Hack & Whack Rule!

Yes...yes, he is.

All of these stats, while interesting, only point to a slow start. After two games, which we lost, the numbers were even s***tier. All losses, no wins! OMG! Stats are a great thing to be able to look at, but when we get 20-30 games under our belt, the numbers should make a bit more sense...I'm hoping. I agree that things are looking pretty grim, such as not being able to play hockey for a full 60 minutes. Harping on the stats so early is a waste of energy.

Let The Good Times Roll - The Cars

Smartassedness (huh?) aside, it's not blind faith, just the regular kind of faith. They do manage a massive financial firm of a sort. It's called the Detroit Red Wings. It's big money, and it's all on the line. And you are right, change is coming. Whether it's personel or attitude adjustments, the stars will line up and things will improve.

Hmmm...I thought this thread was going to be about us, as fans, having faith in the players and staff of the Red Wings organization. Sure, they haven't had an auspicious start to the year, but it's not the first time. I think that's the solution to our problems. Let them work it out the way they do. If there is anybody on this forum that thinks they can see issues with this team that the coaching staff, with the possible exception of McCrimmon, doesn't see, then that is one delusional fan. All I'm saying, is give them some time. There's a lot of fresh faces this year. They are trying to find their spot, trying to gel with their linemates. It's a waiting game, people. Have faith...I do.

These are two points that kept coming up in the Mitchell/Toews hit thread. Two things I can't figure out, though: 1. Exactly how does one let when he is skating fast enough to lay a hit like that, when there may be no indication that it's going to end that ugly? Let's say he let's up, throws off his timing, maybe he loses balance and get's hurt, maybe he misses and takes himself out of the play leading to a scoring chance for Booth or whoever else. Rag on Richards time. 2. What does the beginning of the season have to do with laying a big hit? Checks are valid any time of the season, so why do people say it's too early? If you can take the guy, you do it. If you don't, once again, maybe it leads to a scoring chance. Rag on Richards time. If it's too early, when is it time for this hit? After the All Star break? After the Olympics? Please, someone answer this. I think it was a clean hit with an unfortunate result. It didn't look like he was trying to take him in the noggin. His shoulder was low, but then Booth went low as well. I hope Booth will be all right, cuz I hate seeing any player get injured.

We all see that it was stupid thing to do, and that Tucker's back is to Ruutu throughout the whole time. What I meant was that the collision itself didn't seem to be severe.

You're right, it doesn't look that bad. I looks like he went into the boards funny, like maybe he gave his neck a twist. I hope Tucker's okay, it would be a huge loss to Colorado.

I'm not saying Osgood's a s***ty goalie, but I'm glad they're giving Howard a chance. We need to see if we've got a solid backup or not. And I agree about Halak. It would be awesome to see him as a Wing.

I suppose that's the reason they don't intentionally tank the entire season. The still try for the wins. Getting one is a little tough, but they still try.

Yes, you just proved that you are a twelve year old. Or, at the very least, you have the mentality of one. You can't explain yourself, and you can't even try. You get to go on the ignore list with other people that don't make sense and won't admit they made a mistake.

Mr. Jones and Me - Counting Crows

I'll take an explanation, if you can ever give a sensible one, Mr. Toews. You've posted all kinds of garbage about intent to injure, hitting when the guy doesn't expect it, the month of October and captains. The way you want the game to be played, the refs will have to blow the whistle after every hit. Then they will have to confer with each other, several players from each team, the head coaches and the salary cap chart. All of this to determine if the hit was ok, and whether the other team can/should retaliate, how they should do it, and when. I asked for some clarification in an earlier post, and you still haven't given answers from there, so I'm going to assume that you are a twelve year old with no idea about the topic to which you claim to know so much. Go finish your Kraft Dinner and hot dogs then do your homework.

Double standard. You are making this thread ridiculous. You have come up with so many "ifs, ands and buts" that I'm surprised you haven't travelled backward through time.

Rag on Lebda, Osgood, Babs, Meetch or Homer all you want. I won't join your group, but I have one thing to say....

I saw the "jk" but the fact is that it's a popular question. I was an Air Defense Artilleryman a lifetime ago, and it was quite funny showing up in different parts of the US. Oh, the looks! And Crossed Arms Guy is right....the snipers are the elite!

Hey, thanks for the heads up! I wasn't sure for a while. Now I'm just not sure when players are allowed to hit. Help me out here. Maybe you can spell it out for me. Is there a specific time? Or does the league wait for you to call them and tell them that hitting is now acceptable? When it does start, are they allowed to continue to the end of the season, or is there a date you have in mind when they should stop? Is it the hard hitting that doesn't start in October or are little pansy hits ok? Any information you could pass on to me would be greatly appreciated. Your wealth of info here is priceless.

Don't hold back!

I'll assume you are trying to infer that the hit was not clean, or at least not "very clean". I think you are out of your depth on this one. There was nothing wrong with that hit. It was legal and it was clean. What the f*** does October have to do with it? Is October a non-checking month and nobody told me? Can we hit in November or do we have to wait until January or March? Stop talking, Toews.

Sarcasm notwithstanding, we are talking about a clean hit. At what point is it ok to take a retaliatory penalty for something that was completely clean and legal. Did you get injured today? Get your head knocked around a bit? Are you Jonathon Toews?

Hank doesn't skate with his head down. But if he did get laid out like that, I see no reason to give the other team a PP just to retaliate a clean hit. One of our best players now needs a few minutes to shake his head, and you want to give them a man advantage for two minutes. Did you want to pull the goalie too, you know, to even things up?

Toews gets caught skating with his head down...Willie comes out of the box....Willie runs over Toews while Toews has his head down...Willie's fault? I'll bet Toews learned a valuable lesson on this one. You, however, aren't even making sense with these posts. Should Mitchell have just let him skate by, give him the chance to score one because he's a nice guy? They play to win, it's what they get paid for. Clean hit, plain and simple. And it was absolutely B-E-A-utiful!

Do you even realize that the "H" in NHL stands for Hockey? It's a full contact sport. Toews didn't get clotheslined and he didn't take a hockey stick across the face, head or upper body. There was no knee on knee and no elbows were flying. Intent to injure? Are you insane? There may have been an intent to knock him on his ass, but this is hockey. As for going after Mitchell, for what you admit is a clean hit, you are way out to lunch. That's the kind of crap they need to get rid of. A scrap in retaliation for a cheap shot, such as an elbow or spear, is one thing, but to start a fight with a guy just for playing hockey is just plain ridonculous.

Let up? Early in the season? I didn't know big hits were supposed to be reserved for mid to late season. If he had let up, such a thing being hard to control, he may have been run over and gotten hurt. Toews is fine, he just learned a lesson, albeit the hard way.

They don't speak the same French. Send a Quebecer to France and they get the same treatment as a person speaking English in Quebec. I was just going to say something about Saku Koivu, but you beat me to it. I remember that, and they said that the captain of the Habs should be fluent in French and speak nothing but that while he was talking to the media. Complete bulls*** attitude.