfect efficiency at their job every single day, and they aren't dealing with people trying to stop them do their jobs and random bounces of a puck.

That said, I think there can be more improvements to how games are called.  I, along with many others, would simply like to have more consistency in the calls.  I don't much care if games are called loose or tight, as long as it is consistent.  Overall, I think how refs have to interpret calls needs to be more clarified.  For example, the whole kicking/propelling a puck.  there has got to be a way to allow pucks to go into the net for goals off of skates while still keeping goalies safe from having people kicking their blades at him.

There are a few penalties that get me mad every time.  I hate how a slash that breaks a stick, or knocks it out of a player's hands is an instant penalty.  Some of these sticks break when someone receives a soft pass!  And allowing a player to gain a penalty by dropping his stick is a farce to me.  I also don't like the hooking calls where the player being hooked closes his arm on the stick and pins it to him.  If anything, I'd like that to be 2 for hooking, 2 for holding and send both to the box.

Overall, I think the game could be improved with more off-ice punishment.  I LOVED back before the lockout when they would announce fines for players that dived.  Then that went away.  I think it should come back.  Dives can be hard to catch in the moment, but are easier via review.  Announce fines for dives.  After 2 or 3 dives, a player gets suspended.  Subsequent dives have longer suspensions.  Maybe suspend a coach when his team reaches a certain seasonal dive threshold.  Embarrass the players, and make them hurt their teams by missing games, and diving will become much less a part of the game.

It's the playoffs... if you're not hurt, you're not trying!

"I had a rough night, and I hate the f***in' eagles, man."

GET OUTTA MY CAB!

The Sabres are going back to the original jersey full time next year (supposedly), and making the slug the 3rd jersey.  Hooray, it's probably the best jersey in the NHL!


This is what I think the Hurricane's jersey really should be...

The NHL needs to adopt the IIHF rules.  Any hit to the head is a penalty.