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First game of the new year! Bertuzzi's here to stay and Mantha's ready to return: https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/notes-red-wings-realize-january-will-be-the-telltale-month/c-294584212 HYPE! LGRW

I'm honestly not exaggerating anything. His Quality Start % is literally 25%. The amount of quality starts he's had divided by the # of games he's started. Quality starts = having > 88% Sv% (or average sv% for the league). Simply put, he's far worse than the average goalie in the league. Looking at 1 game for a backup and then saying he deserves more starts is not convincing. Only way Mrazek becomes a starter or gets "a string of starts" (very rare for a backup) is if Howard hits the bucket and that's entirely possible. I think the problem in the fandom currently is that people may still be assuming that this is a Tandem goaltending situation. It's not. They made it very clear where they stand when they exposed Mrazek and t hen went on to call Howard the best goalie on their team and additionally then went on to declare him starter moving forward. As far as I can tell, Mrazek is either getting traded, re-signed for cheap, or Howard gets injured or loses his job to Mrazek. He might even get waived....

My first trip to the Dough Joe. Sens have won like 4 out of their last 21 games so here's to hoping they keep spiraling for at least another night. Wings just gotta stop playing to the level of their opponent, and find some consistency. I like the fact that Bertuzzi's in town for the forseeable future. He definitely seemed to be the spark over here in Grand Rapids. Lot of energy, Definite grinder.

Just want to point out in all this Mrazek stuff, Vegas didn't want Sheahan either, but obviously Pitt really did, to give up a player and a higher draft pick for him. Same could happen for Mrazek.

Talk about glass half empty. 8th in scoring for an 19 year old defensemen is promising in any league. He's playing against 20 and 21 year olds. Besides he's a defenseman, so I'd rather he maybe be good at say...defense.

I just don't think you're thinking this through

I wish. Apparently if he does he passes Fedorov on all time hattrick list.

Wings win 5-2. Bert gets his first and Z gets a hat trick. Why not eh?

Definitely. Should be the strategy across the board whenever a season is lost. Give younger players ice time to develop or see whether they're part of the future. And, CRL and Kickazz, Mrazek's stats haven't gotten worse every time he plays. His last game against the Islanders (a win), he had his best SV% (other than his shutout). You guys are definitely exaggerating the situation. Mrazek hasn't been that bad this year. I think he's definitely deserving of a few more starts. I mean, Howard is tied for 2nd in the league with 32 GP and he's had some rough parts of the year. I don't think Mrazek needs 5 in a rows like Krsmith is saying, but let's throw him in there some more. Anyway, Howard does seem to get injured whenever we ride him like this, so the natural course of things should give him more games even if Blash doesn't want to. Blash is probably playing to maintain respectability and the chance at keeping his coaching career alive somewhere after this season, so he'll probably side with the safe route on most decisions.

Got tired of it. You know how it is. Well since you now backtracked to say Smith is again a top 4 defenseman. Just as you predicted years ago. That must mean the organization didn't f*** up right? Since Smith is now a top 4 defenseman, the Red Wings organization must have done a good job since he became what you projected him to be. Right? I take issue with this. And you know you're going to twist it to try to stand your ground. Because you'll never admit that you were just scapegoating the Red Wings. In November you admitted that Brenden Smith failed and didn't become a top 4 and you then blamed the Detroit Red Wings organization for it. And now that Brenden Smith is playing top 4. What do you have to say about the Red Wings? Let me guess you're going to still blame the Red Wings for somehow screwing him over right? But how did he get screwed if he ended up living up to his potential? He's top 4 just like you imagined. So do you take back your blame game on the Wings? You probably won't because Smith is your boy and he can do no wrong. If he f***ed up then it must be the Wings. But if he lives up to the potential, Wings get zero credit. In fact they still get blamed (somehow).

I'm actually on board the play Mrazek at least every other game train. Either he continues to suck, which helps draft positioning, or he actually gets his game back (unlikely IMO). Either way it's a win-win. The only reason to keep playing Howard is if you think that they actually have a shot at the playoffs, and that it would be a good thing to go for it. That would be a mistake.

I say showcase all the players you might deal. We're already not going to the playoffs (not out yet, but we know how it's gonna end up) so it's not going to hurt to put Mrazek and XO in to get some interest from others...unless they're showcasing Howard and Ericsson....

Yeah, Vegas not taking Mrazek means very little, especially when we have no idea what sort of conversations went down behind closed doors. Mrazek being exposed and passed by Vegas just added fuel to the fire for those that were already down on him from the previous season. Sheahan went goalless through 79 games last season, but still some thought he might be taken by Vegas because he's a big bodied, shut down, bottom 6 center, that still has some offensive potential. He's the same age as Mrazek (a couple months older), goalies take longer to develop, but yet Sheahan had value, and Mrazek doesn't... Teams showcase players they want to trade all the time, but it's asinine to even think about showcasing Mrazek, because he's a "backup"... If we want to trade Ouellet, it would be wise to keep him in the lineup for an extended period here too, and maybe play him more than 4-6 minutes a night. I'm not a big fan of Ouellet, but there's no reason they can't play him 12 minutes a night and attempt to trade him for a mid round pick at the deadline.

With that logic, Howard let's in 4-6 goals a game, because he's let in 4 goals twice, 5 goals once, and 6 goals once. F*** averages, they're not reality. Max is a better indicator... I'm going to say this one more time... Mrazek has yet to be given a string of games, so we don't know what he would do if given another opportunity. I understand keeping him on a short leash at the beginning of the season, because the organization had to believe this team had some sort of shot at making the playoffs. However, playoffs should now be an afterthought, and we should be concentrating on the future. Mrazek could be a part of that future, so we should be doing what we can to figure that out. Or ya know, just say f*** it, and let him walk for nothing. That's always an option too... You're trying to come up with different conclusions? I should try it? LoL that's exactly what I did in my original post. I came up with 3 different scenarios, which you disagree with because Mrazek shouldn't be given another opportunity... You keep going on with all this s*** as if I'm bashing Howard, saying he "sucks" or "he's too" old or whatever. I'm not saying any of that. I'm a fan of Howard, and I'd be completely fine with keeping him and trading Mrazek. I just think that the best way to figure out what we're going to do, one way or the other, is to give Mrazek some starts. Extend that leash a little and let him get into a few games. You can't deny that over the past year or so, Howard has been given a MUCH longer leash than Mrazek. Whether that's the right or wrong way to handle them, is debatable, nonetheless, that's the way it's been. Howard is the starter, no one is disputing that. That doesn't mean you can't give Mrazek a few more starts. If you disagree that Mrazek should get more starts, that's fine. Say that. But don't try to paint this picture that I'm anti-Howard and all in on Mrazek. I'm not at all. I would say best case scenario, we play him, he dominates, we extend him and carries us to a Cup. A little more realistic scenario, which is also ideal, we play him, he plays well enough to up his trade value, we trade him at the deadline for a pick and / or prospect. Or, like I said, we can continue to sit him every game and let him walk for nothing in the offseason...

All that information aside though like I said he’s the only one among the top scorers that’s in his first WHL season. All the other top 7 ahead have been playing in the league a few years. Most of the others are not much ahead by the way (a point or two) and some have played more games.

F. Michael....just try to look at this from an unbiased standpoint. The kid is a 19 year old rookie in the WHL. 35 games into his career and he is already 8th in scoring among D. The WHL has 22 teams, 6 D roughly per team. That is 132 D-men in the league. How can 8 out of 132 be anything but a positive? The fact that this achievement garners a response from you of "Yeah - he's nothing special...Go figure" should alone show you that you have an extreme negative bias towards the team right now. Nobody is saying the kid is a guaranteed future Norris winner, and I think most here will admit this doesn't guarantee anything. But, what it does say is that he is doing exactly what he should be right now, and there is no reason for a negative response.

No. As Dickie said, he didnt make the roster and he didn't burn a year of eligibility by being sent down so he still has 3 years on his contract I think. He would get to keep his signing bonus if he signed one, but he only gets paid his 925k when he's on the roster or playing in a pro minor league (unless of course they agreed to a different minor league salary). I think you're confusing me with Buppy.

Not even close. Smith was an idiot. Cholowski is a smart player, not super highly skilled but uses his brains and works hard. We'll see, I'm not high on him yet but I'm content so far.

First of all, I'm not exaggerating anything. He's let in 4 goals once this season and 5 goals twice this season. I spoke truth. You tried using his GAA (which is an average not reality). Now as for Mrazek's performance. The more he plays the more his value has kept dropping. It's at the point now that maybe they don't want to make it worse. And if you thought outside the box a little bit instead of being so cynical with this org, maybe they're doing this on purpose since its his contract year. Re-sign him for cheap and then once he's locked in give him the starts. You have no idea what they're thinking. I have no idea what their thinking, but I'm trying to come up with different conclusions. You should try it. Howard bounced back. Mrazek hasn't. He's been trying to for 2 years now. You do realize that right? You're assuming it's this terrible think they're doing to Mrazek. Hell the guy has ltierally beed trying to keep a starting job since we have Jonas Gustavvson! My god has it been 2 years already?? He lost the job in Feb 2016. They gave him another chance all last season until he s*** the bed again. Now Howard has the job until he screws up. That's the nature of the beast. Now lastly, in order to give Mrazek 5 starts like you said. He would not need to be a backup. Sorry to burst your bubble but Petr Mrazek was officially declared the backup this season. Until the started fades or gets injured, a backup doesn't take the starting position. I thought this was common knowledge in hockey..? This isn't a tandem anymore. And clearly the org has hinted (with the expansion draft) that they were going with Howard in the future. That can still change by the way. But coming into this season it was pretty clear the organization sees Howard continuing in the future for now. By the way Howard is 33, going on 34. Just so you know, goalies don't retire at this age. Mathematically speaking if Howard stays a wing will he retires (say age 39 or 40) then he plays until Dylan Larkin is 28 years old, Mantha and AA are 29. Lundqvuist, Andersson, Luongo, Brodeur, Osgood, Ryan Miller at have or had great careers until the end of their 30s with minimal decline, in fact for some they actually did better as they aged (can't say the same about forwards or defenseman though). Vernon won his cup when he was 34, also won Conn Smyth, Hasek won it when he was old (I don't remember how old). I get that "young" is important in hockey and everyone was high on Mrazek but I'm not sure if age actually means much for successful goalies. If Mrazek didn't exist, no body would talk about Howard getting old. We'd probably be talking about how we still have a good 5-6 years with him and can't wait till Petruzzeli takes over as Howard gets to his twilight years. My point is, losing Mrazek is no big loss for us. We still have a starting goalie that should theoretically keep playing well for a while and until next prospect comes through.

I must be missing something. Do you mean this was a change made in the 2013 CBA?

It might happen, Jimmy's injury is upcoming, as it is the new calender year. Honestly though, instead of arguing and saying it'll never happen, just say, looking back at Blashill's tendencies, the odds of a string of starts happening are slim. Look at that, me being a voice if reason...must be a new year!

This is exactly what it comes down to. The NHL didn't "deem" it as legit. It's more like "well we don't want to deal with the NHLPA". Most likely because the physicians gave their expert medical opinion which is as simple as "well the best thing for Hossa is to avoid the allergen". Which is true. The doctor's aren't lying. That really is the best thing. Just like avoiding the sun altogether is the best cure for skin cancer; yet impractical and impossible. My point in my post is the entire LTIR is easily exploitable because as long as a higher legit authority gives circumstantial evidence, then the NHL really has no case to decline it. If you don't want to die in a plane crash, just don't fly. Of course Dickie has his rose-colored glasses on and thinks Hossa quit because it just became oh so unbearable. Even though he probably would have finished his contract if the LTIR system/ loophole didn't exist, just like hundreds of hockey players have done it before. I was of the opinion that Kronwall wouldn't be eligible for LTIR but given this Hossa situation, anything is possible. Even the case of "well hockey causes booboos so I want to quit, I have a doctor's note".

No one says he's lying. But a lot of players are allergic to the material in those equipment and it's not a condition that would make him unable to play hockey. Besides, he can be treated for it. They're using a loop-hole of "It's best to avoid the allergen". No difference than a doctor saying "it's best to avoid the sun so you never get skin cancer". And no different than saying "it's best to not ever drive if you don't want to get killed in a car crash". Well no s hit. Bottom line is it's not a life threaning or career ending injury. It actually isn't an injury at all. No part of his body is injured. Hence he shouldn't be on an "Injured reserve" list. It's simply him quitting because of inconvenience and also to avoid recapture penalty for the Hawks. In this case the LTIR being used more for early retirement and inconveniences. They should just change the name to Long-term retirement plan. LTRP. That way, even though Zetterberg's back is fine medically speaking, he can just get on that ASAP and say "well it's best for me to stop palying hockey because even though my back is technically 100% healed, hockey is such a dangerous sport that I can injure it again". And then every 38 year old player can do the same thing. "Well you know, my wife is telling me I'm getting older, and I need to spend my time with my kids, she wants me to be around and be a father. Hockey being such a dangerous sport could take my life away and my kids wouldn't have a father anymore, this is why I feel as though I can no longer play, it would be an inconvenience to me and my family". And the doctor could give the report saying "Hockey is a high-contact sport that can cause injuries and be life-threatening, in my expert medical opinion he has a good reason to be placed on the injured reserve". Pronger was a start to the LTIR exploitation, Hossa's situation just made it dumber. More will come. Trust me. And I'd say in 10-15 years LTIR will have new rules so teams can't use it as a cap circumvention. Something along the lines of teams still having to have it partly count towards their cap.

Got worse at age 38. Not 35 or 36, or 37. 38 was the magic number. After a 20 year hockey career. The year to call it was age 38. Not 37. 38. When he looked considerably slower on ice than the year before. Clearly looked like he was showing signs of age in the 16/17 season. That was the same year where the allergy got so terrible he could no longer handle it.