Rob the Badger

I have been a fan of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series for a while. Now I am reading the books that interweave into that world. I've read Salem's Lot, It, The Stand and Insomnia. Right now, I am reading Hearts in Atlantis about Ted Braughtigan and the low men.

I hope the Griffins find a way to solve the Bulldogs. The dogs have won their last five games ending the regular season and 3 of those have come at the Griffins expense. The Bulldogs have home ice advantage and the Griffins have been ravaged by the injury bug. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but things do not look good.

I have a feeling that the cap is going to force the Wings to make some personnel moves that they don't want to. Some of the older players who get paid a lot might have to move on to make room for less expensive players like Leino. Time will tell, but I think that is the writing on the wall.

I was at the game last night. I thought the team looked unfocused. They weren't being responsible with the puck, the turn overs killed them. There were some bright spots. They had their offensive chances. The one thing that I really didn't like was that they separated the Dat-Zet-Homer line. They were one of the best lines last season, I see no reason to break up such a good unit. Hossa can play on the second line with Franzen and one of the other forwards (Sammy, Hudler, Fil, Etc) And with all of the forwards they had to choose from in training camp, I can't believe that they have Kopecky on the roster. I have watched him play for years in Grand Rapids and I have not been impressed. He's soft in the corners, he is a defensive liability, he takes bad penalties, and he whines. I can't believe that he beat out guys like Helm, Downey, and many others. One of my favorite moments from last nights games was when the Leafs started yelling their "Go Leafs Go" chant when they went up 3-1. The section next to them started chanting "Raise Your Cup". Yes, they won the game last night, but the Wings won the regular season and the championship last year. When you look at the big picture, it's pretty obvious which one means more. I think it would have been a good thing to have the teams first game of the season to be a road game. Get away from the Joe and the home crowd to play a game or two in a hostile environment. Get focused on the season and then have the banner raising. I'm sure they'll bounce back with a much more solid game Saturday in Ottawa. I'm Rob the Badger, and I approved this message.

Last night, Sid the Kid, got a goal, two assists, and a fighting major. That qualifies him for the GHHT, with an extra assist. The three points in one night isn't a surprise, but of all people to get a GHHT........

I think that the NCAA hockey rules are about as good as they get as far as the actual play of the game is concerned. If you added fighting to it without any instigator rule, it would be about perfect. The restrictions on goalies playing the puck and the idea of adding new lines to the ice is just stupid.

If someone wants to claim that the Wings bought the cup in 2002, I'll listen to that arguement. But the wins in 97 and 98 were much different. The salaries were not out of control and we were playing with plenty of home grown talent.

The Griffins put on a pretty good game tonight. They outshot last years Calder cup champs two to one and managed to grind out a 2-1 shoot out win. The game had a simular feel to the win that the Wings had against Nashville the other night. It was a physical game and the Griffins had a lot of jump. They've now won 65% of their last ten games and are quickly recovering from that horrid losing streak they had earlier. They're only two games below the .500 mark, no small feat considering the hole they had dug earlier this season. It's been a nice turn around so far. I hope they can build on this momentum and keep going in the right direction going into the play offs.

How many players are the Wolverines going to lose this year to the tournie? It's bad timing, they used to own the GLI, won ten of them in a row a decade ago, and now they can't keep a consistant line up for the event because they lose some of their best players year after year because they compete in a different tournie. It'd be nice to be able to see them put their best 'product' on the ice for the GLI this year.

Hedberg had a similar play this year during a shoot out. He came out to challenge the shooter and took a dive at the puck. The only difference is, that forward had his head up and saw the approaching goalie, so he didn't end up head over heels. No penalty.

I watched him during his time in Grand Rapids. I think that he can be a 1/2 a point/game player in the NHL providing he can stay healthy. He was able to put together a great resume' in the AHL without too many injury issues. I don't know if the problems he's had in the NHL have been flukes, or if he is truly injury prone. I think he's a great guy and a great talent. Hopefully his injury issues are behind him and we can see him become a consistant top 4 defensemen for this team.

Back in Howe's day... there were NHL players that had to have second jobs just to pay the bills. Read some of the books from players back in those days. It wasn't uncommon for people to congratulate a player for winning the Stanley Cup while he was pumping your gas, or bagging your groceries. If Gordie wants to be the schill of the old era, I'm fine with that. I'd rather see him selling books and opening taverns, than going without.

If he were the Jagr of five or ten years ago... sure, but he's lost more than a step, and his numbers this year aren't exactly stellar. I wouldn't pull the trigger on him. He'd be better off going to a team that has a lot of youth that could use a wiley veteran presence in their locker room. Detroit has enough veteran leadership and enough scoring threats as is.

A win at home! Yea! Howard looked good, the defense in front of him was still only 'so so' but they did their job and let Jimmy do his. Keefe was a little ball of hate, and Hartigan looked good as well. The team seemed chippier and showed a lot of grit. The refs didn't call too much in the line of penalties and just let the teams play, which was a relief to see. The other games I've been to this season have been dragged down by over-officiating. Good game, and one I hope that they can build on. it'd be nice to see a winning streak start to balance out the losing streak they've been on.

I would much rather see Drake or Kopecky go. Downey has real value and has been a more offensive threat than either Drake or Kopecky this year. Who would we miss more? The 20 points that Kopecky MIGHT get this year, or the physical presence that Downey brings. To me, it's a no brainer.

Griffins Web Site

Not a single win in 8 games? Only one point in the last 8? Not a single home victory and it's almost Thanksgiving? What the hell? The hole they're digging is getting bigger and bigger. They're going to have to get on a blazing hot streak just to catch up to the .500 mark? I know things can get disorganized when you get a new head coach, and there has been a lot of personnel turn over, but this is getting rediculous... rediculous and down right scary!

I've seen Howard play plenty of games here in GR. He's not the second coming of Dryden, but he's not a bust either. He has a HORRIBLE defense playing in front of him. This is one of the worst defensive units I've seen play in GR in their history. Offense isn't so hot either, but that's a different rant. Howard gets left out to dry way to often, and I think that our defense must think that they'll be executed if they try to clear someone from Howard's crease. I think some of the problem might be due to the head coaching change. Different bench boss, different strategies, different philosophies... but still, we're 1/4 of the way through the season and they look like garbage. It's painful to see. Just look at their record at home, it's a laughing stock.

If players who injure other players were suspended until the vicitim of the hit/slash/attack returned to the ice, the cheap shot element would most likely go down... but that isn't what happened here. Also, Bertuzzi would still be off the ice because Moore is out permanently. That would be a good thing.

Vinnie had a five point night last night to catapult him into the lead. No one has too many of those a season. It's still early. My guess would be that either Crosby or Thornton will get the scoring crown this year, but you never know. Staal could go on a streak. St. Louis could break out with another great campaign. Zet might stay hot all season long. You never know. Heck, even Dats could end up with a 20 goal, 100+ assist season and be the lowest goal getting scoring champ ever. Who knows.

I'd have to say the 97 team. It had everything. Grit. Scoring. Defense. Goaltending. Fighters (not just enforcers). Coaching. There were no weaknesses in that team. The 2002 team had a better offense, imo, but it just wasn't as gritty. I think if there were a magically way of having the 97 team play against the 2002 team, that the 97 team would win.

Ozzie has been the better goalie this year and has earned a Stanley Cup ring as a starter. He's got the hot hand. I say, let him keep the starting job until Hasek is able to take it from him, or Ozzie slips up and gives it away. Just look at Ozzie's numbers, he deserves the job right now.