titanium2

Why would he be unnamed? Not a fan of the paparazzi?

I guess that's the point. What's the honor in being a champion if an idiot wins one?

Oh boy... Have fun Eastern Conference. We'll continue to point and laugh until the finals.

I saw your post before you edited. You didn't have the picture up yet but I knew it was going to be one of whiny face. Mario probably isn't shaking his head all that much. He had to do his fair share of embellishment and complaining in order to get the calls.

Damn. What a great player.

Not really. It is possible to trade at some point during the arbitration process.

Do you consider Huds as cheap for a one-way player at 3-4 million?

He's worried that the Wings won't be able to outscore their opponents next year, which was what got them through this year. With Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Hossa, Lidstrom, Rafalski and Kronwall to start, why wouldn't want to just outscore everybody for every game? If you want points, then yeah, at this point, like it or not, Hudler is more of a proven commodity. Not an unreasonable position to take. However, Kenny just said in an interview that they plan on playing more of a defensive style, perhaps with emphasis on the little things that helped make 07-08 so special.

The Wings have a lot of Swedes on their team. Therefore, the trip there will mean more to them because they have more of an emotional attachment and salience to the trip, which inspires their play, which can be contagious to the others not from Sweden or Europe in general. I could see a possible Sweden hangover but that's probably like the common cold in comparison to all the other things they'll have to deal with next season. But why wouldn't you come back with a little bit of a hangover? I'd question your manhood if you didn't. I mean, come on. Those two voluptuous brunettes on Avenyn street really know how to work it and then cook up some rice porridge the morning after.

"Goodness what a pass."

This is something in which I disagree wholeheartedly with micah about. He thinks the Wings were lazy for the first 60 games of the season. IIRC, he thinks a team can condition themselves to play every game as if it were the first game of the playoffs. Are in better physical shape than most but they are still human. The game seemingly moreso today than any other is about who can manage their energy and intensity the best. You can blame Bettman for that one, but that's besides the point. The game today because of the emphasis for entertainment value has become more of a marathon for the players and you can't treat a marathon like a sprint.

No it was Datsyuk flipping it over the net against Anaheim in Game 7, which led to a stretch where Anaheim couldn't get the puck out of the zone even though the Wings weren't on the power play. Well, a power play just ended, so the Ducks were probably tired, which means that probably wasn't the best example, but it was still fun to watch them toy around. I guess a better example is Game 6 from the 08 finals where Pittsburgh only registered one shot on goal in a little over 18 minutes of play. Absolutely beautiful. The Wings won seemingly every physical battle and race for the puck. It was effort and determination at its finest. I agree to this to the extent of this past year. We didn't see the same kind of determination and effort from the Wings this past year. It was a different year. A different style, more oriented towards offense. But 07-08 was one of the most special years in Wings recent history and that's saying something. Datsyuk with his sneaky takeaways and moves that make two players collide. Hilarious. And based on Kenny's recent interview to WDFN, the Wings plan to get back to that kind of style, which has me very excited.

I was in fair agreement with you until you said this. I love it when the Wings play keep away. I find it as one of the funniest things I love to watch along with episodes of The Simpsons or House. How is this not fun to watch?

Oooh. Nice. Never thought of that. And they'll have to play Philly... Oh this is good. This is very good. Talbot's shoulder? Meet Pronger's skate. Or stick. Or gap between his teeth that will enclose your shoulder and then snap it in half. And... This fantasy isn't even over. Go ahead and skate back to the bench so that Lappy will finish one of his patented high checks on you. Now that I've posted all this, I bet I've inspired some on this board so that this fantasy still isn't even over. Anyone want to continue it for me?

Mmm... Not really. I love the Red Wings style but I think that it's something you grow to appreciate. I can't believe how often I defend micah but do you remember the game in which Aaron Downey garnered 50-60% of text message votes for player of the game when he only played for what 6-7 minutes and just forechecked seemingly everyone who wasn't wearing red? People like to watch other people beat each other up. It's some kind of fear of survival trait we've inherited according to Darwin.

I think they'll barely reach 50 wins. At the very least get 48 or 49. They care enough to have had at least 50 wins every season in the post-lockout era. I really don't see why they'd stop now even considering Sweden, the Olympics and some pretty good mileage from three years of deep playoff runs. But I can definitely see them losing the division. Chicago's offense will take them pretty far and will most definitely register 50+ wins in the regular season.

Not much karma to judge here seeing as how he'll back with enough time to annoy other teams as they defend their title.

This was where I heard about it: http://www.redwingscentral.com/forums/view...?f=2&t=8754 This is the link they cited: http://www.nhl.com/ice/playersearch.htm?team=DET

I felt like Liv's bigger problem is that he relies way too much on his athleticism to make saves, essentially making saves more difficult than they should be because he needs the thrill of making highlight reel saves.

He's been there for what, two years now? After he completes a third I think he can move into the AHL if the Wings believe he's ready. Let's say he does. It's probably another two years at minimum before he'd play 20 games in a season for the Wings as a call up. Just my guess.

Maybe this deserves its own thread but I probably get more annoyed than the mods do when a couple of threads need to be merged. http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sp...fd-9055e58b934d HUDLER'S RETURN Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said he's also confident he'll get a contract done with forward Jiri Hudler. "Hudler, at some point, will be done," Holland said. The 25-year-old Hudler will be looking for a raise from the US$1.15 million he made a year ago after posting a career-high 23 goals and 57 points in 82 games. Hudler filed for arbitration Sunday, which means the restricted free agent cannot receive an offer sheet from another club. Holland and Hudler's representatives will continue to negotiate with arbitration cases set to be heard July 20 to Aug. 4 in Toronto. "I've talked to his agent and I think he wants to be in Detroit," Holland said. "With the cap system, there's only so much space. "I know he's made a great case for a significant raise. We've compared numbers with his agent and we're probably a little lower than he wants and he's a little higher than we think."

http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sp...fd-9055e58b934d HUDLER'S RETURN Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said he's also confident he'll get a contract done with forward Jiri Hudler. "Hudler, at some point, will be done," Holland said. The 25-year-old Hudler will be looking for a raise from the US$1.15 million he made a year ago after posting a career-high 23 goals and 57 points in 82 games. Hudler filed for arbitration Sunday, which means the restricted free agent cannot receive an offer sheet from another club. Holland and Hudler's representatives will continue to negotiate with arbitration cases set to be heard July 20 to Aug. 4 in Toronto. "I've talked to his agent and I think he wants to be in Detroit," Holland said. "With the cap system, there's only so much space. "I know he's made a great case for a significant raise. We've compared numbers with his agent and we're probably a little lower than he wants and he's a little higher than we think."

I don't know. I think Toews is awesome but we already have a version of him. It's that guy who joked that he didn't know that the NHL draft went in alphabetical order (Z).

They really should change their rating criteria. I'm sure you've read their "mid-season" rankings or "end of the year evaluations." Those are jokes as well. I somewhat agree. Kindl has "all the tools." One unfortunate thing with having "all the tools" is that it takes longer to learn when to use a certain 'tool' at the right time. For example, Kindl is still learning how to use his size along with when to use his size versus when to use his skating or in other words, when to play the body versus when to use positioning. Defense is mostly about will and determination but it's also about being smart and having good hockey sense. Is hockey sense something you can develop? From what I've seen it's more of a "you either have it or you don't" kind of thing.

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Franzen (The DZF cycle will give you vertigo) Leino-Filppula-Cleary (Keep it on a string, keep it simple, and Cleary bangs in the junk) ?-Helm-Holmstrom (Helm is going to do a lot of laughing in practice and games) ?-Draper-Maltby (Oh Grind Line...) Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-? ? If Datsyuk and Zetterberg need a break away from each other Leino-Zetterberg-Franzen Filppula-Datsyuk-Cleary If you want great depth down the middle Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Leino-Zetterberg-Cleary ?-Filppula-? Draper-Helm-Maltby (<--Two goats and a kid?)