VM1138

Roy is a center, is he not? And a pretty good one on faceoffs, isn't he? Not the piece that'll put us over the top but it could give us all-important depth at center.

Columbus needs to get their crap together and compete like the rest of the Division. Everyone else is pulling their weight to make the Central the best division in the league. The other teams are playing extremely well. I anticipate the teams will essentially stay where they are. St. Louis will hit a rough patch and drop a little, but I think three of the top five spots will remain in Central Division hands. At the risk of sounding like a homer, I think Detroit will finish on top. Like someone mentioned, Chicago is running purely on offense, and St. Louis is inexperienced. Detroit also has a fairly easy schedule to finish the season, so on paper at least Detroit should start pulling ahead in the next few weeks. Not by much, though. Western Conference 1. Detroit 4.. Chicago 5. St. Louis 7. Nashville.

Ten years? Holy crap. That season is forever etched in my memory, a touchstone I will be able to call upon when I'm 95 and senile. The Wings team of that year was scary good.

I blame the wind. Anyone else wish they'd count shootout stats in personal records? At the very least for the guy who scores the game winner? Seems like Bert has a few in the shootout this season and that should really be reflected somewhere in the stats, I think.

Detroit is putting on a show with these shootout goals the last few times. I just can't believe how slick Bertuzzi's moves are. He doesn't get as much praise as Datsyuk, but the guy is a blast to watch when he gets going. Been one of the best players overall this whole season, except for a quiet stretch during November or so. EDIT: Parity in the league is insane. I can't believe we basically go up and down between 1st and 5th just based on a couple teams playing games one night vs. the night before.

So many players I'd love to see ceremonial shifts for. Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay, Gordie Howe, Mickey Redmond...so many I'd love to see skating in Wings jerseys but I think they're simply too old. EDIT: Didn't Mexico City host an outdoor hockey game a few years back? I think it'll only be a few years before they do this in the NHL. Once the Winter Classic gets stale, they're going to try it outdoors in a warm climate. Once the tech catches up.

He is the definition of a superstar. If only the league marketing would catch on.

So on a topic unrelated to the business-side, who do we think will appear in the Alumni Game? Probably not Yzerman, since he's got new duties for another team. Shanahan, being a league official probably wouldn't, either. Fedorov would be fun to see in a Wings jersey again, Osgood of course. Mickey Redmond would be great to see. I'm assuming Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe are probably a bit too old to play, haha. Alex Delvecchio is pretty old, too. Who is the oldest person to play in an alumni game? Parent was 66 this year according to that article from the Star. Paul Woods would probably play. McCarty, of course... I can't think of any sure-to-play players other than the more recent ones.

How ironic that even though Vancouver is closer to winning a Cup, Toronto is still more well known and would be a bigger draw. Poor Canucks.

What sort of contract does Yip have? Can he be claimed? I'd pick him up and put him in GR. He was pretty promising and I've never heard bad things about him to indicate he could be a problem. Get some experienced guys training him and he could be good again, especially as a waiver pickup. EDIT: As for Elliott, maybe GMs are just not willing to dish out huge contracts for unreliable goalies anymore.

We could get a lot for Stuart. I'd hate to see him leave, but if that's what he wants, he's contributed and done his part. There's nothing to criticize about wanting to go be with family. He's done everything we as fans asked of him. He'll be hard to replace, but I think it's obvious he is the highest trade value on the team right now. Package him with a role player or a pick and we could get a top 6 scorer. Then either call up Smith or trade for a mid-level defenseman. I don't much like counting on Ericsson-Kindl-Commodore going into the playoffs.

Look, people, I admire you thinking he can be reformed. Maybe he can. But you take chances on trouble makers through free agency. You don't give up valuable roster players or picks for a guy who has a greater than 50% chance of hurting the team.

Paul Woods had an interesting comment last night during the game. When asked about the trade rumors he didn't seem to think the Wings would sign Parise through trade or through free agency in the summer, but he thought Kovalchuk might be an option. What does everyone think about this option? I think I'd rather have Parise, he seems to work harder. But there's no doubt about Kovalchuk's offensive ability.

People keep talking about Minnesota-Dallas. I get that there's a storyline behind that, but neither team has much of a following and would be a ratings disaster.

Hudler has been great this season. Not a game changer, but a reliable secondary scorer like we expected him to be. I wouldn't mind at all if he stayed, but I don't think he will. I don't think he really deserves a raise yet, but he probably thinks so and could command more on the open market. In other news, fun article about Datsyuk: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120117/OPINION03/201170344/1128/rss16 I like the part where Dats tells Franzen not to yell, that he knows he's there, even when he's not looking.

I bet Hudler told Zetterberg he was going to do that. It just seems like something Hudler would do. ...and Conks with the save! Conklin is getting his game back, I hope.

Hudler had to show Zetterberg he can play, too!

Damnit, post, get out of the way! He had Bachman beat!

Isn't Subban the whole reason Montreal's locker room is a mess? No thanks.

Israel has a hockey team? You learn something knew every day. Someone needs to send Datsyuk a link to that video. I bet he'll master it.

Got to go to this game AND meet (and get photo) with Terrible Ted Lindsay. Amazing night, great win to cap it off. I was really shocked to see how high Buffalos' shot totals were. Other than their power plays it didn't seem like they had much going for them tonight. Howard had to make a few great saves, but only three or four, whereas the Wings were just buzzing around Buffalo's net for the first half of the game. Felt bad for chasing Ryan Miller, especially with how loud the cheers were when he was pulled off the ice. I wasn't aware he was a popular hate figure in Detroit, but I guess it's all part of getting into Buffalo's collective head.

Heard that one and a few others tonight at the game. I was thinking that to myself, too, that we need to get a standard chant going. There was some "How-ward" and some "Jim-my How-ard" and some "Let's go Howard" but I think we need something other than a new play on the Ozzie chant. He's really become a fan favorite, the crowd absolutely loved him tonight.

Right now the team is good, but it's not significantly better than any of the other top teams. If those teams make moves we essentially have to make a significant move. Not a desperate one, but we've got to at the very least keep pace, and this team does need a little extra jump to go deep.

Slightly off-topic, but is it true that if you get to the Joe early enough before a game you can go right down to the glass, even if your seats are upper level? Been there a few times but never thought of this until a friend mentioned it.

Nobody is complaining. Everyone in the NHL loves Datsyuk. Including the fans. The matter just comes down to communicating. He may lead by example, but he still needs to be able to talk to players, resolve conflicts, handle the refs and speak to the media on a regular basis. He's a great leader but he wouldn't be an effective captain. EDIT: Not in America or Canada anyway. In Russia he'd be a great captain.