Hey Under didnt BIG BERT!!! Get a...HAAAAA-TRICK!!!!!! Sorry couldn't resit....to dam temptimg...hope we meet the Wings in the Playoffs


cya

Yeah big bert got 3 lucky shots off

I only saw the 3rd period. Thankfully

Lucky OH NO, not lucky, Big Berts on his game again.....look out!!!!

I watched the Cpas for the first time the other night and Overchkin is amazing

Better skills than Crosby and he is a house...(Crosby) is great, but this dude is going to be amazing

I think if Lundqvist got to play the whole year he would win the Calder Trophy.

Coming in super late into this thread. I'm a huge hockey fan, spent the better part of my youth and adult life playing. I'm in the DC area so I've seen Ovechkin play alot this season and he is amazing. Not that Crosby isn't good, but Ovechkin can do it all. He lays body checks on people twice his size, takes the puck, moves through players, and scores. Seeing his speed through the neutral zone is unbelievable. There are alot of other great rooks out there as well... Prucha is coming along very nicely for NYR and that kid Svatos from the Avs. I'm really surprised to see Mogilny go on waivers last week and not be reassigned to NJ's affiliate. Crazy shit... I wish the Caps would pick him up and make a Zubrus, Mogilny, and Ovechkin line.

yaay another hockey fan!!! Welcome.

I had the priviledge of seeing Ovechkin play the Rangers in person(the game with the 15 round shootout ) and I can safely say he is twice the player Crosby is. Ovechkin made several amazing plays both offensive and defensively that you would only expect a seasoned veteran to make.

Prucha is a solid rookie, but hes got no chance at the Calder with barely any assists, despite the 20 goals. My choice for the Rookie of the Year would be Henrik Lundqvist: 16 W 5L, 2 SO 2.06 GAA .928 Save % is fucking good for a rookie goalie...

The salary cap is screwing with a lot of teams, the Lightning waived their captain Andreychuck lol... and Mogilny isn't very good anymore.

I still think Mogilny could offer something to the Caps. They are in the cellar and I don't think they're leaving this season.

BTW, did anyone see Messier's jersey retired last night? Very cool and emotional. Gotta think he's one of the greatest captains of all time, if not the best. He had it all. Most guys are pretty quiet if they're good players or they aren't great players but have the drive to motivate players. Messier had both attributes. I'm just thinking it's gotta wear off well on people like Naslund... they were in Vancouver together right? Naslund had the opportunity to play under Mario, Jagr, and other greats.... it's gotta help him as a captain.

I'm a long time Yzerman fan... I think he's a good captain, but mostly by what he does on the ice. He'll do whatever it takes to win.

Yzerman>Messier

Messier:

694 goals (7th all time) 1,193 (2nd all time) assists 1,887 points ( 2nd all time)

SIX STANLEY CUPS

Yzerman:

683 goals 1,050 assists 1,733 points

Fails at life.



Close, but consider Messier is an infinitely better Captain and has far superior leadership capabilities, it's safe to say:

Messier > Yzerman

This could be an endless debate. I think Messier has been on teams his whole life filled with all-star talent. He started with the Oilers with Gretzy, Kurri, Lowe, Coffey, Fuhr... too many more to even name. Went to the Rangers which boasted great talent and a goalie (Richter) who could still probably stand on his head for another season or two.

Yzerman was another story. Drafted a few years later than Messier, went to the league's worst team. Named Captain right away and slowly worked hard and harder to create a winning team. Ofcourse they drafted and traded well, but he did whatever it took and never complained. Not that Messier didn't do the same, just saying they are both great players and captains under different circumstances.

This also leads into the other great debate.... Gretzky or Lemuiex. Everyone or atleast most I know think Gretzky is and was a better player. I think Mario is better but I look at it team wise, teammates, etc. Shit, Mario went through kemo and cancer recovery and came back almost or just as strong. You remove Gretsky's great teammates and he's still good, but as good as Mario. Wayne was just very fortunate, not taking away from his obvious skill, but he was usually surrounded by a great pack of teammates. It's not always about Gs and As either.. Mario will fight, check, play two-way hockey, etc. Again, I'm not taking anything away from Wayne, always though he was one of the greatest players of all-time, just think there's alot more up there that are equal or better. Orr and Lemiuex are huge standouts to me.

Back to Yzerman... have you noticed that pre-Bowman, he and Federov were on mark for 70+ goals a season coming close to Gretzy's record at one point I believe. Bowman comes in and teaches that defense, not mass goals, wins Stanley Cups. Yzerman conforms and pushes Bowman's system and they start winning once they accuire Shanny. So the three players we are referring to in this post all won championships with teams that led into a dynasty, sans the Rangers.. but they were still good till they started trying to buy into the playoffs. Seemed to work for Colorado and Detroit, just not NYR for some reason.

Anyhoo... it's great to be able to chat about hockey here.

How do you figure that? 3 Cups & guaranteed Hall inductee. Sounds like a great career to me. Plus he wasn't really surrounded by exceptional talent, except for the last half of his career.

*edit*
About the Gretzky - Lemieux debate.....Lemieux hands down, never really had the teammates that Gretzky had (yes he did have a few) & missed what 4 seasons total with cancer & other serious injuries? Gretzky never missed any major amount of time.

Lemiuex really would have put a huge dent in the record book if he didn't miss those years, then he might have gotten more recognition.

I kinda agree with ya on that....but I think (along with lot of other ppl) that he would've just plain shattered ALL of Wayne's records

lol... yea that could have happened too.


Hmm 1/14 NYR at DET 2:00P


Should be fun

I'm from Michigan, so of course its Yzerman over Messier!

As for the Wayne/Mario debate, I'm going with Mario on that one. I agree, I think he could have broke Gretzkys records.

As for the Rangers Vs Wings. Should be a good game. If Osgood's in net it should be an easy win for the Rangers.

Yeah, I was excited to see Osgood go back to the Wings but he isn't playing like he used to.... when he was Osgreat.

I'm from Michigan too & was pissed PISSED to see him back here Osgoodblows

go Sabres!

Good game so far. Nylander scores with 14 seconds left.

2-2 going into the third.

Even better Wings up 3-2 ...8 mins left in 3rd

Watched the Caps game last night vs the Ducks. It's so bad to see the Caps sucking as usual but as stated before, Ovechkin is king. 3 goals including the game winner in OT. He is amazing! I can't imagine if he were on a good team, his stats could be better or worse. Only say that because if he were playing on a talent packed team, his playing time would be cut... much like how Datsyuk and Zetterberg have been over the past seasons. They both have great talent, but they are played sparingly till maybe this season.

I agree about Datsyuk & Zetterberg, I think their ice time will definately pick up this year....There's really no other choice but to keep them on the ice. I really hope to see both of them have "career years" Was a good tough game today with NYR

That was a close game. I was thinking for sure the Rangers were gonna tie it up & we were gonna see overtime. I havent checked the schedule, do the Rangers & Wings play each other again or was that it for the season?

that was it for the season

Good, exciting game yesterday... I really wish the Rangers played the Western Conference more often opposed to playing boring teams like the Devils and Flyers.

Detroit is fun to watch and they're damn good.

Every time the Rangers lose a game I just keep reminding myself that this year is supposed to be for rebuilding... what is 1 more year when they haven't made the playoffs for 7?

lol the Rangers re-building after 7 seasons...sounds ALOT like those sorry sonsa bitches...the Detroit Lions....re-building for 50 years...lol

Well, atleast they're not like the Islanders... rebuilding since the 80's dynasty. Geeesh. They've traded away so much talent over the years, I'm surprised Milbury can even show his face in NY.

Sorry bargod even though i live in Abilene.......I still hate the Rangers lol.

wooo baby Oilers are in!!!

Go Oil Go!!!

(thanks Cheech)

I'm sure those Nucks fans out there remember this from last season:

nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey...goodbye!

damn it...I'm all outta beer now

Congrats on the Oilers getting in. They're one of those teams in the playoffs that can knock off anyone.... after saying that, I'm sorry that they won't make it past the first round because with today's standings they'll be losing the first 4 games to the Wings.

Hi Shifty!!

I wanted the Canucks to get in..It's a shame though, well I don't really feel sorry for them because they've been in the playoffs for the past 5 years or so and that just makes me extremely jealous.

Anyone else going to any playoff games? I just drastically overpaid for tickets to Game 1 of the first round at MSG...

Not this year. Maybe next year. I'm a Blue Jackets fan being from Ohio. They are an up and coming team. This has been there most successful year every. Most wins, most points, most goals. They are a good young team. If Nash hadn't missed 1/2 the season, they would have been closer, but anyway that is hockey. I wish all the other teams the best of luck for the cup!



Geallor

That theres a good call Pez. Detroit will be drinking champagne out of Lord Stanley's Cup come June. Edmonton should give up right now, go hit a few balls at the driving range.