T.Low

At least two different times throughout the game last night the CBC announcers commented about the amount of fights in the stands at The Joe. It was easy to hear the crowd chants going back and forth with the Leafs fans chanting "Go Leafs, Go" and the Detroit fans countering with "Let's Go Red Wings" so it was obvious that there were a lot of Leaf fans at the game (Toronto's a close enough drive and my Canadian friends just across the river say Windsor if 50% Wings fans and 50% Leafs fans). Did any of you see any fan fights or find any posted on youtube?

First off, getting the average guy interested in hockey is exactly what waters down the game atmoshpere in general. Leave the game for the real enthusiast. Too many average guys in Detroit are already semi interested in the Wings, enough so that the crowd is too quite. Watch a Wings game with a lot of average guys in attendence, then watch a Flames game and a Canadians game where it's just hockey enthusiasts at the game and you will notice a huge difference. Second, the talent level in the NHL has never been higher than it is today. Every aspect, the skating, the stick handling, the thinking, the goal tending; it's all much higher today than ever before due to better youth programs and the natural evolution of a sport in general. The parity you speak of comes from two main elements of the NHL that are different from the other major sports. 1. Hockey itself has a much more randon nature to it's game than basketball, fooball, and baseball and therefore the law of averages has a lesser role in the outcome of a given game. Or simply put, the better team wins less often in hockey than in the other major sports. Think of how many times in past years the Wings have dominated a game, but because of the nature of the game of hockey, they have not been able to pull away and then a couple bad bounces go to their opponents and they end up losing the game. The speed of the game, the close confines of the "field of play", the ice, the bouncing puck; all combine for a lesser amount of "control" than found in the other sports. The puck bouncing off multiple players on both teams and then finding it's way into the net. For such a skill based game, there certainly is a lot fo slop in hockey that determines the overall outcome of the game. 2. The simple fact that over 50% of the teams make the playoffs is ridiculous. 16 teams in and only 14 teams out is a shamless revenue grab by the owners, nothing more. There is nothing "sporting" or competive about having teams with such poor records making the playoffs. Only 6 teams from each conference should go.

Let's face it, he's a little guy out there, and because he's a very effective passer, the book says to hit him hard and hit him often and try to wear him down. The guy takes a beating and it gets tougher and tougher at his age.

The scary part is, Henrik's performance last season while Daniel was out makes a strong arguement for putting them on two seperate lines and spreading out the threat. Canucks GM mike Gillis is always talking about how Detroit is the Gold Standard Benchmark, and he is emulating what they do. Vancouver is dangerous.

If he has trouble finding the ice, I'm sure his new friends Mr Hart and Mr Ross will show him where it is.

double post

That's kinda funny, cause I know you and all the plus five (or whatever it's up to at any given point) are not serious. Yeah, i hate that f***** too.Ha ha. He's incredible. And it's a shame his season got cut short (and I'll be the first one to call out Don Cherry and the rest of the media; I don't think it was a dirty hit at all, it was an unintentional collision, more Crosby's fault than whatshisname's) because he was light years ahead of everyone in points. And on the like vs don't like arguement, I'd love to play some pond hockey and then go have a beer with him (or hot chocolate cause the guy probably doesn't drink beer), even though I really don't like to hear about him from the casual fan. WHen the casual fan wants to talk hockey with me and thats all they can think of is the Crosby clip they saw on ESPN, I roll my eyes and think this dude has no clue as to what he is talking about. But the casual fan is not here on LGW. There is NO reason Crosby has given the real hockey fan to hate him enough to hope his career is cut chort by a brain injury. I hope he comes back to his 100% level, and is however awesome he is during the season and playoffs, and then the Detroit Red Wings beat him in the Stanley Cup Finals again, and again.

ZOMG! Where's The Nightmare (On Helm St.)?! I don't see him in the lineup.

Negatory.

It seems like a really weird move, alright, even for Peter Farvesberg. Too bad, though, I was actually kinda looking forward to seeing him play again.

Nabokov is crying in his vodka tonite.

Just to clarify, Tampa has been in the top 5 of the East pretty much since the git go this year. It is really strange to see a team that high up in the standings that has a plus/minus diff hovering around even or -1 all the time. They give up a bunch of goals but usually score a little more. Then they have a game where they give up a bunch of goals and don't score any. St Louis has always been a dynamite player, but now he has Stamkos and they are awesome together.

Not true. I know the guy.

he was suppossed to be on Vancouvers Team 1040radio interview, but they said his flight was delayed. Now we know why!

It seems like only a short time ago that Dats and Z where the young bucks. There is something really cool about seeing Draper and Helm out there together.

Good read, thanks for posting it, and an excelent contribution for your first post at LGW. Of course we all know Drapes and Malts were legnedary penalty killers, but I had no idea who had what as far as short handed goals, and am somewhat suprised at the list. Welcome to the forum and look forward to your future contributions.

There are multiple things I do like about these current pairings. -Raffi and Lids are some of the best puck moving defensemen in the NHL, and Kronner is no slouch either. So with Raffi and Lids split up, we now have a great puck moving outlet passer on all three pairings, which bodes well for all the offense we have spread throughout the 4 forward lines. -This also helps to keep Lids minutes down, as the are spread more evenly through the three pairings. -Stuart was playing a more basic game early on and it looked like a good pairing. Now he is trying more things and getting a little more involved in the offense and is getting caught up ice a little more. This is the time of year to try to push the envelope, expand comfort levels thru trial and error. Because of all of this, it seems like two to three times a game Lids is getting praised by the announcers for breaking up a 2 on 1 rush. Holy s***. But thats the price you pay. -Of course Lids himself is up in the offense a lot more than last year. Seems he is often in clsoe to the top of the faceoff circle or mid slot for a slapper like last nights goal. -It also adds a little toughness to each line: Stuie, Kronner, and ERock. And I am really happy with the way Salei is fitting in; he is doing a great job and proving to be a bargain.

I agree totally: while it's far from the most outrageous thing in the world, I was still shocked to notice it, too. Does anyone know, in reality, how much weight is placed on a player's plus/minus statistic for the actual Norris voting?

I would take Pronger, but I would be totally embarrassed and disgusted with Tootoo in the Winged Wheel. He puts the sucker back in sucker punch. And Tootoo's douchbaggedness aside, isn't that exactly the headshot hit the NHL is trying to get away from? Heavily armored shoulder driven right into opponents face and or head? I'm just saying...

The Rafters are Sacred Red Wing Jersey grounds. More sacred than Ozzie, Shanny, and Feds. We're talking maybe once in a generation does a new jersey go up and retire. When was the last one before Stevie Y?

As implied all throughout this thread, the difference is that Crosby is carrying the lackluster Penguin team on his back with an incredible performance and awesome production numbers, while Datsyuk is having an awesome all round year on a team chock full of contributors, save one. I'm really hoping for a SCF rematch so Wings can beat Crosby and his Penns.

Sounds like the term should be "Point %" rather than "Wining %". Either way, the Wings have been great.

You act as if Doan is Captain of the team of something. I know, it cracks me up when people think we can get other team's leaders in trade for our team's cast off's and then put said leader on the thrid or forth line...'02 was a world away and we will never see that environment again (when i hear the term "climate change", I instinctively think of the cap era, I can't help it).

I really don't think Hudler is our best player. Beer in mind, I enjoy blueadam's line threads. Keep up the good work, kid.