Nevermind

What newspaper is this?

I know he's rich, but not many people would still take out a full page ad just to say thanks.  What a classy guy!  

It shows he really cares about the fans.

I remember them fighting for their playoff lives and still losing a game in regulation to us.  Who knew?

Hopefully we can congratulate the NYR soon.  Just because I selfishly don't want Parise to make the Finals with the Devils.  

Parise is 5'11, 195. His game's not unlike Helm's - and he's good for ~30 goals a season and clutch posteason performance.

Semin's lazy, often half-interested (at best), not physical, not good for use on the PP or PK - it's a long list. We want to get less lazy, see less floating, be more engaged and aggressive on the forecheck & backcheck and in the corners and in front of the opposition's net, be more defensively responsible, be more committed to winning.

We don't want Semin.

Agreed 100%

Semin probably actually has more natural offensive talent than Parise.  That doesn't mean s*** though since he's a much, much less effective player because of his lack of grit, work ethic, and defensive awareness.  Conversely, Parise has all of these qualities that Semin's lacking...and he has them in spades.

Parise's forecheck alone would be a huge example for this team.  He scores the dirty goals around the net. Semin's another perimeter player.  We don't want more players like this.  I'd rather have gritty, aggressive, 3rd and 4th liners who are hard on the forecheck and tough to play against.  At least we'd then be a more well-rounded team.

3rd - Bertuzzi-Helm-Cleary
4th - Prust-Gaustad-Eaves/Nyquist

That's where our bottom 6 needs to be. Now, I like Holmer as much as the next guy, but....

Close to what I would want.

I would rather sign Konopka over Gaustad, though.  Konopka's also very good on faceoffs (maybe even a bit better).  And while he's 5 inches shorter, he's still more physical and can keep the flies off better.

Most importantly, Konopka should be much cheaper and cost under $1.5M.  I think Gaustad's been horribly overrated lately and is bound to be overpaid this summer.

Prust-----Konopka-----Eaves

1)  You want Semin on this team?
2)  AND you want to pay him $7 million.



That lineup is even less gritty than this season's. Those 3rd and 4th lines need to be dramatically restructured.  

Keep Cleary.  His health should be much better next season.  And he was one of our better players early on in the series.

Worse of all, you don't want Helm back? Why on earth would you want to let Helm go?

Is it an omen of good things to come that the DJ for the prom being held in the courtyard at my hotel just outaide my window is CRANKING Don't Stop Believing right now?


Let's Go Wings!

I would hope so.  Unfortunately, it's probably more telling of a horribly generic prom though.

Coach Mike Babcock does not subscribe to the theory that his team  isn't getting on the inside, that most of its shots are coming from the  perimeter. "I hear (team broadcaster) Mickey Redmond say, 'They're  keeping them on the outside.' So the good thing about that is that I  watched the game, and watched it on the computer and then 'NHL On the  Fly' played it again,'' Babcock said. "So I watched it three times to  see if that's the truth, to see if we're never getting to the net, we're  never getting on the inside, and all I can do is go off what I see and I  don't think that's the truth.''

Full article


Now, I've only watched the game once, but I'm pretty sure a lot of our shots were indeed from the perimeter.  And as far I'm concerned, we did have an incredibly tough time getting to the middle of the ice.  

Is anyone else puzzled by why Babcock can't see this?  Or isn't willing to admit it? I'm no coach, but getting to the inside would be one of my main areas of concern for Game 5.

The Detroit Red Wings aren't ever going to let Nick walk.  

I really hope Nick comes back and is able to regain his early-season form.  He's earned the right to keep his salary if he wants to play another season.  But, I think he definitely has to understand that a sizeable paycut would really help the team out--and give him the best chance for a Cup.

A lot of teams want Parise and Suter, unfortunately.  

Parise did say his favorite player to watch is Datsyuk, though.  Maybe there's a little hope with him.

Babs line earlier in the year about wanting to be the toughest team, but not being built that way and the way he applauded Bertuzzi for fighting Weber make me believe he'd be a hell of a coach if he had more compete and more physical presence. Babs isn't the problem, but Holland and Nill might be. This off-season will be the biggest since 06-07, Holland delivered that year by getting Rafalski and Drake. Lets see what he does this time around.

I agree.  We need to trim the fat and get some new hungry faces that play with grit.  And can our fourth line actually be an energy line, please?

For reference, my memory of the summer of '07 through '08:

• Lost:  Lang, Calder, Bertuzzi, Schneider, Markov, Williams
• Added:  Rafalski, Drake, McCarty (mid-season), Stuart (deadline)

The difference is, I think our players were younger and hungrier than as well--they hadn't won a Cup, after all.  So it's going to be tough to inject some new blood.

http://veetle.com/in...w#4f88b3a74d152

Thanks a lot!  

When this series is over, i hope Flyers just skip handshaking part and goto their lockerroom.

And of all people, I bet Crosby would complain about it the most.

We all remember the effort he put into making sure he shook Lidstrom's hands 3 years ago.  

If Cleary and Helm were healthy, I actually like the 3rd line.  They were playing great mid-season, along with Miller.

It's the 4th line that's the problem.  That's what has no identity with guys just thrown together.

I was 10 grand off.  Damn.

20 grand off now.  Link

Doesn't this prove Tortorella's point?  I bet there wouldn't be a fine if he said the exact same thing about another team (even though nobody beats Pittsburgh in whining and arrogance level).