Electrophile

Not everyone can afford Centre Ice. I sure as hell can't. I've only recently just gone back to work, and finances are tight. Some people don't even have cable, either because they can't afford it, or because there's no real need for them to have it, since they wouldn't use more than one or two stations. Out of market fans always get the shaft, and I don't think that's fair. If you don't agree with illegal streams, why can't the NHL make all games available online at a REASONABLE price. Not reasonable according to me, because I'd be a smart ass and say $0.25. Maybe something like $19.99 a month. Or $15.99 a month. Or set the price per game at $3.95. MLB.TV used to do that a few years ago. You could either buy the entire season's package, or you could just pay per game you wanted to watch. I would wholeheartedly support that.

I'm glad some of you are optimistic about the playoffs, because I'm sure as hell not. I don't think we'll get swept, but playing like we are right now, I don't foresee us lasting very long. I just don't think we have what it takes this season to win the Cup. I want to be wrong, and I hope I am wrong, but too many players are lackadaisical on the ice, too many players are making boneheaded mistakes that players of their caliber/tenure should not be making, and while I don't think firing Babs and/or Holland is going to fix this, I don't see any urgency in them to do something to pull the team out of its funk. The fish rots from the head down, but that's also assuming the rest of the fish isn't already a festering mess.

Sorry Babs. I love you, but it's time to call Bobby Knight or Mike Ditka and have them come in for a little "man to man" bonding with your players. Guarantee their heads will be ringing when they walk out the door. I get that publicly throwing people under the bus isn't his style, but we're at the point now where it's starting to appear like he either doesn't know or doesn't care just how precarious our situation is. Yes, we're in the playoffs which is always a good thing, but the way we're playing right now, we won't be there long....and it doesn't appear that he understands that. Granted, we don't know everything that goes on, but it's the appearance of the thing that has me worried.

Never thought I'd see a Red Wings GDT Godwinned, but there you go.

Then be the arbiter of that in your own mind and resist sharing it with the rest of us.

I don't care why or how anyone here became a fan. I don't consider that something I need to concern myself with. I'm sick of the Wings' s***ty play, not fans on a message board. They don't affect me.

If there's anything I hate more than losing, it's listening to sanctimonious clap-trap about what does or does not constitute a fan, and where those who are deemed "un-fans" (to borrow from the Newspeak dictionary) can go.

I think it's time for all of us to start dealing with some uncomfortable truths.

Jesus Christ that was pitiful. I'd come up with something stronger, but words escape me.

You got me swingin'. Not to put too fine a point on it, but no one has the Cup locked up until there's 30 seconds left in the 3rd period of the clinching game and the winning team has a >1 goal lead. Anything can happen. Cliche yes, but it's a cliche for a reason. Crappy teams can come out of nowhere and win everything, while world-beaters can get their asses handed to them. We've seen it happen to us, we've seen it happen to other teams. So tell me again why we're worried what Pittsburgh is doing? We wouldn't theoretically see them until the Cup finals anyway, should we progress that far. It's not like we're talking about a potential WC opponent.

That's kinda sorta not the point. Wading through the noise to find threads about subjects that haven't been beaten to death is rather hard most days. It's either threads about HWSNBN, enforcers, Babcock/random player sucks, we're too soft....ad infinitum. It would be nice if people did a search on a particular topic to see if it's been discussed recently, and add their opinion to that thread rather than create a new one for a point that's been made a thousand times already.

You mean the only conversation to be had here is we're too soft/too Euro/we need enforcers/______ should be fired? There's literally NOTHING else worth discussing in regards to the Detroit Red Wings? How many damn threads about how random poster X thinks we need goons on the squad do we need? Is thread #1,000,000 going to suddenly make everyone scream "EUREKA!!111!" or something?

I'm really getting sick and ******* tired of the same bulls*** arguments being made on these boards time after time after time. It's like a broken record that's had the needle taped down. Nothing new is ever said, no one's minds are changed, nothing different is brought to the table. It's like any thread about HWSNBN*. The same circle jerk consisting of the same damn people shouting the same incomprehensible babble over one another until they pass out or a mod locks/deletes the thread. *He Who Shall Not Be Named

Oh, we're "back" alright. See what happens when you put the cart before the horse?

Well that was just lovely. Can we shoot him at dawn?

We can blame you for it? Awesome. Quick everyone, grab the pitchforks and torches!

Well, that wasn't at all unpredictable.

Never, ever, ever wish for a specific opponent, because it will come back to bite you in the ass. The Wings will play whoever they end up playing, and we can worry about how we'll fare against them once we know who they are. I'm not going to start wishing and hoping for any specific team. The Wings are in the playoffs, which is all that matters.

We're playing much, much better.......but that doesn't mean we're "back." We're not "back" until everyone on our roster is healthy and playing at 100%, which isn't happening right now. Doesn't mean we're not playing better than we were, and clinching a playoff spot was definitely a good feeling, but please remember that GD is Overreaction Central, and the first time we we lose a couple games in a row, or even lose one game really badly, there's going to be a score of threads here about how the team is done, we're over, and fire/trade/release ___________. It happens every time. So I'm not rushing off to the store to buy a bottle of champers for the victory parade just yet.

What's this? The number by our team's name is larger than the number by the other team's name? I didn't think that was allowed. Hmm.

The team sucks right now. We're playing hard tonight, but that's tonight. Saying the team isn't that good right now, or that we have problems, isn't being negative. It's assessing the situation as honestly as possible. You can phrase it better than "we suck" obviously, but I'm being a bit dramatic to make my point.

It's a piece of s***. All it does is provoke more nonsense than it abates. I don't "care", but I don't see why we need it. It gets abused by people who use it to piss on other members they don't like, or because said members posted something that may be true, but unpopular. I can't even remember the last time I availed myself of it. To get back on topic, hell of a game so far. At least the Wings are showing some stones.

I don't really care if they do or if they don't. I don't concern myself with the goings on of teams that aren't the Detroit Red Wings.

I had to delete all those stupid inverted carets just to quote this post. Thanks for screwing up my browser.

Any team that's not Detroit, with the exception of Tampa Bay. I'd love to see Steve skate around with the Cup again, even if it's not with us. Now, if they beat the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup, I'm going to have a hard time feeling charitable about that, but if we're not even in it....different story. Every other team can go straight to hell, though.