GMRwings1983

I guess that was the defense's fault as well. They left Osbad out to dry.

I want to see Kopecky tap Backstrom on the head the same way today. And if Boogaard has a problem with that, Kopy will be more than able to deal with him also.

Sure they can. People can cheer and at the same time not believe that their team will succeed (Lions fans). Those people are called either pessimists or realists, depending on how bad their team is. Calling them bandwagoners only applies if someone refuses to watch any more Wings games, but then starts watching again when they hear that the team has made it to the Finals. Kind of like Pens fans who all of a sudden started to watch again when their team succeeded. That's what I'd call a true bandwagon fan. Wings fans who ***** about early playoff doom don't fit the definition of bandwagon fans, as long as they still watch and care just as deeply as someone who believes we'll win every game.

One day you'll hopefully realize that most of these so called "bandwagoners" are also cheering their heads off. In the end, most posters here have one thing in common, they want the Wings to succeed and will be heartbroken if they don't. As for how those people react here on LGW, that just depends on their personalities.

Actually, playing golf most of the summer can get quite boring too.

In that case, a goalie would win it every year. This year it would be Mason from Columbus. The award should go to the best player in the league that year, despite what the initials stand for. They already have an award for goalies, it's called the Vezina. Everyone knows that a goalie is by far the most important player on the team, miles above anyone else. I'd give the MVP to Ovechkin or Malkin, with Ovechkin getting the slight edge.

Ozzie didn't win the job, it's just that Conklin lost it. If both guys played equally, Ozzie would have gotten it, which is exactly what happened with these recent miserable outings. Pretty pathetic for Conklin that he couldn't even outplay Ozzie and the s***ty season that he has been having. It'll be interesting to see which of these jokers come back for another season.

I'm also blaiming it on lack of toughness.

We should have pulled Conklin as soon as we tied it 4-4.

Get a mascot and make him our goalie. The sad thing is that in hockey when one goalie sucks, the other usually takes the job from him. Both of these goalies are trying to outdo each other with how bad they can play.

THis team is a joke. I hope the Sharks enjoy the Presidents trophy.

We need to end this in regulation so that they get 0 points.

Just a semantics problem, I guess with what "build" means. I do think, however, that coaches have a big role with building a team, and I'm sure the GM's he worked with were heavily influenced by his style of hockey coaching.

I never thought I'd say this. Put in Osgood.

I didn't say that he built all his teams (although he was a GM in St. Louis) I said that he kept those enforcers on the roster and played them regularly. I've already explained that if he didn't love tough guys, he wouldn't have played them so damn much. I could also argue that he went to teams with lots of toughness because that's the style of hockey that he preferred, as opposed to coming to teams that were less gritty.

So you're telling me that even though every team he coached had numerous tough guys, he had nothing to do with it? Don't you think there's too much evidence against your case here. How many coaches have coached more tough guys than Keenan has? I can't think of anyone. The guy loved toughness and grit, and wasn't a big fan of European players. What does that suggest to you when you combine it with the rosters that he's coached?

Wouldn't hurt to have a tough guy right now who could lay a big hit or start a fight to wake this team up. These guys are playing lazy hockey right now and no one seems willing to get physical.

It doesn't matter what was in place when he arrived. He kept those guys around and played them in the playoffs every place he coached. If he didn't like those guys or that style of hockey, he would have gotten rid of the goons. That's the kind of imposing personality that he had. His love for fighters is actually well known amongst fight circles as far as coaches who love enforcers go. I didn't think anyone would debate this until I saw your surprising post.

Why is Meech playing ahead of Chelios? Why is Hudler playing with Sammy and Maltby? This may win the award for worst line combo of the year.

The 94 Rangers had Joey Kocur, Jay Wells, Jeff Beukeboom and Nick Kypreos. That's a pretty tough team, and most of those guys played in the playoffs. Those Blackhawks teams he coached in the early 90's were also tough. Both Mike Peluso and Stu Grimson played regularly for them in the playoffs. "Crazy" Dave Manson was also playing for him back then from what I remember. I shouldn't even have to explain those Flyer teams in the 80's, but I will anyway. Dave Brown, Ed Hospodar, Glen Cochrane, Rich Tocchet, Scott Mellanby, and many others. In Vancouver, he had Brashear and Odjick playing together. I believe Enrico Ciccone also had a stint with that team. His Blues teams in the 90's had Tony Twist, Kelly Chase, Shayne Corson, Basil McRae. Finally, in Florida he had Peter Worrell, Paul Laus, and you guessed it, "THE PAIN TRAIN" I'm guessing hockey wasn't being broadcasted in Australia back then, because those are some tough lineups that I've included, and many more gritty players that I left out, which dropped the gloves from time to time, but weren't really known as heavies or enforcers.

I can't believe only one freaking person has picked Wayne Gretzky. How can he not be the obvious choice? Yeah Yzerman was a great leader, but as far as the best, Gretzky is way above Stevie. Nobody ever dominated any sport the way he did hockey. People are still dissing him because he complained to the refs in that game against the Wings, as coach for Coyotes. As far as current players, Ovechkin would get my pick, simply because Lidstrom only has a few years left at most. For current Wings players, I'd take Datsyuk. For coach I'd take Mike Keenan. At least he knew how to build tough teams full of goons.

It'd be nice to see Lidstrom win by reputation alone, much like Brodeur did last year with his undeserving Vezina win.

Green scores a lot of points because he's a trained forward who happens to play defense, and pinches in constantly. Obviously, he's immensely talented, so I'm not saying that every D-man can score 30+ goals, but there are several who could do it yearly if they played the same style of hockey that Green does. He'll probably win the Norris, and become the 2nd forward (Paul Coffey being the 1st) to win the Norris.

Imagine if Sean Avery was on "Rome is Burning". Bettman would have picketed the show.

That's what I thought after his supbar 2004 season, but I guess it's different now seeing how he's much older. If I had to guess, I'd say yes, but it's still up for grabs as to the next few seasons.