haroldsnepsts

Be a bigger Lidstrom?

Sadly that's what it seems like sometimes.  He was drafted last, converted to defense late, and is in second full season in the NHL.  I'd be ecstatic if he developed into a solid middle pairing guy.

See now clean hits get suspensions, what did I tell everyone? They should just ban hitting now rather than making a mockery of hitting

Right.  Because running around braining guys is just good clean hockey.


It's funny how most of these suspendible hits keep happening to guys with a history of dirty play.  Coincidence I guess.


Cracking down on these hits shouldn't take it out of the game.  What it hopefully will do is that players will make sure they can actually contact the body when they throw a check.  When you come flying in on an angle perpendicular to the guy you're trying to hit, there's a really good chance you're going to miss his body and just clip a head. Especially if you throw a shoulder or elbow.  Hitting is playing the body.  Not the head.

Distinct kicking motion, not clear that Hossa ever touched it with his stick, not clear it ever crossed the goal line = Good goal to O'Halloran.

His incompetency shouldn't be surprising, and yet I was.

I doubt he actually bet the guy.  I would guess the guy wrote that on the $5 bill and Turco wrote the his name on it, and then passed it back.  Everything else is probably embellished.  Especially the "wad of fives."  Where exactly does a goalie keep a wad of five dollar bills during a game?

But him taking the bill and crossing out Habs and writing his name is still pretty funny.

Pretty much every fan-base has an athlete that they can do that chant for.  For instance, Detroit had Ndamukong Suuuuuh.  However, I do not participate because I agree that it is ridiculous.

As for the original question, I agree with someone before me in Nash, Weber, and Lundqvist.  That would be killer.

True, but what makes the "Louuuuu" cheer really irritating to me is they do it practically every time he touches the puck.  

Wings fans chant "Ozzy" but it's usually after he's made a series of great saves.  Luongo could make an easy save on a shot that didn't even have enough momentum to cross the goalline and the fans would still shout "Louuuu."

Lidstrom.

20+ minutes a night of elite defensive play. Played in every game this season.  2nd on the team with 61 points.  Ice water running through his veins, off the charts hockey IQ.


Lidstrom's play rarely dazzles because it's not flashy, but he is the foundation of everything good Detroit does.

Keep both hands on your stick Bert.  

His left glove must look brand new.

I disagree. And while I'm happy whenever he has a good game, that seems to be rare.

Nope, not at all. I truly feel like he needs to sit and it isn't  the blinders thing either. He took a few baby steps forward with some of his games of late and then he just gets back to the boneheaded, unnoticeable plays, and if they are noticed it's because it was a dumb turnover or pointless pass. We all know he has an awful lot of talent so it stands out more to us because of that simple fact. He just isn't playing for another contract and if it is I sure hope for 900,000 or below.

Nope not at all what?  He's not at all better than Salei or Kindl?  Then why does Babcock continue to give Ericsson so many more minutes than either one of those guys? Why is it Kindl and Salei fighting for the bottom spot an not E?   Tonight with Kronwall out, he moved Ericsson up to be the #4 d-man instead of Salei, a seasoned veteran who's logged 20+ minutes ATOI in his career.  

Is Babcock an idiot?

Sure, Kindl looks pretty good for 13 minutes in a game.  And Ericsson is going to have some gaffes when he plays 20 minutes.  

At this point guys, I'm not even just stating my opinion that Ericsson is better than these guys (I think he is, but it's not like I'm crazy about his play or think it's by a wide margin).  But Babcock clearly thinks he is.  

If you took Ericsson out of the lineup, Kindl or Salei have to pick up a lot of those minutes.  They're not going to look any better than Ericsson.

Salei made a strong case for sitting out a game tonight, but on the awful penalty he took at the end of the game, it started with a terrible turnover by Kindl, but no one seems to see those.  Like I said earlier, hopefully E and Kindl will improve and the Wings will have two relatively young, big, cheap defenseman on the bottom pairing.

Okay so I watched the replay of Howard's "gave-saving" stop from the cross ice pass to Ward, and just as I stated before, the trajectory of the puck is going wide on the long side.  That's right, Ward's shot is going to miss the net if Howard wasn't there for the puck to hit him.  Ward has the entire short side open and Howard beat if he aimed correctly, but he just one times it to the long side.

As I said before, bad shot, not really a good save.  Props to Howard for the effort, but that's all I can give them for.

*whew* now that I've heard your final opinion of the shot, I can finally move on with my life.

I love ya Mick, but you're high if you think the Preds would be the Wings top choice for first round matchup.

On these boards?

You should see what he gets on fight boards.  He's arguably the most hated player in the league there, and he should be.  Huge spotpicker.

Like I said, he should be a "spotpicker" at least as you and his detractors use the definition.

Him fighting all takers would be stupid and hurt his team.  He doesn't need to be trading punches in meaningless fights against much less talented players.

He's a talented player who fights.  He's not an enforcer.

I guess Shanny was a spotpicker too.

Too me the phrase spotpicker is more about guys like Perry, who will try and fight Datsyuk.

Players said they must stop trying to do each other’s job.

This is the line that worries me.  It's completely accurate.  It just means that guys don't trust one another out there and aren't playing as a cohesive team.  That's a hard switch to flip.

Unfortunately, it was the right call.

as a single, isolated incident, sure it could be called hooking.  Given what had been let go in that game, particularly interfering with Z minutes earlier which was much more egregious, it shouldn't have been called.  There was no consistency in the reffing tonight.

Seriously? First off, the Hawk were without "Wings-Killer" Patrick Sharp, and secondly, what exactly did you see in this game that I didn't that would give you any indication that Detroit could beat Chicago, because I thought they pretty much outplayed Detroit from the first minute to the last. And I won't resort to blaming the refs. A. Bert deserved to be thrown out, and B. that was a penalty on Zetterberg.

Listen, I don't want to sound like I'm putting the Wings down, because they are still an elite team... and my team... but I just think Chicago is better. They're younger, faster, and more creative. They do everything on the powerplay and in the open ice that I am always screaming for the Wings to do. But hey, spin anyway you want. Yes, Datsyuk makes a lot of difference... but really, too much difference, if you ask me. This team shouldn't depend on one player as much as Detroit seems to depend on Datsyuk. And its not like Detroit had nothing to play for. Do you really want to open a series with San Jose in their house after last season? I don't

Seriously?

In addition to missing one of their best players, the Wings have little to play for, whereas the Hawks are fighting for their lives. Yet it still took the Hawks to OT and a PP goal from a weak call made at the end of regulation.  

I don't know what game you were watching, but the Hawks barely won against a team that needs to stay healthy more than they need points.  

And if saying the penalty on Z was legit, then so was the Hawk player interfering with Z minutes earlier (which wasn't called).

Suuuure you're a Wings fan.   Wonder where your IP address is from....

Watching the video it seems he has brittle ankles. Really, he barely moved and it just snapped. Either that or he turned just right to cause it. There is no way that check cause it is what I'm saying.

I think the "Spaghetti Leg" Rafalski thread should have been this one.

Brittle ankles?  Watch his right foot.  Looks like he toe picks and his foot goes perpendicular to his leg and bends backwards.  It's moving in a way ankles aren't supposed to move.

Really sucks for LA.  I was hoping they'd make some progress in the playoffs this year, but now they're going to have more trouble scoring than they already do.