yave1964

Dont know where Nash is headed if anywhere, any team whose best player is a winger is in trouble, you build down the middle for stanley cups. Wings have the best record in the game, winning with Datyuk, Z, Helm down the middle. Our wingers are lead by Franzen but other than that are very average (I admit I hope for an upgrade at the deadline). I see teams lead by Ovie or Iginlia ir Nash or Kovie and know that they arent going anywhere more often than that. Look at the best teams, center, a top stud defensemen and an above average goalie wins cups. Look at all the most recent cup winners and how they were built.... Chicago was kind of an exception with Toews leading the way, they still had Hossa, Kane sharp and big buff as well as Versteeg on wing and very ordinary goaltending but they were the exception.

Rinaldo targeted the head, that is the difference. Honestly I felt Kronwall left his feet against Brierre but didnt target the head, but was kind of surprised to see not even a fine for that hit.

I posted elsewhere that Kronwall is the best clean hitter in hockey, when you are carrying the puck with him and Stuart on the ice keep your head up or you are gonna be drilled. Good clean viscous hockey, well within Shannys new rules. Rinaldo is a good, 1 goal- 150 penalty minutes this year, last year at adirondack he had three goals and 330 PIMs. Yeah, I know fun energy guy but this is a team that is terrible at killing penalties and he is wasting a roster spot for a real nhler. He pinballs around until he hits something and then gets mad when he gets a penalty. A bad team trying to enthuse up the fans can afford someone like him but a team hoping to contend for the cup needs to do better.

Well if you are serious I am sure I have 20-30 Frolov cards, you are welcome to them, let me know.

21!!! Wish I was a t a casino right now, I know what I would be playing. Great team defense, up 2-0 going into the third I thought the Wings laid back a bit more than I would have liked, the Stars carried the play but with team defense they only allowed Dallas one two shots in the first twelve minutes before we started pushing back. Wow I hope we can convince Stuart to stay....

Rinaldo is not a hockey player. Last year at Adirondack he had 3 goals and 331 penalty minutes. The year before in the OHL he had ten goals and 255 penalty minutes. This year his first in the nhl 1 goal and 156 penalty minutes with a team that is struggling to kill penalties. He is small, bounces around like a pin ball and provides energy but I think at best he could be Sean Avery but I doubt he will have half of the career Avery had. Let me address the Kronwall hit, it was clean, he is the best open ice hitter in all of hockey. You come along the boards with your head down and the puck your gonna get nailed by Kronwall or Stuart. I love those type of players, that is why I always grudgingly admired Pronger, he KILLED the wings, but he plays the game hard and viscious and in the grey area of the rules but wow I would have loved to have seen him in a Wings uniform all these years. That is what the Flyers are missing this year and I actually root for the Flyers in the East and hope they can find the right defenseman at the deadline. Problem is other than guys like Tyutin and Lydman I dont know who is gonna be out there.

Schenn and Simmonds for Richards. Bet the Kings would love to take that one back. As a wings fan watching the game the other night I really felt Schenn was the best forward on the ice the other night. Rinaldo deserved his suspension. Two fines last week then this chump hit on Eriksson. He is the worst kind of goon in the game today and wont be around long because he doesnt look like he can play. Losing Pronger killed your team. Timmonen called out the guys the other day but the front office needs called out for not making a move to improve the defense.I am not a fan of Bryz or Bob but if you guys dont add someone nasty in front of them you will be a first round out. I keep hearing Schenn for JVR and think that is wishful thinking by insane leaf fans but there has to be a defenseman or two out there who can be had without giving up a top young player like him.....

I see the Wild as sellers. As a Wings fan I would love to see a Harding swap, he killed us this year and with Hacket coming along he has value. Kindl or a draft pick, possibly a young forward like Andersson would be a nice move for both.

Flyers played a good game, but are undisciplined and have not made a move to replace Pronger. His 28-30 minutes a nite would fix most of your goalie problems....Bob looked confused several times tonight. Datsyuk was huge as usual, Kronwall is the most underrated player in hockey, 2nd in the nhl in defensemen goals and the best open ice hitter in the game. Schenn was amazing tonight, he had his first goal in the outdoor game he is up to eight now. Richards for Schenn and Simmonds. Wonder if the Kings would like to take that one back? Joey Mac gave up three goals, at least one was his fault, but the Wings team defense was on display tonight and their big three Z, Pavel and the Mule all scored.Great win!!

I have a collection going back to the late sixties of over 60,000 cards. I have many organized by organization, also by stanley cup winners, And defunct franchises. I have every card printed for every Seal, Rockie, Scout and Baron. Also an extensive WHA set. Then there is my summit series of every player who was involved. The miracle on ice players. I scrap book articles and cards in sleeves on subjects, and am running out of ideas but it keeps me off the street and is a hell of a fun hobby.

Backstrom is out for the Caps, Ovie is down, Vocoun is inconsistant, the Panthers are positioned to make the playoffs for the first time in forever. It would be good for hockey if Florida made the playoffs, hope they add a piece or two and get over the top!!

I was confused by the Hawks offseason, I didnt understand the need for that much grit with that little actual skill added. Brunette is a third line winger on a good team at this point. Carcillo is a joke. Emery had a good run with the Ducks last year and you needed a backup, so not a bad signing at the time. Montador made sense as a 4-5 defenseman, okay signing. Mayers takes the same dumb penalties and is out of position as often as when he was a rookie. O'donnell is a fourty year old statue. I am a Wings fan, NONE of these signings scared me, made me think that Chicago closed the gap at all. Montador is the best of them for goodness sake. Bowman did a terrible job. The team that won the cup in 2010 was Tallons championship. Bowman has done a terrible job and the team will continue to slip back as long as he is in charge.

I lived in Coopersville for four years in the late eighties, very pretty area. I like the playoff format they were talking about until the players association shot it down. 4 divisions of 7 or 8 teams, top four make the playoffs and must play out of the division to move on, 1-4 2-3 winners play each other, then winner of that moves on to play another division champion with high points having home ice. Very fair and balanced unlike some news networks.

Chance Howard will be back by Sunday, great for the boys to be back home, we still have 16 of our final 26 at home, the worst of the schedule is over and the number one seed is gonna be a dogfight, but its in the cards......Wish the Blues would lose a game or two though, they have three at hand and we have a five point lead, good to see the Blackhawks falling back, I thought adding toughness and not skill was a bad mistake by them this summer. The Preds are right there too. What a fun division, easily the best in hockey. I guess now we have a bit of a goalie controversy, Howard is due back, do you send Joey Mac out or release Conklin? Personally I wanted Macdonald as the backup this summer, Conklin was putrid with the Blues last season. I say keep Joey up here, he has earned it and bid a fond adieu to Ty.

Todd, The Wild were not expected to contend this year and I am afraid that a hot start set up unrealistic expectations. Overvaluing Seteguchi, thin on true skill players where a few injuries (which everyone goes through) cripples the offense and a young uninspiring defense in front of solid and underrated goaltending tell the tale. I think they got the right coach, it was a bold move but the right one, I doubt they will make the playoffs, too many teams with more talent ahead of them. They need a couple of true top six forwards and two top four defensemen. I am not a Heatley fan but getting him for the disinterested ghost of Marty Havlat was a good deal, trading Burns for setaguchi was not. There just isnt enough skill for this well coached team to compete throughout a season.

As a neutral oberserver (I am a Wings fan) I did not see the logic in all the money spent on Bryz. He has looked very average at best in the playoffs the last two years against Detroit, and he is being payed as an elite goalie but I didnt see him as a top ten. Thought the money saved by trading Richards and Carter would have been better spent shoring up the defense and giving Bob and Boucher a better quality of defense in front of them. Pronger going out didnt help, he has slowed down some but is still one hell of a warrior, I have loved hating him with the Blues and ducks but always admired his game. Timmonen is having a solid year, Carle and Coburn are going to have nice careers, but this defense without Pronger is your biggest problem. Zidlicky is available, so is Kubina, I know they arent sexy pickups like Suter and Weber but they are realisticly available and I think a couple of top four defensemen will fix a lot of the goalie problems.

The Kings still have a chance at the division title, but they will need help. The offense has been offensive, I think Quick is one of the top ten players in the game, but he needs and deserves help. Brown, Penner, Doughty, Richards are all down this year, and at least three of the four need to get it together. A trade for a top six power forward with grit and heart would help a lot as well.Depth forwards for the third and fourth line who can occasionally put the puck in the net would help as well. Too many guys like Richardson,Fraser, Clifford, Moreau and Lewis who are just taking up a roster spot and contribute nothing. Pilons like greene, Scuderi and mitchell, every team has one or so, these guys have way too many. I believe a hot goalie can win any series and feel Quick is as good as anyone in the game, I also feel the sharks are very vulnerable this year and are not as deep as in years past, and a home ice advantage would be huge. Ruutu, Roy, Vanek, at least one of these type of players along with Kubina or another puck moving defensemen would likely do the trick. I picked the Kings for the cup finals, but have watched as they really havent done anything to improve and fix problems as they occured, Its not too late but they better get with it.

I thought Joey Mac did an admirable job filling in last year, with the improved defense this season he would be adequate. I would rather get a top six forward and a depth defenseman.

Ruutu is odviously a goner, rumours swirling about almost everyone on the team, should the Canes stay the course, a lot of good young prospects, can they get to the next level by adding a piece or two and letting the kids develop or is it time to blow up the roster? My personal feeling is they arent that far away, good kids, young leaders, Ward, Staal, Skinner. A pretty boring below average bunch of defensemen, but the kids, Faulk, Mcbain, and Murphy offer hope for the future. The problem with guys like Ruutu,Jokinen and Spacek is they arent anyones first choice, and Rutherford may be overvaluing these guys.

The other night when Homer was out the speed on the fourth line with Mursak, Abdelkader and Emmerton was amazing, The kids really clicked. Youth must be served, it looks like Homer is staring down the end. He just doesnt have enough skill any more to play a significant role and while he has been a favorite of mine for a long time because of his unique abilities it is time to reevaluate at the end of the season.

Wellman is a c plus b minus prospect, Christianson is a NHLer right now, forced out by Hagelin. Good trade for both teams.

Thanks for putting the video on, that helps explain it. Basicly, tie game, couple of seconds in regulation, the Kings buzzing the net. three seconds to go, the clock 'froze' for roughly 1.4 seconds, the Kings goal was scored with 0.2 seconds to go in the game. Not saying who would have gotten the extra point in O.T. and really dont know what the league can do at this late a date but its proof that sometimes cheaters do win.

Hard to say a team sitting 11 points out of 29th place got screwed, but the Kings scorekeeper really cheated the Jackets out of a point. For a team so bad they have been in their share of the spotlight this year, the bad signing of the Wiz, the bad trade for the untradeable Jeff Carter, does Nash want out, getting the all star game, firing the coach, now this. Campbell really needs to figure something out about this but doubt he will cause what can he do? The Kings are fighting for anywhere from the division title to the seventh, eigth spot. One point could be huge at the end of the year. They had no guarantee of winning in overtime,What if the extra point wins them the division? Or keeps the Wild, or flames out of the playoffs? I seriously feel Campbell should punish them by removing a point but doubt he will.

It will be alright, just a week or two.... Conklin will win a game or two in spite of himself and Joey Mac may get a start on the up coming home stand and will be fine. I dont want to sound like the Kevin Bacon character in Animal house yelling "all is well!!" but it is. Howard is playing at an elite level to be sure, but I would rather lose him now than later. The Wings are a bit banged up. Holmstrom is slowed a bit right now (though to be fair, how can anyone tell?) Cleary needs the cyst removed when we get back home and will miss a week or so after the surgery but would rather have the injuries now than in March or April. Gives us a chance to showcase Mursak and posssibly Nyquist as tradebait for a big boy or two at the deadline. Go Wings tonite against the Oilers!!

I still think the Wings will add a top six forward, a Morrow for Kindl/Mursak, a Ruutu for a top pick, Andersson type of deal. I would love to see Ryan Malone but from what I have read he only will accept a deal to the Pens..... I dont know which defensemen could be had, and what it would do to the teams chemistry, whoever it would be would be a third pairing d-man, to team up with Ericksson. The guy I would love to see added is Mark Streit, if we lose Stuart and Lidstrom next year, Streit and Brendan Smith would alow the wings to not miss a beat. So to me, Ruutu and Streit would be the perfect additions and make us the hands down favorite for the cup.