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And what would stop Chris Chelios from quickly taping the puck to his stick, and stiff-arming all the opposing players to score multiple goals?

Why did Stuart not clear out the screen there?  He just stood there and watched.

I really don't think this is Babcock's fault.  He can only do so much, and if he pushes too hard he risks losing the team.  It really is up to the players to turn it on, and recognize that they control their own destiny.  

I think that what this team is missing is a gritty veteran (think Drake, Shanny, etc.) that isn't afraid to step up and be a leader when needed.  The HBO 24/7 with the Caps and Pens really spotlighted this for me.  During one of the episodes, the Caps were down 3-0, and they showed the team in the room between periods.  Everyone was just kind of looking down, and not really talking.  Then Mike Knuble piped up and said the following:

"Today, it's 3-0 and it will not f****** be one of these laughers again. It will not f****** turn intoo a 5-0, 7-0 f****** laugher. Where they're f****** giggling getting out of their f******* mess here. We are f****** down 3-0 and we are going to come back and we're gonna f****** win this thing. We're not f****** going in the tank. That is enough right there. That's f****** more than a year's worth. It's not going to happen again."

Now, I look at our team, and we don't have the equivalent of a Knuble or a Drake anymore.  We don't have anyone really that can provide that kind of kick in the ass when it's needed.  We don't have anyone that will go out there and take the body and try and make things happen.  I mean, you're down 9-3 in the 3rd, and no scraps?  I really think that's the problem with this team.

In that case, I blame Rex Hudler.

Do they want to get rid of hits like this, or not?  If they do, they need to impose harsh penalties.  The second you see a Heatley suspended for 15 games, alot of players will take a look at their games and realize they need to change.

That's the issue currently.  The wheel of justice is so arbitrary, the Down Goes Brown flowchart is pretty much accurate.  It's like parenting.  If you make a threat, and don't follow through, or the punishment changes in severity for the same thing, the kids stop paying attention.

If the Isles hadn't picked Nabby up, the Preds or Hawks would have, just to make sure Detroit didn't get him.  It was a long shot as a best case scenario, but there was really little chance he'd make it.  Holland just rolled the dice, and it came up snakeeyes.

What a crappy call.  I also hate that the Vs announcers are the Caps homers.  

The problem, as I understand it, is you can't just demo the venue since they're still paying for it.  Plus, you'd be killing a lot of businesses out there.  Check out the picture.  Those businesses pretty much rely on traffic for the games to stay alive.

This isn't what's best for Winnipeg or what's best for Canada.  It's what's best for the city of Glenndale, who are already on the hook for the stadium, and don't want to see their investment go up in flames.

Next up, Pittsburgh brings back Straka, to complete their "well, it worked back then, why not now" push.

His daughter will be watching the next couple of family meals from the pressbox after that.

Broons are looking pretty borderline dirty.  Lots of late hits, and hitting guys that are already down.

Nabby at that price is a much better move than either Emery or Smith.  He's a proven goaltender at a bargain price. There's a reason Smith went unclaimed, and anyone claiming Emery would have to put him into the lineup immediately, which is less than ideal with a goalie trying to mount a comeback, let alone someone with the history of Emery.


Their goalies were injured beforehand, which is why they claimed Nabokov.  Dipietro was coming back from injury at the time they grabbed Nabby, but everyone knew it was inevitable he'd get hurt again.

I'm surprised how bent out of shape people are over the Nabokov thing.  Snow claimed him for a lot of the same reasons Holland wanted him.  It was a great deal on a very good goaltender, when the Isles had virtually no healthy goalies.

And if the Islanders had passed, I guess you'd all just be mad at the next team who picked him up, because he still had like 25 more teams to clear.  There was little to no chance Nabokov was ever going to be a Red Wing.

Less ideal than having your goalie of the future get injured, and starting a guy with 0 NHL experience because you have no choice?  I think Emery completely out of shape might have been a better option.

And again, NOONE is upset that Nabby didn't make it to the Wings.  It was almost certain that he'd not make it through waivers.  The problem is that a team with 0 playoff hopes picked up a 35 year old who was looking to help someone for the playoffs, and then sits around going "I don't understand why he doesn't want to play here."

Actually, Nabby not reporting is like getting offered a job with a law firm, accepting the offer, and then being told to report to McDonalds Monday morning to work on the fry station, because that's your new job.

I don't know anyone who would take that deal, yet you're acting like it's illogical for him *not* to show up and work the fry station.

So, we're back to Ozzie is still good then?  Ozzie and Howard were almost identical before they went down.  If Howard is bad because of the D, then so is Ozzie.

If Snow had picked up the phone and called Nabby/Meehan directly, and said "Hey, I am thinking about picking you up. Are you willing to show up?" and been told no, he could have avoided the whole situation.

Nobody wants a player who has 0 desire to play for your team, especially not a goalie.  Snow is in a lose-lose here, and so is Nabby.  He had the right to pick Nabby off the waivers, but Nabby has the right not to show up.  Or, he could show up, and cause problems.  Or play one period, and fake an injury, and be done for the year.  Or never play again.  It's all a big crapshoot.

And for those saying that if Holland did the same thing, we'd all be cheering, I don't think the situations are even remotely similar.  The Islanders have spent the past few years showing the world that they are poorly run, that they have no interest in beoming a place where players want to play.  The Wings, on the other hand, are a well run organization, that show remarkable loyalty to players that sign there.  If the situation was reversed, and the Islanders were the team that Nabby tried to sign with, Holland would have made a quick phone call, discovered the player had no intention of suiting up for the team, and either passed, or picked him up to prevent someone else from getting him.  Noone wins if you try to force an unwilling person to work for you.

Had Snow played it that way (i.e. he doesn't want to play for us, but we're picking this guy up so team X doesn't get him) I think most folks would understand.  But to ****** someone up who was coming back, and wanted a chance to go to the playoffs, and then just act like "who cares what he wants.  he's livestock," is just the wrong way to handle this.