titanium2

Hey! They took our jobs! Derkke Durrrrrr....

Me too. But I also wouldn't be surprised if the Wings were to win it all again next year with Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen in their primes as just the tip of the iceberg.

More like a valium or prozac.

You won't be saying that in next year's finals.

I talk good American.

Pronger just won't go away.

http://www.redwingscentral.com/prospects/raedeke.php SCOUT COMMENTS "We think he has a little bit of Darren Helm in him. He's a good skater with good speed and he's strong on the puck. He's calm on the ice and we like his skating and style of game. He's not scared to go into the corners. He doesn't run guys over but he has strength on the puck and we like the game he plays." — Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill (October 2008). STRENGTHS Hustle, hustle, hustle — you won't find many who work harder ... Fast skater ... Three-zone player with good hockey sense ... Strong on the puck ... Quality faceoff man ... Poised ... Kills penalties ... Good strength for his size and willing to get his nose dirty and win battles. WEAKNESSES Needs a big jump in offensive production in the junior ranks to show he has the skill to meet projection as a third- or fourth-line NHL forward ... Needs to get stronger.

From Prospect Camp 2009: "In all honesty, it's Cayer and Nyquist, who played for Clarkson and the University of Maine, respectively, and Samuelsson, who played for Timra IK of the Swedish Eliteserien, who have made the most physical progress. They can fade into the background during skill drills, but they have solidified their all-round games, and they no longer bounce off their opponents when shoved during puck battles. Again, Jesper Samuelsson, Gustav Nyquist, and Julien Cayer look like different players than the ones who showed up last year. Samuelsson's smallish frame belies his zip and tenacity on the puck, Nyquist occasionally displays goal-scorer's hands, and Cayer serves as a big, defensively-responsible forward who exhibits a balanced game." ( http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/07/re...p_09_day_1.html )

From Day 2 of Prospect Camp 2009: "Thomas McCollum's struggles to remain in his stance and "stay big" are simply the results of trying to compensate for a slightly sprained knee. He and Pearce play a very similar hybrid game in which they make their 6-foot-1 frames look much bigger by placing their gloves and blockers in front, preferring to squeeze pucks that would sneak through their elbows instead of bringing their entire arms back to ****** straggling shots, and they keep their torsos upright in the butterfly, ably using their sticks to stifle five-holes of various sizes (Pearce plays with a much wider, Luongo-style butterfly, while McCollum prefers to flare his pads and skates out a bit and close the five hole if possible). At this point, Pearce looks a bit more well-rounded in terms of his ability to control rebounds, but the fact that he's two years older than McCollum plays into that equation. McCollum tended net about 40% of the time on Wednesday, with Packwood subbing and showing that his compact frame gave way to the kind of first-shot-is-your-last-shot rebound control that will at least turn a head or two. He's out of junior options and looking for his next shot to keep playing hockey, and he understands that not just Red Wings scouts inhabit the stands." ( http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/07/re...p_09_day_1.html )

From Day 2 of Prospect Camp 2009. "Brendan Smith has matured physically (and otherwise) as well, and his puck-rushing ability has gained some defensive prowess thanks to University of Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves' instruction. Smith still plays like a puck-carrying forward who switched to defense at 16 years of age, but his equally lanky body has filled out somewhat, and a slight adjustment in his skating stride, involving a nearly straight-backed upright posture, has subtracted nothing from his explosive stride." ( http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/07/re...p_09_day_1.html )

From Day 1 and Day 2 of George Malik's observations of 2009 prospect camp. Day 1 - "Max Nicastro skated onto the ice as the players slowly but surely found their way down the tunnel and back onto the benches, and Nicastro stands out immediately for both his ability to skate and his heads-up play with the puck. He's big (6'3"), can be physical, and simply has that sort of calmness about him that makes defenders stand out." ( http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/07/re...amp_09_day.html ) Day 2 - "Max Nicastro, who stands to play prime-time minutes during his freshman year at Boston University, has a few traits absolutely intrinsic to the puck-carrying defensemen that the Red Wings like on their teams. He keeps his head up over 95% of the time that the puck's on his stick, quickly issuing outlet passes and hard, low shots, his lateral mobility along the blueline is excellent, he skates very well overall, and his big, lanky 6-foot-3 frame is filling out well -- well enough that he issues the occasional big hit without specifically looking for that kind of stuff." ( http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/07/re...p_09_day_1.html )

I don't know man. Teams like the Flyers do a lot of things that could be called penalties. The refs are not going to call every single thing; probably not even the majority of things that should be penalities in today's NHL. That wouldn't be good entertainment because you'd have too many stoppages in play and crappy flow to the game. The Flyers, if they had the right pop, could hack and whack to the extent that the Refs don't know what to call and so they call the stuff that "isn't as bad as some of the other awful things." Trouble is, with that Flyers roster, they could really amp up that degree of badness, or whatever you want to call it.

He doesn't need a hug he needs someone to have a bitching contest with.

Z is a safe bet with his 12 year contract. Nick's will be up there with 9 and 19. If I wanted to take a risk on a jersey, I'd probably go with Ericsson.

As of today he's supposed to be in GR next year even though there were many reports that he wanted to stay another year in the SEL.

More like getting lucky.

What are his reasons behind that? I'm hoping that after you tell me that I'll leave with the feeling that "yeah, that's understandable," but it doesn't seem likely.

I'm almost positive that Zetterberg will get 7-10 more goals.

In order for Fil to get that many goals he has to play on Datsyuk's left wing so that he doesn't have to be the primary puck handler. I'm sure we'll see it every now and again this year.

He won't be able to do what Ericsson did when he filled in for Lilja but let's say someone goes on LTIR. I think he can handle 3-5 games with limited minutes. As far as the other five games go, not sure.

You're not implying that Meech be a full time forward are you? He's a spare tire up front or on the back end. A stopgap for when a player has a groin injury.

It's not much but he's also in the last year of his contract according to LGW.

If I had to guess on what Babs would start with I'd presume he'd try to spread out the talent: Euro-Twins-Homer Mule-Fil-Cleary Abby?-Helm-Leino ?-Drapes-Malts or no EuroTwins... Mule-Z-Cleary Fil-Pav-Leino Abby?-Helm-Homer ?-Drapes-Malts If I was playing NHL '10 I'd probably funnel the talent a little more. Euro-Twins-Mule Leino-Fil-Cleary Abby?-Helm-Homer ?-Drapes-Malts I think Pav-Z-Mule in reality would be one of the top two lines in the league 2 months into the regular season.

Then it's Lebda. Meech is cheap and a stopgap at forward. Plus I remember some article that listed Brett Lebda among some of the best skaters in the league. He'll be easier to sell.

Hehe. Sure. Don't worry. You're not the first to "point out the other side of the coin" on these boards. It's just part of being a fan of the opponent. But if you're as old as you say you are and have been a longtime Pens fan then I definitely commend someone like you as opposed to the new breed of Crosby fans. I'm sure they do a good job of keeping the economy going around Mellon Arena but I would never take them seriously in a hockey discussion. You're going to make me reference Rocky Balboa. They're also human beings and human beings fail time and time again whether it's just getting in their own way or simply not being good enough. The difference is that the Wings have shown the ability to rebound from it as opposed to starting from scratch. I suppose that's what makes them, "mighty."