Nev

Difference was, last year those threads were inspired by chicken-licken fans and/or Hasek/Osgood personal preferences and were a MASSIVE over-reaction to the situation. This year, our defence and especially goaltending has been a huge problem almost every game. If you think we can win in the playoffs with this level of goaltending, prepare to be disapointed. We don't need a new goalie, we need the ones we've got to get their **** together. And 60 minutes of effort by everyone not called Marian Hossa would be nice as well

How did you find the view? I've sat right behind the glass at games over here and hated it - every time the puck goes to either end of the rink you can't see a damn thing. Also the players smell and the ice is cold

Aaaand the Wings get away with it again. To quote The Game "Calisse, mad when we lose, mad when we win!"

And Cleary. Anyone else?

Good call. They've been getting away with mailing it in all season. They need to get angry enough about it that they start playing with the something-to-prove attitude they had all last year. I'm also starting to think we need to trade away 1 or 2 players just to shake the rest of them up.

This is what I'm starting to think. Oh, and in between the man-love for the Refs & Conklin can someone tell me if Pavel Datsyuk is actually playing tonight? I didn't hear his name once in the 1st period.

Yes, he does suck doesn't he? [/sarcasm]

UK night shift reporting for duty as usual can't get the Detroit radio feed at work, but I've managed to get Chicago radio streaming. Better than nothing I guess

I don't know if thats a typo or not, but I like your made up word I shall try to use it in conversation more

When their contracts come up for renewal. If attendance, sponsorship, TV money and corporate income all go down then for sure players contracts will go down. Guys like Datsyuk with their big, long-term contract are OK (Cap penalties for releasing a player with such a contract are brutal in the NHL, and you still have to pay him 2/3 of the value). The ones who will "suffer" are the Franzens of this world who've never made "OMG I never have to work again" money and are due to get their first "big" contract.

A win with 1 or fewer goals conceded and 20 or less shots allowed would be just right

Unfortunately, all those "bad bounces" are happening game after game after game after game. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, 3 times is a trend. Right now its only our sick collection of forwards that is keeping his W-L record so healthy. I love Ozzie and I hated the way the fans ran him out of town first time round, but right now his play is positively brutal and the last few weeks we can no longer pin the blame on our D. As the season goes on and on I am getting more and more nervous about the playoffs - Ozzie is running out of time to sort his game out.

Congrats to Nick - 4th all time on a storied Original 6 team like Detroit is a serious achievement, especially for a defenseman, especially having played in the dead puck era. He also has a shot @ 1000pts this season - at his current pace he will finish with 997

wow, just seen the full clip on youtube - what a complete and utter tosspot. From the way he sidles up and asks if there's a camera running, to the fact that all he has to say is the sloppy 2nds comment, to the childish "look-at-me-I'm-clever-I-said something-rude" grin on his face it is patently obvious he only did this for one reason - not to wind up Phaneuf, but to focus all the attention on HIM. Brett Hull signing him to a big contract is the 2nd worst sports managment decision ever (giving Millen a 5 year extension has to be #1)

1) Great commercial 2) Great idea to actually advertise the Winter Classic ***not during NHL games***. For years and years it seems the NHL only advertises itself during NHL broadcasts and you're thinking "well why bother then?"

Yeah, but you have to remember that for every shot that hits the target (and is therefore a shot) he has another 10 that are blocked,deflected or just plain miss the net. So a 0.3 SPG drop is more like 3 or 4 less shots taken per game To be fair, I've always known that the reason he shoots so much is because it is the number 1 thing that Babs talks about. Shoot, shoot, shoot. No matter the angle, no matter the lack of traffic just shoot the puck and then shoot it some more. But I think this is the first time I've ever heard Sammy or anyone else explicitly express the pressure from the coaches like that.

In the last thread there was discussion about Sammy getting a lot of points this season on secondary assists on the PP - I don't know if its just me, but he seems to be shooting a lot less this season and passing to Hank instead. Smart move I say. Sammy still has his "wtf" moments every period and lets not forget the 2 magic words: Contract Year.

Interesting - I was actually wondering yesterday if he was eligable for a conditioning assingment. Question is, will he play? Lilja has been playing excellent (for him) and Lebda has been much better since his benching. Aaaand we're also back up against the cap

Nice to see the 07-08 wings make a welcome return As for the Ducks being tired Now STFU about it.

Because the perception in the media, around the league, and even on this forum, is that the Wings only won last year because they avoided Anaheim. Until we beat the "big, bad" Ducks in a playoff series, that perception will remain. Anyway, our litmus test team this year is San Jose. Because other than the powerplay we have been poor this season. This level of goaltending and defence in the playoffs will result in an early appointment on the golf course. Last year the Regular Season was a dress rehearsal for the playoffs and I was at all surprised when we steamrollered our way to the cup.

I have a hard time believing Hull could keep quiet about ANYTHING

No, and no. Because next season Sammy and especially Huds will be making significantly more than they currently are. Hudler may want to walk anyway if Babs keeps treating him like his little ***** no matter what.

Filpulla>Huds>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sammy It saddens me to see how quick the folks on here are so quick to stomp on Flips grave. Have you all forgotten how he shut down and totally outplayed Evgeni Malkin just a few months ago? We all knew his ice-time would be down this season & his numbers with it. Plus he's always been a streaky player and he's not had his hot streak yet. I kinda think of him as a 2nd line Jere Lehtinen - good for 15-20 goals and excellent defensively. There's also a little bit of disingenous talk with the salarys going on here - Flip is making 2.0M this year (yes, I know his cap hit is more). You are also comparing players at different stages in their careers - Flip has just signed his first major pro contract, Helm is still on his entry contract. Its like saying Hank is a better player than Dats because he only makes $2.9M to Pavels $6.7M. I know its a Salary Cap world but to some extent you are comparing apples and oranges when talking about their relative worth. The only, and I mean ONLY way I can see Flip being traded is if it needs to be done to keep Hossa, Hank & Mule (and then its bye-bye Huds and Sammy as well)

Wow, what an absolutely brutal effort by Detroit Credit to Montreal, they played a great "Wings" game. Solid defensively and got pucks to the net = lucky bounces. I'm sorry, but Kopecky wasn't the worst player on that 1st line. Not by a long, long, long, long looooong way. Datsyuk was utterly & totally anonymous.