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Wheeler or bust!!!!!!

Maybe people are wising up and seeing through the BS that is pro basketball. It's egos and paychecks fighting to see which one can get bigger first. It's hype and silliness. It's arrogant little bastards who forget who is paying their paychecks. I want to say something else here, but it will get me in trouble, so I won't. Give me hockey any day.

Ok boys and girls it is time to start thinking about the draft. before we get to the fun of who we draft, let's cover some other things first. 1. As of today we would be picking 14th. We have 50 points and there are 13 other teams with fewer points than us, 1 team with equal points but a game in hand. In other words-middle of the road again. 2. Quick review of last years draft. I loved and called for mantha in the 1st. the last week or so before the draft I started to doubt that we would take him if there, boy am I glad we did! Nat is the second round was also a good pick. The brain trust did a great job moving down and adding an extra second round pick, then IMHO completely pissed that pick away on Tuzzi. he was a 6th round projection t best, and there were tons of guys available for that pick that would have been better. other than that, a good draft. No reaches, covered all positions of need. 3. Ok let's talk needs. What does our team look like say 5 years from now? We have a nice pool of G's to pick from. Howard's career will be near the end, Marzek should be in his prime, with JP close behind him pushing. In other words, G is not a position of need early in the draft. if there is someone they like in the last 2-3 rounds, then grab a G. otherwise wait until next years draft. Dmen. Our strongest position. 5 years from now Kronwall and Ericsson will be at the end. But Kindl, DeKeyser, Smith, and lashoff will all still be 31 (Kindl) or in their late 20's. A nice deep core to work with. But it doesn't end there. On the LH side we have Almquist, Oullett, nedermol (speling), dehaas, Wheaton and McNulty coming. On the RH side we have marchencko, Sproul, Jensen, and maybe Nicastro on the way. No all of these guys will not make it. But 2 or 3 will. They are all also playing really well at the AHL level, which means we can make moves if/when needed-like now! Point is, we are really deep on D. have guys with size, speed, skill, toughness, RH and LH. A great young group that we can develop. Forwards. This area is much more of an issue. There are of course 2 groups when talking forwards: grinders for the bottom 8 and top 6 scoring forwards. We have plenty of the fromer and very few of the later. Look at the grinder tyoes that could be here: Abby, helm, maybe Miller, Andersson, Callahan, McKee-for a$$ whippings, Nat, little Tuzzi, plus whatever additional picks we have over the next 2-3 years. Plenty of bodies for the bottom 2 lines. Now when it comes to scorers it is a little more interesting. I see 4 guys: Nyquist, tatar, mantha, Jurco, and that is about it as of now. yes frk and Jarnkrok could turn into something, but both have a long long way to go. Now when looking at the scorers, there are 3 issues here: 1. All are LHed, 2. None are true centermen, and 3. There are only 4 guys! this is and should be our main area of focus in the draft, UFA, and trades for the next couple of years. Ok moving into the order. For now let's assume we finish 15th or so. It makes the math easy if nothing else. Our picks are then: 15th, 45th, 75th, 105th, 135th, 165th, and 195th if I have done my math correctly. so, who are the guys that could/should be available for each of those picks? With a focus on RHed F when possible........ Stay tuned.......

Just looking at the pasts drafts and my god , still early but those 2 drafts could end up saving us painful rebuilding years We could of drafted "maybe" our future top 4 dmen In the 2010 draft alone in Ouellet sproul backman marchenko Our potential (star goalie in my opinion ) future goalie mrazek Then add jurco sheahan jarnkrok pulkkinen up front ... Wow Just can't help to think (and hope) years down the road people will be once again in awe of the redwings draft history .... Can't wait to see these kids play

Ok, first round targets: Jake Virtanen 6-1/210 LW LH. Considered to be a physically punishing forward who skates really well. Known to have a good hard shot. Plays for the Hitmen. Dylan Larkin 6-1/190 LH C. Strong 2 way C that shows a lot f grit. Plays for the US NTDP U-18. Alex Tuch 6-4/225 RH RW. Big American Power Forward with a great shot.

I believe it's more effective to fill the 4th line with guys who can skate, kill penalties and be defensively responsible. (Miller, Glendening, Sheahan, Andersson) Load the top 3 lines with offensive and 2-way players. Save their energy for even strength and PP.

He was gonna say the WNBA RULZ!! esteef

Up front jurco and jarnkrok are the only ones potentially who might be very good. Ouellet and Sproul could be top 4 but other than that and mrazek, I don't think there is much else, Sheahan is serviceable, but top 6 he is not, and none of those guys are the next lidstrom or Datsyuk

I would love to see Ladd here, the guy is great.

Reports are that Subban wants 9 mil a season on his new deal...no thanks

We're all awful sorry that our discussions bother you so much. In the future we'll do our best to make sure that your experience here is a good one. Lords knows how aggravating it must be for you to watch all us peons befuddling ourselves over irrelevant flights of fancy. I mean, how could you not look down your nose with an air of elitist contempt while surrounded by all us low brow hayseeds. You poor man.

We've got plenty enough assets to make a meaningful trade, maybe two. The thing is, to do that you've got to give something of value and in the past when LGW members say we've got nothing to trade it's because they don't want to give anything up. It's akin to saying "We've got nothing to trade because I'd rather not trade our 1st, or Smith, or Nyquist, or Tatar, or any of our top prospects." And it's perfectly true that if you exclude everything of value on our team then we've got nothing to trade.

I wouldn't mind Kane either, k.o.'d matt cooke, fast skater, good hands, k.o.'d matt Cooke.

When I saw Samuelsson out there in the last minute I was laughing. Wow. That is some clueless coaching. Overall we played a good game though. Just too obvious we lacked firepower. When every line gets dragged down by an anchor or two it's going to be hard to score consistently. Right from the start it had 1-goal game written all over it. We had a couple of chances but in the 3rd we were too tired to make a real push. Shame for Mrazek, he played well and deserved some support. Powerplay was a joke. We need players to return. And when they do, the right guys should leave the lineup. Looking at you Sammy, Bertuzzi and Cleary.

Our guys are always out. This team is physically fragile. We can use this excuse every year. Point is, this was a winnable game. They played well against one of the best teams in the league, but the powerplay let them down. The Ducks weren't that impressive tonight. Tatar should have had way more icetime than Cleary. And Sammy shouldn't be on the ice at the end.

I really do not think he is faking it. This explains a lot of things if he is still having issues from the 2008 concussion. I don't like him too much, but hate to see this happen to him. I cannot imagine having issues like this affecting everyday life, but it does happen and it does seem that this could be the problem. The hit itself recently didn't look that bad, but it definitely triggered something that caused him to not want to take any chances on the ice until he knows if he is healthy or not. Unfortunately if a 2008 injury is still hanging on, it may spell the end of his career. Health is far more important than the game. I am not sure of the CBA rules, but he should probably retire if it won't cost the Wings too much. If he cannot retire, the Wings may as well use the last buyout on him and let him get healthy enough to have a functional life. If he tries to come back, one big hit and he could be scrambled eggs... I know I have been very hard on him and wanted him off this team, but not this way, if he is forced to retire I will be very sad to see him leave the game. I am not one to wish career ending injuries on anyone...Get well enough Franzen to have a healthy life, you don't owe us anything. God Bless!

He trails the play on the PK consistently - he is late to his point and then the dman has to step up and it leaves us open down low. He doesn't have the wheels to back check very well even though he does put the effort in trying to (unlike bert). And yes, considering his minutes and line mates he is s*** offensively (even though last night he scored).

I thought we went on a massive tear after the Olympics in 2010 to make the playoffs?

A lot of folks have been giving Franzen a hard time over his concussion and I would like to provide my own experience in the hope people can understand that a seemingly innocent 'love tap' can cause a TBI (traumatic brain injury). With all the strides being made on TV about concussions, with so many men who have now committed suicide because they could no longer live in such pain, it hurts me that the Wings community is so callous and shallow in their responses to such a very serious injury. A brain injury is THE MOST SERIOUS injury a player can sustain, and we as the Wings community should be pulling together to give our fallen warriors their support when this happens. And not belittle them and accuse them of malingering or lying. I sustained my first concussion 2 years ago and I've never had any head, neck, back or head injuries in my life (I'm 37, fit, former Marine). I didn't get hit in the head, I fell down, hard. So hard in fact that it caused my head to snap back and I got a concussion. A bad one, it took 6 months before the headaches stopped. 18 months before I didn't have symptoms, but 2 years on I still have some problems. After 6 months I went to see the specialist Crosby saw in Los Angeles when he wasn't getting better because I wasn't getting better, I had all the classic symptoms and they would just not go away. The truth is, doctors can't do anything for a concussion, there is no test, there is no drug, there is really no treatment. When you injure your brain it's a traumatic brain injury and everyone heals different and the only medication is time. When Franzen says he has a problem processing information I feel for the guy. I know what that's like, to barely be able to drive yourself to the doctor, to not be able to watch TV, or even wash dishes because there is too much going on and after a few minutes you have to sit down and collect yourself because you're so exhausted. Or having to take two breaks while walking to get the mail. Or it takes 5 minutes to type a sentance while writing an email. This is so frustrating, there is NOTHING you can do but let it run its course. On the outside one can look strong, fit, and healthy like a mule, but on the inside, the brain is going completely haywire beyond your control. The way Franzen got popped is how many concussions occur, and since this is not his first concussion he is risking serious injury to his long term brain health. (Think Junior Seau) I hope more people will have an open mind when we're talking about a TBI, and do more to help those in need, with understanding and giving people space and time to recover. But to mock the injury in any way, is cruel and you would not want to go through the same pain of any player having to live with the recovery of this injury. I am embarrassed by some of these responses I'm reading here, on line and in the news sections, as a Wings fan, as a man, and as a human being. Thanks for reading.

Yeah let's ignore how great he played the 20 games before his injury.

That well explains his play for the last uhhh how many years? "Struggling to process things on ice" Like how to move his feet or hit or put forth effort etc etc Maybe Holland will get smart and use a buyout...or not its worth hoping for.

Well pictured, when I think of soccer and basketball I think of people lying on the floor crying and when I think of hockey, Bergeron, Stamkos (playing with a broken nose), Campbell (broken leg) are instantly coming to mind or lately Clearly, losing 6 teeth and gets back outthere. Soccer or basketball players would act like the end is near.

Is it sad that all I can ever think of when it comes to the NHL vs the NBA is this?

If we are planning on making the playoffs, it would behove us to keep Danny with our young roster of forwards and injury track record year-to-date.