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Ok, count me in again this year too! Last year was pretty dismal so I am hoping to only have pocket lint left in June! Money on the board- Five bucks for any Miller, Andy or Glenny goal (and double to 10 bucks for Glenny if it's on the forehand!) A buck for every Gus and Tatar Tuna goal Two bucks a shut out....and I think Petey can post a few And in honour of Marchy saving me from shotputting a bottle through the TV because of a Smith DERP moment, Five bucks for any Marchenko goal! LETS GO RED WINGS!!!

There's a flaw in your reasoning. Just because there's less 30 and 40 goal scorers doesn't necessarily mean there's less scoring. To me, it means the defensive side of the has improved so that teams have learned to neutralize stars so that they can't rack up the goals. You'd have to look total league-wide goals scored to see if scoring is up or down. I found this chart for average goals per game: http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/stats.html It actually shows that scoring has been pretty steady. Especially for the past 5 years. This current period is actually up from 97-03. 05-09 was a bit higher. After 1996 is the point where scoring dropped off significantly. Since then, it's been down, up then settled between the two levels. It doesn't fit so well into your "league is becoming less and less exciting" argument.

The whole enforcer protecting the team era was in response to the lawlessness on the ice. The rules didn't protect players, so the players did. Now the league has rules to curb this lawlessness, which makes the role of the enforcer semi-obsolete. The enforcer era is not coming back. It's going to move farther and father from that despite whatever protests you (and including myself) have. The sooner one accepts this, the sooner one can move past it. Hockey isn't becoming soccer. Hockey is becoming hockey. Fighting is part of hockey's history, but at the end of the day it's a side-show within the sport. Trust me, that pains me to admit. If you want to watch good fights, do what I do and follow the UFC. Hockey and fighting are going to split. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in 10 years from now, but we all know it's going to happen eventually. Enjoy it while we have it. The game is evolving, and it's going to leave us 80's and 90's fans in the dust if we don't evolve with it.

He's 26. Will be 27 next season. How much longer till he's no longer a kid? Zetterberg was 27 when he won his Stanley cup and nobody referred to him as a "kid". That's the reason people are unhappy with Smith.. How much longer can we make excuses for him? Besides, his college and AHL stats are meaningless if he can't work the NHL system. And that includes basic/smart decision while sitting on your bench. -___-

This is the playoffs, don't let angry discussions get bogged down with bothersome facts!

Yes! Thanks for doing this again. Either charity is fine, although I tend to lean towards children's hospitals. There is no wrong answer if the money is going towards a good cause. I'm going with the hamster bet again. And, again, I'll keep track in my sig because it would be impossible otherwise. $1 for each goal scored by a Wing after whom I've named a hamster (must still play for the Wings, sorry Filppula). An additional $1 if the above-mentioned goal scored is a GWG. An additional $5 if it is a GWG in a series-winning game. An additional $50 if it is the GWG that wins us the Cup. $5 for each time a goalie after whom I've named a hamster prevents all opposing shots from going in the net. The hamsters names are as follows (current Wings in red) Henrik Pavel Tomas Nicklas Dominik Niklas Matthieu Daniel Robert Johan Andreas Valtteri Jonathan Andrew (Drew) Patrick Ian Todd Jordin Damien Gustav James Go Wings!

$1 per goal by Abs, Glendening, Miller, and Dekeyser -Additional $1 for every Shorthanded or PowerPlay goal by the above 4 $3 Per shutout $1 every game Mrazek starts or comes in for relief $5 for a Mule return (What is the latest update on him anyway, haven't heard anything since the deadline) $5 for a Series win - $20 for a Cup win, $10 for a Cup loss (but that won't be happening).

No this thread is not about the Wings. So the league leader in points this year was Jamie Benn, with a whopping 87 points. Ovechkin led the league in goals with 53. Only two other players even hit 40 goals! Only 15 players hit 30 goals. I know this is the era of butterfly, oversized pad goaltending, but this can't be what Bettman and company want to see. You'd think all the top players in the league spent the season overseas when you look at these stats atop the leaderboards. Oh and only 16 players hit 100+ PIM, with only 4 of those players hitting 150+ PIM. I can't imagine that happening any other time in a full season in the modern era. To sum up, this "new NHL" has no scoring and no fighting. I guess if you're a fan of big goalies swallowing up pucks, you'll love today's game. Oh I almost forgot. There's parity, so that makes everything more fun to watch, despite the fact that nobody scores, hits or fights. Parity is what really counts here folks.

as per NHL.com

And remember who let him borrow their ID?

Sure I'll take that concussion or broken bone or some other lifelong debilitating injury so Joe blow can be extremely happy...for 5 seconds. Speed and defense wins games. If you want to watch goons, watch wrestling.

I'm deeply ashamed

Wait... you missed Steve Yzerman's underwear? You're losing your touch.

Put Z and D together we have 1 trustworthy line that can play all situations. They were separated all year and Z managed to lead the team in points. They've played 3 games together and suddenly it's unthinkable to seperate them

What is sad is how few current Wings remain. It's still just 5 hamsters. I've had Jordin for 2 years now (3 playoffs). Ah, for the days when Mule and Fil made me nervous about going broke...

What, no bunghole pledge? That hamster list is getting a little long. You might have to switch it up soon.

No need to flaunt your wealth, a hole.

Phaneuf is 30, and left handed.

After getting our asses handed to us in Chicago in the playoffs when they started pushing us around and we just sat their like a bunch of pansies I'm not sure how anyone can say we don't' need some toughness on the team.

..before you get upset, this is not another "What the team will look like next season" thread nor is it a "What I/You think this team needs" one. It's simply this, even though it was The Hurricanes, but this is the first time we got to see the "future wings" play a game. That is, without our current leaders. That being said, sure the current leaders still have a few more years left to tutor and pass on experience to these guys, but soon the team, for the most part, you saw yesterday is going to be the team that carries on the torch and tradition. Are you happy with the way the "new blood" handled the game yesterday and what impressed you the most or who? I am so impressed time after time with how the Wings have so much new blood, yet can continue to not turn into to a "rebuild" team like Edmonton is, Chicago and Pitt were and like Buffalo is going to be. It's simply amazing that players like Marchenko can come up and just play like he has been here and actually play better than Vets that have been here a few. Can't say enough about Mrazek, once he finds that consistency he looks like he is going to be lights out. Nyquist and Tatar along with Sheahan? My goodness, I can think of no less than 29 other teams that would sell their wives to have that trio on their team. All in all, IMO, this team has the brightest future of at least 95% of the rest of the NHL, and the other 5% their future is starting right now or next year. Once Pav and Z hang em up, these "kids" if we can even call them that anymore, are going to have so much more knowledge and experience, the Red Wings future, which may not start for another 3-4 years, is going to launch this organization into a new orbit. I can only hope that these players (and the projected ones in GR) continue the direction they are headed! Oh and I think the biggest reason the team can play so well without their leaders, most of these kids played and won a Championship together in GR. They know each other and know each other well! Good on you Kenny Holland, for as many of us that question your draft picks, you just keep proving us wrong! Keep it up Kenny! There is no reason that this (future) team cannot keep this winning tradition up for years and years!

Blashill and the Griffins management, in general, deserve a ton of credit as well.

Larkin is the best bet to be a #1 center. If they have 2 high end wings, they can get away with a bit lesser center, like the Ducks had with Kariya-Rucchin-Selanne, but I'd feel better with a better center than Sheahan. With Mantha, Larkin, Athanasiou, Tatar, Nyquist, Jurco, Sheahan, they should be able to come up with 2 pretty good lines though.

I'm annoyed that he doesn't just take responsibility and admit he screwed up. Stop tip-toeing around it. "It was a mistake, I screwed up." I'd respect him a lot more for being accountable. http://www.freep.com/videos/sports/nhl/red-wings/2015/04/11/25634605/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter