akustyk

Avs fans/team are convinced they are 1 dman away from the playoffs.  Whether that maybe true or not, under those ideas I wouldn't trade a potential generational dman (who already has a relationship with the team).

even if this was true, there is lik 0,01% chance that the star D-men will become the difference maker in his first NHL season. more like: they draft him now, add some decent pick/trade next season and around April 2015 there are signs of good team DNA, provided there's also veteran leadership to show the way.

and it may land them playoffs, sure, but that's by far not meaning they'd be any successful. see: Washington Capitals.

the truth is that Crawford together with Hawks defense are very solid. how much of that can be attributed just to Crawford's talent and how much is him and d-men working good together is difficult to say. but it is this combination the other team has to play against and it is working for the Hawks. period.

there are definitely known cases of goalies who thrived in one particular team but a trade later in their career proved fatal to their reputation, i.e. Giguere + Ducks, Vokoun + Preds, Sanford + Blues, Kiprusoff + Flames... Crawford might just be one of them, but as of now it's moot point to discuss. Wings need to get through him and his defense and make no mistake - this is a capable combination...

tough call. Kings seem to have re-invented their winning DNA from the last year, but Sharks looked very impressive in their series. on paper it look like two very competitive teams and it comes down to matchups I guess..

haven't been a big fan of Ericsson in the past as he was waaay too mistake-prone and at times very Franzen-like in terms of effort. but I gladly admit he's taken the last step forward this season and matured to become a very stable defender. with his big frame and focus he's now a very solid player for the Wings.

I've never been negative about Kindl as he had already had this steady, focused attitude and attention to playing sound defense.

I kinda think it was departure of Nick Lidstrom which made those guys realize they don't have the comfort of being sloppy anymore but need to work twice as hard and think twice as much as they did with #5 before. as a group I think our defense AD 2013 is better than it was AD 2012. perhaps less talented altogether but working really efficient as units. if Smith and DeKeyser round up as nicely as Kindl we're in really good situation.

I feel bad for Habs who built a decent team and really looked like a contender this season.

having said that... watching Therrien whine and blame everyone for his team's lack of effort and free whistles. oh, the memories of 2008

and Paul MacLean is poor gold in the interviews. he owns Therrien out there..