Drew Doughty

i guess. in 06-07, they only won the Central by 3 points over the Preds anyway. they could still catch the Sharks. i don't think it's particularly likely that the Hawks will surpass the Wings, though it's certainly not impossible (6 points up with 3 games at hand is hardly a hill to climb, really). i think everyone thinks the wings are underachieving right now rather than overachieving, though.

that's pretty terrific, although it almost looked like he caught it the first time by accident. still a great goal, though.

yeah that's too close to overturn. if it would've been called a no-goal on the ice, it would've stood as a no-goal. there was a much, much worse call about a week ago in a kings game...i'm still not buying the nhl being biased towards crosby.

i actually meant to post this yesterday, but yeah you can have free reign with insulting crosby on that one. what a dirty move. that doesn't exonerate avery though. ETA: i hate the red wings. i really, really hate the red wings.

that's what happens when the nhl shoots itself in the foot and limits itself to two nights a week on a channel that some nhl arenas don't even receive.

I know exactly why he posted it, but the Pitt situation was a little different. Pitt was running up the score, the Hawks scored on a PP on a trickler. And Kane didn't whine at all. Yes I know he was being sarcastic, but what Pitt did was just embarassing. But to each his own. how was it embarassing? the only reason it's "embarassing" is because you hate the penguins and crosby. literally no other place i go to to talk hockey has thought it was "embarassing" at all. just like no one seriously thinks the blackhawks were running up the score last night.

and is 2 paragraphs and a sentence really an essay? i'd say it's more of a diatribe.

if the kings suck and the blackhawks lost to the kings THEN WHAT DOES THAT MAKE THEM HUH?

Alright I have heard all the "Wahhhhtrick" cries and heard about what a whiner Kane and the Hawks are, but tonight takes the cake. Despite ALREADY having 4 power play goals in 4 tries, the Hawks drew ANOTHER penalty in the 3rd. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!@! I don't care if you send out Craig Adams on the PP it is completely unbelievable that a team could sink so low like the Blackhawks did against the poor Oilers tonight. How about late in the 2nd when Kane, DESPITE ALREADY BEING UP BY A COMFORTABLE MARGIN, recorded a secondary assist?? WHAT A JOKE! Colin Fraser? What a cheeser that guy is. How dare he pick up an assist in the 3rd period of a game on the power play with his fancy passing. I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE AN EMPTY NET CRAIG ADAMS, you are not allowed to score in the 3rd period of a game that is a blowout. James Wisniewski is a PUNK! 3 assists including YET ANOTHER LOW-CLASS BLACKHAWK to pick up a point in the 3rd of this abomination to hockey. At least da Hawks had the decency to allow the poor Oilers a goal in the third, good grief.

until avery was run out of new york for the most part. and he was essentially shipped off of LA twice. the stars are one of the more veteran teams in the NHL, so that argument kinda sucks.

1) dallas doesn't have a top AHL affliate any more. 2) they aren't going to send a disgruntled avery down to the minors to f with their prospects.

Why should Avery be banned forever? He shouldnt have even been suspended. Of course Dallas should have never signed him to that ridiculous contract either. He said that another player was taking his sloppy seconds...This is the most ridiculous suspension ever no, it's really not. as much as initially i thought it was a crappy suspension, for a guy with his history it makes perfect sense. he sought out the media to say stupid garbage and he got in trouble for it. if anyone had a job with access/an obligation to talk to the media, and you sought them out to say that, you'd at the very least be suspended. possibly more. given his history, the suspension ultimately makes sense. I guess you could suspend him, but they are making entirely to big of a deal of it for sure.... not really.

Why should Avery be banned forever? He shouldnt have even been suspended. Of course Dallas should have never signed him to that ridiculous contract either. He said that another player was taking his sloppy seconds...This is the most ridiculous suspension ever no, it's really not. as much as initially i thought it was a crappy suspension, for a guy with his history it makes perfect sense. he sought out the media to say stupid garbage and he got in trouble for it. if anyone had a job with access/an obligation to talk to the media, and you sought them out to say that, you'd at the very least be suspended. possibly more. given his history, the suspension ultimately makes sense.

i understand where you're coming from with these statements, but Detroit is freakishly potent with a pulled goalie. the other night Phoenix outplayed them the entire game, until 1:30 left where Michalek stupidly puts the puck over the boards in the neutral zone and draws a minor. and predictably, Hossa sets up Franzen for the tie and Hank undresses Bryzgalov for the shootout W. not that this anecdote alone means much, but they did essentially the same thing in the Hawks and Kings games, among others i'm forgetting atm. they could be outscoring teams by a wider margin but it really looks like they're coasting right now. i still hate denis gauthier. a lot. not for that specifically, but he makes crappy decisions like that all the time. maybe Murray instructed Gauthier to throw the game like that to show his appreciation to Det for Kyle Quincey seems plausible. btw Quincey is way cool. every time he shoots the puck good things happen. i doubt he would've seen the success he's having with the Kings if he were still with Detroit, but it makes you wonder what they see in guys like Lilja or Lebda or even Stuart over him. Stuart is so inconsistent, i was really surprised that he got a contract from Detroit in the summer with all of the depth they have. i wonder if Lombardi would've claimed Quincey if Johnson didn't get hurt. I understood re-signing Stuart, it was Lilja that I questioned. I have never figured out what anyone sees in Lebda and think he would be better served being converted to a forward. The Wings were forced into trading Quincey because he would have had to clear waivers to go back to Grand Rapids. they didn't trade him, they put him on waivers.

i understand where you're coming from with these statements, but Detroit is freakishly potent with a pulled goalie. the other night Phoenix outplayed them the entire game, until 1:30 left where Michalek stupidly puts the puck over the boards in the neutral zone and draws a minor. and predictably, Hossa sets up Franzen for the tie and Hank undresses Bryzgalov for the shootout W. not that this anecdote alone means much, but they did essentially the same thing in the Hawks and Kings games, among others i'm forgetting atm. they could be outscoring teams by a wider margin but it really looks like they're coasting right now. i still hate denis gauthier. a lot. not for that specifically, but he makes crappy decisions like that all the time. maybe Murray instructed Gauthier to throw the game like that to show his appreciation to Det for Kyle Quincey seems plausible. btw Quincey is way cool. every time he shoots the puck good things happen. i doubt he would've seen the success he's having with the Kings if he were still with Detroit, but it makes you wonder what they see in guys like Lilja or Lebda or even Stuart over him. Stuart is so inconsistent, i was really surprised that he got a contract from Detroit in the summer with all of the depth they have. i wonder if Lombardi would've claimed Quincey if Johnson didn't get hurt.

Detroit is 1st in S/G and 3rd in SA/G (behind San Jose and Los Angeles). Chicago is 10th and 18th.

i understand where you're coming from with these statements, but Detroit is freakishly potent with a pulled goalie. the other night Phoenix outplayed them the entire game, until 1:30 left where Michalek stupidly puts the puck over the boards in the neutral zone and draws a minor. and predictably, Hossa sets up Franzen for the tie and Hank undresses Bryzgalov for the shootout W. not that this anecdote alone means much, but they did essentially the same thing in the Hawks and Kings games, among others i'm forgetting atm. they could be outscoring teams by a wider margin but it really looks like they're coasting right now. i still hate denis gauthier. a lot. not for that specifically, but he makes crappy decisions like that all the time.

3rd place alone if we win this one. Which is technically 4th, no? For seeding sake, I mean. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that we get the fourth seed and then have an epic second-round matchup with Detroit. Doubtful. Doesn't the NHL reseed after each series? yeah. if detroit surpasses san jose and all of the top 4 teams advance (neither of which is particularly likely IMO) then chicago would get detroit.

i've seen at least 20 flyers games against both teams, and it's no contest as to who whines/dives more. trust me, if ovechkin were anywhere close to as big a bitch as crosby i'd call him on it. plus check out , come on that is just embarrassing. i didn't say it was close, i just said that ovechkin does it (a lot, especially compared to others). he's one of my favorite players anyway, because i really don't care if a player whines about getting/not getting calls or dives or whatever. crosby will either realize it gets him nowhere and grow out of it or will never change because it doesn't really matter either way. also lol @ the video. one of the related videos is sean avery's gold medal winning dive against the rags that i highly suggest as well.

crosby doesn't avoid the dirty work though. crosby is much more comparable to forsberg than he is to gretzky.

i knew i had heard that before but was too lazy to find the article.

if he wants to be respected by his peers and by people who know the game well, he should cut it out. it doesn't really affect the game or how good he is, but it does affect how people view him. well clearly he's not about to stop. i'm pretty sure he doesn't care about the respect of others as he skates by them and picks up his 400th point of the season. everyone who "knows the game well" thinks he's a phenomenal player. that's not going to change because he cries to the refs. lots of great players did it a lot (forsberg springs to mind immediately as a diver and a whiner and no one thought less of him). forsberg isn't regarded as an all-time great. crosby should try to carry himself in the way that they did. i'm hoping that as he matures (he's only 21, after all) that he'll quit diving and whining so much. he takes it past the point of gamesmanship. forsberg was regarded as a top 3-5 player in the nhl when he was healthy up until probably the last season before the lockout. the only reason he isn't an all-time great is because of his health. regardless, he was an elite player that whined and dove and no one thought less of him. no one is going to look back in 30 years and say, "man crosby whined what an ass," they're going to say, "man crosby scored like 500 points that year he was really good." and like you say, he's only 21. he still has maturing and improving to do anyway, just following the natural course of player development. as an aside, ovechkin whines and a dives a lot and no one says anything about him at all.

if he wants to be respected by his peers and by people who know the game well, he should cut it out. it doesn't really affect the game or how good he is, but it does affect how people view him. well clearly he's not about to stop. i'm pretty sure he doesn't care about the respect of others as he skates by them and picks up his 400th point of the season. everyone who "knows the game well" thinks he's a phenomenal player. that's not going to change because he cries to the refs. lots of great players did it a lot (forsberg springs to mind immediately as a diver and a whiner and no one thought less of him).

of course you thought it was classless. you hate crosby. if it was malkin or crosby going for a hat trick, they would've probably backed off. the pens were getting dupuis his first (and probably only) career hat trick. matt cooke and brooks orpik got the assists for christ's sake. you could probably not pick two lesser offensive players on the Pens. and a bunch of fancy passes? are you kidding me? orpik cleared the puck out of his own zone and it turned into a 2-on-1. cooke made a cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1. dupuis made a deke on the goalie so he could get his first career hat trick. no one on the islanders is going to hold that against anyone. yes, crosby whines. i don't think that's a revelation to anyone who has followed the sport since he entered the league. big deal.

crosby had 5:29 of ice-time in the third compared to 7:17 in the 2nd and 8:47 in the 1st. malkin had 6:04 compared to 7:11 and 7:30 in the first two periods. it sounds like therrien was just rolling 4 lines. if he plays his 4th line a lot i'm sure he'd be accused of trying to goon the islanders or some ridiculous thing, i don't think he can win here.