VM1138

He can't stay this terrible forever. Even a floater with his talent would score more frequently, eventually.

Highly unlikely. The team really isn't missing anything. Plus, the only expendable players are expendable for a reason and Holland wouldn't get anything in a trade.

I can't stand Paul Woods, his "uh" every other word make it nearly impossible to follow what he says. "And-uh Datsyuk had-uh a good-uh game-uh tonight. Uh, let's-uh hope they can repeat-uh tomorrow."

So much hinges on who stays and who goes. We could see the end of Lidstrom and Osgood, or they could both play for another year at least.

Good game overall. However, Hudler and Filpulla need to SHOOT THE FREAKING PUCK. I've never seen two players so eager to pass on a 1 on 1, haha. On a more serious note, this was probably Hudler's best game of the season. He played well, but if he started picking his shots better he may actually get on track.

Wings will come out big time. I'm talking 7-0, 8-1 big.

I think these could be good storylines. Canadian teams can be included at least when playing a large market American team, the Olympics do well enough in the US remember: St. Louis vs Chicago Boston vs. Montreal Toronto vs Detroit New York Rangers vs. Detroit (not so much for a rivalry, but two of the biggest markets and very distinct traditions.)

If Howard is shaky tonight, Babcock should bench him, tell him to get his head in order just like he does with other players. Let Ozzie come in and see if he can turn his great game into a streak.

I was perusing the standings on NHL.com and was sorting them by various categories. I haven't been able to see any non-Wings games yet this year, and I was curious, out of the top teams in the league, which are ACTUALLY the best? Right now the standings (league-wide) are: 1. Pittsburgh (44 pts, 31 games) 2. Philadelphia (43 pts, 31 games) 3. Detroit (41 pts, 28 games) 4. Washington (39 pts, 31 games) Below Washington I think there's probably a drop-off. Montreal is closest, but they have more games in hand than Boston and Dallas, neither of which are all that close to the top 4, so if they don't count, and Montreal is closer to them I decided to cut it off at Washington. Anyway, my eye first goes to games played. However, even if the Wings win their next 3 and the other teams hypothetically wouldn't play any games, they'd still only have 47 points to Pittsburgh's 44, not a terribly huge margin. So with the top being very close, which teams are actually legit do you think? Are any considerably weaker? I've heard Pittsburgh is riding Crosby, and their depth isn't there. If true, I imagine Crosby will run out of steam before too long and their team will drop. As for the other teams, I'm completely unfamiliar with how they're doing this year. My pure guess, from the superficial reading I've done, is that Philly and Detroit are legit, Washington is on the bubble, and Pittsburgh is just on a hot streak at the moment.

I think the Crosby/Ovechkin commercials are a little excessive. I find it harder to believe they're hated rivals when they're appearing in commercials together, even though I know they really are. It just seems too manufactured. As for marketing, the NHL's marketing is about on par with other leagues. The only flaw is that they focus on two players, making outsiders think the NHL has only two stars. I guarantee you a commercial showing Datsyuk highlights would generate as much interest as Ovechkin vs. Crosby. If he amazes us just think of what his dangling would do to someone on the fence about watching. Or how about Ryan Miller making amazing saves? There are tons of players who could generate interest. I know even among non-fans Miller is a big deal. He could legitimately be a mainstream star if they let him.

Maybe instead of a number retiring the Illitch's can come up with some other way of honoring all the great players from this generation's team. The arguments for retiring Osgood's number are good, but so are the arguments against it. What about taking his number out of circulation for a while, and building him one of those bad-ass statues at the Joe?

They have been getting too cute lately. Go back to basics and drive the net again.

If Howard wouldn't have sucked, the Wings could have lost a more respectable 1-0 or 2-0. Or, not being scored on like a 17 year old cheerleader might not shake their confidence and they could've scored a few times.

I don't think they were clearly the better team. They eked out a come from behind win in a series that was nearly erased by Lidstrom in the closing seconds of the series. Detroit was tired, Pittsburgh got lucky a few times and held on just a second or so long enough.

You're drunk. Franzen has been consistently awesome for us when we need him to be. He's just having a difficult season, every player goes through them. EDIT: And as for Howard's play, he's giving up juicy rebounds again and I'm getting sick of seeing him laying on the ice for the first save, to be honest with you. Yeah, he's still our starter and I'm still a fan, but facts are facts, he needs to step up his game and an old-fashioned competition between him and Ozzie will get that going.

I can only remember a few honest-to-goodness quality chances. The Wings dominated the first two, but honestly after that they were all long-distance shots straight into a bloc of Kings. Howard cost us this game...again. I'm no goalie basher, but he's been consistently sub-par lately. Whereas Ozzie had a great game the other night, I think it's time to rest Howard and show him he needs to earn his starting spot.

Waive Hudler and pick Nabakov up, roll with three goalies!

The thing nobody is talking about is spreading the wealth on a team. Crosby is putting up numbers because he's the only one who can score for now on his team. The Wings, as in 2002, are so stacked nobody HAS to carry the team and many player's numbers are probably a bit lower than they should be. I also wish NHL.com would have gone back a little further than 2 seasons. They sort of make Datsyuk seem like an overnight sensation. He had two 97 point seasons and in the 80s before that. He's a consistent threat, and has been the best all around player in the world for a few years now. Crosby's ice time necessarily has to be huge. Except for last season, the Wings have been able to balance the centers and such pretty consistently.

Has a player returning from European leagues to the NHL succeeded in their second stint here? It seems like they all come back lazier and terrible.

It's hard to look at a guy like Cleary, what he had to go through, what he does night-in, and night-out, and then say someone like Larsson should get a chance to play in the big league. Or Howard, who had to spend eternity in the AHL. Honestly, if you're not willing to pay your dues, you can't play with teammates that give their all and prove their dedication and commitment to the organization over and over again.

Hudler's situation is beyond explanation. I don't know how this could be happening with him. He was doing so well, and his last season with us really looked like he was going to take off. Now, instead of a scoring threat he shouldn't even be in the NHL...

Was really hoping Osgood would get the nod again to help him get going.

If they had to skate around gators I would absolutely watch.

I love what Ozzie has done for the Wings, and his team spirit. I root for him every game and consider him a great goalie and a Red Wing for life. However, people get slap-happy with the number retiring. We've had so many great players the last 20 years, we can't possibly retire them all without cheapening things. The only Yzerman era player who should have their number retired would be Lidstrom (obviously a shoe-in). The other guys were fantastic, but Lidstrom easily outclassed all of his teammates and is a legend among hockey players and a template for future defensemen. Datsyuk and Zetterberg will probably have theirs retired, but it's too early to tell. I would imagine if both finish their careers here working as hard as they do now (regardless of stats) they will both be retired if one of them is. That seems almost necessary, both or neither being retired. That would bring the number of retired numbers post-2000 to 4. Yzerman, Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk. That's a LOT, and then consider the Wings have a very bright future. Having so many lifers play for the Wings makes it really hard NOT to honor them somehow.

My God the level of crappy designs in this thread has hit critical mass. Surely there can't be any worse ones out there?