GMRwings1983

Downey's manhood during the regular season rubbed off on the soft Euros. Also, this man did play in the playoffs.

Shanahan - Datsyuk - Draper Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Samuelsson Williams - Lang - Yzerman Maltby - Franzen - Cleary I'll never forget.

Coward! I had a feeling you were going to jump ship eventually. +1 for the Jason Allison reference. Talk about a forgotten guy with a few good years. Still behind Eric Daze, though, in that category. Yeah, it was more Babcock's fault. Not sure how those two get together (or don't) and determine which players to sign and how much to play them. I'm thinking Holland has more power than the average GM with these day to day decisions. Tootoo did nothing in Detroit he didn't do in Nashville. He played his game but the coach acted as if he didn't get what he wanted and decided to give him the jobber treatment. Very strange.

No kidding. The way Tootoo was treated here by Holland and Babcock reminds me of how the WWE treated Diamond Dallas Page. Total burial.

This is one of my favorite WTF sports pictures. Now, back to the topic. Interesting note, there are only 6 players in Wings history to play 1,000 games for the franchise. Howe, Lidstrom, Yzerman, Delvecchio, Draper and Holmstrom. Draper and Homer weren't top players so they'll never get their jersey retired. And of course 1,000 games isn't a necessity to have your jersey retired. However, it'd be hard to keep Datsyuk and Zetterberg away from the rafters if they each play 1,000 games being star players for most of their careers. I can't think of too many teams that have had a star player play 1,000 games for the franchise and not have their number retired.

Nothing fake about this picture, though.

Some of these names have been passed around LGW for years. I just have no faith that Holland or Babcock will sign a player that plays a chippy style. They don't do that sort of thing.

Meh. Big deal. There's not shootouts in the playoffs.

Ha! Told you guys we'd win.

Babcock acting like a heel in professional wrestling. LOL.

Would be funny if we win. Maybe all three Chicago shooters will try slapshots.

We need to go for it with our shootout record.

Can any of our defensemen hit water from a goddamn boat?

Dammit hammer hands!

So you wouldn't retire Kelly's number?

It would beat seeing Howard against Chicago in a shootout. The irresistible force versus the movable object.

They both were.

Kronwall just doesn't have much luck in this building. Gets kicked out of the game after killing Havlat, deflects the OT goal into his net in game 7, and now this.

LOL. It was a fluke play. I like Helm but if you think he isn't holding Datsyuk down then you're not watching the same games I am. Datsyuk could lead the league in points if he had a top winger.

Fluke play, but we'll take it.

We're getting outworked pretty badly. Don't deserve many powerplays tonight.

It's painfully obvious how much Helm and Abdelkader hold back our top two players. They work hard and really try, but just have no talent to play on the tp 6. This is hurting the team. Weiss and Nyquist are playing on the lower lines for some reason.

How many stupid penalties can one team take in a game?

Holland and Babcock don't like gritty players, even if they can contribute offensively and play more than 5 minutes a night. I remember how Tootoo always had trouble cracking the lineup even though he did what was asked of him. Yes, it'd be nice if we had some grit just to mix with what we already have. Balance is important.