Chunkylover

You're probably right. I'd lump Holmstrom and Chelios in there as well.

I'm sure you wouldn't post this if you didn't trust the source, so I don't deny that it's possible, but how in the heck could anyone project this? It was mentioned during the Columbus game last Friday league attendance is on the upswing and that will contribute to a raising of the Cap.

Bowman - The modern team's George Washington, the general who taught them how to win. Yzerman - The definition of loyalty, dedication, and self-sacrifice all Lincoln-esque traits. Holland - Like Jefferson on the actual monument, the mastermind behind the success of the others. Howe - The league standard for a long time, and like TR, a " Rough Rider".

I hate this time of year. I never want to see anyone traded away. Ken's got a tough job, and yet he does it so well. After watching Leino play I wonder how difficult it will be to sign him if we've already signed Hossa and Franzen. Hudler will probably go to St. Louis. Seems to be the thing to do once a player leaves Detroit: go to a divisional opponent. Imagine next season we'll likely have four rookies on the roster. When was the last time that happened? And what kind of impact will that loss of experienced depth have on the team? I agree with what others have said about Sammy; he's a solid two-way player who doesn't mind mucking it up in a scrum, but between Helm and Leino the absence of his production will be mitigated.

Yeah, but the Wings weren't really that physical until the playoffs last season anyway. Kronwall never hit anyone in the regular season like he did as soon as the first game of the first round started. The Wings know that they have to step up their physical play in the playoffs, not the regular season, because if they do they'll burn themselves out or injure themselves. Plus I think the key to the Downey/Kopecky debate is that neither Babcock or Holland see Downey as an improvement over Kopy. If their decision isn't good enough for you no amount of debate in the entire interweb will persuade you.

Yeah, but it's a traditional jersey so it gets a pass. I thought the candy cane socks at the Winter Classic were kind of cheesy but that's looking at them through a modern paradigm which is not appropriate when judging vintage specimens. For example, the Coliseum in Rome was designed using column designs from three different Greek architectural periods. The Romans found the design attractive because they valued the sort of inclusiveness it represented, tying together the three different time periods. The Greeks however would have thought it foolish because they did not have the same values. That said, yeah from our modern era of cool and aggressive jerseys, that Montreal one looks goofy, but it is a throwback and it's value is in recognizing the Habs heritage.

I like the clarity of their voices, as opposed to Rick Jeanneret, Sam Rosen, and Pete Weber, who have fat-guy voices. Add Gary Thorne to that list. You can hear where Ken wants to be as unbiased as possible but not disrupt the broadcast booth's chemistry. Yeah, it's annoying that Mick still hasn't accepted the new game, but then most of the calls he complains about are pretty unacceptable as well, so I give him the benefit of the doubt. Larry Murphy as a color commentator is dreadful; he has absolutely no cadence and that disrupts the presentation. With that said, when he's between the benches, the three of them are just awesome. When Murph and Mick start taking friendly jabs at each other or waxing nostalgic they are hilarious. I don't think Doc Emrick is bad, but he in no way compares to our guys. As a side note: I don't believe Mickey can drink because of his health problems, which is why he always asks people to have a ginger ale for him.

I liked the interview he did with Mickey while he was sitting out the Columbus game. Mickey asked if he always liked to be tricky with the puck and says some coaches want him to "dangle, dangle" and some "not so much, dangle". Hilarious. Great interview. From the :50 mark.

Definitely feel bad for him. He's done real well for them since they acquired him, but every goal he let in against us on Monday was terrible and he alone bears the blame for them. I remember when he was mic'd up for the All-Star game last year he did have this "Eeyore" kind of attitude where he either didn't take things seriously or became over-critical of himself. If he was my teammate, I'd feel for him and try my best to help him, but that kind of defeatism would be a blackhole to the rest of the team.

The only problem I see with the second line is that Hudler will defer to Datsyuk and Pavel will try to set up Franzen. Hopefully Franzen can keep the puck on the net. He's come down with a terrible case of Samuelssonitis of the wrist shot of late.

Good hit by Tootoo at the beginning of the clip. Can't really tell who got the best of who, but I give it to Tootoo because he got the better of the much bigger Bertuzzi, who was clearly prepared for the altercation. For those who question Tootoo's courage, this is another example of his willingness to go with guys 6 inches and 30 pounds bigger than him. Also, can't really see any examples of dirty tactics in this clip. Maybe he isn't such a bad guy....

That's kind of sad because he's willing to provide an even greater discount than he's already made, but the Wings, at the moment at least, can't even sign him for that.

I hear you and don't disagree that he hasn't been stellar, but then I don't think anyone has accused Ozzie of being a stellar goalie. He's always been a decent goalie on a great team and right now he's being taken advantage of because the team in front of him has been as inconsistent as he has.

I find it difficult to separate what goals he can be blamed for and what goals the team defense should bear responsibility for. Last night Dallas just outworked the Wings' forwards and Ozzie isn't one of them. Even the best goalies can't stop deflections off the screen or one's like Rafalski's against CBJ the other night. Something must be done because now we are getting a little close to the post-season and unfortunately either Osgood or Conklin will be our starter and neither instills much confidence in me.

So does this mean Franzen's out on Saturday?

Lack of depth due to bad GM's? In theory I agree with you. It would be nice if the Wings had an enforcer. It is undetermined whether that would actually make them play better though.

Yes? Actually the Wings have two, but since an injured McCarty has more of an upside than Downey, we dress Kopecky instead because he's younger and at this point apparently has more potential than either. Consider what today's "fighters" bring to their teams. Lucic and Ott are valuable because they can score not because they can fight. If they were just fighters they'd have less ice time to make an impact. Brashear and Laperriere are on- and off-ice leaders not because they can fight but because they have experience. It isn't the fighting alone which makes them valuable it's that they are serviceable in more than that one aspect of the game. I wish we had someone like Drake on the team this year, but I haven't forgotten how he was lampooned for his early season fights last season. He was valuable not for his fighting alone but for his veteran leadership and determination.

Nick Lidstrom? Even Homer wishes he could fight but he can't. it is fun to watch but it isn't easy. That George Laraque blog kind of evidenced that truth. Steve Yzerman said on one of those Canadian programs that the Wings would love to have someone like Probert playing for them but they don't exist anymore: big guys who can score and fight. Think of someone like Clowe, he's big, can score, and when heavily provoked will actually fight, but that's not what his team wants him to do. They need him on the ice not in the box for five minutes. The skill level of the game has made the fighter obsolete. Start performing frontal lobotomies on guys like Thornton and Datsyuk then maybe fighters will make it back on our roster.

The funny thing about all of this is that the ASG was considered a "farce" perpetrated on us by the evil Commissioner because no Red Wings were voted in as starters. Then when two of the three Wings who actually deserved to go are chosen as reserves and opt out it's again the Commissioner who gets the blame for enforcing a legitimate rule. Does the rule need some work, sure: how does the league account for someone injured during the final game before the break. Right now there is no satisfactory response but I can guarantee Ken Holland will bring it up at the next GM's meeting. This is how the real world works: you execute an innocent person for murder, then you realize the valuable role of DNA in convicting or exonerating a suspect. As Colin Campbell said, it's too bad they got, "caught in this web," but that's the way things go sometimes.

It's just one game and it's against the Blue Jackets. Yeah, it sucks but if there's a precedent then the Wings are the ones in the wrong. The Wings will appeal this though.

I believe the guy you're talking about is the same guy in the video, it depends on how far back in EA history we're talking: Darryl Reaugh, who is the color guy for FS Dallas. He was on NHL '98 with Jim Hughson, but since that was the only one I got I don't know how much longer he lasted.

Detroit has the league's best record in games they don't care about playing: 29-8-6 (San Jose Dec. 18 and Chicago back-to-back excluded).

Dumb. It's amazing the crap universities get away with calling classes. But it's a perfect example of pandering to one's audience. This nobody professor gets free publicity in a national paper. The resultant surge in enrollment will no doubt obscure the fact that he's not really teaching anything useful.

Sanford and Sabourin are decent, I would think even better than Dubielewicz.

I can't square with the thought of a four-time champ relocating. It's odd that Columbus would need him since they've had two of the hottest goalies these past two years.