Shinzaki

That's fine...I want to see him do well...we NEED him to do well. It's frustrating when he fades out like that because he's got the talent to be a solid second pairing guy on a Cup winner

Really? You're this far gone in the man love for Smith? The defense has been bad....Smith was HORRID in the second carolina game. He coughed the puck up repeatedly, did a lousy job of dealing with traffic in front of the net and let at least 1-2 guys in the backdoor for completely open scoring attempts...it's like he wasn't even aware that someone might be so clever as to go to the net from a spot he can't directly see. As a result...the coach sat his ass for two games. We'll see tonight if he can get his head out of his ass long enough to make a clean simple pass coming out of his own end or will he continue to misfire...will he skate into traffic and cough up the puck leaving his end or will he mke that simple pass before two guys converge on him...will he actually locate and stay with the Flames around the net...or will he drift off to look at something brightly colored like a five year-old with ADHD?

Sure...those wins were due to Brendan Smith playing...Abby, Hank and Larkin were non factors...

I think the weight thing is overblown...drastically. It's not like we're running 175lb guys out there on all three lines against a team of Byfuglien sized monsters. So far as Smith and the rest of the D goes...no they are not good collectively, but Smith has been particularly bad which may have something to do with him being a healthy scratch the last two games. On a completely different note...Richards has shown very little. If they want to play Datsyuk and Hank together when Datsyuk returns, I can't see Richards centering the 2nd line over Sheahan

Yes...I don't like him because he makes really bad decisions with the puck and often turns it over in his own end or makes a really bad first pass. The key to making that quick transition isn't lugging the puck..it's the quick outlet. It's not much different from soccer or basketball. You clear your end and create opportunities by quickly exiting your zone. Skating it out is usually the slowest way to do that. Smith also has lousy situational awareness...he loses his man frequently. As a result, he always seems to be trailing the play defensively or caught out of position

Based solely on my own worthless observations...we are sloooooooow coming out of our zone. The opposition has the ability to set up and clog the neutral zone and make it darn near impossible for us to carry the puck into their end. If we were quicker in transition, we might catch them out of position more often and this would lead to some odd man rushes. That and Smith sucks....

I understand that the man loves to play hockey...but is it worth risking decades of brain damage? http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/256518.php Then again...he might figure that he's already screwed any way, so why not go out on his terms? That would be a really dark place to be

Smith is terrible...He looks completely lost out there. Jensen looked much sharper in the preseason...he frequently made that sharp simple pass coming out of the defensive end that Smith seems incapable of completing. Much rather have Jensen or Marchenko on a third pairing with Quincey. 55/52 25/65 27/Marchenko Kindl

Yeah...Saarijarvi is clearly over matched playing in North America.

If this were a class on NHL FA...and I accepted you as being a person with the authority to grade me...I would offer more insight.

I did not say he wanted to come here...I simply stated he wouldn't be a good fit.

I'll take last year Abby over last year Gus any day of the week...

33 year-old Dman Ilya Nikulin...a fromer Russian national team captain...is headed to the NHL as a FA. I don't think he'd be a fit here...

The penalty boxes are full of coupons for discount at buffets and awesome drink specials at the casinos

I'm not confused about anything...you've mapped out a series of arguments based on the notion that there is something especially bad about Las Vegas when it comes to...for lack of a better phrase...moral temptations. I think that's a rather silly concept as temptations literally follow these guys around. I don't think Vegas is a good target for expansion for other reasons. Phoenix had a far better track record of supporting minor hockey and a WHA team and the NHL has failed there. I don't think Vegas would fare any better...I can't even think of a reason why it might. I'm unconvinced that hockey can make it in the desert. I think Seattle or Salt Lake City in the west maybe Cleveland in the Midwest (the Barons failed because the arena they were in was a Godawful haul from the city..in my mind it's a miracle the Cavs survived.) perhaps even Cincinnati...would be better options than Vegas.

hunter...you are arguing image vs reality. You imagine that Vegas offers some unique cornucopia of sin and temptation that is going to be overwhelming to these impressionable young men. It's hogwash...bunkum..I'd ever go so far as to say it's pure unadulterated hokum. Yeah...I went there. Prostitution is as illegal in Vegas as it is Detroit....who cares? If these guys want to find a quick hook up, there's ample opportunity everywhere.....EVERYWHERE Yes..Vegas will have sports books and no other state outside of Delaware does...what difference does that actually make? There are other forms of gambling via casinos everywhere (AGAIN... OUR OWNER HAS A CASINO) hell...you or I could fire up the smartphone and gamble online...who cares? If a player is going to be susceptible to gambling issues, he will be just as susceptible in Detroit as Vegas. Your fixation with Vegas as some hotbed of sin that you must protect these fine young men from is so childish and naive that I find it amusing Re prostitution...same can be said for any town that hosts conventions with any regularity.

No..that is false. Vegas does not have legal prostitution. The state of Nevada does, but it's confined to rural areas literally in the middle of nowhere.

Seattle and Maine don't have NHL franchises....do you really think there's any kind of temptation in Vegas that there isn't in Detroit? This whole Disney thing is really in your head, isn't it? you can't quite wrap your head around the concept that advertising distorts perception...and by etension "reality" They want you to think Disney world is the happiest place on earth and that Vegas is some unique party town that offers an array of "temptations" found nowhere else. Millions are spent to convince you of that...but neither concept is true. Name one thing a rich young athlete will find in Vegas he won't find here..or LA..or Chicago or New York

Again...there isn't really a comparison being made between Disney and Vegas directly....it's more of a conceptual "appearance vs reality" statement that apparently eludes you. In spite of what the ad geniuses that work for the Vegas hotels, niteclubs and casinos want you to think, the "temptations" in Vegas are the same temptations these guys will face in any city...gambling...sex...drugs...liquor. They have all that stuff pretty much everywhere... including here in Detroit where the same people that own the NHL team OWN A CASINO. Re VD...you are probably less like to catch an STD in Nevada since the girls in states where prostitution is legal get tested for STD's as part of their licensing. I'm not sure why anyone who screws around on their wife would be more likely to have their wife find out about it if they did it in Vegas...do you think that the party chicks in Calgary are more discreet?

Find out what...that they got drunk and f***ed a woman? I think we all know that that sort of thing goes on now

Do you honestly think that there aren't many...many..people (some of them drop dead gorgeous women) lined up and waiting in every NHL city (OK..maybe not Edmonton) to tempt a group of young, athletic multi-millionaires with virtually every vice known to man? These guys don't need to look for "entertainment"..it looks for them. They don't need any ads or help from the chamber of commerce to sort it out. The idea that Vegas is somehow truly unique in this respect is laughable...

The Grand Canyon is about 4 hours fro Phoenix...are you sure that's the joke you want to make? That's like saying..."Man...Wrigley Field is vastly overrated, why did I visit Detroit?"

Wow..that is possibly the dumbest thing I've read this year. I'm saying that you can't confuse the hype of advertising with reality. All of the ills that exist in Vegas exist in most large, urban areas...the difference is that vegas has decided to make it the rationale for visiting them. Our franchise OWNER has an interest in a Casino..unless you accept the wife subterfuge as reality...do we really want to use gambling as a reason to not expand to Vegas? That seems really stupid

"What happens in Vegas" is advertising...I'm not sure you can put much stock in that. I mean...does anyone think Walt Disney World is really the happiest place on earth? I've been there a bunch of times...crying kids, stressed parents, a line of bewildered people waiting to pay $4 for a $1.50 bottle of Dasani water. It's not happy...it's hell.

I know there's gambling in Detroit...pretty sure there might be prostitution as well...do we have to turn in our franchise? I would call the team the Las Vegas PawnStars and have Chumlee do something.... somehow...for the franchise.