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Tonight's Matchup vs. Location Forthcoming On Deck vs. As you can tell, this definitely won't be the new GDT format for the season. As usual, I use a simple/old graphic for the pre-season games. The real ones will make their debut for the regular season's debut against Buffalo. Go Wings!!

just throwing this out there, but Tasdamien Devil...

Seriously. I think they should all skate out there with their jerseys tucked in... then what?

The League will probably come down hard on him. "Setting the tone" with relative nobodies while slapping the wrists of higher profile players, that whole song and dance. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

All of Eaves excellent playing didn't amount to much though, which is typical for a fourth liner. Cleary, regardless of how many times he fell or how slowly he was skating, still managed to put up solid numbers in the playoffs, and as per his entire tenure with Detroit, better numbers than Eaves. Eaves is an effective fourth liner, and I really enjoy having him on the team. That I think everyone can agree on. Cleary has been a less than stellar top-9 player, and I would even agree that he was a poor option for the top-six last year. But we're still comparing a career fourth-liner to someone who has had success regardless of where he's placed in the lineup, and who he's playing against. Even if he's doing his job poorly, Cleary still brings more upside to the team than Eaves, or any 4th liner.

Met a Flyer fan today. Said he was bumbed they didn't land Danny. True story.

Dan Cleary hates your freedom.

Weird seeing Boston on the schedule and even though its only a Pre-Season game this will likely be one of our biggest rivals. Sooo different but such a nice feeling.

Delay of game penalty for evryone... thus delaying the game... oh god it's an infinite loop

1. That's fine. We'll keep the team that signed an over 40 Modano and Alfredsson. You're more than welcome to cheer for someone else. 2. Actually, an idiot would say "And only an idiot would say 'Alfie gives us more leadership'," because Alfie does give us more leadership. He was the captain in Ottawa for like 13 seasons. It is a true statement. Whether the Wings needed more leadership or not, he provides more. There's nothing idiotic about truth. 3. Just because people don't think the way you do does not mean they are not thinking.

Didn't we sign Miller this offseason? As for Samuelsson, his situation, much like Cleary's is entirely Holland's fault. Poor decision making from the GM has resulted in unnecessary players clogging the roster, while a good young player with a great shot, like Brunner, is now gone.

I know right, I suddenly have the urge to order a Russian bride though....

I always get a chuckle after hits like that, the guy is laying on the ice so everyone should get right up on him and start pushing and shoving each other. Classic!

Mouthgaurds being ripped out is fine, only because it makes magic refs appear from nowhere

For the love of god HURRY UP!! Man this series is going out with a bang, I'm dying for next Sunday to come. Insanity ensues. ALSO it has been confirmed, the spin off series will air, it will be called "Better Call Saul" as it was announced this past week. Props to myself for calling the title of the show lol. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/breaking-bad-spinoff-better-call-saul-prequel_n_3909001.html

I figured I'd create this thread for the benefit of those of who could not see the game. Apologies to the mods if this belongs in the GDT. First off: the Pens’ broadcast team was atrocious. Paul Steigerwald couldn’t even remember the names of some of his own team’s players---Olli Jokinen plays for the Penguins in his world---and botched the pronunciation of others; apparently the Wings have a player named Agleketer. Meanwhile, Bob Errey couldn’t even properly recall his own time with the Red Wings; he reminisced about how the Wings racked up 62 wins only to suffer a heartbreaking loss to the Devils. Needless to say, the two of them were also biased in typically inveterate fashion; they are collectively known rightly as one of the most homerish duos in the league. To their minor credit, they did lavish some praise on certain Red Wings. General impressions: the PK was very good; the PP was not so great, but then there were a lot of rookies playing on it; after the Wings scored their fourth goal, the top line didn’t see much playtime even when Crosby was on the ice, Babcock instead opting to give the youngsters more time on the ice. Generally a good effort; the first period went the way of the Penguins, but the Wings dominated the 2nd and 3rd frames. Now to the players: Abdelkader: Meh. He battled in the corners and did some dirty work in the crease, but his biggest contribution was making little Sid unhappy. The two were jawing at each other all game. Aside from this, Abdelkader was not particularly noticeable; then again, the top line got less and less time as the time went on---particularly after the Wings went up 4-1---and so he really didn’t get much time to show anything. Almquist: Wow. Though small and not particularly good on defense, this guy’s offensive instincts and hockey IQ are as high as advertised. On both of his goals, he picked the correct time to shoot the puck and picked the correct place to shoot it. If he does as well in the AHL, it’ll be silly to let him go (he’ll be out of minor league options); if so, he might get Quincey’s spot after this season. Andersson: Good enough. His skating has improved, and he plays as hard as we’ve become accustomed to. Unfortunately, at even strength he was handcuffed by his association with Cleary and Samuelsson. He did well enough on the PK. Cleary: Sad. He was totally unremarkable. I can only hope that he was simply not trying, because his play on the PK appeared totally lackadaisical. If that's the case, then this was an extremely poor showing after what the management went through for him to maintain his spot on the team. I don’t recall him being used on the power play. He might have been there. I don't remember. Datsyuk: Typically brilliant, though he was not trying very hard; this was, needless to say, not really a big deal given that this is the preseason and he is an established superstar. That said, he stickhandled wonderfully, defended ably, and scored a beautiful goal. Some of the Pens’ prospects seemed spellbound by his play. DeKeyser: Excellent. He was functionally the Wings’ #1 defenseman, playing excellently on defense and ably on offense; indeed, he ended up on a breakway at one point and the Pens had to haul him down to stop him (sadly, there was no penalty shot). He did well with Kindl, and was substantially better than either Smith or Quincey. Evans: Steady but unspectacular. He’s an AHL-caliber defenseman. Ferraro: Impressive, if not flashy. While small, he’s feisty, hard on the puck, and full of effort. He’s got a right-handed shot---rare for the Red Wings---and has decent offensive instincts. He certainly seems to be better than Emmerton. Look for him to replace the latter next season. Glendening: A basic grinder. Good on the PK, good speed, good effort, but ultimately unremarkable. While he performed decently in his first NHL game, he doesn’t appear to be anything special. He’ll be a decent call-up option in a pinch, but he’s got to improve if he’s going to have any sort of career in the big league. Howard: Very good. He made some good saves while being bombarded by the Penguins early on, and let in only one goal on 16 or so shots in the first two periods. Jarnkrok: Clearly unready for NHL action. This was his first NHL action, but he’s currently too small and too inexperienced to really make an impact of any kind. This was his first NHL action. That’s natural, as he doesn’t even have any AHL experience yet. Kind: Very nice. He seems to have made significant progress in his two notable problem areas: defense and confidence. He laid down a nice hit, too. As with DeKeyser, he played substantially better than Quincey or Smith. Look for he and DeKeyser to make up the 2nd pairing this season. Mantha: Like Jarnkrok, he’s simply not ready. He looked alright in his first few shifts, and then disappeared. It was obvious that he was dying to take some shots, but right now he just doesn’t have the experience to find the sweet spots in the offensive zone yet, and he was easily shut down by the Penguins. Mrazek: Steady. Barring a catastrophe, he’ll be with the Wings in 2014-2015 (obviously). Quincey: Not very good. He did a passable---but only passable---job on defense and took a few shots, all of which missed the net. Samuelsson: Gah. He was terrible on the power play and invisible at even strength. Babcock seems to have agreed with this assessment, as Samuelsson’s playtime in the 2nd and 3rd periods decreased while that of the other bottom-sixers increased. Smith: Worrisome. He showed no improvement over last season. Unfortunately, he was also paired with Quincey yet again. Not good. Tatar: Quite good. He drove to the net to score the first goal of the game, and throughout the game exhibited his excellent stickhandling skills and willingness to go to the tough areas. Steigerwald and Errey seemed certain that he’ll be on the roster this season. Tootoo: Invisible. He was simply an unnecessary piece of the roster, though admittedly he did not receive much playtime and is probably aware that barring a miracle, he won’t be on the roster in three weeks regardless of what he does. Zetterberg: Good enough, though, like Datsyuk, he was obviously not putting forth maximum effort. As with Datsyuk, this was not a big deal.

I predict this will ultimately result in the creation of an entirely new sort of pest/agitator: the tucker. His sole purpose: to tuck the opposition's jerseys, twice. Or several times. Or dozens of times.

I hate cleary as much as the next guy, but despite his obvious lack of legs, Cleary got 4 goals and 10 points in 14 post season games, and 9 goals 15 points in 48 regular season games, while eaves got 1 goal and 3 points in 13 post season games and 2 goals and 8 points in 34 regular season games. I don't care how he got his points, goals are goals dirty or not. I hate Cleary cause he is like a rusty de-railed train, but I love how everyone loved homer, and most of homers goals were very reminiscent of clearys goals all year, and everyone gives him slack for how he scored them. That being said I wish we never re-signed cleary

Not that concerning for a one-year deal. If Cleary performs well enough, the Wings won't move him and if he doesn't, I doubt any team takes him on as a rental. On the other hand, Samuelsson getting a NTC was a terrible decision.

Tatar is worthy of a serious look with D and Z.

I don't think smith was that bad. He had a couple bad shifts early in the game but he settled down and contributed nicely to the offense Mantha and jarnkrok are definetly not nhl ready. Once again Tatar proves he is more than nhl ready

He's re-shaping Oiler hockey... one crumb at a time.

If Cleary scores, I'll say Tank You Berry Much, Sir. That's as close as I'll come to that.

I'm not so sure it's Franzen's production that people have a gripe about. At least for me personally, it's more the appearance that Franzen doesn't show up to play every game. He is a great value for the contract, but that doesn't make floating and lack of effort acceptable. Franzen's massive playoff years probably skewed some expectations, though in reality Franzen hasn't performed at all in the playoffs since then. So, when your fallback is "playoff performer" and then you don't do that anymore -- combined with the floating during the regular season, that's where fans start to get upset with Franzen. I agree that Weiss centering a line should help out Franzen this season. He needs somebody to do most of the work.