Leaderboard

He just has no luck. He was playing so well tonight (as usual). Get well SOON Patty.

Nah, it ended last Monday when the Penguins won the Cup.

Whether anyone wants to acknoledge it or not, Ericsson has looked pretty damn solid. And he's getting his shot off quicker, and jumping up in the play with confidence. If not for good goaltending E would have a couple 3 goals already this season.

Patty's a tough guy. He'll be good. Nice win.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've noticed that since Crosby's return, the stores are more crowded and it gets dark earlier. On the flip side, people seem to be adding lights to their homes that are quite festive. Oh, the power of Sidney.

The "C" isn't just about the being the best player on the team, it's also about the most capable to lead and unfortunately for Pasha, the language barrier HAS to factor in there as well for communicating with refs, press events, team meetings, etc... when the unthinkable happens, the new captain will STILL be Z and if it's not, there's a better chance it would be Kronwall than Dats...

Hopefully he's okay.

I'm sure he'll be checked out and hopefully nothing to worry about. It looked like he passed out there for a few seconds but he was definitely alert but shaken up when he was trying to get on that stretcher. Get well quickly Patty!

I feel sick. Patty. :(

Patty Eaves should play every game!

a 14 page thread mostly about how Crosby gets too much attention.

Good thing he's a defenseman. Seriously, if that's your knock against Ericsson, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to ***** about. I mean, he may not be Kyle Quincey, but he's not as bad as you make him out to be. Who has ever argued that? He's got a good first pass, but he's not an offensive defenseman.

I thought the season was over in October?

He switched to #8 when Hatcher joined the club. He switched back after the lockout, as Hatcher was gone by then.

A goal to end the 2nd would be great.

Valtteri Filppula is... ..MAN ON FIRE. f***, he's good this year.

Flip! on the side note: those were some really cute boobies celebrating Flips goal

I swear, sarcasm is lost on so many people these days.

Hopefully our soft euros come to play today and don't get physically manhandled tonight. They are so soft and euro that I could see us winning again but hopefully they don't play too euro and get dominated because of how soft they are.

Wings 4 Preds 1. Pav, Mule x 2, Kronner.

I wouldn't mind if Pavel was given the captaincy. He seems to be bringing it every game, which is the mark of a captain and leader. I haven't seen that from Zetterberg this season. Too many off games. The fact that he speaks better English than Pavel is not as important as his play every night.

http://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/sids-return-draws-disappointing-numbers-on-versus/ The backlash is palpable but the league just doesn't learn. Promoting a player is one thing; that's good. But what they're doing with this guy is cartoonish. They don't get it, and I suspect they never will.

For those of you offering up Hudler instead of Cleary, here's an interesting fact: Alexander Semin is 27, and a UFA this offseason. Jiri Hudler is 27, and a UFA this offseason. Dan Cleary is 32 (turns 33 in three weeks) signed through next season at an inexpensive price given his performance over the past few years. Jakub Kindl is 24, signed for one more year, then becomes an RFA. Jeff Schultz is 26, signed for three more years, and then becomes a UFA. I like Dan Cleary. I think he's a good player and the kind of guy you want to have around. That said, he's getting old and he's very injury prone. Semin is an interesting case. I don't think a deal gets done unless a) he's willing to extend with the trading team or b) he's given up on the cheap. But in either of those scenarios, Washington is dealing out a soon-to-be UFA forward and expects some value back. Hudler himself is a soon-to-be UFA forward, so that doesn't really offer very much unless he somehow clicks with Ovechkin and starts scoring crazy amounts. So you can rule Hudler out of the deal. On defense, it's interesting. Jeff Schultz is a solid defenseman and would be a great addition. I don't want to part with Kindl, and I'm sure Holland doesn't either. Ericsson offers many of the same things Kindl does, plus more experience and notably, playoff experience on a Cup finalist. So swapping Ericsson, who is 27, for Kindl shouldn't be an issue. Ericsson is signed for three years so that's not a concern to Washington. Ultimately, if you don't want to see Cleary in this scenario, you have to put Franzen or Filppula. Dats and Z would bring back Semin on their own, and nobody else but Franzen and Filppula have the trade value and contract situation Washington would be looking for. Filppula is easily the most valuable of the three, and Cleary the most expendable. But Franzen is the best trade piece (if necessary) as he's inconsistent, injury prone, and getting moreso on both fronts every day. Cleary is injury prone, but he's been a pretty consistent guy the past few years. So let's make it Cleary/Ericsson/1st for Semin/Schultz. The Wings losing a first that could be used to nab a Parise or Suter might hurt, but the potential outcome of having Semin with Dats or Z is very nice. And finally; the pick would have to be adjusted based on when during the season the trade is happening. If Cleary isn't going to waive his NTC, then it's a deadline deal and the pick shouldn't be necessary to grab Semin from Washington if they're still shopping him. A Cleary/Ericsson/1st package should be enough to bring back Parise or Suter (or Weber?) at the deadline, and Semin falls a bit short of that level. maybe a 3rd or lower, or maybe even no pick. Semin/Datsyuk/Filppula Franzen/Zetterberg/Hudler Mursak/Helm/Eaves Holmstrom/Abs/Bertuzzi Emmerton/Miller Lidstrom/White Kronwall/Schultz Smith(Kindl)/Stuart Commodore Solves the Brad Stuart "issue" going forward by getting a better replacement for him than Ericsson, while significantly improving top-six scoring. Semin re-signs at a similar value, or Holland deals his rights plus something for a good player (or their rights, such as Parise/Suter/Weber), and it works out. Next year? Assuming Lidstrom doesn't return, it could be this... Semin/Datsyuk/Franzen Parise/Zetterberg/Hudler Mursak/Helm/Filppula Abby/Emmy/Eaves Miller/??? Kronwall/Schultz Smith/Suter Kindl/Stuart ??? With Suter at 6.5, Semin at 7, Parise at 7, Helm at 1.5, Abdelkader at 1, and Hudler at 3, and Joey Mac (or similarly priced backup) as well as two minimum wage additions (retention of Janik and Conner?) this roster works but is at the cap.

Hudler has been pretty solid defensively if you would actually pay attention. He backchecks as hard as anyone, and in the Anaheim game he fought through two players to clear the puck. He's been very good on the PP, keeping the puck in the zone and setting up plays better than just about anyone the Wings have put out there. He had no chance on the Richards goal; look to Kronwall and Cleary for the issues on that play. As for his versatility... Hudler is probably one of a handful (at most) of players on the team capable of player center, both wings, and defense. I would call that versatile.

f*** me