VM1138

You pretty much made a case for a trade, though. The elements are there, but something is missing, something is not making them connect. A trade might not guarantee success but I'm not sure standing pat is going to fix things, either. It could, I hate to say I've lost faith in the Wings, they love their comebacks, but we haven't seen them play this bad statistically in...I don't know, over a decade I bet. This is more than a slump, they've been playing like this for at least two months now. Whatever the case with the defense, whether it's a player or it's coaching, I think it's beyond doubt that a change needs to be made in goal. Howard is not a capable starter right now. Maybe next season, maybe even by playoffs, but right now we need a new goalie capable of starting.

I've always resisted the idea of trading someone like Kronwall or Stuart, because both have been "Red Wings" in my eyes, but honestly, the defensive core is just so terrible lately that we may need a fresh face, and certainly a new goalie. Perhaps a trade to clear cap space for an additional goalie? Kronwall to a team in need of an offensive defenseman with a good goalie to spare? I don't know, I'd really rather not trade Stuart or Kronwall, they're both integral to this team, but we're not going to get anything for Ericsson or Kindl.

Anybody else still think a trade is not necessary? I see a lot of individual efforts out there and not a lot of team effort right now. Not a lot of hunger. Holland has made moves in the past few years when the team was doing better, I don't see him sitting pat right now. The trouble is, I don't really see anyone as trade-bait. I was surprised to see that the Wings have posted a .500 record over the past period (I forget how long exactly), the worst posting of the post-lockout era.

Does the Bertuzzi thing really compare? I don't want to defend Bertuzzi's actions but it was A) in response to a hard hit to the head against Bertuzzi's teammate and B) Bertuzzi wasn't doing that every game like Cooke seems to. Also, Moore's neck being broken was not intentional on Bertuzzi's part. The punch was dumb, and he tried to take Moore down, but does anyone really think he intentionally tried to drive Moore's head into the ice? Looking at the video on Youtube, he falls on Moore to drive him down, but the neck thing was probably out of his control at that point. Cooke is intentionally trying to seriously maim people.

The trouble with that map is that it pretty much HAS to look that way. US population is centered where the teams are. Those big gaps are there for a reason, population-wise. No way to make that look prettier. Canada could use another team or two, but out west, except in California or Washington I'm not sure they could support a team.

I would venture to say the physicality of our defensemen isn't losing us games. They are physical enough. I'm more concerned with the frequent inability to make basic plays, or poorly thought out passes. And the pinching. Honestly, we probably do need a trade on defense, just for a fresh face. This crew has been around for a while, and they've only gotten worse as far as team-defense is concerned. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, these guys are great defensemen but we may need more. Ideally we could find someone to replace Ericsson temporarily. Overall he's been good but he's not really contributing much of anything. He's not a liability (except for tonight, of course) but we apparently need someone to put us over the top on defense.

Not a fan of Don Cherry, but that was perfect. His passion, his concern, and his points were all spot-on. Cooke is a dangerous player. I can't believe one of the VS announcers tonight said he was a "big Cooke fan." Even Sidney "I'll Cry/Whine/Dive/Cheat/Do Whatever It Takes" Crosby won't defend Cooke, his own teammate.

There's always a fine line between healthy criticism and blind "fan" hatred. I was not initially a Howard fan, though he converted me last year and the first two months of this season, but even now with his disappointing play I hold out hope he can get it together. My Internet pride is not so great that I would hate to be proven wrong in doubting Howard.

I suppose I am becoming a bit of a basher, but he's just been so damn disappointing. I think other than Jason Williams, he's been the one Red Wing I can remember ever since I started watching them that I just don't have much faith in at all. Lebda was fun to make fun of, too, I guess, but I was on the Lebda>Lilja bus for a couple of seasons. Look, I can admit when Howard is good, which I think sets me apart from an actual "basher." If you look through my history, there have been plenty of "Howard is a god" type comments from me, but come on, two months of vastly sub-par performances is more than a slump. However, I will be more than happy to lay off of him once he strings together...I don't know, four 2 goal or less games in a six game stretch, just to put out a random benchmark.

Three thousand for Florida, eh? That's rough...I imagine if they remove Atlanta and Florida Tampa Bay could see a boost in fans and viewership. Like people have said, there is simply no interest in hockey down in Florida, let alone enough for three teams within hours of each other. Tampa Bay is by far the most solid franchise out of the three, and "competition" with Atlanta and Florida is probably hampering their efforts to develop more of a fan base. With NASCAR and Football, the two pastimes of the American south, there's just no room for most cities down there to have professional hockey teams. I understand the league not wanting to pull all of the southern teams because that would be admitting their sunshine policy was a failure, but even getting rid of Atlanta and Florida there is still a presence in the South. Nashville, Washington, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and even Dallas can represent the South. Nashville is a little weak, but if you get rid of Atlanta it might stand a better chance. Park a team in Winnipeg and Quebec City, maybe a second franchise in or near Minnesota and suddenly the league has viable markets (if not necessarily fantastic markets).

I'm going to have to not applaud Jimmy. Yeah, he made 45 saves, but I can't recall all that many that were all that amazing. There were a handful, but largely I thought the Wings did a good job making them take ineffective shots. Howard certainly didn't play bad, but this is sort of what we should be expecting from him all the time, more 2 goal games than 3. So I'm glad he didn't suck but I'm witholding hope until I see him string together a few good wins. As for Ericsson and Kindl, my God they were terrible! What kind of fool pinches that late in the game (Ericsson) and then commits a blatant penalty (Ericsson) a mere minute or so later? Discipline among some of these players is really lacking, we're not used to that as Wings fans I think.

I don't understand why so many people want Emery back in the NHL. Not only is he 1) a psychopath and a 2) ******, but he also 3) has no talent.

No, I wasn't complaining about yours being too fast, it was actually pretty perfect. But on other highlights usually it's really low quality video, things go by too fast, or they don't sync up the action to the music so it seems pretty disjointed.

I bet Milbury's "booty-licious" comment was with regards to a male player, too. I swear, the bizarre homosexual undertones of national hockey broadcasts are just weird and uncomfortable.

If Howard's in net they're going to need more than 4 goals. Was that an actual commercial or was the Red Wings stuff just edited into the normal Chrysler commercial? I ask because whoever edited that did a pretty good job, especially at the end. Most highlight clips go by too fast or don't sync up with the music so well.

Are we sure we'd have to get rid of someone? That was never talked about when Nabakov was going to join the team. If we could roll with three goalies with Nabakov we could do it with Conklin. Honestly, Osgood is not the one I'm worried about. As long as his injury doesn't hamper him he should be able to take over starting duties from Howard, who in my mind has played himself out of it except for the fact that we don't have a real starter to replace him with. I'm not sure Conklin would solve that, either, but at least it'd give the team another weapon to use to keep opponents off balance.

In all liklihood nothing will happen, and as always I will support Holland's move. He knows what he's doing. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he made at least one move.

You put it best. I specifically wasn't calling for a blow-up of the roster. But it's clear we need a goalie, and it's clear defense has been the weak link all season long. I like all of our defensemen but it's clearly not working. Moving one of our middle defenseman for another proven defenseman who can block shots might be all the team needs. I honestly don't feel any of our players deserve to be run out of town, but there needs to be a new dynamic on defense, which good shot blocking could provide. So again, no "blow-up" but some strategic re-jiggering is in order.

You're right, we haven't seen the last of the "good" Red Wings. The concern is that they so easily fall into these funks, and have been battling the SAME problems all season (bad passing for extended periods, terrible goaltending {except for tonight}, terrible shooting decisions, etc.) But I'm hoping they still have that higher gear they can flip on, but I think there may have to be one or two significant changes to the team before the trade deadline.

Wow...so frustrating. They are doing so many things wrong, and have been doing them all season. I'm trying to look at this in a calm way. We can see what they are doing wrong, but it's not so clear what you can do about it. They're just not thinking. They're making stupid passes and stupid plays, and that's not something easily fixed. Babcock can run passing drills until they pass out, but it won't make them stop taking the stupid passes. They can take shooting drills all they want but it won't make them suddenly start taking the smart shots. Looks like MacDonald played well, though. I absolutely hate to say this, because it's sort of the "nuclear option" but blaming injuries just isn't cutting it. Missing Datsyuk and Stuart is hurting, but let's be honest, they were playing pretty poorly all season. Their good record to start wasn't dominating games, and we all saw at the time some holes in their play that have only been exaggerated recently. But they were always there. But anyways, back to my "nuclear option." The team needs a roster shakeup. Howard is not the goalie of the future, he's struggled for too long and has a long history of being inconsistent. He earned the starting job last year, but not for his whole career. He was only on the team last year because he had no other options. The Wings hoped it would work out and now I don't think it is. So, here's hoping Holland makes a trade deadline move or two, namely: Bring in a solid goalie. Yes, we will have to clear cap space and lose a player. It sucks but it's going to have to happen. Also, fix the defense, which may include trading someone. With the talent on defense we have there's no excuse for this. We need fresh blood, just to make them try again. There is a clear lack of passion on this team. This Wings team is not the hard working team we've come to know the past few seasons. I don't think the team should be blown up, but I'm thinking a minimum of two moves is necessary to help this team get out of the first round.

There's no doubt Howard is a disappointment overall, and he probably could have had either of those goals, but the reality is this was a 2-0 game. Emotion says: Wow, that sucked. Reality says: Wow, they weren't outplayed, and could have easily won this game 5-2 if any of Franzen or Zetterberg's many scoring chances wouldn't have fanned or hit sticks and skates and deflected out of the zone. Honestly, as disappointing as the loss is stats-wise, it was by no means an embarrassing loss.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=550449 Looks like those ASG attendees will be graced with the likes of Clay Aiken and the Canadian Tenors. Really? Sounds like an amazing time full of good music and...wait...what's that you say? An on-ice introduction of the Guardian Project superheroes! It's like Barney on Ice!

In my mind, if the offenders admitted to it and sent apology letters, the matter is closed. In most cases involving hostile work environments (be it sexual harassment, etc.) if the activity stops after you've made it clear you're offended or uncomfortable, you have no case. Prior to you making your discomfort known to the offenders, there is no actual "crime."

How great would it be if the crowd is quiet when they introduce the Guardians? I'm sure some kids would cheer but if it was really tepid? It deserves it.

I'm with the rest of you all. The trapezoid can go but the rest of those ideas just don't sound good to me. Sorry, Scotty.