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Wow, some of the comments here and elsewhere are really low. While I'm not expecting anybody to be losing sleep over an injury to another team's star player, celebrating the pain anybody goes through with that kind of injury is rotten. Sports really brings out the worst in people, especially those shielded by the anonymity of the Internet. From what I'm reading, Crosby did not need to get his jaw wired shut. That's significant because it means he should be able to get back to solid foods earlier than someone who required that procedure. Athletes in particular who go through that tend to lose weight and strength, which sets back their recovery even further. Hopefully Crosby recovers in time for the playoffs. I, for one, prefer to watch hockey with its best players active.

And hossa was playing with a bum shoulder that required surgery. But that's not important because it doesn't fit your argument.

I think the travel has more to do with it than anything. Mickey Redmond commented on this a few weeks ago. I think Brunner told him the farthest he had to travel to a road game was less than an hour. They don't have to deal with the drastic time zone changes either in the Swiss League. I know everyone thinks it's easy and oh, they get paid a lot, so they should just suck it up, but try flying all night, losing 3 hours, sleeping in a strange place, then having to play in a hockey game. I think it's far more difficult than it appears.

Sammy and Coliacovo would get hurt playing in juggernaught armor

I'm not worried. It's not a lack of effort, he just needs to learn the game. His talent is there, he is a great skater, and the shot is top notch. He's also better than I thought he would be passing the puck. He just over thinks the game too much, and he makes some really bad decisions defensively. He is really raw when it comes to that part of the game, but he has never stopped skating or anything like that. So I definitely think his game will develop with time. Once he starts to understand the game he'll create more offensive opportunities for himself by creating turnovers. His hot start had a lot to do with everyone around him playing well, once Zetterberg fell off he's game went right with him. And Brunner's not at the level yet where he can create his own scoring chances. The good news is he won't get a big deal, that kinda scared me in the beginning of the year when he was close to the goal scoring lead. Now hopefully we sign him to a couple year deal, and have a steal of a player once his game develops.

Would have been way better with Dekeyser, Brunner and a drafted player.

Team masseuse?

The fact that you are trying to justify that Franzen is somehow better than Hossa makes me wonder if you just check box scores or if you watch the actual games. Franzen scored a whopping 3 more goals than Hossa in 2010, and has 4 points since 2010 in 13GP in the playoffs, Hossa has 8 points in 10GP. No matter which way you slice it, Hossa is just better than Franzen.

Yeah, soccer really captures the gist of it. Sports are supposed to be entertainment. I don't know what it is that drives some people, makes them so unconscionable. Maybe they don't have enough going on with themselves so they live vicariously through sports and teams, and it becomes bigger than them. At any rate, the unbridled hate that comes out of stories like these make me a cynical man.

Fatigue isn't the only issue here. He was an unknown commodity with no NHL experience when the season began. He scored a few goals early off, had a highlight reel shootout experience, and a few weeks later he's among the lead leaders in goals. Suddenly, teams stopped treating him like a soft Euro and started taking away his time and space. He's more tightly covered whilst sneaking into the slot from the soft-side. Defense are on him much quicker and harder in the corners, and while Brunner can mentally adjust to North American hockey, it will be a slower process to build up the physical strength to be able to fight through the coverage that he is now experiencing. Secondly, Brunner has really focused hard on playing a more defensively sound game. He is back-checking much more effectively than when the season began, and he's playing much deeper in our own zone instead of floating at the blueline waiting for a breakout. He has also been more conscious of opponent's breakout potentials and is adjusting his game in the offensive zone to accommodate this. His new-found defensive responsibilities are also going to lower his offensive output. Combined with the brutal North American schedule and travel, its no surprise at all why Brunner has suddenly gone quiet. He's with good role models though, and I suspect that he will be able to overcome the schedule and the added defensive attention he has over the next few years. Given his commitment to learning the defensive side of the game, and how far he has come already, I'd say the guy is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful at this level. Lets hope my assumption is correct.

And the problem with trading is to find someone who will. In the West some teams won't trade with us because we still may meet them in the playoffs while some teams in the east won't trade with us because we will face them next season in our new division. And even if they will the price would be significantly higher than usual. It is the worst time to trade for the Red Wings, it will get better when the season is over. Stick with the tools we have and make some moves during the offseason, in which the new CBA will also help us.

That was a dive by Crosby.

Edited the thread title to be less obnoxious. I understand not liking Crosby, but celebrating that he got hit in the face with the puck is lame.

Change the thread title to "Amnesty".

So what are the two of you going to do if karma turns out to be the ***** she's purported to be?

I have been saying for a long time that Brunner should be playing with Pavel... not on the bottom 6 and not with Hank... with Pavel. Brunner has proven he can score goals and, more than that, he competes which is something Franzen does not do. IMO Brunner deserves to play with Pavel much more than Franzen, and I think we will get better results as well.

What's that Lassie? Someone's in trouble?

I thought we had a deep prospect pool, as I'm always told. Yet, those prospects are sitting in the minors. Why is Tatar sent down when worse players are in the lineup every night? I understand things are getting tougher, but I feel like Babcock and Holland are making them even worse with terrible personnel decisions. Holland signed the wrong players in the offseason and made a dumb trade for Quincey before that. Babcock outdoes him by not playing Tatar and Nyquist and giving people like Cleary and Abdelkader too much trust. The fanbase should have high expectations. Name me one great team in sports, with a long successful history, that doesn't have spoiled fans with high expectations. I like that about our fans. We don't like mediocrity. If someone here doesn't accept that fact, they should go join another forum, where people are routinely happy about making the playoffs once in a while. I hardly hear anyone refer to Green Bay as that. And it's not pasted at the 50 yard line like Hockeytown is. Did anyone call Detroit Hockeytown in the 80's? Nope, and it's because they sucked.

Right because I complain all the time on the forums. I wouldn't have said anything. Keep the first rounder and draft a player, Quicey hasn't changed a thing on this Wings roster this year. We had him, then traded to get him back ? Pretty ridiculous. If you think Hossa isn't the best defensive winger in the game, even though it has been mentioned by hockey players that have far greater knowledge than you and me both (including Datsyuk complimenting how great his defensive game is) then i'm betting you don't watch much games.

get chris chelios behind the bench with babs and play some good cop bad cop. Have Chelios scream bloody murder at them and maybe then they will start listening to Babs a little more

Opinions are like an "Avery"; everyone has one.

Streaky? Right. They guy hasn't put up fewer than 20 goals since his rookie year (18) except in 08-09 when he had 13 goals and 10 assists in 17 games played. You can say a lot of things about Marian Gaborik, but any way you look at it the guy's an elite goal scorer.

The well wishes are appreciated, I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see that. There's a number of players in the league that I'm not a fan of but wouldn't want to see them hurt. For me personally I can't get too worked up about what people say about a player but I draw the line at injuries. They're still living, breathing human beings. From all I've heard his teeth pretty much just got annihilated, the surgery was for his teeth (yes, many "oral" jokes abound) Didn't hear anything about a break in the jaw (that is what worries me most right now) but they would likely want to take precautionary measures with the concussion as well though I am hoping that's not going to be an issue. The guy may as well just go and make the full turn to heel and just come back with a damn grill, hopefully that's all it will come to.

ive seen plenty of other people come here and laugh at redwings injuries and stuff ...i respect your opinion any other peoples here if they think im wrong but i wont apologize for hating crosby and being happy he got hurt sorry if it offends people but its my right to hate

I like babes as much as the next guy, if not more, but I don't lke eye candy that is there for the sole purpose of being eye candy fluff. I'd rather listen to Murph talk about the game I'm watching than listen to Eva Menendez read the script that some else wrote for her while trying to lok like she actally knows what she's talking about I like Mickey and Murph because they are a coupe of veterans talkng hockey and don't follw the same ESPN sports guy formula. The Wings experience is all about nostalgia, and he is an integral part of it. Edit: The ratings are tanking because of the product on the ice: I was dreading watching the Anaheim game all day long because I could not bear to watch them play half hearted and get destroyed by frikin Anaheim. (Luckily, I decided to have the game on while I did other things, but you get the point).