Dee Lux DX7's World of Hockey

Do you really think the hesitation and anxiety over the persistent statements by many that Elias Pettersson cannot be an NHL center, are for fear of him losing a few face-offs? NO! Faceoffs aren't the reason Pettersson won't play center. There is some serious ignorance amongst fans as to what a center actually does, once you enter to the offensive zone your position at forward is more of a fall back then a rule and depends on your offensive strategy....now listen up everyone, you are going to learn why this "center" thing is such a big deal and why you can throw anyone on the wing (Including a defenseman) but only CENTERS play center...and why Peterrsson won't play there in the NHL.  Center is the most important position in hockey...why? Because a center is both forward AND defenseman, the center's job is to cover the slot and behind the net in the D-zone, while the left and right D men cover the obvious remaining territory, one might also say your cente

And so the Summer of Karlsson drags on, Teams vying for the services of mister "Not a dollar more, not a dollar less" would do well to take note of where this aging and injured player seems to be most focused on these days. Because it is not hockey that seems to be his primary concern, nor does he seem to in any way grateful for the good fortune he has found in this life, he seems to think by the addition or subtraction of dollars will his life be made worthwhile......and just a single one plus or minus could tip the scales, he also seems to think that he is the team he plays for and that other players on that team are but accessories to be added or subtracted based on what is best for him. Tampa fans...Dallas...good god VEGAS! You guys went the final in large part because your team allowed no such egos in its locker room. You already screwed up the salary structure of your team by overpaying one of the laziest "clock watchers" in the NHL: Paul "wake me u

Is this 1996? 97?......no? Well, then why am I having to read about a selfish greedy Russian N.H.L hockey player? For those too young to remember, back in the day, if there was a Russian on your team, it felt more like he should be wearing a special jersey that indicated he was trying to help your team win but wasn't actually a member of your team, these were not warm cuddly people...they were talented as hell...but Pavel Bure played FOR the Vancouver Canucks, Sergei Fedorov played FOR the Detroit Red Wing's, Alex Mogilny's wife played FOR Shayne Corson....WHOOPS!...sorry, a slip of the tongue...Almo's wife's tongue slipped ON Corson's...AHH!...Forget it, The point is, Russian players were VERRY GOOD.....and they didn't like you or your stupid city. All that has done a total about-face, today's Russian hockey player, having been borne farther away from the soul-destroying effects of Communism, is a credit to the league and the city they play for.

Toronto fans....you've slit your own throat and don't even know it, Once again your self-destructive DNA, and the Ghost of Harold Ballard have conspired to make certain the Stanley Cup NEVER returns to Toronto....don't agree? I think you will after reading this... Remember my words now... Remember them in years and decades to come, THERE WILL BE NO CUP FOR YOU, don't take my word for it, wait, watch and discover for yourself the horror of your fate. Because the fact is: No team that operates with the inherited culture, karma, Fan attitudes or organizational DNA of the Toronto Maple Leafs will EVER win the Stanley Cup. I know you are blind to this but to the rest of the world its OBVIOUS, You are the engineers of your own destruction.  Case in point, you hire one of the league's legendary GM's in three years he brings you back to relevancy then in a move so prodigiously stupid it boggles the mind, you get rid of him (And insult him with the offer to be a

Sooooo, John Tavares not only led the New York Islanders on a multi-month goose-chase to stroke his own ego, he had the nerve to ASK NOT TO BE TRADED......wow, scumbag.... If Tavares really asked not to be traded, he can say whatever he wants about "his rights" the fact is, it's not about the team, teammates or any of that, its the fans that drove all over the Tri-state era to pay good money so he could make millions to play a game others play for fun. You don't owe the team, but you either choose to regard those fans on the way out or you don't, the sacrifice is minimal, you get to play elsewhere for a few months, you get to go to the playoffs, and you get the fans back with some assets for the future. It's a gesture that says "I appreciate what you've done, I respect and am grateful that you paid to see me play" I would have respected him more if he had just said, " F**K you Islanders fans!" at least then he's being real, bu

So, one of many things we've learned about Jim Benning in his term as GM of the Vancouver Canucks has become all the more evident recently. No, it's not that he has the English language skills of a Thai Hooker, No, it's not that the same Thai Hooker probably could have gotten more for Ryan Kessler, and it is not that, were you to say the term" Thai Hooker" around Benning he would probably say " Is that the new food thing we have at the concession stand this year?.....sounds guuud, can I have some "Thai Hooker" Trev? No, it's that Jim Benning loves freedom, he loves the U.S.A, more specifically, American players. I have zero problems with this, I've lived over half my life in the U.S.A and will tell you straight up that I prefer American's to Canadian's (If Americans have a problem, they'll tell you to your face if a Canadian has a problem with you, it will be years before you realize they've been talking behind your bac

Pittsburg won the cup with a no-name blue line? So then the Leafs can too...right? WRONG, There's is something about the position of "defenseman" in hockey you aren't taking into account, and it' a big reason why the Penguins will once again, soon, hoist the most storied trophy in sports and the Leafs will suffer through another generation of humiliation (Drop the beat and I'll rap it) The thing about Pittsburg that people don't get, is that Crosby and Malkin are absolute traditional COMPLETE centers. A "real" center plays as the third defenseman, covering the slot and behind the net, a lot of the time, your best "Puck moving D" is actually your center, a lot of people don't seem to understand how the center position differs from any other position in hockey. They should watch more Penguins games, they would learn......FAST. Between the two of them Crosby and Malkin DOMINATE both ends of the ice, getting the puck, moving the

People need to know something about Dominic Rousell.... ..He ISN'T a feared tough guy, nobody is afraid to fight him. What they fear is his propensity for dirty and potentially injurious play. Rousell is waaay more of an Alex Burrows type,  sneaky, dirty and has no qualms about hurting you. so if you had visions of Gino Odjick rampaging down the ice, fighting the entire St. Loius Blues team, and WINNING then think again, it ain't happening. When Rousell does his thing OTHER GUYS are going to have to protect players, he's the type that will take a calm game and get people acting crazy, THAT is when people are going to start taking runs at Petterrson and Hughes, THAT is when Horvat will be forced to fight as people take shots at Boesser, and Horvat WILL fight if necessary, it earned him some respect in his rookie year, and if you notice, he isn't someone who gets picked on. Crosby did the same thing coming into the league, he let people know that if appropriate he&

Trevor Linden moved from wing to center for the Vancouver Canucks? It was an excellant move! Why can't Elias Petterrson? Sit back, grab you favorite inhalant, and I'll explain...... HUGE DIFFERENCE between Peterson and Linden (because I get where you're coming from) is this. When covering the slot in the D zone SIZE MATTERS, its the most important place on the ice to cover and being small makes that job more difficult, also the "wear down" factor is huge, centers have a really hard job in the D zone which also includes covering behind the net, it leaves them open to all kinds of punishment. Its the same reason Peterson's SEL team kept him on the wing, even in that league a smaller, non-aggressive player, even one who is 100% committed to doing his job is going to get worn out. There are smaller centers who are aggressive and secretly nasty that have figured out how to do it, Marc Savard comes to mind, other guys in the past just DIDN'T DO IT Remember

St. Louis is F**KING INSANE....wtf!!??? .......OH WAIT! I get it! Their GM is probably close to being fired, that's when these stupid moves tend to happen....Although, if that is the case I don't understand why the President or owner would sign off on it......I just thought it was a given in 2018 that you NEVER GIVE UP YOUR FIRST ROUNDER, Personally, I don't think there are many exceptions to that rule, I don't find that rental deadline players ever really deliver Stanley Cups, and I can't recall a team who were ground down by the playoffs to using their "Depth" acquisitions and managed to go all the way. Y'know, one thing I've come to believe this last couple of years: "Hockey people" really aren't all that smart, the GM's in the NHL are guys from an old boys club who get their jobs due to who they know, I honestly don't think these GM's posses any kind of "special skill" or insight on player personnel and t

Moore cheap shotted our captain Moore knew he had to answer Moore fought worst fighter on our team and KNOWS that doesn't get him off the hook The GOOD fighter on our team comes straight for him, and after a LIFETIME IN HOCKEY...Moore turns away, screwing both himself and the guy coming for him Bertuzzi goes to engage in a fight like both he and Moore have countless times in countless games spanning their entire lives, there is a code of conduct that governs how this is done, it exists to mete out justice but ALSO to make sure that Justice stays within the game, everyone goes home that night to fight another day Moore breaks the code, he turns away, Bertuzzi attacks as anyone especially Moore knew he would, I expect Moore thought he might get Bertuzzi ejected or suspended by turning away, he broke the code he gambled and EVERYONE LOST Bertuzzi breaks his neck, THE LAST THING IN THE WORLD HE WOULD HAVE WANTED Moore's dishonorable actions scar the liv

The Kings have a weird approach to twitter, They had that thing with UFC....I can't remember what the King's said but the UFC comeback was something like:"Our 4th line could take your 4th line" or something, Whoever runs the thing clearly has marching orders to be obnoxious...hey, I get it...We're talking about it aren't we? But in regards to what they just said and people saying it "crosses the line".... ....Ok, we're all hockey fans, but some fands seem to lose touch with reality at some point, Tavares comes off as a decent guy, but taking offense for a multi-millionaire and fearing he may be ********* as he tries to decide who gets to make him a kazillionaire next year is silly, if it hurts he can wipe and lather with some $1000 bills, I'm sure it will ease the pain. Now if it's Islanders fans you are concerned about, don't be *****ing about the KING's twitter.....because.....THEY ARE RIGHT Tavares had no cause to turn this t

This.....Everybody understood, Hall HAD to be gone prior to training camp, you can gush all over his Hart win now, but back then his attitude had been identified as the #1 thing the Oilers needed to move in order to be successful....and though everyone hoped to get more....IT WORKED! Like magic, the cloud lifted from Edmonton and descended on Jersey where people are forgetting he neither played very well or was very well liked his first year... Hall came in with a different attitude this year, one he never would have been forced to adopt had he NOT been traded, and the Oilers failings for last season need to be placed squarely at the feet of ONE MAN Connor McDavid.....EVERYONE gives him a pass when he is the FIRST guy who should have been held accountable, This guy's main concern in the first part of the season was upsetting the team's lines because HE wanted the team's 2nd line center (Who HAD to play there) on HIS wing Huh? He's supposed to be the

Whaa...? Don't tell me Benning has been extended? That's a death sentence. I never planned to move away from following the team, but just find myself with better things to do than watch their games. They aren't exciting, emotional, or ballsy...they aren't sore losers, The Sedins want to keep their parking spots at the country club, the people running this thing think that what we want is "THE PLAYOFFS" and is willing to sign every Vanek and Del Zotto down-and-outer every summer in a misguided attempt to do it. They don't get it, it's not "THE PLAYOFFS" fans want, Hockey is cyclical, one era ends, you go down you come up, a new era with hungry new payers with new personalities come up. THOSE guys take their shot, That whole ride is part of enjoying the story of following an NHL franchise, it's no different than a movie, you need act 1 act 2 and act 3 sometimes (all the time with this team) the story ends up a trage

Recently, I saw a trade rumor involving The Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks, in which Towes was the centerpiece, and Drai was the piece coming back. The report didn't surprise me, but the reaction amongst certain fans did. "NO! They can't give up Towes! He must retire a Hawk. Not with that salary he can't. Chicago would be beyond stupid to pass this up. The truth is, and I can't see why Bowman didn't realize this because everyone else did. Signing Taves and Kane to those deals was stupid, the party was over and everyone needed to make a fresh start, sure they were going to get another couple of years of solid play but things were headed downhill. Now, if you deal Kane to Buffalo and Taves to Winnipeg (If he's willing to go) then those two players might get a fresh start, just like everyone else the players need a goal. And bringing ANOTHER cup to Chicago is a "Been there, done that" proposition for both guys no

In the wake of "breaking news" that perhaps the Boston Bruins could be looking to deal for Vancouver Canuck, Ben Hutton, there has been some debate amongst non-Vancouver fans as to what Ben Hutton could be worth, and would that price be enough to cover breakfast at Tim Horton's? They tell us who have watched him they don't understand how he could be worth more than whatever you might be liable to scape of your shoes after walking the dog. So let's talk "Understanding" shall we? What YOU are failing to understand, that your GM is quite aware of, and will be the mitigating factor in any potential deal (So you might as well get used to it is this: Hutton was up until this year, and up and coming D man. He was considered one of this organization few bright spots. His play developed, it got BETTER, many were excited to see how good it could get... Enter the Vancouver Canucks, They F**k with their own players creating weird self-destructiv

It's getting close Canucks fans... Armageddon is nigh.  It's been an odd several years to be a Canucks fan, watching THE FANS fire Mike Gillis during an infamous late-season chant during a fateful game again whom I can't recall,.  What I do recall is watching the T.V cameras pan up to the G.M's box where Mike Gillis stood looking as haggard and hung over as he ever had before(and that's saying something) seeing the cameras focus and zoom in on his face. If ever I've seen the expression of man about to walk the plank, I saw it on that fateful day. Soon after, rumors of Linden taking over began to swirl. Doing his best to hide out from the media, he was caught and asked point blank, he denied it. And later copped to the lie saying he was put in an impossible situation, I can empathize, and do cut him the slack, but man, what a bad omen to start things off. Next, in whirlwind of activity, Trevor was in as president, soon to be joined by ex-Bruins G.M

NHL prospect development is at an all-time low. Yes, I said it, and I mean it. Never before has the NHL been so youth-obsessed, never before have the expectations of top 10 drafted players been so high, In these days of guys walking straight out of Junior and into the elite ranks of NHL scoring, GM's seem to have forgotten that there is a whole lot of middle ground between a prodigy savior (Connor McDavid) and, (prematurely labeled), BUSTS (Micheal Dal Colle) In the eyes of the fans, and it would seem league proffesionals, you fall into either one of the two categories. Look no further than the A.H.L to observe a curious makeup of minor league journeymen and NHL disappointments, where are the "Developing" picks we hear so much about? NOT in the A.H.L, that's for sure, what is supposed to be a development league is now a place to park emergency call up 4th line "Warm bodies" and a "Naughty room" punishment zone for players who failed in

To all you, the ungrateful misinformed masses, who think they are watching hockey today because the NHL is a natural occurrence like the Sun or Moon. Let's briefly revisit the 2005 lockout, the one that Trevor Linden talked the union into accepting a salary cap and was eventually sued by a group of NHL players for.   Yeah, that lawsuit and what Linden did, is the reason you have an NHL to complain about. LINDEN was the only guy in the union with brains enough to recognize that fans weren't interested in watching hockey broadcasts where the only topic of discussion is how long it would be till their best players went and signed with the Ranger or Red Wings. That was an era where Bobby Holik was getting 9 MILLION A YEAR The NHL was dying and the stupid selfish players couldn't see past their own pocketbooks. Looking back it's insane that we even watched a league where one team could spend twice or three times what another could. It's like