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Not really. Any turnovers Smith commits tonight are bc he learned them from Quincey in the past.

You're asking a lot

I gotta say, Mrazek is solid as a rock. The kid comes out 15 feet to challenge the shooter.

Last season was by far one of the weirdest seasons I've seen. Not sure I can really draw any conclusions from it. The year before we took the Hawks deep in an early round. I don't think that's playing over our heads. They won a series they were predicted to win. We put up a helluva fight against a rival. Tends to happen. The injuries were unpredictable and ridiculous. The beginning of the season was bad puck luck and just the entire team in one big slump. I actually think the injuries helped in a sense, bc the called up kids sparked the rest of the team. I think this team really is underrated in a sense. We have some very good players at all positions, and very good young players at all positions. In the end I think we're probably middle of the pack come playoffs if last seasons bad fortunes don't repeat themselves.

Last summer we were hyped as a contender for the division. Now we're not after struggling through last season with injuries. And we essentially have the same team as last season. It's all perspective.

To my eyes Jensen is the best player on the ice tonight.

If jimmy keeps struggling, Mrazek looks like he could be the guy now. The kid is effin smooth, and that pass to center ice reminded me a bit of the way Brodeur used to slide up the ice and push the play. Lemme hear them bodies talk.

Mrazek stands tall again!

Smith has looked solid

Both at the same time? Seriously, were they scissoring or something?

Regular pre season stuff, more worrisome if it carries into the regular season.

Sorry, I didn't mean to start it with my Smith looking better without him comment. FWIW, I also felt Q was better without Smith, they didn't mesh well, IMHO, to the detriment of both.

I definitely tjink hes good, really good, hes just made a few bad plays, and whwn pressured he seems jumpy.He hasn't looked horrible though, he's physical and made his share of good plays that pass that lead to the breakaway was awful, but hell get it. Im kind of thinking Jensen sproul and marchenko look so good because were not used to seeing right handers on that side of the ice, so compared to what were used to seeing it looks easier because it is. Ha. Jensen is just looking flat out good though.

Always old school xym, always. And Jensen just looks smooth. They keep saying how oulettes our most nhl ready defenseman but the mistakes he's made are the type that would make me worry about him against all NHL competition. I know the learning curve for d is steep, but Jensen and marchenko look a lot calmer, but I could just be noticing them more because the right handed shots.

nice one Jimmy, kicking that old school.

Where's BoS? They got a PP goal for her bunghole!

Nestrasil with some sexy sauce on that pass to Jensen

Throws an elbow in a preseason game on a 5 on 3

More stupid moronic rules run by morons.

These refs are making a pre-season game even more unwatchable. Can we play hockey at some point?

Huh?

It still pisses me of royally that Arby's only offers a free SMALL CURLY FRY if a Wing player gets a hat-track. Is that not the dumbest challenge to reward ratio ever? Compare that to the Taco Bell promotion here, where you get a free taco for every home run hit in baseball.

I get what you're saying but I think you're over simplifying a bit. I mean, scouts lauded Emmerton and scouts lauded Nyquist. But it would be silly to suggest that there's no telling which of the two would be a better NHLer until they get to the big club. You could tell by their AHL careers who would be better before they ever touched the NHL. One dominated that league, and one was average. That's all I'm saying about these d-men. Jakub Kindl in his best AHL season wasn't as good as Ryan Sproul just was as a rookie. Does that guarantee that Sproul will be stud NHLer? Absolutely not. But it's a pretty good indication that he'll be better than Jakub Kindl. I don't think it's fair to say "we don't know until they get there". We know how these guys project, and we know how far along their developmental trajectories they are based on how well they're playing against their current level of competition. So I think it's safe to draw SOME conclusions from that. Not guarantees. But certainly conclusions.

No kidding. My point was that people tend to overrate prospects and it's incredibly hard to predict how they will fare in the NHL, even for professionals. Like these future Red Wings: "He is a man amongst boys sometimes. He's not overly physical, but he takes the man and plays the body and he's got a little chip on his shoulder at times. But he's more of a skilled guy." -- Red Wings director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell (December 2005) "He's gotten stronger. He still needs to get a little bit stronger, but at training camp, he came close to making the team. He was definitely good enough to play and stick there. He's the kind of guy who plays better with better players. Down the road, I would think he's going to be a top-four guy. He's good on the power play and he's a real smart kid." -- McDonnell (October 2006) "He's got very good hockey sense, good stick skills, and he's a Red Wings type of player, the way he thinks the game. We think he's a top two line player. Like with all kids, he needs to improve his strength. He needs to work on his leg strength and get his skating a little bit stronger, but it's just the maturing of the body." -- Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill (June 2006) ... "His hockey sense is his best asset. He's a very smart player. He's just got to get bigger and stronger, but he's a pretty well-rounded guy." -- Red Wings director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell (October 2006) ... That's Kindl and Emmerton. I hope these young guys turn into NHL d-men, I just don't think you really can tell too much until they get time with the big club.