lets go pavel

Quality, not quantity. We have been giving up way to many breakaways and easy shots. That's not to excuse Ozzie's performance, but our shots allowed certainly doesn't tell the whole story of how our defense is playing.

Again, based on what? I could list many reasons why the defense might be playing poorly, from the plausible to the inane, but I can't substantiate any of them, so I don't bring them up. I have yet to see anything to substantiate blaming McCrimmon either, this is all just speculation, yet you want to fire him. Seem a little extreme?

If those teams played poorly defensively given the personnel they had, then no, probably not. On the other hand, if they were just poor teams and the defense played above their abilities, perhaps I would. Obviously the Wings felt he had something to contribute, or else they wouldn't have hired him. Regardless, none of this indicates he is the problem now.

Make it happen, Kenny!

So McCrimmon has somehow managed to coach a stellar defense into playing poorly? I don't buy that. They just aren't playing well ... little hustle, mental lapses, way too many turnovers in our own zone, failing to clear on PKs, etc. Again, unless you can point to something specific that McCrimmon has changed from last year to this year that is clearly making our defense play this way ...

Aha! McCrimmon was the problem in Atlanta! Thank goodness they dumped him on us, they should be primed for the playoffs now ... oh ... wait ...

This is silly. WE HAVE THE SAME DEFENSE AS LAST YEAR! What do you think McCrimmon has done that warrants his firing? How is he responsible for the poor play? Does he run the drills in the wrong order in practice? Maybe blow the whistle too loud? Please, someone give me one thing of substance that McCrimmon has done that has a direct causal relationship to our struggles. If there is none, then let's acknowledge there is absolutely no reason other than to send a message ... and quite frankly, that doesn't sound like something this organization would do, at least not midseason. During the offseason, if the playoffs are not successful, that's another story ...

a) Hossa has made it plain that he wants to stay here, and if he's willing to come here for 1 year at 7 million why not more? b) That isn't the point ... Z may earn 7.5 through the first 8 years, but his cap hit is only 6. This is the number that matters, and theoretically we could structure our other contracts similarly. c) 10% of what? He's a RESTRICTED FREE AGENT. He's not on the open market, so his open market value doesn't really apply. d) Huh?

Hossa is right around 7 this year, and one a 1 year deal. There is no indication he wants more than that. On a longer deal we could work something like Z's deal so the cap hit is even lower. Also, Z isn't getting 7-8 mil per year, his number is right around 6. Lids is around 7.5. Hudler isn't going on the open market, he's a RFA, and I highly doubt any team is willing to give up the draft picks it would cost them to lure him away with a $4M offer sheet ... we still can't keep them all, no, but Z's deal opens up more possibilities ...

I think Leino definitely needs to stay for a while, from all I hear there's a chance he goes back to Sweden next year if he doesn't have a spot on the Wings, and this would be a great time to see how he plays with the big boys so we can make and educated decision. Abdelkader and Downey were both solid, if there were no other factors I'd pick Downey, but we know what we get with him, so maybe Abdelkader gets the longer look. Helm I like, but I see no reason to bring him up now, we know what he brings.

I think you're on to something there. I was going to blame the Montreal fans, but if they had done it I'm pretty sure Komisarek would have won!

Last year Flip scored 36 points playing largely on the second line and second PP unit. This year he's on pace to score 36 points playing mostly on the third line with no PP time. He's making the same contributions point-wise as last year despite being in a less offense-oreinted role. I have no problem trading him if it means keeping Franzen or Hossa, but his statistics aren't the reason.

Oh, I don't know, sometimes hiccups last a while. One time I had them for 2 whole days.

If our goal is simply to play the goalie who has played better, then I don't think there is much argument, Conklin gets the job. But ... I'm not hearing a lot of people who sound real confident that he's the guy to take us to the promised land. Most of the reasoning seems to be "let's let him start until Ozzie gets his game together". Again, I ask ... how does sitting Ozzie help him get his game together? Send him a message? He's not a 25 year old who's just screwing around, what good is a benching going to do? Personally, I think we can afford a rough stretch right now, and quite frankly we need to find out sooner rather than later whether Ozzie is going to get things going again. The best way to do that is to play him. I'd rather not wait until March to start giving Ozzie serious starts, only to find out he's done and it's Conklin or bust ...

I'm all for trying to sign Hossa long-term if possible, but if that means we have to keep Kopecky for 10 years too forget it, they can leave together. At least Franzen doesn't come with baggage ... As for Downey, it was good to see him up, and hopefully he'll be back.

Okay, but how does that make it bulls***? It seems perfectly reasonable that 21% of TV viewers could be bandwagon fans. My only problem with this argument is that usually they join the bandwagon after a Cup, not leave it ... I assume there's no precedent for this kind of thing after any of our other recent Cup wins? He's got a point. Yes, we had Drake and Downey, but I have a hard time buying that 21% of last year's viewership ONLY watched because of Drake and Downey. I couldn't tell you what the reason is ... there doesn't seem to be any huge difference in the team or its style of play from last year to this. Does anyone know where the 21% figure comes from?

Which is exactly why he NEEDS to be playing. He's not going to get it going sitting on the bench. We can't sit him until the playoffs and then hope he can turn it on when we need him. Unless the Wings decide they are through with Ozzie entirely there is no sense in benching him and only playing Conklin. We don't need to play our best option now, but we do need to have all of our options available come playoff time.

Exactly what color is that? Seriously, I agree with almost everything you and others are saying ... except the conclusion. Ozzie has not played well. He has not looked good. Many of the saves he makes, it does seem like he's just flailing at the puck. I can't remember the last clean glove save he's made. Not everything that has gotten past him is fault, the defense has had its share of meltdowns too, but he also hasn't bailed out the defense much at all. Conklin has looked better. However, now is the time that he SHOULD play. What good does benching him do? For the most part, despite his poor play, he hasn't been singlehandedly costing us games. We're going to need him come playoff time, and we're going to need him on his game. I just don't see how benching him is going to help that. I'm good with alternating starts, but Ozzie needs to keep playing, and we'll just need to keep cringing at every shot against until he finally gets his s*** together.

Kopecky, Draper, and Maltby have 8, 7, and 7 points respectively and are collectively -15 in 140 combined games ... exactly what offensive contribution by our 4th line is Downey eliminating?

Last night there were a few nosebleed seats up on eBay for $27 apiece ... don't know if they're still available though. I wanted to go, but the $ is too tight this year, very bummed

The $2.65M figure is misleading though ... Parros only gets the .65, the rest is for:

Just an interesting poll from The Hockey News: link

That son-of-a-***** Bettman ... he's at it again! Now he's making Z look like a wussie! NHL.com Damn him! Grrrrrrrr ...

That is how the last one made it to 20+ pages!