GoWings1905

I highly doubt Holland would waive Ericsson. Good luck getting free agents to come here with a GM dismissing players a couple months into a new contract.

I don't see any evidence that Stuart forced Perron into Howard. A nudge doesn't result in what Perron did. It was far worse than Abdelkader accidentally hitting Elliott in the head with an errant elbow and Elliott flopping like he got shot. I also noted Oshie was diving all night as well. The Blues looked a lot like the last two playoff series against the Sharks. The refs seemed to catch everything except the Blues diving and the interference in their own zone. Nice "Red Wings suck" chant though while your rafters are empty.

That game was pure garbage in every way. Hockey should be entertaining and I don't find watching two jackasses call nonstop penalties for 60 minutes remotely enjoyable. It's been six years since the lockout and still no one knows what a penalty is in this league on a nightly basis. There's no consistency whatsoever. 16 combined powerplays and over half the game being played on specialty teams is a joke. The Blues are a disgrace, just like the Sharks. Elliott had one of the most blatant flops ever and somehow still gets a penalty call in his favor. Oshie was diving like Setoguchi and the Blues got away with interference in their own zone all night. I hate the re-alignment even more now having to watch these boring teams that trap like the Blues, Wild and Predators all of the time. I wish someone on the Wings would clock Jackman -- tonight was the perfect chance since they spent every shift killing penalties regardless. Ericsson gets paid a lot of money to not play defense. That contract is working out nicely. I don't even hate the guy all that much, but he was directly responsible for two goals being out of position. Bring Smith back up and play him with Kronwall if Ericsson isn't even going to be reliable defensively. I love Z to death, but damn he's gotta start scoring some goals. He's looked strong lately and generated chances, but we need more than just Franzen and Datsyuk putting the puck in the net with Filppula out.

It's better than now, but I wouldn't call it good. The Wings could easily play those Eastern teams six times instead of two. It seems like the East got catered to because they made the concession of having to actually travel at all in this new format.

I fully expect something stupid like the proposed "regions" in the West to both have eight teams apiece, while the East gets seven each. I have very low expectations of the Red Wings actually winding up in the conference they belong either. I'll be happy it cuts down on the travel for the Red Wings, but I still will be disappointed they won't get to play their traditional rivals more. EDIT: Not a fan of this at all. Why is there the need for unbalance when you could easily move Detroit or Columbus?

Who did that? I haven't seen one person yet who has pinned the loss entirely on Conklin.

Yeah, you don't start your backup goalie two games in a row just because the team didn't "show up". Conklin wasn't horrible last night, but as I said previously, the Red Wings probably win last night with Jimmy in goal. That's both a credit to Howard right now and also a testament to Conklin's status as a career backup. Points are too valuable in this league. I don't want Conklin sitting for another month or whatever, but Jimmy got some rest and it's time to roll with one of the best goalies in the league again.

Weekend Picks Since it's only a month out now, I think we will probably use the Winter Classic again as the tiebreaker. There will be a separate thread in advance of the game as it gets closer.

Jose Reyes follows Bell to the Marlins for six years and over 100 million. I think that's overpayment, but the Marlins are looking like a serious contender for years to come. Add another starting pitcher and they may win the NL East next season. Reyes, Ramirez, Stanton, Sanchez, Morrison, Josh Johnson -- that is some superb, young talent.

Second goal was awful, but Conklin was alright otherwise. Definitely looked rusty handling the puck, although somewhat expected sitting for over a month now. Probably win the game with Jimmy in net, but long-term Conklin has to get some more starts for the benefit of the team come April. Too many turnovers and needed to finish more on the powerplay as well. Hopefully Fil isn't hurt and they can start a new winning streak on Tuesday.

San Jose and Vancouver scare me the most in the West. I think the high-end talent on both of those teams is better than the Red Wings overall right now. The Sharks size and speed obviously give Detroit fits. Chicago is a strong team, but the Red Wings defense and goaltending is far superior. I'll worry about the East if it comes to that hopefully, but that's a two horse race between the Bruins and Penguins. As much as I hate them, the Penguins are the best team in the league healthy.

It's a shame you can't use the amnesty rule on all four of those guys really. I would definitely pick Villanueva though if it was up to me. Although, I read yesterday it is unlikely the Pistons will use amnesty on anyone at this point. May as well see if any trades are out there -- I still think some team would take Rip. Regardless, this team is a disaster and the Palace is going to be deserted all season. I honestly wasn't going to care a whole lot if the NBA didn't play at all, as my interest in the league dwindles more every year. Really hoping Prince signs elsewhere and Ben Wallace just goes away too. If you're going to lose games, may as well do it with the future of the team gaining experience. The Pistons finally have some decent young pieces to build around and Frank is a good coach, as long as he gets a chance to develop them. An apathetic fan base may actually work in his favor for awhile.

Two really exciting playoff-like games and wins against the East this past week. The Red Wings pretty much dominated the play tonight outside of the penalties that got the Lightning some momentum in the second. Filppula is an incredible player right now -- love how aggressive and persistent he is offensively. The top two lines have some solid chemistry and production going, which obviously correlates with a long winning streak. Defense is so much better this year. Shots against are way down and Jimmy stops almost all of them regardless. I'm a little concerned with him wearing down, but he's on fire and points are crucial with no separation amongst teams. Kronwall has developed into an all-around terrific d-man. His defense is excellent this season. Ericsson and Kindl both had really strong games too. Pierre is still a total ****** and Stevie Y is still a Red Wing no matter what. Good to see him back home.

Santiago back for two years. Nice move for the Tigers -- solid bench player, can play multiple positions and provided some offense even down the stretch. I am a little surprised it happened, mostly because I assumed Worth would just step in and fill Sanitago's role but no complaints having Ramon around again. Was really hoping Lamont would get the Red Sox job. Stoked to watch the Tigers slow runners get gunned down by a mile at the plate some more again next season.

Agreed. I would prefer some more size/skill in the top-six as well, but that's a commodity most any team would also desire. I just don't necessarily believe the Red Wings absolutely can't contend without being less "soft". Sometimes all it really takes is a hard forecheck to wear on a team's defense. The Red Wings have players capable of doing that, which can negate any advantage in size or "grit" a team like the Sharks may own.

I don't totally disagree, but boy those big tough Bruins sure put the Wings in their place last week. I would rather have Ericsson for 15 years than Mike Komisarek, also.

Things should start heating up here very soon. I am still fairly confident Aramis Ramirez ends up with the Tigers. Gotta take some chances to win now with Verlander and Cabrera in their primes.

Figured I would post the reminder a little earlier this week. I know many people travel the next couple days and may not have a chance to get the picks in. Also of note, Friday's games begin at 1 PM Eastern. Weekend Picks

In the slot, I agree. Anywhere else on the ice, he's very poor. Ever see Holmstrom with the puck in the neutral zone? There's a reason for that. It was more of a joke, anyways.

I seriously can't stop my laughter from Hudler being called gritty and dynamic. I'm going to make a thread tomorrow to praise Holmstrom for his speed and passing.

I don't really care for Betemit coming back either, but I sure as hell would take him at third over a platoon of Inge and Kelly next season. I'm truly terrified the Tigers are content with that too.

Well yes, that's bound to happen when Richards was Hudler's responsibility. Hudler was the only player on the ice even remotely in position to stop Richards. What's Kronwall supposed to do? Cover Hudler's point on the powerplay too?

As Babcock stated, Hudler has a huge head start on Richards there. Then again, maybe Babs is just hating on Hudler again.

Hudler doesn't skate nor play defense well enough to be a center in the NHL. It has nothing to do with Babcock giving him a chance there. He doesn't get the chance because it doesn't suit him. You are seriously overrating his defense. Hudler didn't see a lick of ice time with the Red Wings up a goal in Anaheim the other night in the third. These excuses on the Richards goal are interesting too. All Hudler had to do is react a little sooner and get in a position to take away Richards' ice. He broke way too late and was instead left to chase Richards and his poor speed resulted in a goal.

Ericsson does kill penalties and logs far more minutes than either Smith/Kindl/Commodore right now. I'm quite impressed with Smith through three games, but I think we would see far more mistakes from inexperience from him playing 18-20 minutes than 12-15. Neither Smith nor Kindl is really ready to kill penalties yet, which Ericsson is relatively decent at. I guess you could just roll with Lidstrom, White, Stuart and Kronwall on the PK but that just increases all of their workloads even more. I really like Smith regardless and want to see more of him with the Red Wings.