I don't know why everyone assumes Nashville's players are looking to sign elsewhere, they have a really good shot at a cup. They definitely have the scariest D going into the playoffs, if they figure a way to bring in a decent goal scorer, watch out..

I also read a rumor that included Kane for Vokoun + some. I just don't see Chicago pulling the trigger on Kane.


I can't even wait for the playoffs to start, I have a feeling it's going to be another goofy year..

Another thing too is that these Refs are making the craziest fucking calls this year...

I'm sitting here watching the Pit/Phi game and Simmonds just took a goal tending interference penalty...which wasn't even goalie interference. (Orpik crosschecked Hartnell up front, was not called.) This happened to the caps last night in florida, too. Ever since Ryan Miller started his whining.. the calls on this have been off the hook. I hope @ CBA they address this and come to a definitive answer.

I think between that and the shanaban's...these refs are just confused this year. It's been awful.

Yep. horrible. they no longer know what to call.


FWIW, just now during the hawks v jackets game, Derek Dorsett tried to fight John Scott. look for the highlight if you wanna see a guy giving away 9" in height and 80lbs have a go.
John Scott was extremely amused that an "elf" was attacking him.

edit :

here's the video:

Pavel Kubina traded to the flyers.

this ought to be fun next time these teams hook up.
Reaves punches Scott in the back of the head while scott is on the ice.
Fighters generally dislike when someone goes against "the code"
couple of interesting scraps for Scott in the last 2 days.

Good grief, that Dorsett / Scott fight is hilarious. Dorsett tags him right on the button and Scott just smiles like it was a kiss on the cheek.

And then gives the little tyke a beating, although I still feel like he held back out of pity. You gotta be crazy to take that guy on, even if you're close to his size.

Give the little guy some credit. Balls.

Today another Bruins flop. I try to be optimistic, but they aren't giving me a lot of reasons. Although they are still in 2nd place! The East is a dangerous life. I fucking hate the Rangers, and I could do without both Pennsylvania teams. Florida is hard to root against. Good for them. Fuck Toronto. Ottawa I had no idea was even on the board. Nothing really against them, either. Most people in this country don't even know where that city is, let alone that it's the capital. So I really just kind of pity them too. O, Canada.

Red Wings beat the Sharks at home today to make it 23 straight. We were fairly fortunate though, as the Sharks outshot them and outplayed them for significant portions of the game. MacDonald was stellar in net again; my backup goaltending fears have been allayed.

looking forward to tomorrow night.
the hawks-wings matchups so far this year have all been really good games.

GREAT. Both Toews and Datsyuk are out of tonight's game. Toews is day-to-day, and Datsyuk is out for two weeks with a knee injury.

FUCK.

I don't even know if I'm going to get let down in the 2nd round this year, because there might not even be a post season!

right? my two favorite centers to watch, and neither will play.

might end up being a bit chippier game without those two involved.

Downieto the Av's for Quincey...Quincey to detroit for 1st rounder and Sebastien Piche? Stevie Y wheeling and dealing..

Suprised the Av's let go of another D-man. Have to admit, I love Downie..total rink rat. I don't think he's hit his prime worth yet in the scoring department. That dude at times looks like he could put up more than 50 points...along with the 6,000,000 PIMS.

I haven't paid attention to Quincey since the Wings put him on waivers in '08, after he didn't seem to progress like they had hoped.

And he's coming from the Avs? Crutch should LOVE that. From what I've read, it sounds like he's worth the money as a 5th or 6th defenseman. Kindl still coughs up the puck too much.

Fuckin' turncoat. ;)

But seriously, folks.....

I think Quincy has grown. His numbers aren't all that impressive but he wasn't the one I was eyeing to sell off. I was looking at Jones, Winnik, and McClement (!!! for emphasis). I'm not sure what he can offer the Wings outside of youth and energy. Guess they're prepping for the inevitable Lindstrom departure. (Which, black aspirin, I think he's going to make it through next season. At least for your sake considering he gets to do the Winter Classic/HBO 24-7 which some candid interviews with that guy would be worth the price of admission. Not a big incentive for him per se but start a letter writing campaign or something).

I honestly think it's not the best move on the Avs part. Our D is struggling and Erik Johnson can't do it all on his own. But Downie can muck grind and and light it up.

I personally don't think they did it in regard to Lidstrom or Stuart, and their possible departures for next year...I think it was to fill in the 5th or 6th slot, since Kindl is still a bit too shaky to rely on for a long playoff run.

I certainly hope Lidstrom sticks around for another year, because I think the Wings may have a decent shot at getting Suter in the off-season. What a tandem that would be. The day Lidstrom leaves is the day the Wings will likely drop a serious notch, although I said that when the salary cap happened, too.

Still, the dude is arguably the 2nd-best defenseman to ever play, as far as I know. Is that too grand a statement?

I think that is a pretty safe statement. He and borque are the best i was able to see. Coffey not far behind, i suppose.

Actually, I was counting Bobby Orr as #1. But was just checking my hyper-Red Wings bias, haha.

I agree, my comment was about guys I've personally seen play.
Never saw Orr, or Doug Harvey, or scores of other guys pre-1980.

I never watched Orr play either, other than clips I've seen after the fact. I'm sorta taking hockey historians at their word on this one. Bourque was indeed one of the greatest defensemen as far as I'm concerned, and a total class-act.

Solid game.
Both goalies were real good. puts the hawks within a point of nashville, i believe.

The Wings were great in the 1st period...as solid on the puck, against the board and otherwise, as I have seen them in a while...but as the game progressed, the Hawks were the better team. SHIT.

Still, very excited about Howard in net as the playoffs approach. I would still like to see another trade deal made that increases the Wings' chances for a long run.

Wings finally lose one, and so do the Canucks. Keeping us back 2 points. Looking forward to Thursdays game and the chance to snap the Wings home streak.

"Best" is a very misleading term, because there's been lots of great defensemen in this league that have been great at what they do. But even the varying degrees of what the "best" constitutes, i'd disagree with Lidstrom being 2nd best of all time, and here's my thoughts as to why:

Obviously, number one is Orr. But let's consider some things:

Coffey: 1409 games, 396 goals, 1135 assists; 1531 total points. His career total -/+ is +294. Norris trophies: 3. Stanley Cups: 4

Bourque: 1612 games played, 410 goals, 1169 assists; 1579 total points. Career total plus/ minus is 528 (third behind Orr and Robinson). Norris trophies: 5. Stanley Cups: one (a major knock against him; especially considering that he was traded to the Avalanche, basically, to have a shot at the Cup before he retired)

Chelios: 1651 games played, 185 goals scored, 763 assists; 948 points total. Career plus/ minus is +350. Norris trophies: 3. Stanley Cups: 3. Significant note: he had 2891 penalty minutes--much more than double Bourque's PIM, and about 1/3rd higher than Coffey's meaning that his point totals would have inevitably been higher). If you talk of the "best" defenseman, few have been tougher than Chelios, and he'd maintained a respectable amount of offense (not so much later in his career, but earlier in his career, that physical game with the offensive one made him great).

Lidstrom: 1494 games played, 253 goals scored, 855 assists; 1108 total points. Career plus/ minus is 429 (Coffey's best +/- year was +61. Lidstrom's best is +40). Norris trophies: 7 (mind you, this is in the current NHL with Coffey, Bourque, Chelios all either gone or in the waning years of their career). Cups: 4.

Now, Lidstrom is very good, and outside of Pronger--in terms of defensemen that have came into the NHL since the early 90's, i'd rate him as probably the best. But in the history of offensive minded d-guys since Orr, even Denis Potvin is arguably higher than Lidstrom, as you can't touch his accomplishments with the Islanders in the 80's. I mean, that's four cups in a row. Potvin played 1060 games, had 310 goals and 742 assists for 1052 points; also, three Norris trophies. Even Lidstrom was outscored by another defenseman on his own team--Paul Coffey (irony setting in here) in the 1994-1995 season; Coffey more than doubling him up in points. Coffey would have arguably won a Cup with the Wings, as well, had he been with them for longer.

What I like about Lidstrom is that he's always been one of the most balanced defensemen, in terms of playing great defense and being able to put points on the board for offence. And he's quite gentlemanly--taking about an average of a minute in penalties every three games. Then there's other guys like Larry Robinson--very good, offensively, and won 6 Stanley Cups as a player.

Varying stats aside, if the goal is Stanley Cups, then Robinson is the greatest d-man of all time, flat out. That's 6 Cups. And he still holds the all time defenseman record for +/-, and that's a crucial stat of what leads to Cups. +730 (!!!!!). For my money, overall, Coffey is the 2nd best defenseman of all time, because the 4 cups, 3 Norris trophies and his average of well over a point a game, and having won a Cup with 2 different teams (Oilers and Pens...and arguably being a key component in the rising Wings team of the mid 90's) puts him in an esteemed category. One look at his records--many that won't be beat, offensively--both in the playoffs and regular season--are staggering. He's still tied for the league record at 6 assists in one game by a defenseman. Bourque would otherwise be my #2, but the one Cup win bugs me, so he's #4--Robinson gets my #3. Potvin is #5. Lidstrom is #6, and if Chelios didn't have such a steep dropoff in his offensive output in the last few years of his career, he'd otherwise be #6. The rest, after that, is comprised of alot of very good players like MacInnis, Suter, Leetch, et al.

Not like i've analyzed this shit, though. :)

Let's not forget Scott Neidermayer. I'd rank him right along with Lidstrom