Peleshob

The article is here. http://www.freep.com/article/20090918/SPOR...0395/1053/rss17 Ultimately, it's probably a good idea. It's a great insurance policy to be able to throw D & Z together if needed. With the Leino-Flip-Williams line playing well, and Homer, Franzen, Cleary & Bert not being natural centres... Mule has some experience playing at C, but he's not big on puck distribution. Also, I posted this because of the funny undertones... "The Red Wings have one of the best emergency responses in the NHL in being able to throw superstars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg together when needed. But given that both are natural centers, it makes sense, for now, to use each at that position, which in Zetterberg's case means he gets to play between two thick-bodied wingers with great shots. Zetterberg, who was dealing with a tender groin during training camp, will make his exhibition debut tonight against the Rangers at Joe Louis Arena centering newcomer Todd Bertuzzi (6-3, 240) and Dan Cleary (6-0, 210)." That's some quality journalism, Helene.

I'm anticipating there will be a feed somewhere considering it's on MSG. I'm really looking forward to Leino-Flip-Williams and the Ritola-Emmerton-Mursak line. I'd like to see how Kindl does too. Last game it sounded like he split time between Lidstrom and Delmore.

Agreed. I don't see Ondrus making the team, but that defense looks intimidating for sure. Komi, Schenn, Exelby, Beauchemin... Finger... I guess. Plus the skill of Kaberle and White. What a defensive battle. I could see White maybe getting a forward position again with so much defensive depth.

Chelios would also like a job too... he's full of irrational notions at the moment.

It's good to see a try-out work out in Fluery (unlike Allison for Toronto) but I don't think that hit was necessary at all. What does Dion have to gain by throwing that hit? It's pre-season, the guy has a job in place, Okposo was off balance from being pushed/checked from behind. Looks like Dion has already committed, I get they were down 3-1... but it's pre-season. I wish Morency would have beat his ass, but he got taken down. To me this was a ***** move, but I can see how some people would like it. Injury or not, it just comes off as wrong to me. Even if the result wasn't the same, hitting a guy like that... in the pre-season with job security... I just don't get it. Okposo is one of the few bright spots for the Isles.

I have a feeling they might add Abdelkader instead, but anything could happen. I think the issue with Williams is that he's kind of one-dimensional. I've always been a bigger fan of Larsson. I even think that he could beat out McCollum and Pearce too. The guy is pretty much stone cold when it comes to emotion, and just had injury/conditioning issues last season when his numbers dipped. I'm pretty excited to see how he does after a summer of conditioning training and as the starter.

I'm not the biggest fan of Delmore, but the color guy is ripping him apart. I don't care if you played with Andy Delmore for one year dude. Guess what? He's still playing. You're sitting on your fat ass jealously ripping on him. Douchebag.

These guys are really ripping on _elmore, lol. They either know him well, or have some bad blood with him. Either way, it looks like An_y _elmore hasn't changed much.

Yeah, I'm using that Philly audio link Namingway posted. It's better than nothing if you ask me. http://player.play.it/player/player.html?v...;onestat=wip-am

I have to admit, Tatar has surprised me. I really thought the WJ work was a flash in the pan type deal, but he's showing otherwise. I'm glad to see someone with a funny name doing well. Calling him The Sauce for years to come could be fun.

He found someone else to trust his eyes to. Somewhere... Rahmani is raging.

I don't know why people are so eager to move Stuart. With Lidstrom and Rafalski getting older, who do you think is going to play big minutes? Aside from his last game (which he'll be more remembered for) Stuart was amazing in the post-season. People just like to pick at the negative side of what happened. The guy's a solid defenseman who had a bad game at the wrong time.

Tatar did well, and Mursak was right behind him with 1G, 3A in the three games. Anyone go there see how Mursak looked? Were the points more luck, or did he actually look decent?

It shows the stats here: http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxsco...?gameid=1083429

And the almighty Ryno got a holding penalty, lol.

So then... does he like fish sticks?

I'd really like to see Mursak pick it up. He had a pretty bad season with GR last year, but I'm hoping his skill can start to break through. I think that he and Dick Axelsson have the most offensive potential of the bunch, along with Ferraro and Tatar now (remains to be seen if Tatar can carry over his success). I think Ryno needs to be a little more humble. It's ridiculous. The guy spent some time in GR, did very well but felt uncomfortable and went back overseas. He got hit with injuries and pretty much stunk it up over there. You wanna make the team, do what everyone else does. At the moment, you're nothing special. McCollum will do well, IMO. I think he might have a slow start, but he should have a decent year. That's what I'm predicting, anyway.

Somewhere Jimmy Howard is eating a doughtnut and saying, "Yeah right, good lucky buddy."

Wow... some serious blueline depth for Vancouver now. Luongo should re-sign longterm anytime now. They need to add some offensive d-men and they did just that.

I think that as long as he's healthy and on a line with Datsyuk he should hit the 40 goal mark for sure. I'd really like to see a 90 point season out of Z, that'd make me happy. As far as Filppula goes, I don't think it's a big stretch to say that he can hit 50+ points. If he's playing as the 2nd line center all season long and has Franzen/Bertuzzi on his wings he should be able to put up a respectable season. He'll also get time on the PP this year, which is only going to help his point totals. As some others have said, break-out years happen all the time and Flip looks poised to have his.

I'm a bummer that the Wings can't really fit him into a regular spot on the roster. I really liked the guy during his time here, but he's just such a poor skater that it's hard to justify giving him ice time. I wish the best to him; he's a character guy and a decent enforcer.

White a decent offensive defenseman, and Beauchemin should bounce back from his poor offensive year as well. The defense core for the Leafs looks to be in good shape... now their goaltending...

Man, I really think that second one is sharp. It might be a bit on the "cartoony" side but I think it looks pretty badass.

Man... I don't see why people are so upset about these deals. I was bummed about the Williams one because I pretty much hate any forward that plays the point on the PP. I think it's smart to have these guys fill in to allow the AHL players some growth. Would you rather have these guys, who are all one year deal, and have Abdelkader blossom into a power forward, or go with Abs and have him crap out because he was rushed? No, these aren't the best deals that could be had, but they're all one-year deals. If you think about it, this is as bad as it's going to get in terms of a re-building phase for this team. The core of the team is locked up and buys into the team philiosophy. We have a damn good team to cheer for and a lot of us fans are just spoiled.