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Well, that's one way to send a message to players. "If you don't shape up, we'll send you to Carolina!" "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

That guy's all right with me, he's a Frk, he's Super Frk!

Speaking of Howard accepting the backup role more this year, I wouldn't be shocked if that had a hand in improving his game. It's less pressure, and for a goalie that's been notoriously hard on himself, this might be exactly what he needs to relax and play his best hockey. I never thought Howard quite had the edge to be a great starter, despite at times playing excellent. His head seemed to always get in the way. Maybe he's finally figured out what works for him. Total speculation, but an interesting thought. Whatever it is, again, I hope he keeps it up. There's no downside to having two goalies playing great so long as we have both goalies on the roster.

Detroit claims Frk. Welcome back to Grand Rapids Frky!

This is weird to me. I was one of the first to criticize this line when I first saw Ott on it and how they played. Lately though, I thought they looked pretty good. I had no idea the numbers were so against them.

How is that even possible? I've never done that as GM on any video game.

Wait.. Frk's a Jedi? Glad we got him back. Poor kid had to take a detour to get where he was headed in the first place.

The circle of life!

Just remember that Carey price didn't become as consistent and as awesome as he is until he was like 27. mrazek will be fine

I think the "OMG line" has been better then any 4th line we've had in a while. Tho the other night in boston it was probably the "Owww! my groin" line.

That's a silly, isolated example. If there's one thing most everyone agrees with, it's that he's a great puck handling goalie. That play was very out of character for him and I don't believe it relates in any way, shape, or form to his more general consistency issues. He flubbed a play. It happens. It sucks and it was horrible timing, but thankfully, I don't think that part of his game is something we need to be overly concerned with, because again, generally speaking, that element of his game is a huge strength. There's Holland quotes in this very thread where Mrazek is referred to as the starter and Jimmy the backup and that coming into this year, Jimmy gets that.

This is fine, he'll help gr do well this season. Welcome back Frk. I think next time he should pay more attention to road signs. There a much shorter way to get the Grand Rapids from Detroit.

Like kissing your sister...

You're right about Russo, but the first two guys are a few years away, IMO. I know Hronek has some encouraging numbers, but it's his first year in the OHL. Once he's healthy, I'd like to see what Saarijarvi can do on a team that isn't a total dumpster fire. Either way, neither of them is waiver-eligible until the 2020-21 season. Kronwall and Ericsson are off the books by then. I'd like to see both of them add some size/strength, too. Yes, it means a lot less than it did in the past, but they still need to add some bulk to deal with puck battles, taking a hit, etc. I'm not saying they have to go crazy, but they both weigh around 165-170 lbs right now.

But but but..... Miller and G Money are the bestest ok guys EVER and Ott is awesome because he pisses guys off! But what promising young players were waived for them? I just saw Callahan Frk and Pulk.

Jeff Salajko from Grand Rapids replaced Jim Bedard for this season. Mrazek worked with him in GR, and I think the change from Bedard is a partial reason for Howard's improved play.

I don't think anyone has said Mrazek isn't the #1. From what I can tell, this discussion was trigger by those that argued that Howard should barely ever play. Mrazek can still be an acknowledged #1 without playing 70+ games. And for your argument that Howard's games have been cherry-picked, I disagree. He played against NY and the Sharks - those are 2 of the best teams we've played, i think. Along with the blues, they're the only teams that we've played that are ahead in the standings (or tied if you discount games played). I'm not sure why anyone is arguing that either has played badly. I didn't see this last game were Mrazek was pulled, but I think they've both been great despite usually getting peppered as we often are greatly outshot. I think our goaltending duo is one of the greatest strengths of the team. We'll let Howard get a bunch of games and Mrazek won't be worn out for the playoffs (fingers crosses) and will be less likely to get injured.

I think some people are in denial about Mrazek. He's one of the most inconsistent goalies in recent Red Wings history. The guy has already been pulled like 8 times in his career and hasn't even had 2 full seasons yet. I mean I like the guy, he's amazing when he's at his best. But come on, when he's bad... he's REALLY bad. Sometimes goalies have bad games, no big deal, but Mrazek has gone through long stretches of being bad. This is exactly why having Howard actually works out. Yes he should be the #1. No he should not be playing 70 games.

Lets look at this from a different angle for those that want Mrazek playing 70+ games. He is the future of this team no doubt. This team needs Howard to get into games and play well though. They tried to trade him all off season and nobody bit. He has no trade value and there was no guarantee LV would take him. They need him to play in 25+ games and to play well. If he keeps playing like he is then come trade deadline someone will definitely be offering up for him and at the very least he probably gets taken in the expansion draft and the Wings get some cap relief. If they dont play him we will be in this same two goaltender boat next year so everyone needs to really push for him to play well and get in games.

Ya but what if you get a couple Dutch guys on the team? does it become the Dutch oven?

When Kronwall comes back, The Don will have his right hand man back doing "business" on the "back end" for him.

What happens to the defense when Kronwall is healthy........it gets worse!

Good to know we don't have to send anyone down when Kronwall returns. Will be interesting to see how Holland handles Jurco's return.

I'm very concerned over what Holland will do when Kronwall returns. Sproul better not be removed and we better not waive anybody. Furthermore, AA better not be sent down to make room.