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Um...haven't you been paying attention? He should've punched him so no important players on our team would get hurt.

Nyquist had a knee on knee collision. Should they start practicing knee on knee collisions in practice so they are ready?

I thought he was a checking line player.

I don't get it TSN has had such an informative and well organized site. Yeah, you want a more modern look but why not keep the great structure instead of throwing the whole concept over board and thencreate something where nobody knows, how to find stuff ?! i.e. Podcasts, Season Preview... Also please stop that stupid "load more" button and add SITE numbers seriously how difficult is that ? Even I could code that. Now the site looks "modern" but more like a mobile unorganized site...disappointed. If somebody knows where to find the podcasts etc. please link them

"He didn't fight Chara's fist with his face... what a bum!" ... oh, you folks sometimes. You'd all run from Chara, too. And before you tell me that you're not a paid NHL'er, pretty sure that about 95% of them wouldn't either.

What's Callahan going to do, bleed on him? He's 6ft. and 195 lbs. There's no honor or virtue in getting mauled by a giant.

Stronger bigger guys anyone?

I thought that Sir Paul is a pacifist.

The more it happens the more, I think, it is related to our playing style. I mean willingness to absorp the hits, not fighting back, being in vulnerable positions just to win the puck, etc. We're playing like 6'3'' team while our best players are just 5'11''. It takes a lot of courage to do this but at the same time it is stupid

Lashoff is the kind of guy I'd like to have on the bottom pairing for a couple years. I like his play. He's a Brad Stuart-type without much skill. Sounds funny saying it like that, but I still like him in the bottom role for the grit, physical play and emphasis on defense-only. He's good at canceling guys out. As he gets better he'll become more valuable, I think. It's not like he has the goal of becoming a grandeur two-way defenseman like *cough kindle*. Kindl... he still makes me sad. I always felt he had so much damn potential and raw talent. But at this point how can you have any hope for him? Wish he'd be gone but alas it will not be so. I think Bab's comments are more of a motivational speech than anything... and a smart one. I don't think him and Kenny are in love with these guys. They just want to support them in the face of the public eye and hope that the confidence washes off on them. It's a smart play. At the end of the day, we believe Babs wants to do whats right for this team. I think that's what Babs wants to do... sometimes I wonder

What most of us are forgetting is that if not for injuries to Sammy, Cleary and Bertuzzi last season, we'd wouldnt have seen what Tatar, Sheahan and Jurco could do because of the type of coach Babcock is...imagine this, playing all last season with those three instead of the kids...ugh...now lets go with the same defenseman this year? You got to go with the best and waive the rest...

Lashoff is fine as a 7th d-man, but nothing more. He really shouldn't be playing as many games as he has in previous seasons. I don't believe Babs needs to call out Kindl. It doesn't seem very logical though to deem Kindl's job as safe given his performance and the fact the Wings have prospects ready to make the jump. I don't think we really need to see more games from Kindl. He's 27 and had plenty of opportunity already to establish himself in the league. If Ouellet is a better option on October 9th (which appears very likely) then there's no reason not to have Ouellet take Kindl's job. The Wings defense is weak and any chance to upgrade should be taken immediately. Babs makes this bizarre statement that his two worst d-men aren't at risk, which is basically stating we are going to try the same thing on defense again and expect different results. I just want the best players on the ice. Not eventually either because as we seen last season, our prospects have the ability to generally hold their own. Again, I do believe Sproul and Backman need more time in Grand Rapids, but Ouellet would be fine on the third pairing and so would a healthy Marchenko.

Bingo. Bingo. Babcock even says the team is looking for someone who can move the puck. The best players will play? If Kindl isn't SUPPOSED to be a puck mover, what is he supposed to be? I can understand keeping Lashoff as the #7 guy - he's got a low cap hit and you don't want a prospect sitting on the bench for the season. At this point Kindl is a below average offensive defender, Quincey is a below average defensive defender and Smith is an average offensive defender, with possible upside. Ouellet has essentially looked better than all of them in his, albeit short, time with the team thus far. Don't pee in my boots and tell me it's raining, Mike.

Mike Babcock - "Even though Kindl is the worst player in the NHL, and we couldn't even trade him for a used tampon, he is going to get his minutes, there is no prospect going to come in and take his job. He's not just a plug..." ok, so I paraphrased...

That doesn't make any sense. Lashoff is a plug and Kindl was terrible last season. If one of the four prospects is better, why wouldn't you at least start them on the third pairing? Honestly, Ouellet already looks like he would be an upgrade from either Kindl or Lashoff. Who are any of the prospects going to knock out of the top-four so early in their careers? You already have Kronwall, E, DeKeyser and possibly Smith plus the four million dollar man too. Let them take Kindl or Lashoff's job and grow into larger roles for the future. The defense is bad. Why would you want to try the same group as last season? The only potential for development is going to come from Smith. I don't expect all four to make the team now, but one of them should get a shot.

Anyway, my point still stands. Yes, he probably won't keep up that shooting percentage, but he's not Abdelkader. He scored 11 in 2010-11 and 12 in 2011-12 (and would have got around the sam in 12-13 if he didn't miss the last 24 games) while playing on the 3rd line without D or Z and without PP time. If he plays top line minutes with Datsyuk he'll have a career year. I think you can bank on that. even abby upped his totals. I think it would make helm at least a 15 goal scorer - making up those 3 goals that you said would make an upgrade. But we don't really know what will happen with Helm at wing. Maybe Datsyuk's passing ability and Helm's speed will create many opportunities for breaks. Maybe Helm being freed from the defensive responsibility will help him find more offence. Maybe he just won't be suited to the play along the board and will only play there a couple of games. I say give him a chance, then Jurco or Mantha get a shot.

Not that I'm arguing that the Wings necessarily need a meathead, but the last Cup win the Wings had Aaron Downey in the lineup. And Babcock played him in 56 games. It's not just an outdated concept from 17 years ago. With Tootoo I think it was more that he could never really hit effectively without taking himself well out of position. And as admirable as it was that he'd drop the gloves with anyone, he hardly struck fear in the hearts of anyone except when he suckerpunched them. Most of what he did on the Wings was staged fights.

I highly recommend the Puckpodcast, Eddie Garcia and Doug Stolhand are excellent hosts and they are covering all the news. Puckpodcast.com Sent from my BlackBerry

While looking for this I found this Which is even more hysterical.

Nobody thought datsyuk zetterberg or lidstrom would be stars when we got them , or Franzen would be a 30 goal scorer and playoff performer(even though he hasn't been great of late) I'm sure we go some forwards that will/can turn out to be stars Mantha comes to mind obviously ... Nyquist if he continues his tear ... I see a lot of guys with tons of potential upfront ,not all will make it , some might need to get traded but I can't remember a time we had prospects this good and deep in our system Star potential goalie in mrazek .... Backman ouellet sproul marchenko in the back end The future looks bright in detroit

Haha, no I caught it. One goal in 23 games to close a season plus a no-show in the playoffs four years running just doesn't meet my standards for a goal-scoring winger. Maybe in a complimentary sense, but the Wings clearly can't rely on Franzen for consistency.

I don't see what that has to do with my point. That 2008 team was stacked and put on a clinic in puck possession every night. Hossa scored 40+ for the Red Wings in 2009 and they have struggled to find even a 30 goal scorer since then. It didn't translate into a cup because the Wings were ravaged by injury during the playoffs (including Hossa). Regardless, this team has lacked a goal-scoring winger for over five years. Semin fits that description, but depends on how you feel about the baggage involved.

OK FINE I'll do it myself I'd sign Semin to a contract just so I could see him do that again.

Please someone post the Semin fight gif where he forgets where he is and starts playing the bongos in some imaginary rasta band. PLEASE

I've wanted Alexander Semin on this team for years and I would still love to have him now. I don't want to hear all the s*** about his "shortcomings" and his "lack of defense" and his "lack of effort" and "if you think Franzen is lazy / streaky, you'll hate this guy", etc, etc... I love his game and he is exactly what this team needs in my opinion - a pure goal scorer and a right handed shot on the power-play. Imagine Semin on a line with Pav and Hank? Insane... As for the other three, I wouldn't be all that interested in any of them. It would definitely take a lot to get Semin away from Carolina but I would at least throw out an offer. I do still think we need to upgrade the defense before we do anything else with the offense, but I'd have to make a call on Semin for sure...