VM1138

I personally hate nicknames in sports. They're seldom any good and everyone wants everyone to have one. Not every player should have a nickname. On the Wings, I can think only of Mule and Goose that have "real," non-shortened-name nicknames.

Might be time to bury him on LTIR for a while so we can sign or trade for a much-needed top 6 guy.

Weiss has already played a game in the NHL this season. And after all the workouts and pre-season, I'm not sure this is comparable to Helm getting injured in his first game or so. But I could be wrong, I'm not an athlete or a physician.

Glad I didn't bet on this game. I was all set to bet on less than 5 total goals. Nice finish!

Maybe that's the trick. Have Abdelkader as the finisher, not the setup/"piano puller" guy. He's not the greatest puck handler, but if he gets a clean pass he knows what to do with it.

But they'll never finish. What good are chances if they don't have finish? I imagine any of the top three lines might get another couple chances if they played a couple more minutes a night, and would have better odds of finishing. By playing them so much you basically guarantee 25% of the game will be a defensive battle right off the get-go. I haven't looked at comparison numbers but it was my understanding other team's fourth liners usually play around 10 minutes a night.

Just glanced at the average ice time of players this season. Maybe we'd be scoring more goals if that fourth line wasn't getting 15 minutes a night. I'm not sure if any other NHL teams try to give equal playing time to all of their players, but man, it's just not working when you need offense, I don't care how hard they work. I mean, damn, Franzen gets only a minute more than Glendening.

Playoffs for the Wings last year was a miracle. 2003 was a miracle. And no other team, stacked or not, has made back to back Cup appearances recently except Pittsburgh.

You're probably right. It doesn't make any sense to us what Babcock is doing to Weiss, but Babcock did say Weiss looked good in his one game. That doesn't exactly scream to me "This guy sucks and Babcock hates him and will never play him." Whatever he's doing he's doing for a reason, and Weiss doesn't seem to upset about it, either, from the few interviews he's given.

I didn't get to see the game but I have to seriously question why people are jumping on the defense now, when they've been the strong point all season. Yes, they need to score more, but the whole team does. Unfortunately, I don't think players just magically gain the ability to stop hesitating when they shoot the puck, or to start thinking creatively with the puck. Babcock has created such a defense-focused team that every player who comes here has their offense reduced to unacceptable levels. There needs to be a middle ground or a balance between offense and defense. I don't like that we've become the Minnesota Wild of the late '00s.

I like Sheahan with Datsyuk better than Abdelkader.

Agreed. It's hard to say Smith's sometimes questionable positioning would hurt when the power play can't get any worse. Worst case scenario things stay the same. Best car, it works and Smith flourishes.

I don't ever really notice Crosby much when he plays us. He usually gets some points but never seems to really impact the games. Zetterberg does a great job of keeping him under control.

I really don't think Smith has any leadership potential. I see Glendening as a Dealer-type 'A.' I didn't know Dekeyser was already a captain. I see Kronwall taking up the mantle for a year or two after Z retires until Kronwall retires. Then Nyquist.

It may just be October but this was one of the harder schedules for us all year. We played mostly all top tier teams and are hanging at the top. Definitely a good sign but obviously no one is planning the parade yet.

I've envisioned Nyquist. He handles himself well in public. Seems a lot like Z was back in the day.

He's playing sheltered minutes. Don't read too much into it. He's still the weakest link.

That third line probably won't do a whole lot offensively. Have we seen that second line before? I don't remember if Nyquist ever played with Sheahan and Tatar. Kind of sucks watching streams on my computer. Hard to tell who is on the ice sometimes.

I can't imagine Cleary is popular with any of the prospects. It may be Nestrasil' s last chance but I'm not sure Callahan is going to be all that impressive, either. I doubt it signals a trade since no one will trade with us anyway. I also don't see us paying with Larkin.

Exactly. Kronwall can't get away with Kronwalling people anymore. So he saves them for opportune moments. A couple a season. Our defense has been surprisingly good and I don't think the bad defensive scoring numbers are their fault. The whole team isn't scoring, and the defense is doing their job in setting up some sweet chances.

I think it's become clear that defense is no longer a problem for us. Offense is. For all their talent or players, except for two or three, can't score without a lucky bounce or turnover. I blame Babcock for trying to turn us into the late 2000 Wild. Defense is great but without offense you can't win. We need a better balance. A team can't win the Cup scoring two goals a game. I mean, come on, so far every team we played had stellar defense. I find that hard to believe. Our offense makes goalies and defensemen look great.

I still wouldn't call Sheahan a legitimate top 6 guy. He's been good, but I think people are too high on him. He's always slated to be a third liner and he reminds me of Helm more than of prime-Weiss or other second line center. At best he's a tweener like Flip was.

Who is Denise?

So Weiss won't be able to do all that much with Helm and Nestrasil. Hopefully he pulls something off.

Eh, I'd rather have Weiss out there than Andersson. And Miller and Glendening could rotate in and out. I just feel Weiss makes us a little stronger offensively.