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Andreas. Athanasiou. athan A sea You

I don't think Smith would be solid on the PP because from a defensman's point of view, one of the biggests skills you need to have is to be able to reliably get your shot through from the point. Smith's offensive ability isn't due to his bombs from the blue line, but rather from jumping in on the play during a breakdown in coverage (which doesn't happen when teams are penalty killing and thinking positional hockey above all else). I don't have anything against the guy, but I don't think he'd be a big difference maker on the man advantage. Getting mentored

Ted Kulfan ‏@tkulfan 5m5 minutes ago Datsyuk says he is feeling "awesome" but will wait to see what doctor says... If #13 is ahead of schedule, that would be amazing

Butt pats are reserved for Red Wings/Red Wing fans.

Oh hey, another guy with only a year left on his deal. Methinks the Leafs are hoping he plays well enough to ship him out for a decent draft pick at the deadline. Much like half of their roster.

We were close with most of the lines. The only real difference is that Helm and Franzen swapped spots. Interesting to see Larkin skating between Jurco and Pulkkinen.

Kings: "Oh we were gonna ditch him all along" sure

This bugs me.......he needs to be suspended indefinitely. I get its a team by team situation, but he should be treated just like Voynov.

Taking Sheahan off the PP and putting him on the penalty kill, don't see him developing into a second line center if that happens, we don't need anymore defensive forwards we already have Abby Helm Andy Ferraro Luke at least four of those guys will be in the lineup this year and We'll have Larkin next year, I like how they are putting him on the wing, forget focusing on defense kid shoot the puck and throw that body around, Smith is what 25 26? Why keep givin him chances he's a bottom pairing guy, maybe a 4 when he turns his brain on, Sheahan has great hands an unreal shot and a big body he definitely should be on the PP and playing more minutes than Richards even imo.

I just noticed this, but what.the.f*** is Mantha doing on a line with Miele and Cleary????

It does seem kind of crazy, but neither player is really suited for fourth-line duty. I think their best bet is when/if Andersson is scratched. Hopefully, Blash moves Glendening down to the 4C spot and one of them gets to play on that third line.

If the opening roster's going to look like this: Kronwall - Ericsson DeKeyser - Green Quincey - Marchenko Then I'd hardly call that a mistake.

You need someone to go into that area and poke around at loose pucks. This team already plays too much on the outside. Also, I think you maybe forget how great Sheahan is down low and around the net. Or maybe you remember, but are just bumping him because someone's got to go to make room for your boy?

I think the big sticking point with Smith is that many folks see a lot of potential in the kid. Which is fine. He did produce at lower levels. He was a first round pick. He does seem to have the natural physical gifts. But at least for me (and a few others), he needs to show me something with all that potential before I'm going to agree that the guy is "above average" or whatever. I don't expect him to even be all that good defensively (Babs did, and that was a mistake), but he needs to find a way to consistently produce offense. So far he hasn't. And while I'd agree that he hasn't necessarily been used properly, I think the same thing is true for Kindl and he's found ways to get on the board when Smith hasn't. Regardless of his potential, or his usage, this really is a make or break year for Smith. He'll get has chance to lock down a spot (as he should) but I don't imagine the Wings will continue to pay him 2 million bucks to play mediocre defense and not score points. Marchenko can do that for less money. So Smith better be ready to show what he's got this season.

Ok everyone the Wings have released the training camp lines https://twitter.com/HeleneStJames/status/644517096152526848 Some of note: Helm - Richards - Tatar Franzen - Sheahan - Glendening (interesting Glenny to the wing?) Jurco - Larkin - Pulkkinen Cleary - Miele - Mantha Abdelkader - Z - Nyquist Miller - Andersson - Ferraro Quincey is with Marchenko Smith is with Kindl

Again, Kronwall is one of the better PP quarterbacks in the entire league. I get your point about his hard minutes, but I'd be very reluctant to take him off the PP. He might be the very most important part of it afterall.

Regarless of whether they run a 1-3-1 or 3-2 formation, that 2nd unit needs a body in front. And unless it's Smith (which would defeat the 3-2 set-up) I can't see it being anyone else. Sheahan is great down low and around the crease. He should be on the 2nd unit. And Green should be on the first unit because he's a better PP guy than Kronwall. In fact, I would argue that with the hard minutes Kronwall plays, maybe he shouldn't be on the PP at all. Maybe it should be Kindl. #1 Unit: Abdlekader + Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Tatar + Green #2 Unit Sheahan + Nyquist - Richards - Pulkkinen + Kronwall/Kindl

Playing wing ain't saving Smiths career.

I think it many situations people and/or businesses donate because it does make them feel good AND it's good PR. I don't think its one or the other. I also don't think that if PR is partially on their mind it takes away from the act or diminishes anything. I think the stigma comes from a perception that rich people JUST donate for PR and don't give a crap about the cause which I'm sure is the case sometimes, but not all the time. When you donate 10million, you deserve praise.

I understand the philosophy, but a children's hospital just received ten million dollars, I don't care if he gets a banner on the moon saying what he did, it's a good thing.

I've Said that six or seven times, but kip always yells at me and tells me no. So I don't see it going anywhere.

Yeah, maybe they can buy some integrity.

If Rechlicz wins us the Cup (as would obviously be the case) then I'd like Ken Holland to trade him to the Detroit Tigers. Because as much as the Wings are my favorite team, I REALLY want to see a World Series Champion in Detroit.

Didn't Downey injure Filppula once during a preseason scrimmage? I seem to remember something like that. I hope you realize that if we win the Cup this year, I'm totally giving Rechlicz credit for toughening us up during this time of the season.

Lol. About as quickly as Kane's will be. Sports is a business, and the people that run sports teams operate them as such. Every fan wants championships, new stadiums, and flashy free agents. You do that by winning and putting butts in the seats. And sometimes, to do that, GMs are willing to ignore the ethical imperatives. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it is what it is. Businesses exist to make money, not to enforce the social good. Expecting them to do the latter, rather than the former, will always disappoint. Our very own Mike Illitch does plenty of unethical things in the name of our team. Nobody calls him out on it. So lets not pretend its just a Kings or Hawks problem.