GoWings1905

I live near Toledo and they are not a very good football team. No chance UM loses this weekend, even though it would be amazing to see.

Not much longer the way things are looking now. It's really not an excuse either - it's the absolute truth.

I suppose this is to be expected. However, I still think Meech is a better player than both Lebda and Quincey. Meech provides everything Lebda does, and has more offensive potential. Oh well, the defense is still incredibly loaded.

No Schneider, no O'Donnell, now no Ryan. Nice off-season for the best GM in the league.

Wings - Pens (again) Same result (again)

The Sharks are always a trendy pick by the media "experts." The Sharks remind me of the Cubs (to a lesser extent) of "wait until next year and see how good we really are." Well, people have been waiting for the Sharks to prove they are a legitimate team for at least the past three seasons now. I'll take the Sharks seriously when they prove something other than being talented and deep on paper. Until then, I still consider them an overrated, underachieving team.

Thankfully we don't have to listen to those two bozos on national TV anymore.

Classy. You do realize Chelios is coming back in a very limited role? If it comes to next May, do you want Kyle Quincey or Derek Meech playing instead of Chelios? Even if Chelios has lost a step (or ten), he is still a reliable, veteran defenseman. I still want to see Lilja - Meech on the third pairing. Putting Quincey with Lilja seems like a very bad idea at this point unless Q has a better showing to close out the pre-season.

Oh well. Bill Clement doesn't dictate whether the repeat happens or not.

The Maltby part is true, but you still proved my point. Neither of those players in their respective roles are more valuable than Sammy. By the way, Kopecky didn't play in the playoffs last season and the Red Wings didn't obviously lack grit.

No. The part I don't understand is why anyone would argue that Helm/Leino deserve Sammy's roster spot. There are players like Kopecky and Maltby who provide nothing compared to Sammy, yet everyone's favorite target is the first to go? It doesn't make any sense to get rid of a solid player at both ends of the ice because certain people can't handle that he shoots too much. If you are going to argue about Helm/Leino deserving a roster spot, at least do it realistically with another player that is actually replaceable.

Agreed. Quincey looked pretty awful tonight. I would be shocked if Q makes the team.

Damn, are they going to set stuff on fire again tonight in Montreal too?

Glad to see all of these penalties every 30 seconds.

Leino, Helm and Abdelkader look damn impressive together.

Dallas defeats Columbus on Friday.

This is quite strange. The Canucks are in for a very long season.

Yes, Notre Dame will play both OU and UM in 2012 and 2013.

No more injuries please. Looking forward to seeing a televised game and... Hossa!

Round One: Chicago Round Two: San Jose WCF: Anaheim SCF: New York Rangers The first three are teams that I despise. The Rangers are my favorite Eastern Conference team, and a Red Wings/Rangers final would be amazing for the NHL.

I see your point, and Michigan could very well end up finishing third in the conference, but I don't quite agree with your logic. You claim that Penn State has only beaten an "overrated" Illinois team (which is true), but I think you could make a serious argument that Wisconsin fits into that same "overrated" category. Yes, Ohio State got destroyed by USC, but most teams do when they play at the Coliseum. It is still the Buckeyes conference to lose IMO, despite of their "struggles" to this point. Slightly off-topic, but the whole use of the term overrated really bugs me. Pretty much any highly ranked team that loses gets called overrated. It is just tough to win in college football - teams are competitive almost every week, and any team can win a given game.

No, Babcock sees something in Lilja that too many people refuse to acknowledge. For a bottom pairing d-man, Lilja does just fine in that role. He is one of the best penalty killers on the team and a good shot blocker as well. Lilja is far more valuable to the Red Wings than Lebda will ever be.

Lidstrom - Rafalski Stuart - Kronwall Lilja - Meech Chelios Trade Lebda and Quincey. It doesn't make any sense to me if Lilja is the one traded to have Meech and Lebda as the third pairing. They are essentially the same player. I would definitely keep Lilja around for his penalty killing ability, since one of our top PK guys (Chelios) is not going to be playing every game. Ericsson would be playing on any other team, but that's the beauty of the Red Wings. That top four on defense is just sick.

This is a great off-season already: getting rid of Hernandez and Renteria is the first step in the right direction. I would really like to see Leo Mazzone be the next pitching coach. As far as shortstop goes, I honestly would have no complaints about Santiago being the starter next season. The Tigers are going to score runs regardless - they can certainly afford to sacrifice some offense to improve the defense. I am not trying to harp on Inge (for now), but how is it that the front office/coaching staff has no problem with Inge being the starting third baseman but are reluctant to play Santiago at short everyday? Brandon is barely hitting above .200 - can Santiago really be any worse offensively?

I like Schneider very much, but thank God he didn't re-sign. Rafalski is perfect here.