VM1138

This better not end up 5-1 Florida. Also, why os Nyquist on the fourth line? And I wonder if he and Tatar are annoyed Jurco gets to stay on the top line out of nowhere. Lets hope those three continue to impress.

It's so abnormal. These injuries should be investigated. Way too frequent, way too...well...odd.

I'm no conspiracy nut, but I am a realist. Of course they get marching orders to do that. If the Wimgs were down 3-1 they'd get all the breaks. Officiating by the score, not actual infractions. It's been this way for at least three years.

I don't know. In this case, he could learn more playing for the Wings through adversity than for a dominating Griffins squad. Minutes or no.

There are already several places to discuss both of these things. I'm locking this.

So what are the odds Jurco stays up? I know we have cap problems, and Helm, Smith, Nyquist, and Tatar had short stints before their call ups. But does anyone think Holland might be in the mood to roll the dice this time, what with so many underperforming?

That is what I was referring to.

We should at least be better defensively. So I think we have a shot of winning. Our offense still sucks but we should be able to prevent a few goals.

Lilja. He would follow up terrible play with shockingly amazing play. Despite this, he was always a likable guy. Hey, remember when Lebda was our number one defenseman and he was actually really good at it during a long injury streak?

Didn't Alfredsson say a few months ago that he was done with Ottawa? Sold his house, all that jazz? Sounds to me like he's not looking back. Maybe he bolts for another team, but if we can make a decent showing in the playoffs, Z and Holland and Babcock should be able to convince him to stay what with all the cap space opening up. Maybe it will force Holland to sign some quality stars to keep Alfie here.

I guess Pittsburgh is missing 9 regulars and have won 5 of 6. That stings a little. But hey, we finally won and that's great. I hope Tootoo can somehow stay up but that would require some cap movement, I think.

I hate that lineup. We all know Bertuzzi is best with Datsyuk. Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Alfredsson would be good, only because it could allow the depth to be spread out more. Then we could have Jurco-Andersson-Tatar for our second. A decent offensive threat, all things considered. Then a third of Tootoo-Glendening-Eaves would be a good third line. Even a servicable third under normal roster conditions for a lot of teams. Garbage fourth of Cleary-Sheahan-Miller.

The second team looks a lot better, to be honest. Especially the bottom 6. Head to head I'd pick Team Bandaid.

The argument about enforcers teeters on the verge of off-topic, but since it is being advanced as an argument to deter injuries I guess it's okay. Be careful not to wander too far away from the topic of injuries, people. With that said, let me chime in with this: Why would enforcers deter anything? I mean, enforcers usually fight enforcers, right? So why would someone whose career is to fight be afraid of someone fighting him later on as retribution for an injury? I think enforcers don't have anything to do with health, but they do have something to do with the energy of a team.

Short-term contract. That might be the most interesting part of this. Could we be returning to normal contracts instead of these 10 and 15 year ones? That could really help the Wings. I think teams are finding that a lot of these long-term contracts are albatrosses most of the time.

So is someone getting sent down or is someone else injured?

I wouldn't mind Cammalleri if Alfredsson doesn't return. But only as depth. I agree with you guys in us needing a big winger. But Cammalleri could be a good vet who can pot 20 goals for us. Not the move that puts us over the top but maybe a necessary one to keep us afloat. And yes, if Kindl has any value he's not long for this roster. Unfortunately we're going to see fewer trades than ever this year, league-wide.

That doesn't seem like Datsyuk. He plays hard regardless of the game. I think there are lingering effects from the concussion and maybe a little frustration. But I don't think he doesn't care.

Just checking in, can't watch the game. Sounds pretty brutal. But, hey, Jurco scored! But what else did we expect? It's an AHL roster with Datsyuk, Alfredsson and Kronwall on it, and then we lose another defenseman. If we escape with less than 7 goals against.

That lineup is bah-ruh-tall. Is this why Sheahan was called up?

I don't think it's Holland. It's Holland and Babs not being on the same page. Babcock wants a different team than Holland does. So it's a kind of mess, round peg square hole. I think we'd be fine if we were built 100% Babcock or 100% Holland. Instead we have a hybrid where know one is really used properly. Take Datsyuk. Best player in the league, yet he is used not for scoring but to be defensive to keep subpar linemates from costing the team. Seems like Bowman and Holland were on the same page for years and it worked. This team doesn't know where it is going. And few teams are ever 100% healthy for very long. Waiting for a magical time when that happens is unhelpful. They need to find a way to win and learn a killer mentality. The Wings 4 years ago knew how to close out an opponent.

Franzen has been great since coming back from injury. Remarkably consistent and over a point per game since, I think. The Franzen-hate is just old now. He's had hustle on the back check, is scoring, is assisting and is playing solid defensively. Move on for now. We can't trade. Holland has been trying apparently. We will have to waive someone and until Babcock started giving Cleary PP time it seemed like Holland was about to turn that page. Maybe he still is and Babcock is desperately trying to get Cleary going to save him from the chopping block. At any rate, once DeKeyser comes back, someone HAS to go, so we don't have to wait long for a (minor) shakeup. Best the team can do is weather the storm, squeak into the playoffs and lose some contracts next summer. There aren't any real big superstars available on the UFA market, but there are bound to be servicable vets who would be improvements on who we have. The good news is, Sammy being waived won't help us cap-wise, so only Cleary fits the bill. Unless through a bout of insanity they waive someone like Miller.

Eaves looked really good. The AHL got him warmed up and back to form. Hope they find a way to keep him. We are two weeks from having to clear cap space for DeKeyser to return. And maybe Jurco can win a spot, too.

Excited to see Jurco. Hope he tears it up like Nyquist and Tatar, though it's unlikely.

Not true. I think this game put us on a losing streak that matched our last winning streak. Which means we will win our next game. Then, however long our win streak ends up being, we will go on an equally long losing streak.