Carman

I'm a huge Hossa fan, I think he's one of if not the best winger in the game considering his two way play. But I understand where the Wings were at that time, I really would have preferred both of them, but there is no way that was possible at the time, and the only way it seems possible now is the sudden Rafalski retirement.

 

Franzen was a home grown guy that just exploded in the playoffs, there is no way in the world a team would let him go.

Zetterberg can't do a damn thing offensively

Nice call.

Kids don't want to learn how to check at that age for the most part(meaning checking properly, they obviously want to hit). Their skillset is undeveloped, and taking checking out of the game until they have a solid grasp and the cognitive ability to understand when, how and why bodychecking is allowed in the NHL I completely agree with Alberta's decision. All it takes is one kid to not know the skill to make an huge negative impact. Even if 95% of the kids could hit properly, there is still going to be situations where checking from behind, elbows etc. get up because the kid doesn't understand the consequences of the play. That's not even mentioning the fact that even legal checks can severely hurt a young player. There is still a lot to teach kids about the game, teach them to be strong on the skates along the boards, teach them how to protect the puck, teach them how to cycle, just because you can't lay someone out doesn't mean you can't teach the player to be strong on the puck during battles and to protect themselves.

 

I understand that some want kids to learn how to protect themselves at a young age, but in my opinion that's like letting a kid drive a car immediately off the lot and just let him learn as they go, putting other people and themselves in danger. There is a reason in society that responsibilities have to earned over time, and I don't see why hockey should be any different. Kids hitting each other put them at more risk, because their mind and body is still developing, and concussions can happen from perfectly legal checks. I don't see why any parent would be against this, but then again I'm just a 23 year old.

The best part was in the post game interview babs said Sammy looked good out there, I listened to the game on 97.1 (the radio announcer is the absolute worst) cause I was at work, but from the replays I saw Sammy didn't look all that great out there

 

Sammy played his perimeter, safe game. He wasn't 'bad', but he's a depth scorer that's it. He's good along the boards, won some battles, didn't turn the puck over too much, skated hard.

 

I'll say this though, Samuelsson looked better than Bobby Ryan last night.

I just don't understand the rationale of fans who think this wasn't a headshot...are they denying that Lydman couldn't get up after the hit?  That's he's missing games and has concussion symptoms now? 

 

 

Concussions can happen without head contact.

I have to be honest, I don't understand the argument here.  Abby's hit was pretty clearly bad, the only argument should be on how many games.  I thought it was worse than the hit on Eller, different result though.  You could argue whether the head was the principle point of contact, but it was blind side and he launched himself way in the air + had head contact.  I didn't see Shanny's video, but pretty clear suspension to me.

 

I'm kinda with you here. I hate that it's a penalty in today's game, but they have been handing out suspensions for these type hits for a while now. It's not like this suspension came out of nowhere, it was a borderline hit at the very least, if you are going to hit a defenseless player you better be 100% sure you hit him clean, if there is any question about charging, jumping, elbowing, head contact etc. you are screwed.

 

Honestly I think these rulings are going to discourage open ice hits, and take personal accountability off puck carriers and make even more vulnerable situations. It's just so difficult to even make body contact on the open ice in the NHL, I can just imagine how hard it is to make sure you never get a piece of the head, eventually it just won't be worth the risk to make that kind of check, and that's disappointing to me.

Howard isn't the issue, but I'll agree he needs to play better. But along with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Kronwall etc. When you get shutout the goalie should be far down on the list of issues.

 

If we had a goalie like Vokuon I'd be all for making a switch, just to try and stir up something for the team. Howard remains our best option.

I love how's it Howard's fault for the team falling apart in front of him. I don't think we touched the puck more than a couple times in like 12 minutes. Howard is a part of the blame, but no one should single him out. It's not like he let in a Carey price type goal tonight.

We have a very promising defensive prospect pool. This Sproul kid is the real deal offensively. I'm really excited about our future.

 

The playoffs decide things like that.

 

Pretty much in every sport.  

 

Still top 10 career SV% in playoffs for active goalies. and 12th in GAA while having "terrible" performances in the playoffs.

Proud of our guys. They gutted out an ugly season and played their best when they needed it most. Great way to end the season, now let's keep this play up into the playoffs!

He's too small to be effective in the tough eastern conference.

Nice job 4th line!

Carman, you know better. Defenseman prime is 26 to 34. Kindl and Quincy sucked up until this year. There is a much steeper learning curve for an NHL d. Give Smith time, and he is going to be great. That Anaheim game where he put Ryan on his ass gave me a lot of hope for #2. He just needs seasoning and good coaching. And we have a good coach.

Quincey had 38 points in his first full season.

 

I'm not giving up on Smith, but it's not like he's shown to be a great defensive guy at any level. He's always been a phyisical/point producer that took a ton of chances. Hopefully he can be Wisniewski-type soon, but right now a Wisniewski-type guy that doesn't produce is a terrible defenseman and that's why he is fighting to have a 6th spot on a bubble playoff team. I'm just not sold that he has the defensive mind to be a reliable #2, and don't want people to be disappointed if he ends up being a good depth man.

There is a pretty good argument that if we spent the money on Wiz we would be worse off. He's been injured a ton since 2010, he's a one dimensional guy that would play a ton of minutes and hurt us defensively. Do we really think that having Wiz here missing 40+ games last season and 1/3 of this one( he's only played more than 70 games once in his career) would really help us that much? Then add to the salary he's making and the constraints of us actually going for a player that would make us better in he future? You pay 5 million + on really good players that can stay healthy, Wisniewski is not this type of player in my opinion. His offensive skill would probably be worth it for some teams, but with his injury history in addition to our defense that really lacks a lock-down defensive guy outside of Ericsson, he would not be the answer.