titanium2

Sounds nice. It isn't even in the same ball park as the original Russian Five though. Their sum talent was out of this world.

I'm sure Filppula would love to have Saku Koivu in a Wings jersey. Filppula-Koivu-Hudler/Bertuzzi/Cleary There's your third scoring line right there.

Pretty much everybody is scared to death of a possible third pairing of those two. I am a little as well, I must admit, but at the same time I can see those two playing well together. It sounds crazy, but bear with me. They're pretty similar in my mind. They both have shown shades in the past of an ability to play physical. They're both skilled and they like to make skilled plays. They think the game in a fairly similar way. When both of these guys are under pressure they tend to make skill plays that perhaps their partner isn't ready for thus leading to a lot of frustrating giveaways. Babcock has said this about Ericsson this past year and Kindl's staunchest supporters have said this about him for years. Don't get me wrong, they're both at fault for that tendency because it shows somewhat of an inability to communicate and make adjustments to the tendencies of their dman partner and teammates for the betterment of the team. At the same time, what if they had a linemate where they didn't have to adjust as much? Where they make a skilled play, the instincts match one another and the result is tape to tape? When Ericsson was on Kronwall's side he didn't look so bad. At least, not as bad as when he played with Lebda. Why can't a pairing of Ericsson and Kindl have a similar result? They have similar games and they can both play the game the way they like to play it. Then you got both guys playing with confidence because they're allowed to play hockey the way they know how and that confidence will allow them to play a punishing game on the defensive end. I'm not saying that's how a pairing of Ericsson and Kindl will work out. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if those two found a way to be effective with one another because they have similar skill sets and they'll be able to use them if they're on the same pairing. Does it really sound that crazy after all?

I really want to blame McCrimmon for a lot of the defensive struggles but I don't know if it's fair. By title he is the defensive coach. Okay. But like I've said before, what does that really mean? The only thing that I know he does for sure is run drills with the defensemen and that he has some input on team strategy. Most of that, however, is on Babcock. McCrimmon, from what I understand, just implements Babcock's team strategy and only has a few suggestions here and there. I mean, didn't Joey Kocur used to run the offense? Remember that? How much input do you think he really had? It's not like we had a lot of people here that said, "Due to Kocur's coaching, Sergei has been red hot this past month and Zetterberg is up for the Calder trophy!" I just think that the assistant coaches are mainly there to implement the head coach's philosophy and offer suggestions that the head coach probably doesn't even listen to half the time.

I wonder why McClelan was "good enough" for a head coaching job and MacLean wasn't.

Haha, are we really diagnosing Mindfly on LGW.com? Hang on I'll go get my DSM-IV and send him the Beck Depression Inventory. I actually wasn't referring to Mindfly in that one but point taken. Lately though he has been taking on a schtick-like kind of role here on LGW. An anti-Euro one iirc. But you're right in that eventually you realize he's pretty harmless on these boards.

He did okay in the Olympics. He might be able to provide some physical play here and there but I imagine that the kind of guy you're looking for is someone who has never EVER been questioned about passion and using their size to their advantage.

Rhymes with Poodler. I know what you mean but they're both kind of cut from the same cloth anyways.

Ideally, yes. I think they need more of a veteran presence in that area though. NOT Draper, obviously. Besides, I have a "bad" feeling about Abby. Not that he won't be an NHL player but that he might be a little too skilled for that kind of role. He might fight some to start out. But then all of a sudden he gets some more ice time, racks up some points, plays significant minutes on the PK and realizes that he'd rather be on the ice instead of in the box. Therefore, he'll eventually evolve into a "fighting only when absolutely necessary" kind of guy. It's not really a bad thing to have a player like that. I just don't think we can count on a guy like that to be an intense physical checking presence.

It wouldn't be LGW without members being assholes just for fun. Hell isn't that Mindfly's calling card?

We don't really expect this kind of production do we?

The Wings will eventually need a new franchise player. Seguin would be great. I hope another will be available by the time they really need one.

Kenny won't low ball him, imo. He's a businessman but he does treat his players well. It's a requirement for having the title of "First Class organization." My thinking is that Kenny will make him a fair offer based on his age, health, production, etc. and Bert will just take it if he wants to play. Then you're gonna have a lot of upset people on LGW who think he got too much especially those who can't stop bringing up his past.

Right but Kenny would never do that. He likes to pay his players fairly according to their market value. It's a good way to conduct business.

Helm and Eaves need a guy on their line who can really dish out the physical play so that they can forecheck more recklessly.

That should Mindfly's slogan or member title or whatever. Not "Sad Panda" but "You hate everyone." Haha.

I don't think Coetzee and Ferraro should be that far apart in the rankings especially after this past year.

I agree. I think they'll get some size for both the top six and the fourth line, especially if Oulahen does not come back.

Mannnn it'd be awesome if the Wings could somehow steal away that 2nd pick and select Seguin. The depth down the middle would be fantastic. Datsyuk/Zetterberg Filppula Seguin Helm/Abdelkader

So no Bart Lebda or Willy? Bert has to come back to be the (Fam Guy) HWipping boy.

A handful of games and the all star game where he racked up a lot of points. It seems like he's as fast as he'll get. Maybe he's smarter about positioning himself on the ice. I hope so for his sake.

So... Kindl, Ritola, Ericsson and 1st rounder.

The first two you can expect. Hudler will probably spend significant time on the third line because he still isn't fast enough. The last one I'm not sure what that's all about.