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I really don't have enough words to say how much I love this team this year, warts and all. It ain't always pretty, but we're finding ways to win and coming out on the right side of a lot of ugly starts. You've got to be proud of this club. And if you're not having a riot watching this team, then I'm genuinely sorry. This is the most fun I've had watching the Wings in years! Never been prouder to say GO WINGS!

I haven't been following this site in a while, but are you guys watching the same wings as me?? Of course they can contend! They're young They're fast They get solid point contributions from 3 lines and their defense Powerplay looks good Pk looks good Coaching obviously is good Goaltending looks really good They're grittier than last year They have the ability to come back in games They don't give up leads like they did last year They've avoided the injury bug for the most part Secondary guys have stepped up when our top guys have been hurt And most importantly, they play really well against good teams! The list goes on and on Maybe I'm crazy though

wow and Montreal lost to Buffalo tonight

M-RAZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!

Man between Gionta and Brunner they've got a lot of nose on that team

For many many years we were one scoring winger away from the cup. We got it in Franzen for '08, cup and almost another. I agree with NHL.com, one right handed D man who can take some of the load of Kronner and we'll be in serious contention. The health of Weiss is pivotal. A healthy Weiss presents some serious match up issues for clubs. Really we need another Franzen kinda situation,.......we need a guy like oulette or sproul or hell even smith to come out of no where and hit next level. Achieve a ceiling none of us thought possible.

Wait, what? *surprised butt pats*

Jagr should have shot.

We need to find a way to get 2 points here. No more morale victories

I have not been shy about saying that I think this team is playing well enough to make a real stink in the playoffs. I haven't been so excited watching a Wings team in some time, and I really think even with no moves made, they've got a real good chance to make some noise. For them to make a real run though, Howard will have to be at his best in the playoffs. He's fully capable and I think he's had a great bounce back year, so I'm really, ridiculously, and exceedingly excited to see how things go down the stretch. It's going to be fun fun either way if the start is any indication.

Would love it if we could sit Kindl when Smith comes back. Would make for the best possible roster this team could ice.

BUNG BUNGHOLE

Calling it right now Wings win 9-7

XO !

CHALLENGE CERTAINLY ACCEPTED

No, but they are better than expected and fun to watch, so I'm content with that for now.

Personally, I define "contender" as a top-ten team. I don't think there should only be four or five contenders at any time. I call those teams favorites. They're the four or five best teams in the league, but there are five or six or seven other teams that are good enough to go deep in the playoffs and maybe win it all. I think the Wings might be one of the ten best teams in the league, if not right now then by deadline time. In this sense, I think you could argue they're contenders. Does that mean I honestly think they're right there with Tampa Bay? Nope. But we're much, much closer to the top than we are to the bottom.

The thing with a cap, there isn't a dominating team. Every team has holes with talent spread out. On paper, we're probably not a major contender, but we're consistently outshooting the opposition, and Howard's playing well.

I think this is a team that could make some noise and surprise people in the playoffs. But by no means do I think they are ready to contend. I think it is gonna take a playoff heart break to put the young guns on this team over the top. This team healthy can def give teams fits in a 7 game series. Would not be shocked to see next season having this team just be the right trade deadline move away from being a true contender.

He won't put up Mantha numbers but I think we would really regret trading Larkin down the road, I get the impression he's a great kid and works his ass off.

The Wings started doing this least season after a win and it's about time. I like it and it shows that the team appreciates the fans and recognizes that they are in attendance.

How's it valid? Back then you could get away with a grinder in the top six because the other four or five guys produced more than enough offense. That's not a case on today's team. We need all of our top six players to contribute because we are offensively anemic. By the way, if its such a good idea why isn't it working? Neither helm or Abby have ever replicated the numbers that "grinders" like McCarty, lapointe, or brown did.

Lol. I'm acting like its the same league huh? Aren't you the one justifying something Babs is doing by saying "Bowman did it" too? Lets find out. You originally said, "For those lamenting Helm and Abdelkader on scoring lines, was Bowman an idiot for playing McCarty, Brown, and Lapointe on scoring lines?", And now you're saying it's a different league. I agree. Which is why having offensively talentless grinders on your scoring lines is a bad idea. The very point I was making originally. Bowman could do it because he didn't just have scorers, he had hall of fame scorers. Babs can't do it, because his best scorer is Franzen (or Nyquist). It's not the same league, so justifying Babs' lines because "Bowman did it", is a worthless, intellectually flimsy argument. As you yourself seem to agree with when you say things like "stop acting like this is the same league".

I agree with you 100% number9, I've been saying this for months. There is no way that Jurco starts the season with the Wings, it's simply not the way the Red Wings do things. Some of you obviously don't agree with this but I truly believe this "over-ripening" method works and will continue to work. I think the Red Wings have unbelievable scouts but I think it's more than that, I think it's more to do with the way they develop their players. No player is ever given a roster spot, every spot, every game and every shift has to be earned. Jurco will be our first call up which is great and Pulkkinen and Mantha will be our 2nd and 3rd callups if need be, which shows great depth up front. I however do believe that Jurco is the "next coming", but unlike so many others on here, I don't think he's quite ready yet and I'm completely fine with waiting another half to full season to see him called up again. Some people will probably laugh at this but I think Jurco has more potential than any one of our forward prospects, including Nyquist, Tatar, Pulkkinen and even Mantha. I strongly believe that this kid is the real deal and he will show that in the next couple years. Think that was funny? Well here's something even more humorous to some of you I'm sure, I think he has the potential to have as much of an impact on this organization as Datsyuk and Zetterberg have had over their careers... Call me crazy...