I guess he just isnt that good at shootouts. They shouldnt put him in it if he continues to not score. Sorta like my Leafs and the consistent desire to put Antropov in the top 3 shooters.

Holmstrom of the Wings and Kariya of the Predators dominated on the ice tonight, not just because of their points but because they were making things happen! Kariya in overtime made the play of the game, surging in and making a beaut of the pass to Forsberg, and Forsberg tipped it in in overtime! Forsberg was chosen third star of the game and he's probably glad to get that monkey off his back, his first game with points as a pred and he tips in the game winner in overtime! Now that can be spun to creat a buzz... especially since it suggests there might be chemistry between Kariya and Forsberg after all, despite the lack of it in the past, including when they were Avs. I was very happy to see it tonight, very entertaining. Nashville vs. Detroit... it'd be one heck of a conference final, if neither is upset earlier in the playoffs (as suspected).

Sabres wrote:

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surging in and making a beaut of the pass to Forsberg, and Forsberg tipped it in in overtime!

Wow what did foppa do to you. lol

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Huh? Just watch it yourself.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Recap&gnum=930&seas=20062007&gtype=2

All game long it was kariya this, kariya that, even the announcer was saying he was having one of his best games of the season, scoring the first goal, distracting the goalie on the second goal, scoring the third late to send it into overtime and then - assuming you at least watched the highlights - can see kariya make a beautiful pivot move, surge and backhand pass to Forsberg at the farside of the goalie crease, where a quick tip ended the game.

Clear chemistry by Kariya and Forsberg, ... and Forsber was the game's third star for a reason: it was NOT his show that night except for the capstone effort. He was invisible for much of the second and third periods.

As I mentioned: the buzz is on: about the tandem of kariya and forsberg... together they produced and looked like they're developing some chemistry.

Detroit just showed what Nashville should have done: a conditional deal tied to their injury-prone superstar rental actually performing. Bertuzzi needs to play x number of games for it to be a 1st rounder, or Wings get to Stanley Cup Finals, or Wings get to conference finals with Bertuzzi in the line-up... multiple conditions tied to performance. That's exactly what a team ought to do with an injury-prone short-term rental.

Scottie Upshall scored a nice OT winner for Philly tonight.

He is exactly as I thought he was: a scoring line NHLer with a great future.

Him for a UFA with nagging injuries should have been deal enough.

The Hockey News listed Philly at the top of their list of winners in trade deals, and they indeed did win big time.

It could still be a win-win trade, but it'd take a healthy-enough Forsberg to help the Preds win some playoff rounds.

Question remains: how many rounds would make it having been worth it? one? two? three? cup? I think two rounds. Or one round + major corporate support (which is lacking in Nashville). That's an absolute minimum. I think getting to the conference finals would be worth it, given their situation.

It is true though that Nashville has enough depth to be able to throw away some talent in a risky deal. Took some guts, but with a g.m. and coach with jobs they could lose, they hadda do something, granted.

Can't wait to see the playoffs!

-- Edited by VanIslander at 21:55, 2007-03-01

They probably listed Philly as #1 because they robbed Buffalo of Biron

WildJamie wrote:

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Biron is a UFA this summer.

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Yeah, that was not the major deal Philly did, and The Hockey News mentioned it after discussing how much Philly won in the Forsberg trade.

But other hockey pundits have mentioned one huge advantage of the move: Biron wants to be a starter and Philly is willing to give him the opportunity down the stretch to earn it. In fact, some in Philly management (can't recall if it was the g.m.) was quoted as saying they want to pursue the possibility of signing Biron. He is already getting starts and looked good in the win against Boston. Having him practice with the team and be around the organization is the best possible way of seeing if he's worth a big contract, as many in the hockey world have thought he may be.

Niitymaki is 9-29 with a woeful .894% and 3.38 goals against. His job as starter is in serious jeopardy. The 26 year old may lose it to a 29 year old.

Anyways, The Hockey News is big on Scottie Upshall, as I always have been, since he played for my hometown Kamloops Blazers. So perhaps I'm biased, or just more informed of his ability than many who haven't watched him much. He kicked butt internationally too and was drafted 6th overall in 2002 for a friggin' reason! He IS worth it. He had a minor injury which limited his scoring earlier but is a 100% healthy 23 year old now. The word was he had to be patient until Trotz gave him the opportunity to play on a top line, where he belongs, not third and partial second line duty.

No doubt the trade was huge for Philly. I guess such a lopsided deal could be seen as falling within the margin of acceptability if one thinks (a) Forsberg, even injured and a risk to be in sick bay before the playoffs, has a decent enough chance to help Nashville win some much needed postseason match-ups for the Preds; and (b) Nashville can afford to give up "too much" and lose talent because they have been so successful in player development that the loss won't be felt next season and beyond.... My initial reaction to the trade is that Forsberg has a slim chance of helping them win playoff rounds because whenever I've seen Foppa this season he's beeen playing injured and still is nagged by it, and the playoffs means he's one hit 'n fall away from the end of his season and the beginning of his free agency. And I didn't think that the (b), depth of prospects in the Preds system, was a factor in evaluating a trade's fairness, from a league's standpoint, as it was not a consideration in other FHL leagues I've been in.
  

One thing's for sure: The Philly-Nashville deal set the tone for the other big UFA acquisitions that followed, though St. Louis and especially Edmonton did NOT get an Upshall calibre prospect in the deal! njimo.