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The teams that are at the bottom of the standings.

Threads like this are Gems. It is the reason I come back to LGW and put up with the 48 pages of BS in the 50 page Brunner Contract thread. Thanks a ton.

Regarding the inevitable fighting discussion, I think there's a distinction to be made between preventing all out cheapshots a la Matt Cooke, and being a deterrent to guys running around and agitating all game without having to answer for it. One example that comes to mind is when Bertuzzi fought Shane O'Brien twice in the same game against the Predators a couple seasons ago. They were running the Wings all game. After that, not so much. Having a guy that plays 6 minutes a night to fight isn't as much of a deterrent anymore, but if you have someone playing fairly regularly who's also willing to drop the gloves, I think that absolutely can be a deterrent. Many times I've seen an agitator throttle back a little bit after the prospect of getting punched in the face becomes a real threat. It shows you won't be pushed around, and no one likes getting punched in the face. Some thoughts from Wings players and coach after that Predators game, which I think explains the concept well. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/04/todd_bertuzzis_fights_with_sha.html I think staged fights are mostly garbage. A side spectacle by enforcers who usually don't have much else to offer. But players sticking up for themselves and keeping from getting run, or the "keeping the flies off" as Babcock puts it, yes please. That being said, I don't think Tootoo provides a ton of deterrent. He plays such a limited role on the team, I'm guessing because when he's most effective hitting and agitating is also when he's least effective defensively. And while he's a good fighter given his size, I don't think he puts the fear into many people, other than being afraid he'll suckerpunch you.

Saw this trending on twitter a few days back, and thought it could be fun to try here. It's simple, state an opinion of yours that is likely unpopular. Here's mine. I absolutely love the buttered popcorn flavored jelly beans.

There is a thread for this in the Griffins forum, but since no-one goes there, and no-one has seemingly seen it, I hope the mods allow this thread to remain. The Griffins did an HBO 24/7 style "behind the benches" series of videos for each round of their playoff run, which are frankly amazing. The production values are incredible and they offer a fascinating insight. The links are for the 2 videos from the finals, but all the previous rounds are linked beneath the videos. Several things spring to mind watching them. Blashill is mini-Babcock. Very cool and proffesional. Ferraro has a mouth and an agitating style to match Maltby, and drops the gloves to boot. Tatar is a VERY confident individual, borderline arrogance and I can see why he rubs some Wings fans the wrong way. He's going to really wind the opposition up. The importance of the veterans on that team. Some round here would I think like every player on the Griffins to be under-21, but its clear guys like Hoggan and Grant were hugely important on and off the ice. Best line of the series - Triston Grant on being complimented on his playoff beard "Thanks, I have my mothers genes"

Don't get me wrong, 2009 sucked hard, but I think for older fans 1995 was the greater heartbreak. Decades of watching a mediocre team, only to get thisclose and be decimated.

Wow, you've got issues. You don't remember the 2009 game 7 because THERE WAS NO 2009 GAME 7! The Wings won the Stanley Cup in 6. Lidstrom retired with 5 rings, and all was right with the world. I'm sure many here remember it the same way.

1995 never happened - it's all propaganda! The season was cancelled. Yeah, that's it - cancelled.

Repressed memory. No thanks.

I can absolutely understand people's beef with Cleary. No one's saying he isn't a warrior and he doesn't bring it in the playoffs, it's just, my God, those knees! He falls down every shift. And pace has become an issue. And why, why, why do we - the mighty Red Wings - have a crippled Dan Cleary in their top six?? I love Postseason Cleary. I love that he produced the way he did this past run. I don't think it was "just luck," but I have real doubts about his ability to even finish a season at this point - even with his great peformance fresh in mind. It wouldn't be a wasted roster space, but...I think a guy like Tatar could give us more - especially since what we need more than anything else is goals. A guy like Tatar should be a shot in the arm. The same is true of Tootoo, I feel. He's a spark plug. He can rally the troops, get them up, start a buzz, get the fans going, create something out of nothing. And, yes, he can fight. And, yes, he can hit like a freight train. If we lose him, we have all of no one who can really provide what he provides, and, depending on how things go in the Eastern Conference, that might be a big issue. Overpaid? Yes. But I'd rather have him at a relatively steep price than not have him at all. You want to have your bases covered.

Can't remember if I replied to this or not, and I'm too lazy to check. (Too lazy to check, but I'll potentially re-write an entire response? Totally.) We do still play a puck-possession game, I think. It's just, like you said, we've lost some key pieces in Rafalski, Lidstrom, et al., so it's not nearly as pretty and dominating as it once was. But the goal, I think, remains the same: have the puck as much as possible. Also, about Ottawa... When we had the 'hawks on the ropes, everyone in the hockey world was pooping themselves. But, we choked, and we couldn't buy a goal in Game 7, so we = the Sens? And maybe even worse than the Sens? Wah? Alfredsson said it himself: we play a special game. We're a special team. Not what we once were, no. But we've still got the chops to absolutely waste any team in the league in a best-of-seven series, provided our heads and hearts are in it to win it. The Sens have done nothing - nothing - to make me think they're suddenly a team to be feared, a team that's "really going to surprise everyone." Why, because they have Bobby Ryan? We know all about Bobby Ryan. Clarke MacArthur is an upgrade over Alfredsson? OH NOES! I mean, credit where it's due: they finished in seventh last season without the regular services of, like, all of their key players. But then, we know a thing or two about succeeding despite injuries, don't we? meh. The East.

That's what you get for playing a 2K NHL game.

Seems to be a show your worth type of contract, if he does well Grabos next one is going to better if not, well KHL bound. Obviously I thought Grabo as a former Russian would have been KHL bound good for him to get another shot with a NHL club. The caps once again are a high powered offensive team with questionable defense, they either miss the playoffs or are looking at another first round exit.

Tootoo is definitely not as dirty as he used to be. There was that fight where he decked Dorsett, but he just beat him to the punch. It wasn't a suckerpunch. He does run guys hard, but I don't remember him throwing cheap hits last season.

Your feelings towards tootoo have not changed since he was on nashville example what was bolded. Did he sucker anyone while playing with the wings so far? so you saying tootoo is pretty much worthless I feel you are not giving him a fair shake and really seeing what he brings and how he could help in games like the chicago series where the wings started to get bullied around because no one wanted to stand up. Tootoo played with a ton of heart every shift out there and if you and others didn't see that I'm not sure what else to say. He went non stop every shift hitting everything trying to score..trying to make plays. I compare him to Helm with his heart of the game. Like a lion. Of course he doesn't have helms skill really but I would take 100 players like that over players like miller,eaves or emmerton. There were a ton of times I didn't even know Miller or Emmerton was even on the ice. When Tootoo is out there everyone on the ice and in the stands knows he is there.

Regarding your reference to Kronwall...it is not an enforcers job to fight someone who made a legal open ice hit. The effects of Kane punching Cooke in the face are not quantifiable. You perhaps don't understand the role of an enforcer/agitator... it may include fighting, but doesn't have to. There wasn't a single fight in the Chicago series if I re-call but I think the Chicago players who were gooning it up (Bickell, Shaw(?)) definitely played a part in swinging the momentum that resulted in Detroit losing the series. I would have liked to have had our own guy out there... a Shanahan, McCarty, Downey, Tootoo to to give some back. Fact is, Tootoo is the only guy on our team right now who will do that... the rest of em act like emotionless automatons most of the time. Long story short, I think an agitator who is willing to drop the gloves (Tootoo) is highly beneficial to a team... at the very least it's extremely entertaining to watch.

When they play the Jets When they play the Jets, I hope they will have a West Side Story retro night.

I thought Pavs had it; he's stolen many pucks.

Bahahahaha

This. He wanted to skate with his old pals, he played in Ottawa his whole career it's all he knows. It's not even training camp yet, let him skate around with his buddies, he was a senator for years, I have a shirt I still wear from a job I quit, people blow everything out of proportion sometimes. I guess it's bound to happen in the off season when there's nothing else to do

Simple answer: The Wings. When they engage & play their game, there's no team (East or West) that they can't beat. It's when they get lazy, don't show up on time, etc. that things go wrong. So, the Wings are the team I fear the most.

This whole Big, Bad East thing is incredibly overstated. It's the same stuff people were saying about the Flyers in '97. (Remember how the Legion of Doom was supposed to outright abuse the soft, smallish Wings?) We had to play the 'hawks, what, like, 77 times this past season? And we won how many of those games? No one in the East "scares" me like the 'haws. And, for my money, the Ducks are about as Big, Bad, and Nasty as any team you're gonna see in The New NHL - so, no, Boston doesn't really scare me too much. (Though I'm expecting us to drop quite a few contests against them.) The Caps' PP scares me. I feel like it would eat us alive. Overall, though? I am so incredibly pumped for our first EC tour.

As the Leafs handily proved last season, having goons and racking up the hits doesn't necessarily accomplish anything. And for goodness' sake, enough with the size thing. It has been mentioned repeatedly that Clarkson does not add size, being exactly the NHL average in that category. You seem to have this incorrect image of him as a Milan Lucic clone. Bolland is actually of below average size, so the addition of the two of them has not made the Leafs a bigger team. As for the supposed energy line you've made reference to, it isn't an energy line. The guys you've named as part of it are players who fight and who hit a lot, whose talents pretty much end there, and who, with their lack of defensive acumen, will get shown the proverbial door by any line with a modicum of offensive potency. Just how little Orr and McLaren bring to actual hockey gameplay is reflected in their ice time last season: an average of 6:23 and 5:09 of ice time per game, respectively, good for the bottom two spots on the team in that category. As for the Bruins, the Wings have certainly had no problems with them in the recent past. More, the Bruins have become weaker with the subtractions of Horton and Ference, both of whom played an important role on that team over the past several seasons. As for Chara, good luck making him tired; he's one of the best-conditioned athletes in the NHL. And playing Datsyuk and Zetterberg against him will not exactly be a strategy, given that Julien will be matching him up against them anyway. Whatever the case, he's a very good defenseman but not a game changer. I'm not sure why you would fear Steve MacIntyre. He has played all of 13 games over the past two seasons for the precise reason that he is worthless at the NHL level.

The X-factor is Howard? How many times does Jimmy have to prove that he can hold his own? He may not have the flash that Quick or other goalies have, but that kid is a workhorse. Never takes a night off. When it comes to reliable goaltending he's right up there with King Henrik and other top goalies. Alfredsson is a 1 year complimentary piece. I'm betting he'll work out great as another veteran swede, but if he doesnt, oh well. He'll be retired in a year. Honestly we're lucky to have him as an option for the time being. Weiss is who I'm most excited about. Watched him since he was 16 with the Plymouth Whalers. Since then I've followed him. He's been a top line center for the Panthers for years with almost no other decent players around him and yet he's preformed (aslo their captain). On this team he'll a well above average 2nd line center.... Which will also allow Datsyuk and Zetterberg to play together so they can get all their sexiness on Whether the young guns step up or not doesn't matter. We have many plan B options. If Nyquist, Andersson, or Tatar don't cut it, we always have Bertuzzi and Sammy to step in. The only real weakness I can pick out is at D. But again most of our D is young and due to become ever better this year and throughout the year. CANT WAIT

He's a very promising young player but still needs to work on his puck possession.