GoWings1905

We're spoiled as a fan base. Winning can be perceived as boring because the Red Wings do it all the time. Do you think fans in Columbus or Florida would be bored with this team?

I like it and most people probably do too. Winning never gets boring.

This is a beautiful post Opie. I love how all the doom-and-gloom people who posted on the first couple pages of this thread aren't making much noise now. It was a joke to read some of the posts stating "the Ducks will beat the Red Wings with no enforcer" or "someone on the team will get hurt in the game." It's typical though - the negative people only come around when something (which is rare) goes wrong with the Red Wings and then they say "I told you so." The fact is the Red Wings dominated the Ducks with no enforcer dressed and nobody got hurt or run at either. The "soft" Red Wings didn't back down as usual. It seems as if some people on here want bad things to happen to the Red Wings so they can justify their personal opinions on certain players or the team in general. It's weak and hardly what a fan should be about. Oh well, the Red Wings played a great hockey game and deserved to win.

Good, solid win. That looked much more like the Red Wings we know. Hossa, Datsyuk, and Cleary were dominant the entire game.

That's their way of sugarcoating a dominating performance that the scoreboard doesn't quite reflect (yet). If the Red Wings keep playing hard, they will bury the Ducks in the third.

Not much faith in this thread for the most part. The Red Wings will win tonight. Red Wings: 4 (Hossa, Lidstrom, Cleary, Datsyuk) Duckies: 2 (Getzlaf, Moen) My only hope is the refs don't ruin another Wings/Ducks game like usual. I want to see two skilled hockey teams, not a penalty fest.

You think they are going to lose every game. What else is new?

You said UM would beat Notre Dame this season too. Not to mention, you said Michigan was the third best team in the Big Ten after beating Wisconsin. How did that work out?

We could really "totally" use some of the players already on the roster playing at a higher level too. Where has Val Filppula been all season? The whole defense as a unit has underperformed (besides Lilja). Kopecky is all but useless. The Red Wings don't need drastic changes - they need to get back to doing the things that made them champions. I would also "totally" find a permanent roster spot for Darren Helm too.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't "average" Ozzie start in goal on the team that won a championship last season while another particular goalie was riding the bench?

See ya Charlie. Thanks for all the talk and no results.

I have noticed teams playing the trap against the Red Wings more especially in the past week. Vancouver used it effectively, Montreal played it perfect (they hardly had a forecheck the entire game), and Boston had the luxury of sitting back on a huge lead. TBH, it is boring to watch, but it's a brilliant strategy against a team like the Red Wings. The Red Wings are so good at controlling the puck and using their skill in the neutral zone. Trapping forces the Red Wings to dump the puck into the zone and chase. The Red Wings are capable of doing that, but I haven't seen a consistent effort in most games where the Wings are willing to win battles for the puck. If the Red Wings aren't willing to dump the puck in and go get after it hard, then why wouldn't opponents sit four or five guys back and clog up the neutral zone? That's why players like Cleary and Holmstrom are needed and so important to the Red Wings success. Filppula used to be scrappy, but hasn't done much of anything this season. Kopecky could do it too. It just requires more effort than solely relying on skill to win hockey games.

Hudler. It's not even close.

Friday: NY Islanders @ Boston Carolina @ Philadelphia Tampa Bay @ Minnesota Chicago @ Anaheim Colorado @ Phoenix Montreal @ Washington Pittsburgh @ Buffalo Nashville @ Atlanta NY Rangers @ Florida Columbus @ Detroit San Jose @ Dallas Saturday: Edmonton @ St Louis Chicago @ Los Angeles Detroit @ Boston Philadelphia @ Toronto Buffalo @ Montreal Ottawa @ NY Islanders Washington @ Columbus New Jersey @ Pittsburgh Minnesota @ Nashville Tampa Bay @ Colorado San Jose @ Phoenix Vancouver @ Calgary Sunday: Florida @ NY Rangers St Louis @ Atlanta Edmonton @ Dallas Anaheim @ Carolina

Damn, the Notre Dame basketball team sure is making the whole football disaster a little less painful. I really like this team - Harangody dominating the paint and McAlarney shooting the lights out. Tory Jackson is a hell of a point guard too. For one of the first times in my life, the Irish basketball team is better and more exciting to me than the football team. I wasn't sure ND was a legit top ten team in the preseason polls, but I think they just might be afterall. Nice win against a good Texas team tonight, and a chance to make a major statement tomorrow against North Carolina. It's also amazing that the Irish are ranked 8th nationally and are quite possibly the 4th best team in their own conference. The Big East is a basketball juggernaut this year especially. I am really looking forward to this season. The schedule is brutal, but it will be great preparation for March. Hell, anything to get my mind off the ensuing beatdown to USC this weekend works for me. Go Irish!

Forwards: Zetterberg: A+ Datsyuk: A Hossa: A Hudler: A Franzen: A- Holmstrom: B+ Samuelsson: B Maltby: B Draper: B- McCarty: C+ Cleary: C Kopecky: C Filppula: C- (I was going to go "D" here, but that seems a bit harsh) Defense: Stuart: B+ Lilja: B+ Kronwall: B Lidstrom: B Rafalski: C Meech: C Lebda: D- (I would have gone "F" if not for the past four games or so) Goalies: Conklin: B Ozzie: C+

You must have missed the New Jersey game.

No. This thread wouldn't even exist had the Red Wings won 2-1 last night.

Which of the three goals would you have liked Ozzie to stop last night?

You're a joke dude. Yes, I have complete faith in Ozzie. The Red Wings are not defending Stanley Cup Champions right now without Ozzie. That's all I am going to say. I am not sure you are rational enough to see any other point of view.

Wow, are you serious? That Sedin deflection should have definitely been stopped. Good lord, did you even watch the game? Ozzie is the only reason the Red Wings got a point tonight. He made huge saves numerous times during the game. Rip the team for sitting on a lead (again) if you must, but you are way off if you think Ozzie is at all to blame.

Do you ever have anything positive to say?

Filppula makes nice plays, but the production is lacking right now. I wouldn't mind Babcock giving Filppula a chance with Pavel and Hossa to see what happens.

Yes, but the moves never lead to any scoring chances.

Good period again for the Red Wings. They'll break through in the third. One player that hasn't impressed me at all lately is Val Filppula. He is basically non-existent on offense anymore.