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Again, not very accurate. While he has been going through a pretty bad slump this year, not so much last year. It had only been 5 games without a goal last year, and prior to that was his best stretch of the season. Furthermore, while the hit from Gudas last year didn't really look all that serious, he did leave the game immediately afterward. He missed a while, came back for a game, then symptoms came back and he missed another month (including sitting out of the Olympics). This year no one noticed much at first because he finished the game, but he got blindsided at center ice, stayed down for a while and had to be helped off. Concussions are weird things. Symptoms can linger. Lilja and Eaves missed almost a year. Careers have ended. Post-concussion syndrome can last for years (or even become permanent), isn't necessarily related to the severity of the initial injury, seems to be more common in people who've had multiple concussions, may be exacerbated by stress (such as from a prolonged scoring drought)/psychological disorders, and there is no established treatment. But yeah, he must be faking it because he's a lazy bastard. (And you can tell he's a lazy bastard because he's always faking injuries.)

I don't think you hated to say that at all, if you did you might have at least tried to check your accuracy. Prior to last season, Franzen hasn't had a concussion since the '08 playoffs, nor had he missed 3-4 weeks for anything other than the knee surgery.

I don't see why one would think this guy would get traded... I'd say there is about a 0.01% chance he gets traded. Why would Holland trade away the player with two of the main attributes he's been looking for in a player in the past decade... Right-handed / Sniper. The kid is here to stay, he will be fine, he will work out the kinks in his game down in Grand Rapids, and he will come back hungrier, stronger, and a much better all around player...

He got zero media attention because he worked his ass off and didn't say much outside of that. The guys that get the huge media attention, like Evander "more money" Kane, usually are doing something outside of hockey that get attention.

Just bases on personal experience with concussions and what has happened with other players. I'm not saying he wontbor can't come back, but there's no guarantee.

lol Mantha doesn't realize who our GM is

Can't see it; unless we have 3 or 4 guys go down and even then I would think Callahan or Ferraro is ahead of him development wise. I would say patience is prudent with him. Coming off an injury, adapting to a league of men rather than boys, and his first real taste of pro hockey. Lots of adjustments; let's just leave him alone to find his game and when he starts leading his team/league in a couple years like Teemu has done then we can bring him up for a taste. This method has worked well for us in the past, (Tatar, Nyquist, Sheehan) so let's not break the mold or rush this kid. We need him to develop into a 1st line scorer, not a 3rd liner.

I was conceding that it sucked giving up Jarnkrok for a rental. While we differ on how much value Smith has, we can agree that moving an asset for a rental player isn't worth it in this team's current situation. Holland's recently admitted he thinks he paid too much: http://www.theredwingsfeed.com/red-wings-gm-holland-promises-not-overpay-trade-deadline/# To the second point, this makes me think Babcock is high on Green: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2015/01/red_wings_begin_second_half_of.html I'd say that's some nice praise. Things can change, obviously. Perhaps Green would come here, play poorly and dive headfirst into the dog house. At the very least, I think it shows Babcock has a desire to add an offensive guy to this roster. If it's not Green, it's someone else if a similar mindset/playing style.

HULK SMASH!!!!

And yet in the 11-12 and 12-13 seasons he was nearly a point per game player each year. Guy got zero media attention for some reason.

Yall just be jealous of Franzen's big boy body and his wicked wrister

I'm gonna use that wheels on the bus line all the time now. That's up there with Tootoo wrecks shop

We would use a guy like that on this team

hahahah "way to go, Paul." Thats one of the greatest one liners ever Clearly he does this stuff at all the games. He didn't even react to shattering the glass, what a clown.

I think his pace has been fine. Sure he's run out of time a few times; everyone does. Despite the limited ice time and his line generally not doing too well at establishing possession, he managed to get a fair number of shots. Does need to get stronger and better on the boards to help with possession, but that shouldn't be his main job anyway. His job should be to get open, and everyone else's job is to hold possession and find him when he does. As much as he needs to improve, the guys he plays with also need to learn how to use him. Like most weapons, he won't be very dangerous without someone to fire him.

i just tried to go on capgeek to look at his contract

The sad thing is the guy could have been such a dominate force on the ice, huge body frame and blessed with great hands thought he could become a Bertuzzi light but sadly he never turned into such a physical player I like him a s a person comes of very humble and intelligent but not buying him out will hurt this team in the long run. He would be a nice addition to a team that already has grit and size and is just looking for a cheap complementary piece.

I genuinely forget that he's on the team whether he's playing or not half the time. It's kinda sad. Have they said anything about this injury other than "upper body injury"?

This is one area where I'm a little skeptical of the listed stats, because reported weights fluctuate pretty significantly. I can't tell you how much the kid weighs. What I can say is, when I watched them play in Washington a couple weeks ago he was the tiniest guy on the ice. Nyquist and Tatar looked significantly bigger by comparison. Now, saying that, he doesn't look small and skinny like Landon Ferraro for instance, he looks small but more solid. If you get this kid a nutritionist and pro-level workouts and I don't think 195-200 lbs of explosive muscle is out of the question. And that, to me, really is the difference. It's like Tatar last year (small and weaker) vs. Tatar this year (still smallish, but more powerful). That's what I'd like to see out of Pulkkinen.

This is a really good assessment. I think his back-checking and ability to battle for loose pucks have improved greatly. His skating was one of the biggest knocks on him when he was first drafted, and he's clearly improved that as well. I feel like he took the "shoot, shoot, shoot" advice too literally, as there were several occasions where he would have been better served just getting the puck deep. In his last couple games, I think he did a better job with the little things. The one thing that he probably struggled with (as most guys do when coming up) is not being "the guy". Your total ice time is lower, the offense isn't running through you and you have less time to make decisions with the puck (in part) because you have it less. I think they're going to ease him into the line-up next season much like they did with Tatar. He'll most likely start as the 13th-14th forward, then push to earn more ice time. As you say, this is going to be an important off-season for him. Pulks has all the tools, he just needs to adjust to the pace of the NHL and improve his strength. He's just going to have to bust his behind.

To me, the biggest thing he's going to have to do is get WAY stronger. He's a little guy. You don't realize it until you see him in person. By comparison, Nyquist and Tatar look like big dudes. Which, I assume, is because of their respective fitness levels. I don't even really care if he gains weight (which he probably will), as long as he just gets WAY stronger. He's got a really low center of gravity, so if he does put on some muscle and/or add some power, he'll win a lot of the battles he loses. Other than his shot, there are a few things I really like about his game. He's got good first step quickness. He can jump on loose pucks and find open spots on the ice as a result. He's also pretty defensively responsible. I noticed him backtracking and checking his coverage a lot. Finally, I really like his aggressiveness. He doesn't play pensive, at all. He jumps into scrums, battles on the boards, and will put his body on the line to make a play. He battles, he's just too weak to win the battles right now. But he's definitely not afraid. He's got an alpha mentality, but right now beta strength. If he can be an explosive 195-200 lbs. (which I don't think is unrealistic given his frame), I think he'll be a really exciting player because he doesn't lack much else.

The promising thing here is that they managed to find a way to win the game despite not bringing it. Yes the Wild didn't generate much on their own through 40, but that 3rd period should have been nowhere near close. Ericsson's blunder took me right back to the 07' playoffs and it was as if Lilja had been reborn. Regardless, everyone makes mistakes, and the Wings should have shut the game down. I have a feeling that they got a little over confident perhaps and with a 4-1 lead heading into the 3rd and the prospect of a week off, most players wanted to go on vacation. Still awesome to see Teemu pot his first in possibly his final game with the wings for a while.

Any chance to play in the Winter Classic should be something to get stoked about

You've probably not heard of our hockey down here because we have maybe 1500 players countrywide, though it is one of the fastest growing sports. The haka itself is a traditional war challenge, performed by the Maori, our indigenous people. We're pretty proud of our culture hence its incorporation into the sporting arena. I was privileged enough to perform the haka when I played for the NZ lacrosse team at the World Cup in Canada 2006. (Another minority sport with about 150 senior players in total!). There's the occasional uproar here about the overuse of the haka, but I reckon it's pretty cool, shows off our little country and gets people like yourselves who wouldn't otherwise know who we are talking about us!

I hate zombies and people dressed up like zombies and shows about zombies and pictures of zombies.