dat's sick

Dallas has 11 OTL's. Anything less than a point in this game would be disappointing. We could really need a win here since we've got some tough games coming up. Woah, where did that come from? I agree with him it's nice for us euros to have an early game for a change, I don't care what the reason is.

Here in Sweden it's been a tradition for god knows how many years to always watch "Donald Duck" on TV every christmas eve. It's basically a collection of scenes from cartoons ranging from Snow White to Robin Hood to the Jungle Book, and of course some clips with Donald himself. It's kind of a big deal, one of those things you're forced to sit down and watch even though you know every second of it by heart after having watched it 20+ years in a row. Any time there's talk about not showing it anymore the country pretty much goes into anarchy. Can't imagine christmas without it really.

Varlamov.

Don't see it happening but it's good that he gets some recognition. He's been playing great for a while.

Bad but could be worse.. let's hope that our luck changes after the new year and we start getting more guys back than we're losing.

I thought Leino looked GREAT last night. Protected the puck well along the boards, had a couple of nice plays that if he had a bit of luck or more patience could have ended up as goals. Still loses the puck too easily at times, but showing improvement for sure.

I believe Halak has requested a trade.

Reminds me of this pic of Bill Gates:

I know, but I'm not hopeful since they already said he couldn't go and this is just sweden's coach trying to bargain with them. I don't understand why a team like Ottawa wouldn't want him to go. They barely use him, and I think it's could be extremely helpful to a player's development to play these kinds of big games when the chance comes. I can understand Tampa not letting Hedman go, but Karlsson is not vital to Ottawa (yet).

2 years ago still hurts.. sudden death against Canada in the final, the chance to win a gold medal for the first time in 25+ years and break Canada's domination of the WJC and we lost.. Last year we weren't really close in the final, and this year will be difficult too, especially if we don't get Erik Karlsson (damn you Ottawa).

DET Darren Helm (wrist) will not play, Jonathan Ericsson (knee bruise) out, Dan Cleary (separated shoulder) out, Niklas Kronwall (sprained MCL) out, Jason Williams (fractured fibula) out, Valtteri Filppula (broken wrist) out, Johan Franzen (torn ACL) out, Andreas Lilja (concussion) out

Friday: Ottawa @ New Jersey Toronto @ Buffalo Carolina @ Florida Tampa Bay @ St Louis Boston @ Chicago Washington @ Vancouver Saturday: NY Rangers @ Philadelphia Detroit @ Dallas Phoenix @ Anaheim Nashville @ Calgary Pittsburgh @ Buffalo Boston @ Toronto Minnesota @ Ottawa Montreal @ NY Islanders Florida @ Carolina New Jersey @ Atlanta Columbus @ Colorado Washington @ Edmonton Sunday: Detroit @ Chicago St Louis @ Vancouver

Tampa is struggling right now. We have a good chance of going 4 in a row. Won't be able to watch the game, but I'm predicting a 4-1 Red Wings win. Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Leino and Eaves the scorers.

Europe is NOT the reason for the Red Wings struggles this year. But if there is a curse, atleast we can look forward to San Jose doing poorly next year, right?

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I'm not sure that should be a big factor in deciding who should be captain. In that case we should pick Henrik Sedin, he's on fire.

It's really not an outrageous claim to say that Alfredsson might be Sweden's captain. He's very popular over here, probably more so than Lids (atleast he was before Nick scored that goal in 2006) and he has participated in way more international tournaments than Lids have, and has often been a big leader in them. If Sundin still played, he'd be the captain for sure. Now it's between Lids and Alfie and honestly either one of them is a good choice.

Homer actually has underrated hands. You don't score on so many redirections if you don't have some skill with the stick. I remember being so impressed by him in the World Cup in 2004 when he was allowed to be more involved in the play instead of only screening the goalie. Really opened my eyes to him being more than simply a guy that is good at standing in front of the net.

Hm, I think he's been playing a lot stronger since coming back from being scratched. Protecting the puck better, winning more battles.. he's still got a long way to go, but he's showing improvement imo.

Good to see some unlikely guys chip in with goals. Eaves could be a pretty consistant scorer if he keeps shooting. 3 straight, hell yes. Ericsson gone, for maybe a long time? grrrrhhh..

You could feel it coming. Great pressure by the Yotes. Too bad we couldn't hold on to the break.

The problem is Ericsson played so amazing when he was called up last year. It created expectations that he couldn't live up to. I still think he's been getting better and better this season, and if he would get some time on the PP he'd rack up more points as well.

Hank bailed Pav out. Too bad they couldn't score.