GoWings1905

So we traded Sizemore who obviously wasn't hitting well to move the .200 hitting 8000 strikeout man Ryan Raburn to second base? As always, stellar logic Leyland. Get Raburn and Inge off the team if you want to improve the offense. This team is a wreck. Bye bye Dombrowski. Finally.

The Tigers are just an average team. No different than any of the past couple years. Sad thing is if they could somehow sneak into the playoffs, they could be like the Giants and win it all with starting pitching.

Rumors swirling today the Tigers are going to send Coke back to the bullpen soon and call up Andy Oliver to take his place in the rotation. Also looks like Charlie Furbush, who has been brilliant at Toledo, will be called up to hopefully replace Brad Thomas in the bullpen. Maybe Benoit goes on the DL, but something has to give in the pen very soon. Coke hasn't been all that bad as a starter. Couple of rough starts and a few others he deserved better with no run support. It's pretty clear now though he has more value to the Tigers in the bullpen since Benoit has been a complete bust and Ryan Perry may reach his potential by 2020. The starters are pitching too well for the team to give away wins late in games. Besides, I want to see Andy Oliver back in a Tigers uniform. Seriously, the rotation will be sick if he lives up to the hype. He has better stuff than Porcello and add that to JV and Scherzer and the Tigers pitching is set for years to come.

Man I sure hope Cleary doesn't regress more and score 30 next season...

I don't know where the original poster came up with that proposed Bogosian deal, but there is no chance in hell Atlanta would do that. I would love to see Bogosian acquired over the summer, but it would take Filppula, a pick and prospect to even get the Thrashers interested. Hudler and Ericsson would get Holland laughed at.

Nothing beyond a hunch, but I think Nick is done.

Definitely don't want E back. I hate saying it's time to end it with Draper. He actually had a pretty good season and his leadership is invaluable, but Mursak is coming up and both Miller and Eaves bring more to the table.

VAN/SJS: 4-2 BOS/TBL: 4-2 stinky fish taco?

Loudest and best game I have ever been to by far. Absolutely incredible night at the Joe.

Happy Birthday Captain! See you in the finals hopefully.

From the bench? You can't win four without getting one first. I still think this series is over, but I'll go down rooting hard for the Wings.

Fire. Leyland. Someone had to start it. I can't be alone right now either thinking it.

Franzen is playing hurt so that's hardly fair. Besides, Fil accumulated those points against a Phoenix team with no talent whatsoever to match the Red Wings at forward. Now against more skilled opponents, it is pretty clear the only forwards on this team that can produce anything offensively through two games are Datsyuk and Zetterberg. And for someone "sucking" Franzen was the only one that generated any semblance of a scoring chance on that line today. I wouldn't be opposed to Abdelkader sitting, but our best players to be the best players. Justin Abdelkader isn't going to make or break this series. Production or lack thereof from our top six forwards is.

Abdelkader has taken some stupid penalties, but I'm more concerned with our "second line" center or the guy that has supposed to fill that role for five years now and still hasn't. Filppula is useless offensively and the reason Datsyuk and Zetterberg almost have to be split up again. No worries though. Fil will hit his potential next season according to his fan club and the Cubs will win the World Series.

Pray Bill McCreary comes out of retirement and hope the Sharks grow a pair and stop embellishing like clowns.

Why is Brad Thomas still here? He gives up more runs than he gets outs.

VAN/NSH: 4-1 SJS/DET: 4-2 WAS/TBL: 4-2 PHI/BOS: 4-3

I'm fairly certain Kronwall wore the second "A" ahead of Rafalski late in the season until Kronner himself got hurt. I remember a game when Pavel was still out, Draper was a healthy scratch, and Kronwall was the other A. I think he will ultimately get it too once Nick retires a long time from now.

Going to the game tonight. Should be rather cold, but I do get to see Verlander pitch which is sweet.

Pavel, though I really wanted to go with Kronwall.

You never give Stu any credit regardless. He's just a very steady d-man; I don't know what more people expect from him. He isn't flashy, but he's physical and incredibly reliable in his own zone. I don't think Stuart's play dropped off at all in this series - he was still strong, but Kronwall and Salei just ramped up their play a ton from the regular season. I don't see that as a flaw in Stuart, it just means the other guys weren't playing up to their potential. I don't know where you are coming up with Stuart isn't "solid". He had one rough night in game 7 in 2009, but beyond that he has been our most consistent d-man since he came here not named Lidstrom. Somewhat related note, but if we didn't have a guy named Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall was the MVP of this series. Best Kronner has looked since the 2008 playoffs.

Says the guy whose team almost moved to the hockey hotbed of Kansas City.

Keep Modano out. Miller hustles and is valuable on the PK while Draper had some huge faceoff wins in game one and plays really well with Helm and Eaves. As others have stated, Miller is a much better fit on the third line than Modano with their respective skill sets.

Definitely agree with you. That place was going nuts last night. Unreal atmosphere - I have never enjoyed a live sporting event so much.

I got $115 seats for $56 to last night's game. 16th row in the lower bowl directly behind the net. I was shocked when I saw the prices on Stubhub and there was no way I was passing up those prices for a playoff game. The Joe was insane last night too. Absolutely incredible atmosphere.