Swayze

I don't think one's reaction to the result of a game necessarily has to do with being a fan or not. I think it relies more on if you like a team or not, and why. If you like a team because their name sounds cool or they recently won a Cup, you're probably at best a bandwagon fan until you educate yourself a little more and get invested to the point where you don't ditch them as soon as they start losing. On the other hand, if you truly care about how well they're doing and stick with them even when they're not adequately performing, then I would say you're a true fan. Reactions to games are just that, reactions, and nothing more. Different kinds of fans react differently. There's the overly pessimistic, the realist, the optimistic, the "homers", the ride the high's and berate the lows, etc. It takes all kinds to have a fanbase, otherwise we'd all have the exact same opinions and feelings and it would become very boring very quickly.

Sorry guys, far too busy a day to be able to throw up a good GDT. Hopefully this will still serve it's purpose: Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY - 5:00pm EST Projected Starting Line-ups: NYI Lee - Tavares - Bailey DET Helm - Datsyuk - Tatar Kulemin - Nielsen - Okposo Abdelkader - Zetterberg - Nyquist Kennedy - Nelson - Strome Weiss - Andersson - Pulkkinen Martin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck Miller - Glendening - Jurco Leddy - Boychuk Ericsson - Kronwall Strait - Hamonic Quincey - DeKeyser Hickey - Visnovsky Smith - Zidlicky Starting Goalies: Halak Howard Record 35-16-2 21-12-10 GAA 2.39 2.45 SV % .915 .911 Team Leaders: NYI DET Goals Tavares - 34 Tatar - 27 Assists Tavares - 40 Zetterberg - 45 Points Tavares - 74 Zetterberg - 61 +/- Strome +19 DeKeyser +13 PIM Martin - 114 Quincey - 69 GWG Tavares - 7 Tatar - 7 Next Games: vs Senators - Tuesday 3/31, 7:30pm, FS-D vs Bruins - Thursday 4/2, 7:30pm, FD-D, NBCSN, TVA, SN360 at Wild - Saturday 4/4, 7:00pm, FS-D+, HNIC

Holy s***, is Smith's record this season really 11-37-5 ?!?

So it looks like you're taking tomorrow's game? I'll change my request to the NYI game then.

That's your opinion, but IMO college hockey is nothing compared to the NHL, even the atmosphere.

I'll take "March 24th against the Yotes" for 800, Alex.

...no.

It means that no skater on the roster can wear the goalie pads unless both goalies are incapacitated, then it's permitted (it's confusing wording for sure). Though I also would like to know what qualifies an "eligible" goalkeeper? Do they have to be under contract in some way? I recall something a few years back about a high school kid being an emergency goalie for a day for some team (Buffalo maybe, not sure), and I think they had to sign him first. Anyone have insight on that part of the rule?

Personally I couldn't care less about the Preds. We're in a different conference now and they'll be damn lucky just to get past the first round this year, so they'll have no effect on the Wings from here on out.

Sorry this is so big, it was a rush job.

It's all in good fun

Wow...I'm using that for a future GDT if you don't mind

I'll take February 28th at Nashville, been wanting to do this for awhile I just keep forgetting.

My guess is that he hit it with his wedding ring (I'm assuming he's married, and he hits it with a flat palm on his left hand).

That's called "Progression" Seriously though, the kid is starting to figure things out. Though the Griff's radio guys were mentioning that Ferraro has been notoriously streaky, so we'll see if he's just on a temporary tear or if he in general figured out how to score in the AHL.

While we lost yet again last night in a shootout, it still felt like an improvement to me. Not sure if it was because Mrazek was in between the pipes or because we technically scored more than usual/put up a better fight, but it definitely looked like a step in the right direction towards solving this problem we're having. I like that Mrazek looked like he was feeding off of each save he made, and it really did take some good goals to beat him. I also liked that Z tried to get back to his old shootout ways and pull one of the classics out of his bag, it didn't work, but to me it showed that they're actually taking this serious now and trying things that have worked in the past. Hopefully if we have to do another one of these it'll all come together and we'll finally leave with 2 points.

Been to 3 NHL barns but only seen games at 2 - The Joe (dozens of games over the years), United Center (4 or 5 games in the last 10 or so years), and the ACC (only took a tour). The Joe is the best of those, hands down. Last game I saw at UC was a few years back when Toews and Kane were rookies and the bandwagon was starting to take off, they finally sold out their arena that night. The Sharks were on a winning streak, and ended up winning the game against Chicago, after Chicago's last-second tying goal went in off a guy's glove and was disallowed. Everyone in the arena was pissed, and it was CLEARLY not a good goal, but the jackasses weren't having it. My dad, best friend, and I were just sitting there laughing at them. (Found the game - http://blackhawks.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2007021026). Aside from that, the arena was clearly built with the Bulls in mind, and the views aren't nearly as good as they could be.

Sorry to disappoint you hopeful gents, but my boss is a Wings fan, so he said I could get out of work early for it

Wow thanks!!! I saw the PM after I woke up in the middle of the night last night, just couldn't respond immediately. I'm still working out details with my boss - if he can let me out early I'll be able to go (he usually can), if not then I won't be able to. Being 3 hours away from the Wings is one of the only bad things about moving from Flint to Holland!! I'll let you know as soon as I find out. In the mean time, please do find someone to be on call.

6

If you do watch it, let me know what you think. I listened to Mantha's first two games, but Saturday was the first I've seen. I suppose he could have had an off-game, especially playing a home-and-home like they did. Regardless, I really hope he turns out like we all expect him to. Edit: I suppose another thing I should have taken into consideration was that Lake Erie was hacking Mantha after basically every play stoppage he was on the ice for, which probably wore on him as the night went on. Also after he scored there was a bit of a scrum and he end ended up on top of a Lake Erie player and gave him a shot in the mouth, so that was good. Edit 2: I should also clarify that while Mantha was loafing, it was typically when he just didn't seem to know what to do. He backchecked/forechecked just fine, but just seemed off when the puck was in the neutral zone or in transition and not near him.

I have to disagree with this. Move up completely, maybe, but being called up before Pulks, not a chance. Mantha being able to do things that Pulks can't because of his size? I saw the exact opposite of that statement. I was at the Griffins game on Saturday and watched Mantha/Pulks/Callahan very closely. Believe it or not, Teemu threw around his weight FAR more in a single period than Mantha did the entire game. For the majority of the game Mantha would stand around in the neutral zone and watch other people play hockey. Now don't get me wrong, I like this kid, and will admit he showed a flash of his potential and took it end-to-end through 3 or 4 defenders to get a decent shot on net, but aside from that he was loafing around waiting for the play to come to him, instead of taking control. I figure it's gotta be one of 3 things: - Still recovering from injury (unlikely considering the afformentioned end-to-end play) - Still learning the system/learning to play at that level (most likely) - Laziness (I REALLY hope not) Hate to say it, but he looked an awful lot like the Mule out there Saturday. He scored, but it was a screening the net, spinorama-type goal you see Franzen/Abby make all the time. He was also pushed off the puck a lot easier than someone his size should have been, but I'm sure he'll figure that out once he gets used to using his size and putting on a few more pounds of muscle. Pulkkinen on the other hand looked great. Very fast, very aggressive, strong on the puck, and always looking to make a play in one form or another. You can tell he's comfortable with the skill level he's playing against and is ready to take the next step. Callahan was pretty much the same way, although I noticed him a little less for some reason. If Mantha does get a call-up first, I'd have to assume it's because Franzen got hurt yet again. Aside from that, I don't see them skipping Teemu like that. Then again, in a couple weeks Mantha might find his game and it all changes, but as of right now that's what I noticed.

...so you're saying we just need to give 110%?

He's had some good ones, but I was at the game where he scored on the Penalty Shot against Calgary - so that definitely gets my vote.

I got a push notification on my phone from the NHL - "Red Wings re-sign F Daniel" and the rest was cut off. Click on it and found out it was not Alfie. I am disappoint.