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And so the endless cycle of life comes to an end - meaningless and grim. Why did they live and why did they die? No reason. . . . For in the end, nature is horrific and teaches us nothing. (Futurama, Season 7 Episode 13)

Al the Octopus always wins.

The Nashville Predators forward did something never before achieved in the 100 year history of the NHL. http://predlines.com/2017/01/06/nashville-predators-colton-sissons-makes-nhl-history/

AA has a little more maturing to do, if Blahill's criticisms are to be believed. I think there's some credence to them actually. He's got elite level skill, but may have been rushed along in his development. I think he's still got the mindset that skill is the most important thing. But what separates good players from great players at the NHL level is their engagement. Think about a guy like Alexander Semin. More skill than 99% of NHL players but the drive wasn't there. When AA finally realizes that he can be as good as any player in the league when he puts in an honest effort, he will be. I've said in the past that I think he could be Tyler Seguin level. I stand behind that. But he's got to mature. As for your second question, I do believe he's more skilled than Larkin. AND I agree he hasn't had the same level of opportunity as Larkin (or Mantha for that matter). But I disagree with trading any of them. You need two good centers in the NHL anymore, and moving one out for a defenseman just creates another hole. As I've said elsewhere, if we want a top defenseman I'd call Calgary and offer Dekeyser, Svechnikov, and a 2nd for Hamilton. No need to trade any of our future core.

AA had 14:44 of ice time, Nyquist had 15:42, Nyquist played 58 seconds more. You make it sound like one played 16min while the other played 5. When you take into account real life game consequences (ie. A guy gets hit and takes a shift off etc) and the fact that they won 4-0 so Blashill easily could have been giving guys like Nielsen and Vanek rest, the ice time seems fine to me. Saying it "sucked" seems a bit over the top.

Well then enlighten us, by all means. What I said was, "he's got elite level skill". I stand behind that. He's above average in size, his skating is better than all but 1% of the league, he's in the top 5% of the league in even strength scoring per 60 minutes of play, and is in the same percentile in shot generation. Seems like elite level skill to me. But as I insinuated above his ability to do that every single shift, against top players, hasn't been proven. So he's not an elite player. Just has the skill. Edit: I stand corrected. He's in the top 1% of the league at 5on5 scoring per 60 minutes of play.

Awesome GDT Hockeytown, as usual. And great contribution by hockeymom, hopefully these are omens on what's coming. Great day for "our" Detroit teams visiting the west coast since the Lions will be facing the Seahorks today too. Hope Stafford has a good game, but, most important that, our boyz in red have some shark soup. Really excited to see what our "2 goats and a kid" line (62-51-72) will do tonight. Hope AntMan continues scoring and shows both KFH and Blash why he should never go back to GR. FanaticU has a $50 usd discount on Red Wings jerseys, even the Centennial Classic ones(blank and selected players) I'm thinking on getting a AA Centennial. Go Lions!!! and LGRW!!!

thanks for the GDT, Mikey! The sharkie has a broken stick, that is a penalty... let's go, Wings - power play!! I expect the same Wings tonight, and the same stellar goaltending as we saw in the L.A. game. I believe! Our Wings have turned the corner, it's a brand new year... let's go, boys!! We love you!!

I'm not sure if you even watch the games. Drew Miller is not Sidney Crosby but every time Miller Ott and Glendening are on the ice they work hard at least. Rarely make a mistake and mix it up a bit. Exactly what you want your 4th line to do. You can dislike the guy, thats fine, that's your opinion. You can think that bringing up Nosek or Callahan and benching Miller will be beneficial. Once again your opinion but at least pay attention to what is going on out there when he's on the ice. He does exactly what he's supposed to do. Accountability has to be brought into the equation here. AA was held accountable for his play and bingo he gets 3 points.

I totally give props to Mabus for the awesome post started for this thread.

What the hell just happened? Who are these guys, I'm very confused. My girlfriend asked me what I was mumbling about, going around here in the morning after having watched the first period repeating "Wings are leading 3 - nothing after the first..". Great game but this schizophrenic stuff is getting to me.

Me the same. Three times.

He won the cup when he shoulda been tanking in anticipation of Datsyuk leaving

I for one would have signed Ericsson to a large contract with a NTC, trade a 1st round pick for Kyle Quincey, give Abdelkader a big contract with a NTC........................oh wait nevermind.

You should not be a motivational speaker. But you are not wrong.