fivetenandagame

Reminds me of this. I remember them telling the story of it. I think they said so many bones were busted they cut his face almost off to do the surgery. Like the Nic Cage movie Face Off. I think they peeled his face back and did all the repairs/plates and then put it back. YUCK

Yeah, I have to work on understanding this about some people. Especially on a message board. I guess because I look at it as a waste of time and emotional energy. I guess that's my own egocentricity kicking in. As for not giving it your all in Detroit potentially leading to harsh feelings. No doubt. Just look at Fedorov.

I can understand Wings fans being disappointed that maybe he didn't bring the work ethic we're accustomed to. What I don't get is the bitterness. In truth, I can't say i'm happy for the guy or angry at the guy. I have absolutely no care in the world for him. He's in the East, playing for a team I could care less about and he's not doing anything spectacular. Sure, he's become a pretty solid offensive forward. But that's a very offensive team. He's not going to put those numbers up in Ottawa nor is he the next Stamkos. I might as well be bitter about the career Mike Knuble has had. Slava Kozlov had a nice, productive career after Detroit too. Different circumstances but whatever. A player moves on and that's that. I personally don't give them too much thought. I'm too busy thinking about my own team to care enough to be bitter about former players.

Is everybody this touch all the time around here? Sheesh, people take this way too personally. I love the Wings too. But i'm not affiliated with them. They don't sign my paychecks and nobody in my family is named Illitch so I find it amusing when people seem to react like someone has absolutely wronged them. Leino didn't work here. Dan Cleary didn't work all the places he was it. It happens. We love Cleary because it worked for us. We hate Leino because he's found success and it isn't with us. Don't get all butt hurt over it. Not you personally, just generally speaking here.

Oh snap! haha. Like your style there RusDRW. That's a great reply.

I don't think it matters which term you use, enforcer or cheap shot artist. I just think your rationale is flawed. Only rich teams? How do you even begin to ascertain which teams can or cannot afford to pay fines? Sure, some teams are worth more or carry a heftier payroll. But that doesn't necessarily mean a team with a lower payroll can't afford to pay a fine anymore than they can't afford to pay their light bill. I don't know anything about NHL team finances because i've never seen their books and don't have the first clue. If you know more about it please share it. I also don't think the New York Rangers or Detroit Red Wings are going to employ dirty, cheap shot artists just because they can afford to do it. Maybe I don't understand what point you're trying to make but it almost seems like you're miffed because you think employing a cheap shot artist is good thing and that the rich teams will do it because they can and that's not fair to the "poor teams". If that's what you're getting at that's what I think is flawed. Nobody is going to employ these guys simply b/c they can afford to pay the fines. They'll employ them if those guys fill a need or role for their organization and hopefully, the fine system will encourage those types of players from crossing the line. There are plenty of guys I would consider cheap shot artists that would be able to find work on almost any NHL team no matter how wealthy that team is. The specter of fines isn't going to keep a team from signing: Steve Ott Steve Downie Shawn Avery Scott Hartnell Ben Eager Matt Cooke Daniel Carcillo Max Lapierre Jarko Ruutu etc, etc, etc......... These guys will find work even on teams that aren't the richest in the league. Potential fines aren't going to deter any GM who has the cap space and need to sign a player like this if he thinks it helps his team.

Is this a trick question? The video clearly shows that his right arm is right up under the chin of Letang. I guess I would consider that to be putting your arm up. It wasn't like he hit him with his shoulder. It was a nice forearm shiver. Like I said, I like the hit but understand the call that was made.

I'm perfectly fine with a charge being called there. Nothing more. Is it a "bad" call? In comparison to the bazillion bad calls per game, I think not. Ref has to make a split second call on this one and he does have his arm up. It's not a flying elbow to the jaw, but given the current state of the game, the black eye that is the concussion issue and the fact that Letang is flat footed and Brule absolutely steamrolls him, I am ok with the call. I personally think it's a fantastic hit. But with his right arm up where it is, and the contact catching part of Letang's head, I think a charge is iffy but reasonable. Could they have let it go? Sure. But by calling it I don't see it as a bad call. Just a borderline call.

Well then you're looking to be offended by him. And despite what you posted earlier, you're simply not capable of distinguishing between his in game or post game stuff (of which he can be very douchey) and his off the ice stuff where he is very well spoken, humble and gracious. Not that we need to go scouring the internet for more Crosby but the videos are out there. Away from the ice he seems like just another young, talented, aw shucks kind of hockey kid. Hockey is known for this. This isn't the NBA. In game, that's one thing. No debating that. Away from the game, I have nothing bad to say about the kid. Handles himself exceptionally well in interviews and has done so since he was 18. That's my opinion anyway.

As a fight fan its always nice to think about a young guy who can handle himself maybe joining the big club one day. Be nice if he wasn't so small by modern hockey standards. But he can really throw 'em and at this point beggars can't be choosers.

+1 I'd much rather play against the best and hopefully kick their butts than to have guys retire early from injury just because they pose a threat to my team. Much more rewarding to beat the best than to get the easy road. My dream playoffs would have us playing the Ducks, Hawks, Canucks and Penguins with all their players healthy and hoisting the Cup at the end.

LGW, keeping it classy. Sheesh man, it's just hockey.

Sounds like hearsay at this point. Wouldn't doubt it though. Playing sports for a living is one thing. Playing with injuries that threaten your quality of life going forward and the love of family is another entirely. Setting aside his douchebagginess for a second, he's a great talent and has accomplished more in 6 years than most players ever will. Frankly, it'd be sad if he had to retire b/c of injuries. Sad when any player's career is cut short (Cam Neely anyone). If this is true, coupled with the fact that he has or will end up missing nearly 1/2 a season b/c of this, it sounds like his family knows something we don't. Particularly the severity of his symptoms. I think it's probably pretty common for injured athletes to have family allegedly saying these things. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I just hope they are overreacting and that his symptoms aren't that bad. Despite the fact that I'm not a big fan and I hate Pittsburgh with a passion, I'd hate to see his career cut short. Just a supreme talent and it would be a big loss for the NHL and hockey fans in my humble opinion.

Are you insinuating maybe he's faking or something with this statement? I remember lurking around the boards when he got hurt during the WC and people saying all manner of things like he was faking and that he pirouetted to the ice and it was all exaggeration and such. Basically, there were quite a few folks who seemed to dislike him so much that they couldn't fathom that he possibly was really hurt. I thought that was a bit low for Wings fans imo. My first reaction to watching it was damn! Looked to me like he had no idea Steckel was there and for sure he got his bell rung. I actually thought the hit Hedman put on him was nothing and that the Steckel hit really did mess him up. Watching 24/7 they showed him in the locker room after the period and he seemed in obvious difficulty. Not that he was dying or anything but he sure looked like somebody whose eggs were scrambled. I guess looking back now since he hasn't played forever, perhaps people underestimated the severity of the blow. Damned concussions symptoms are unpredictable and scary these days. As for the tweet, I love statistics and have been watching them all year. At one point, like after missing 12 games or something, he was still the leading scorer in the league I think. Just goes to show that as an offensive weapon he was destroying it this year and as a hockey fan, it would've been nice to see if he could've kept the pace. Would've been nice to see somebody maybe crack 130 or maybe even 140 points in this day and age. I think the craziest stat is he had 32 goals in 41 games. That's a 64 goal pace. This is the 2nd year he's missed considerable time. 2 years out of 6. Not a good sign for longevity, especially with the concussion thing now. LaFontaine, Lindros, etc.....these concussions are downright cutting careers short well before their time. Kind of sad as a fan. I hate to see players knocked out of this great game due to injury.

So the writer is basically saying we have a 1 year window before we "might" have to rebuild and you go bonkers. But Babcock says we have a 2 year window and that's all good? I think in the next 2 years we're going to see a massive change in this roster. That's just the nature of the beast in the NHL today, especially so for a team with as many 35+ year olds on it as ours. We're going to be seeing new faces. Whereas I don't think that constitutes rebuilding, I do find it amusing that you take such offense with the writer's opinion that we've got a 1 year window and yet no offense to Babcock's opinion of a 2 year window.