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South Detroit! Nice win! Point streak continues. Closer to the top of the division. Makes me happy.

Helm, Abby, Mrazek NHL.com three stars.

It's a good song lol

Please stop giving us PPs because we sure hell don't know what to do with them.

HelmFan, Charles Hudon is making his NHL debut tonight... He's all but guaranteed a goal tonight...

The coaching staff isn't out there tossing garbage passes and passing up shots. Uh oh, here comes the big bad PP

I got banned for a week. I guess I deserved it.

Also you're not on NBCSN anymore, no reason to get that excited.

...and Helm? Ozzie said he needs to stop deking.

i love that datsyuk seriously has 2 guys on his line that couldnt score on an empty net if they wanted too. im fine with that hit by abs. sticking up for larkin. subban is a putting on a show. yeah not even a penalty

Santa, please bring Helm some hands. Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

Mantha has been one of the Griffins' best players every single night, only bested by Athanasiou (and Jurco when he was down). He's been keeping his feet moving away from the puck, making smart decisions with the puck, and has just been snake bitten. Early on in the season, he just could not catch a break, every opportunity (many were self created, using his speed and body to shield the puck) was negated, whether it be a huge save by the goaltender, or hitting the post, nothing was going his way. You can tell lately he has been second guessing himself, and a few grade A scoring chances, he has passed the puck off to a teammate. He had at least four 2 on 1 / 2 on 0 breaks with Athanasiou over the past few games and Athanasiou would have the puck and try to set up Mantha for the goal, but Mantha would immediately send it back, and Athanasiou scored on a couple but also missed on a couple, one in particular, he just didn't look like he was expecting the pass back. So the only thing I can think of which would be somewhat of a logical reason for Nelson to scratch him, is to put Frk on that line, who he knows isn't shy about shooting every opportunity he gets, and maybe send some sort of message to Mantha, that he needs to be the finisher on that line, not the passer. Athanasiou is a great playmaking center, when he sends it your way, you better bury it... I still don't like the decision because he could have taken Mantha off that line without taking him out of the lineup by simply taking Cleary or Campbell out. Either way, I hope whatever the reason, Mantha gets back in on Saturday and keeps playing the way he's been playing all season. The points will come for sure...

A lot of time these huge, skilled guys take a while to be more assertive. You really have to drill it into their heads that they have this huge advantage that they haven't had to utilize in the minor league. Some players figure it out and some don't sadly. A guy like Blake Wheeler is just in the last couple years putting it all together and using his size and being assertive, a lot of people weren't happy with his play style when he came into the league. Learning the hard way will benefit him just got to keep driving it into his brain I think the Q is a bad league to adjust from. Unless you're a super star in the making theirs going to be a big adjustment period

He currently has less goals than Callahan, frk, and tangredi. Clearly something is amiss, and its not usage, he's getting the minutes. Nobody is saying the guy is a bust, but something isn't right and you can't blame everything but the guy himself.

That's where threads go to die

I second that. One of the times I was at The Joe, my friend and I were in the last row of the area, right in front of the owner's box. We got their early, found our seats, and decided to go down for warm ups. We got to the bottom of the stairs of the upper bowl, the usher said to us, "Are you guys going down for warm ups?". We said yes, then she said, "Go that way, it's faster" That was in 2005-06, Yzerman's last year. I remember Yzerman at one point was stretching right in front of us, I thought to myself, "Yzerman is right there". Just then my friend elbows me, points to Stevie, and says, "Yzerman is right there!" Great memory!

I'm Canadian, so I take the Tunnel to The Joe. I would take the car instead of the Tunnel Bus. It can take a while crossing the border taking the bus. The last time I took the Tunnel Bus, we got caught behind a Grey Hound Bus and it took an hour. After that I thought "screw it, I'm taking the car from now on" You can park around Cobo Hall, parking only costs about $10. You can get to The Joe by walking through Cobo Hall. There will be a number of people walking through Cobo too, so just follow the crowd... Downtown Detroit is safe, you and your son have no worries. Have a great time. I've been to a number of sporting events in different venues, and the Joe is by far my favorite place to watch a game. There isn't a bad seat in the house (unless you got the $9 tickets) and the crowd is awesome, everyone is into the game! Detroit is called Hockeytown for a reason.

Yes that is true. That's what I meant earlier in my first post. They definitely allow you to go down to the glass and watch the players shoot around. Even if you're upper bowl. It's awesome watching the players come out of the tunnel and shoot puck around and do some mini drills.

I also had my first game at the Joe, travelling from Sudbury (few hours north of Toronto)about 8 years ago. Its for sure a different atmosphere compared to say, Toronto, but I can comfortably say you have nothing to worry about when it comes to danger. Plan where your going before hand and make sure to go early. Id even try to be there for 5 oclock just to make sure you dont miss ANYTHING. If thats too early just go eat at a restaurant close to the arena or something. Soak up the experience, I found Detroit a very unique city. (Maybe because it was the first time and only time I had seen an American city) The Joe is a beautiful arena on the outside (those steps ) and the actual ice area is beautiful as well. I don't remember where we parked but from what I remember it wasnt bad at all. We walked about 5 minutes to the arena.

Guy is 36 years old. In the hockey world that's "old". In the real world that's pretty dam young. And we sometimes forget that. He's thinking about 50 more healthy years he can live with his family. Not the 3 more seasons he can play. Smart decision - I wish the best for him.

He won't win it. They'll give it to Barrett Jackman again.

Cleary is getting 3rd line minutes, time on the penalty kill and no power-play time, exactly the way he should be being utilized. He started out playing on a line with Zengerle and Campbell but has recently been playing with Nosek and Bertuzzi. He hasn't been playing great by any stretch but hasn't played nearly as bad as some people would make it seem. It blows my mind how much people want to hate on Dan Cleary, I just don't get it... He has a goal and three assists in 13 games, which really isn't that awful for a 36 year old that has had some major injury issues over the past few years. So why not s*** on Hoggan? A guy that is the same age, the captain of the team, and has one goal and zero assist in 19 games, and is a -3 compared to Cleary's -1... Cleary is down there for one reason, and that is to help "coach" all these kids, and from everything I've heard, he is doing just that.

13 games 1+3 -1 2Pim you make your own conclusions on how he's doing. Big presence in the locker room thou eh!

Chad Smith introducing Nick Lidstrom during a concert Red Wings and Red Hot Chili Peppers, my two favourite things