C-Dub

The Wings and Lidstrom are working on another contract, right? *Looks around nervously*

Malaysia should be great, drivers seem to like the track. It has two long straights that should give plenty of oportunity to pass. After what happened in Melbourne I think drivers will be a bit more conservative in the first turn because they are coming from half-way through the longest straight to a long 180 degree turn into a 90 degree chicane. A lot of drivers were way to aggressive on the first turn in Melbourne, after one race that usually irons itself out a bit. I expect Ferrari to make a statement after the pitiful result in Melbourne. Heidfeld will make it on the podium again if he doesn't have mechanical defects.

Beating any team in the playoffs is tough. I think I would least likley want to play Vancouver because of Luongo. After that Calgary, because they are just tough tough in the playoffs. MN is scary because of their speed, but we can handle them. Colorado would not have a chance against us if we are healthy, it might be sweep.

Dallas/Anaheim would be a great series. A taste of what's to come is on tonight. Should be a good game and they are still fighting for home-ice advantage.

Giving a 15 year contract to anybody is crazy. Unless that someone is Brett Favre...

Excellent point. One of the reasons I hate when we are uncontested in 1st place towards the end of the year. A team fighting to have to get into the playoffs is sometimes better off. With all the injuries we had as of late, I hope guys keep fighting to get into form for the playoffs. I don't as much care win or lose at this point, they just need to appear (and be!) ready to go to battle.

The best way to gather some momentum is to get into the first playoff game and make a statement and win decisively. Anything else does not matter, since the regular season is mostly irrelevant come playoff-time. There are enough examples of teams that entered the playoffs without momentum that did great and vice versa. What it comes down to is THE playoffs, not what happens before them. Go Wings!!!

Wow, what an insane race! Some people really need to wake up. Ferrari looked pitiful, but then again, it's 1 race out of 18, I am sure they will bounce back just fine. Very impressed with Hamilton coming back to his second year with such a strong performance. Barichello running off with the fuel hose...wow! That was lucky nobody got dragged under the car. Raikonen making TWO total mistakes in one race...wow, that was unexpected. Glock's crash will be replayed all season similar to Kubica's last season...he was damn lucky on that one. CRAZY start to the season...

Please explain, I have not seen anything in the news lately that would suggest that riots are accepted, particularly in countries like England, the Netherlands, or Italy. I would generally consider these societies as civil as it gets and again, riots have create quite a public outcry when they happen. Most recently, the Italian league shut down after a fan of one team shot another fan of another team at a traffic light after a game. Clearly, this does not seem to be an action suggestion acceptance. EDIT: I know that most to all German clubs have policies that if you are rioting in a stadium, including throwing things onto the pitch, etc, you will be banned for life from attending. Similarly, everytime the Euro rolls around (once every 4 years) Germany collects passports of known hooligans to prevent them from crossing the border to attend Euro games in foreign countries.

Though you have to say that Buffalo did come close to winning the Cup against Dallas. However, in the past few years here, they DO have let significant talent just leave from their team. Sucks to cheer for the Sabres when the owners are aparently only interested in increasing the bottom line.

While I (mostly) appreciated Fedorov's years in the Detroit lineup, and recognize that he was an extrodinarily talanted player, I don't think his number is worthy of hanging next to the numbers already up in the rafters. The way I see it, the retirement of a number is the biggest honor a team can give you. You made such an impact on the fans and the organization, they do not want anyone else ever wearing the number because it is forever associated with you. I wouldn't mind seeing someone else wear the 91, I don't automatically associated Fedorov with it. Now another #19, I do not want to skate in a Red Wings jersey. Lidstrom for sure will be next but I doubt Osgood. Though he does deserve it and certainly has the stats to back it up. If he wins another cup and retires from Detroit, it may happen.

Congratulations on the Lamest-Post-Of-The-Thread-So-Far Award. How about you line up in my back yard and we'll have the ref step me back the appropriate distance for a free kick and I shoot you in the balls a few times.

DrCeeDub Only playing Forza 2 on LIVE, no other LIVE compatible games so far. I will likely get the hockey installments, as well as Madden when it comes out in a while. Might pick up March Maddness or NBA Live. Cheers!

Not sure. I am originally from Germany now living in the US, so I can only speak for Germany. Soccer is Number 1 but there are lots of other sports getting attention. Hockey is one of them and the German basketball league has gained a lot of popularity. Further, racing is popular, escially Formula 1 but also the German GT type series. During the winter time, the various ski world cups (ski jumping, biathlon, etc) get a lot of attention. However, I am not aware of many countries having the type of monetary force behind sports like the NFL, NBA, NHL, or MLB. I think that is uncommon in most countries. In fact, most soccer teams in Germany are officially still clubs, not owned by a person or consortium like the franchises in the above mentioned leagues. Some of that is changing though, most notably with soccer clubs like Manchaster, that is a publically traded company at this point.

I had the joy to watch Favre on December 9, 2007 take on Oakland at Lambeau. My first trip to Lambeau and first ever Packer game in attandance. Needless to say that no in retrospect I am so glad I did the trip. At the point when we bought our tickets I was sure Favre will be back this year but the main reason was that you just never know and it would be a shame to pass on watching #4 when you have the chance. Windchill of 5F, snow at Lambeau, and #4 slinging the football...it's doesn't get much better than this.

Wow, that's rough. I was comparing #19s retirement with Brett's and came too a different conclusion on the whole thing. Not in the mood to rag on either of the two...

Let me jump on this. I don't think this has anything to do with the sport itself but the plain simple fact that soccer is the most popular sport in literally every country in the world. Sure, America favors Football, Canada favors hockey, other countries favor other sports, but if you look at the entire world, there is no sport that is number 1 in more countries than soccer. Hence, we can draw fairly simple conclusions. 1) There are a ton of countries in the world that are way behind when it comes to -- well, let's just call it manorism for simplicity. What I am saying is, there are quite a few countries were in general riots are more common, people tend to be more violent during political crises, the way people treat each other in society is a bit different, etc. Hence, if those countries also like soccer, it is very likely that their actions in their "normal" lives also reflect of the way they treat each other when attending a soccer game. Colombia in general is more passionate about stuff than us stuck-up Americans are (generalization!!! give me a break). If you add alcohol to the mix, sure, I can see how a riot might arise. Same riot probably also arises when there are other sports played that these people feel passionate about. 2) In general, major sports in the US have become corporate events, or events reserved for the upper class. Sure, this is far fetched and particularly untrue for baseball, where you can actually take your family to a game for perhaps under $100. However, most sporting events these days cost WAY too much money to attend, excluding the less well-off people. While steroptypical, more well-off people are probably less likely to hit each other over the head at a sporting event they just paid $100 a seat for. Not to say that there aren't exceptions. In many other countries though, sporting events are actually still well visited by the less well-off people. For example, most soccer stadiums in Europe still have sectors of the stadium as standing-only room. These "seats" are really cheap, even cheaper if you buy a season ticket. I used to buy a season ticker for hockey in Germany, standing room only for maybe $150....for 25 or so home games! That's unheard of in the US. 3) Soccer gets a bad rap in the US, no matter how you turn it. When does ESPN or other major networks report on soccer? When there is a riot at the game. Do they show who wins the Champions League? Who wins titles in major leagues around the world? Nope. In fact, the few times I saw goals shown on ESPNs Top-10 plays of the day, I usually laugh asking myself, who picked out THAT goal as a great unusual goal? These networks have a hard time judging what is a good soccer game and what is not. At least in the southern states we get a bit more soccer, primarily because the hispanic population is interested in it. In any regard, look beyond the few riots you see and try to FIND good soccer games where fans are friendly and you will see a great atmosphere. Not to say you won't find crazies, most recently the issues facing Italian soccer attandees, but then, it's not like there are NO incidents whatsover to report in other sports.

Saw a blurb this weekend about Gretzeky scoring his 50 goals in...38 games? Anyway, he finished the season with 90 or so. The goalies they were showing looked silly compared to today's goalies. They looked like little kids in goal! Pad sizes have increased like crazy and while I am not sure which is better, there probably should be a middle way somewhere. Not to take anything away from Gretzkey but Tony Twist could have netted 20 goals during the Gretzkey/Oilers era they showed in those clips.

Better now than in April...

Modano is a first ballot hall of famer, no doubt about it. I agree with the other's being kinda shaky overall, epsecially on first ballot.

Is hockey on it's way into 2nd place for most favorite redneck sports, pushing hunting squirrles with shotguns into 3rd place??? Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Dang, my browser lost the post and the forum doesn't cache using the back button. Anyway, my point was that Dats will be fine and doesn't care one way or another. He'll get his goals eventually. He IS productive after all, so what is there to worry about? Someone has got to assit Zetterberg's goals.

Not sure if this helps you at all but there is this 4-DVD (Link to Amazon) set you can buy that recaps the 3 most recent championship teams and includes 5 full-length games that are considered some of the best the Red Wings ever played. Probably not what you are looking for or you already have it. If you don't, I own it and highly recommend it. The Amazon price is also about 50% less than what I paid some time ago.

I have no clue what "Center Ice Online" is, but since it has "onlne" in the name, does it possibly run in the web browser? In that case, the operating system used should not matter.

That's comparing apples to oranges -- they are different players. Skill-wise Lang beats Drake by miles.