GoWings1905

Ouch. You know it was a rough night when even Babs talks bad about his favorite goalie ever. The tying goal to Jones was awful. It went between Howard's legs - Janik being in front of him doesn't excuse a goal like that. I'm sure Jimmy himself would admit he has to stop that puck.

My interest in the NBA declines more every year. It's a league of players, not teams. I can't stand the ego-maniacs running the NBA and could never justify spending money going to a game right now. That bothers me quite a bit because basketball was my favorite sport to play growing up and I have so many fond memories of watching the Pistons especially the 2004 team. As for the Pistons themselves, I have no idea what Joe Dumars is doing with this team. They might be a borderline playoff team in the Eastern Conference, but what good is getting swept by the Heat/Celtics/Magic? I would rather tear it down completely than linger in mediocrity because this team as currently constructed is a disaster. Should have traded Rip and Prince this summer. Still need a true point guard. Not too sure where McGrady fits with so much competition on the perimeter. Not to mention, the most glaring issue still has not been addressed. Monroe is a nice start, but that frontcourt is purely garbage. Plus Jerebko is out and all that means is more playing time for the stellar Jason Maxiell and Charlie Villanueva. The league won't let the Finals be anything other than Heat/Lakers. I hope Kobe s***s all over LeBron when it happens.

I'll just say this: If Ozzie had let in that second and fourth goal last night, this thread would be twice as long. Those were bad goals. I thought the third was stoppable too considering Jimmy got beat on the short-side. I'm not clamoring already for Ozzie to start, but we need Jimmy to be stronger on nights when the team in front of him is clearly off their game. I thought the whole team looked like garbage last night besides a handful of players. Colorado had the puck way too much outside of a few spurts from the Red Wings. We had no answer to their forecheck, got trapped in our zone for extended stretches and took penalties because of it. The Avalanche outworked the Red Wings plain and simple.

Because having it happen in October completely eliminates it from ever happening again?

So much for keeping Nick's minutes down.

If the Hawks fans are defending that, I never want to hear a word again about Kronner's hit on Havlat.

While I agree that UM finally got exposed by a team with a defense, Robinson is only six starts into his career and he has far more staying power in that offense than Forcier ever did. Pryor is impressive, but he's in year three of a much easier offense to run with much better talent surrounding him right now. Imagine what Robinson could do if defenses didn't have the luxury of solely focusing on him every play.

No chance in hell I'm watching the banner raising, but I will be tuned in to watch the league's model franchise take back the Hawks one-year throne.

Difference being Indiana's defense was worse than Michigan's and that's a feat in itself. Michigan State won't allow 35 points in 18 minutes.

I appreciate everything Maltby has given to the Red Wings, but I want to win. This may sound silly in October, but seriously two points in the Western Conference can be a huge deal in April. Does Bertuzzi make or break the Wings chances of winning tomorrow night? Probably not, but I want to see what that second line can do as soon as possible. If Bertuzzi is healthy enough, he should and will play. I think the sentiment is nice because of Maltby's role and tenure with the Red Wings, but let's remember the goal of this organization is to win. Maltby understands that as much as anyone.

Having watched my team play both UM and MSU, my opinion is Michigan State will win the game on Saturday. It's very hard to pick against Robinson right now, but Michigan's defense is just awful. I'm not taking anything away from UM being 5-0, but they haven't been truly tested yet. Notre Dame is the best team they have played and even I will admit ND is making strides against tough opponents, but overall very inconsistent. ND, UMass, and Indiana all shredded Michigan's defense and MSU can run the ball and keep Robinson off the field, which may be the best only weapon to actually stopping him. At some point, not playing any defense will catch up to UM and MSU is good enough to make them pay. 38-31 Spartans

Friday, October 8 Minnesota at Carolina San Jose at Columbus Dallas at New Jersey Anaheim at Detroit x2 Buffalo at Ottawa Washington at Atlanta Saturday, October 9 Phoenix at Boston Columbus at San Jose NY Rangers at Buffalo Dallas at NY Islanders Montreal at Pittsburgh Ottawa at Toronto New Jersey at Washington Atlanta at Tampa Bay Philadelphia at St. Louis Anaheim at Nashville Detroit at Chicago Los Angeles at Vancouver Sunday, October 10 Boston at Phoenix Los Angeles at Calgary Florida at Edmonton

And I think his accusation of exaggeration had no point. His belief is that Ritola isn't a franchise player I think. Again, no one here is arguing that. You missed the point as well. We are comparing Ritola to the player that directly resulted in him being placed on waivers. It's not a slam-dunk like you exaggerate, but would you care to defend Drew Miller as a guaranteed future success story? Just like Derek Meech?

Wow, accusing people of exaggeration and then you make a complete leap like that. Show me where anyone said Ritola was a franchise player. We're comparing him to Drew Miller not Sidney Crosby. I clearly said potential in the post you quoted in reference to Ritola's prospects. I and many others feel Ritola's potential is higher than Drew Miller's. I have no idea where you got franchise player or Sidney Crosby from.

Fair points, but having Drew Miller here or not isn't going to affect the Red Wings chances of winning right now whatsoever. He'll have very little impact this season. Sacrificing a potential piece of the future for years to come for a guy that may not even be on the ice most nights isn't very sensible in my opinion.

The 34 points in 133 career games for starters from Miller. That ceiling isn't very high. Is losing Ritola worth it for a career high goal scorer of ten that kills penalties? Z & D hit it right on. The risk here isn't worth it for a player like Miller, who probably will be closer to the ceiling of the Joe on most nights.

Come on, they may not feel he was ready right now but no potential whatsoever? A former member of the Red Wings organization seems to think he does and Yzerman saw him play plenty over the years. Five pre-season games is every opportunity and a handful of games last season on a team decimated with injuries? Ritola has potential - unfortunately it will be realized elsewhere while we watch Drew Miller maybe kill penalties or sit in the press box as a healthy scratch.

No kidding, I couldn't agree more. People act like losing Miller means we have nobody left to kill penalties. The Red Wings are frickin loaded with solid defensive forwards. Besides, how many penalties is Miller going to kill as the 13th forward which he will be when everyone is healthy? Hell, I know Babcock prefers to keep their minutes down but we also have the luxury of throwing two of the best defensive forwards out there to kill penalties if necessary. There are hundreds of Drew Miller's floating around in the NHL and we kept one for a year over a prospect that could develop into far more than anything Miller has. I don't even care so much what Ritola did compared to Miller right now. In the future, this appears to be a very short-sighted decision. The Red Wings gave up potential to keep a 13th forward.

While being overly sarcastic, you are actually proving the point of all of us that wanted to keep Ritola over Miller. Just because Meech outplayed Quincey doesn't mean it was the right decision. It clearly wasn't. This is even more frustrating because we kept a player that probably won't dress most nights when everyone is healthy and has likely already reached his ceiling as a solid, 4th line defensive forward. Ritola may never even turn into more than that, but the potential for him to be greater is still there. I appreciate Drew Miller, but it seems truly silly to keep him on this team with what the Red Wings have in place over a 23-year-old that could be a productive forward for years to come.

First it was Ritola over Miller and I thought that was upsetting. Eaves just screams Red Wing. So does Maltby, but this isn't 2000. Fair point, but how likely is that scenario? Besides, I've never heard anything besides Patrick Eaves has been a very hard worker since joining the Red Wings. I like Maltby, but this is borderline insane to even be considering.

I really like Drew Miller, but this is a terrible decision. Drew Miller doesn't give the Red Wings anything they don't have. Granted, neither does Ritola right now but he definitely could down the road. Miller is redundant - this team is stacked with solid defensive forwards. It should have been Eaves or Miller and Ritola. We don't need both of the first two. Ritola is going to get claimed. He's coming from the Red Wings.

We need Maggs back as the DH or Cabrera will never see a strike next season. Also, I hate the left side of the infield if Dombrowski brings both Inge and Peralta back. One is fine, both is stupid. It's time to cut ties with Inge. Great guy, teammate, and loves the Tigers but let's be realistic about what he truly brings to the team. Solid defense, he never hits above .250 and he strikes out six million times. I ended up liking Peralta way more than expected, but he doesn't play defense well enough to start at shortstop everyday. He's only 29 though and definitely has more upside swinging the bat than Inge so I really prefer Peralta at third. Hopefully Jim finally realizes that Ryan Raburn is indeed valuable if he starts frequently. I think he more than earned one of the outfield corner spots next season. So glad Laird is gone; Avila started hitting more down the stretch so hopefully he can add something offensively. I like the rotation fairly well, although Porcello and Galarraga worry me after JV and Scherzer. The Tigers finished exactly where they deserved this season. Not thrilled with the result after being in first at the break, but .500 isn't too far off the mark considering the circumstances and injuries. Cabrera has to be the MVP. Look at the guys the Tigers batted third and fifth when Maggs and Guillen got hurt and Cabrera never missed a beat. This will be an interesting off-season for the Tigers. Dombrowski really can't afford to mess this one up.

Agreed. I appreciate Bonderman working so hard to keep coming back from all of the tough breaks, but he is just a terrible pitcher. Speaking of pitchers, I would link the article, but I can't recall exactly where I read it. Anyways, there was a report that said the D-Backs offered Stephen Drew for Porcello earlier this summer. There was speculation previously that the Tigers were "showcasing" Porcello. It's a very tough scenario, but I would probably prefer that trade had went down. Shortstop is a glaring need and Drew would cement that position for years to come. I also can't help but feel the Tigers rushed Porcello to the big leagues and he'll never get to the level many people expected him to. He still pitches to way too much contact and his strikeouts are going the wrong direction. With JV and Scherzer at the top of the rotation and guys like Turner and Crosby coming soon, it seems worth the sacrifice of Porcello to get a talent like Drew. Peralta/Inge cannot be the left side of the infield next season. It doesn't matter now, but interesting to speculate about no less.

Who cares at that point? Franzen is already hurt and the damage is done. I've been made to believe that having Downey around prevented cheapshots according to this thread.

I'm not arguing that what you are stating is always false, but Brooks Orpik threw a cheapshot at Franzen a week ago and Downey was dressed that night. Sure, Bertuzzi defended Franzen after but having Downey around didn't cause Orpik to think twice. It's like the Laraque on Kronwall argument from last season - Laraque was going to stick his knee out regardless of the consequences to follow. Cheapshots are going to happen in the game.