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And yet pucks still manage to go between his giant legs into his net

On Vs. Brian Jones was saying he thought Savvy should retire. Engblom agreed. And while I know it would be the best for him health-wise, it just KILLS me. Makes me want to castrate Matt Cooke with a pair of rusty nail clippers. Dipped in paint thinner. With flaming match-heads attached.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110124/SPORTS18/110124007/1053/SPORTS/Red-Wings-have-to-toughen-up-soon sure this is one person with his own opinion, but i call derp on this article. first off, i am pro-enforcer and i do get tired of watching the players i love get smacked around. even players who don't normally play with a chip get a lot chippier against the wings (jordan staal, you so tough). kostopoulos should have been pounded into pulp. but that didn't happen and won't - this year, and maybe next, and maybe never. and that's a shame. but to say that these players have no heart is ridiculous. sure, we don't have an extreme example of somebody playing on a knee with no cartilage, needing to use his stick to prop himself up off of the ice. that's symbolic. but i'd say this team has plenty of heart - more than most if not all other teams. brad stuart comes immediately to mind. he takes a slapshot off of the back of his head, misses a few games, comes back, has his jaw broken by a nasty hit (insert enforcer rant here). while walking off of the ice he slams his stick not because of the pain but because he knows he'll be out for a long, long time. these guys want to play and win, and yeah they can be frustrating to watch sometimes when it seems they forget how good they are, but they're hustling their asses off on both ends of the ice. toughness is another thing. i think the idea of what is consider "tough" gets blurry in a game where fighting is allowed and expected. this team throws their weight around plenty, leading games in hits very frequently. after-whistle scrums and stupid roughing penalties are not tough. i grew up watching the wings kick the living crap out of everybody and it was fun to watch! but they sure didn't win much. now, they're perennial contenders and the envy of every team in the league as far as management and work ethic. can we have both?

I do not like the idea of leaving delay of game up to the discretion of the refs. Especially this incompetent batch of NHL refs.

Forsberg has never retired, he wants to play. He goes through alot with surgeries and rehab every year just to be able to play hockey again. What exactly is wrong with? The guy loves to play hockey and believes that he still have what it takes to play in the big league. Why wouldnt he follow his love and passion to make it happen? Who are you to tell him to stop pursuing his dream of playing in the nhl again? It's not his fault that media makes a circus of it.

What upsets me more than anything, is when Janssen hits Kronwall with a cheapshot, or Kostopoupus injuring Stuart, and no one does anything about it. These guys are supposed to be friends and teammates, yet they don't do a good job of standing up for each other in those situations. I know that wouldn't change the outcome of those injuries or games, but it'd be nice to show some ******* backbone in those scenarios and go after the guy who did it. I think that probably upsets guys like Lindsay and Kocur more than anything else.

Sorry if this is a repost, but I have recently started to see this pop up around the web... but I think this is just a kick @$$ photo.. Go Wings! And God Bless America!!!

Phenomenal avatar.

Guys, Lidstrom isn't tough because he almost had one of his balls removed via a stick and missed two games. I mean, really? The Wings need to "get tough"? What the author really means is, "the Wings need to fight more, because I don't understand hockey and I want to see someone get their face caved in". If we had a Dallas Drake-type ready to go, I'd gladly have him playing third and fourth line minutes, but should we go out and go after a guy like that when we have the potential in our system coming up in the next couple years? We're one of the top 5 teams in the league every year. When that stops happening and lacking a fighter is the cause of it, let's go out and get one. Otherwise, I'm completely content with us having more skill top to bottom than any team in the league.

He wasn't chosen for the ASG so he didn't actually break any rules though. But it's just another loophole in NHL policy.

How is Brett Lebda not on this list? If we took Mindfly out and replaced him with Lebda we'd have a hatred power play... Hudler. Crosby. Lemieux Lebda. Williams Snow

He has a concussion for f***'s sake. He has missed a lot of games for the Pens now, probably around 10. I don't think he is required to play in the ASG WITH A FREAKING CONCUSSION. Also, Z was not suspended, it was Dats and Lids. Dats missed 1 period before the ASG, Crosby has missed ~10 games!!!

1. Fighting and winning are not mutually exclusive. 2. Having a fighter(s) does deter some cheap s***, though not all. esteef

The whole "having a fighter/tough guy stops players from taking cheapshots on your team", is just a myth. I'm all for a guy who puts up 20+ points, isn't a defense liability, and fights on occasion. But just cause a player fights, it doesn't mean it should should give that guy an extra million ala Neil. Stuart would still be injured whether this team had Tie Domi or the Stay Puft Man. Stupid players are going to do stupid things regardless of who is on the other team. And yes, players of the opposing teams aren't scared of being hit by any Wings, but they are scared or having the puck picked right of their stick and having that puck go the other way for a goal. Forechecking doesn't have to be be about hitting, all it has to do is force the other team to cause turnovers, and a healthy Wings team does that almost as good as any other team in the league, if not better due solely to Datsyuk with great forecheckers Filppula/Zetterberg/Cleary/Helm etc. This team doesn't need toughness. It may want it, but it doesn't HAVE to have it. They needs guys who want and need to compete night in and night out.

I haven't and if it is the one I think you are talking about, it is a bit overdone but I will still say Milbury's writing with a crayon stories are mind-numbing.

No problem.

Thanks to McGuire, Turco got on camera yesterday.

It's not a double standard in the slightest. A foot injury keeps you confined to crutches or a chair. A hurting back keeps you constraint to a chair and/or pain killers. What are you going to do with a concussion? Tell the guy to put on sun glasses and keep his eyes closed to keep away bright lights? Again, not a double standard. The Crosby hate on this board is at an all time high.

Crosby has a concussion, he is still not practicing and has missed a lot of games. Datsyuk had a charlie horse that caused him to miss 1 period before the ASG. Lidstrom had tendinitis and missed no time. I think Crosby's condition is a little more serious, and it's probably not a good idea to attend an event like this with an injury as serious as his. We all know the Wings, Holland, Datsyuk, and Lidstrom were "embellishing" the injuries to allow them more time to rest. Get over it OP.

Nice post. Agreed with everything said here. Does this guy realize that this is year and last year (i think) are the first couple of seasons in a while where we havent had an enforcer? Weve had may, and downey around the last few years to help keep the cheap shots away. I believe the wings will have some enforcer type players coming up in abby (who also brings skill to the table) and callahan. nothing to worry about here. Im sick of these teams who come in with 4 roster spots of goons and think theyre the s***. ill take the banners over PIM all day long baby.

I just said I would love to have them...nothing else...relax

I'd hate to be Nabby thinking that he's going to Detroit and then get claimed by the Islanders.