Red Wings

[Sharkbait]

Was a very exciting fast-paced game. Wingd need to shut them down on Saturday.

[Rocky Bleier]

Amazing. The Wings dominate the first 17 minutes of the game, when suddenly Brad Stuart gets a brain fart and turns the puck over. Ozzie lets in a fairly easy goal and it's game on. The Pens played with a lot more confidence and determination after that. Game still could have gone either way though, Homer hits post on open net and Hall gets lucky bounce. Any word on Homer? I'm hoping he didn't get reinjured on that pitchfork (no-call) he took from Gill. Game 4 is obviously huge. It is always the most important game of any series. I'm thinking that the team who scores first wins. Grapes, predictably, gave all the credit to Gary Roberts for being such an inspirational leader.

[froot loops]

Sergei Fedorov would play back on defense for the team even if he didn't like it. That is unselfish. He was always in position defensively, playing good defense is unselfish.

I have to chuckle about his points being a product of the team. perhaps so, but it still means he showed in big games. You don't lead the team in points during the playoffs if you don't show up for a game

He was not Gretzky, he didn't have the talent to be Gretzky. He was one of the main reasons they won 3 cups, all the revisionist history can't make that go away.

[Rocky Bleier]

I do think he could have been better. The year he won the Selke and the Hart showed was he was capable of doing. I read once that Bob Rouse said that Yzerman thought Sergei played for the money. He was very good for the Wings, but I do remember thinking he turned it on when he wanted to.

[froot loops]

Sure he could have been better, so can every player.

But when someone claims he never showed up for the big games, I'm calling shenanigans. Yzerman's value is very valued and his opinion was that Sergei Fedorov carried him in the 2002 playoffs. Surely in the 2002 playoffs there had to be one big game.

As far as playing for the money, every player does. Its easy for Yzerman to say that, he never got the hardball treatment.

Centers who will play back on the blueline for the team in my mind is a sign of unselfishness.

[Rocky Bleier]

Sure he could have been better, so can every player.
As far as playing for the money, every player does. Its easy for Yzerman to say that, he never got the hardball treatment.

I wouldn't say every player. Some players squeeze every bit of ability they have to stay in the league. Fedorov didn't come to play some nights. Yzerman was of the mind, as were many at the time, that Russians plyed for money and not the Cup. The Stanley Cup was not as important to the Eurasians as it was to the North Americans. If Yzerman never got the "hardball treatment" that was probably because he played hurt and sacrificed his body a hell of a lot more than Fedorov. Early on, Sergei was a bit of a baby who needed to be coddled.

[froot loops]

And yet he was an integral of three Stanley Cup runs. Its amazing that the team won any cups with all of those Eurasians who didn't care about the cup.

The guy was never out of position defensively, was always they best defensive player every night. But he didn't show up. Yeah, ok....

[Rocky Bleier]

I didn't say they didn't care. I said it wasn't as important as it was to N. Americans. You're crazy if you think that the Cup doesn't mean more to a Canadian kid. I didn't say he wasn't an integral part of those teams. In fact, I'm the one who posted his playoff numbers. I never said he wasn't good defensively. He was superb defensively. That's how he won the Selke, no? Twist what I'm saying any way you want, but I agree with Malto that Fedorov was an awesome, awesome talent, who could have been one of the all-time great players if it had been more important to him. He clearly had a problem with it being Yzerman's team, and he clearly left for Anaheim for a bigger payday. Which eventually got him a spot in the hockey hotbed of Columbus. His numbers declined considerably after he left, but not because he could no longer play. He played well for the Caps this past year. Whenever I saw him in person, he was easily the most talented player on the ice. He would have been better off staying in Detroit instead of wasting away the last seven years in hockey purgatory.

[froot loops]

Yeah those Red Wing celebrations were all really subdued because of all those Eurasions. I think a bogus argument, the xenophobic Canadian press pushes this myth all the time and people buy it.

[Rocky Bleier]

Yeah those Red Wing celebrations were all really subdued because of all those Eurasions.

Yeah, because that's exactly what I said.

[froot loops]

There isn't much difference in what you said.

It seems to me Eurasian Datsyuk is pretty focused on winning a Cup. For Art Regners book, he wanted to leave the 1st and 2nd career highlight blank for winning the Cup in the future.

[Malto Marko]

Sure he could have been better, so can every player.

But when someone claims he never showed up for the big games, I'm calling shenanigans. Yzerman's value is very valued and his opinion was that Sergei Fedorov carried him in the 2002 playoffs. Surely in the 2002 playoffs there had to be one big game.

As far as playing for the money, every player does. Its easy for Yzerman to say that, he never got the hardball treatment.

Centers who will play back on the blueline for the team in my mind is a sign of unselfishness.

I didn't see anyone claim Sergi never showed up for big games. I believe I am the one that has been hardest on him and my statement was that he did not show up for every game.

......and about your comment on Centers who play the blue line. Fact is, Sergi had no choice in this. Sergi did want to get as many minutes as he could get when he was ready to play. With Bowman at the helm, if Sergi did not play the defensive style he was mandating, his playing time would be reduced. Bowman did reduce Sergis playing time on several occasions to send him the message. The Captain had to explain to a sulking Sergi how he could increase his minutes.

[Rocky Bleier]

There isn't much difference in what you said.

It seems to me Eurasian Datsyuk is pretty focused on winning a Cup. For Art Regners book, he wanted to leave the 1st and 2nd career highlight blank for winning the Cup in the future.

It does seem more important to them than it used to. I know guys like Salming and Fetisov got beat to death, but I don't know if it was the Stanley Cup that motivated them. Originally, however, I passed along what Yzerman (and apparently others) said about Russian players. I said that Sergei's playoff numbers were pretty good, but I also agreed that I didn't think he lived up to his potential. That's all folks....

[gjdodger]

They're all motivated by a lot of things, including money, pride, accomplishment. Oh, and money. Stop living in a romantic fantasy world. Russians want to win a title just as badly as Canadians do.

[froot loops]

I didn't see anyone claim Sergi never showed up for big games. I believe I am the one that has been hardest on him and my statement was that he did not show up for every game.

......and about your comment on Centers who play the blue line. Fact is, Sergi had no choice in this. Sergi did want to get as many minutes as he could get when he was ready to play. With Bowman at the helm, if Sergi did not play the defensive style he was mandating, his playing time would be reduced. Bowman did reduce Sergis playing time on several occasions to send him the message. The Captain had to explain to a sulking Sergi how he could increase his minutes.

1. Segei Fedorov never didn't play defense, he was there before Scotty Bowman, he was their best defensive forward since he defected. He always play good defensively. He didn't do it because Bowman mandated it. People forget that I guess

2. Name one other top center who play defenseman in a pinch like Fedorov did.

3. You said he "There is a difference between pacing yourself and not showing up in games. Yz always showed up to play in big games. Fed showed up when his girlfriend was not in town." Utter rubbish. The same post you claimed he only time he worked was for a 27 million dollar bonus and you couldn't remember if he even played on the 2002 cup winner. That leads me to believe you couldn't have watched those playoffs. Yzerman could barely skate because of his knee so he had to play wing and Fedorov anchored his line. After they won Yzerman said Fed carried him during the cup run. The Captain himself said that. I don't think their was a 27 million dollar bonus. He worked pretty hard and could have won the Conn Smythe instead of Lidstrom, but you couldn't remember if the slacker Played? Thats odd.


Hell I wasn't even a big Fedorov supporter, but this stuff is malarkey. Absolute malarkey. And it gets worse as the years go by, the next thing we'll know he didn't even play on ther Red Wings.