wingslionstigers

NBC, CBC, NHL Network, Center Ice aren't replaying it. I checked a week out on all of them... I just don't get it. Like I'm just devastated I was pumped for this for months. Bought HBO just to watch 24/7, even went all the way to Detroit for Alumni game just to miss the big game. If anyone knows where I can watch it I would appreciate it, I don't even care what it costs me. Spend 300$ a year for Center Ice and I can't even watch a replay of the game.

Nobody here has any faith in the players we have huh? Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Mantha, Sproul, Quellet.... On top of Helm, Abdelkador, Dekeyser, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, Franzen, Ericsson and Miller. All good pieces from top 6 to bottom 6 and defense. I don't think our team can afford to acquire a free agent that requires a big salary or we will be kissing these players good-bye in the near future. Nyquist and Tatar already showed that they are going to be a big part of our future. Jurco already showed us that he will be a good NHL player in the very near future. At 20 years old this kid came up played in the top 6 and looked solid all-around. Sproul and Mantha are to far away to tell still, but on the plus side they are the most promising prospects we had in along time. Our future is bright and near. Our team this year will be tough once we get healthy and on rythem. Don't underestimate our team. We as of right now have the deepest forward unit we have had in years. Our team stays healthy and a couple of your D step up and we are contenders this year

Much better than the first one. Getting to see the intensity of the coaches was the best part. I want HBO to capture the feel of being a NHL player in during an intense season. They are getting better and I have faith that HBO will take fan advice and improve anyway they can. I wish they would show more on ice things like in practice though, Datsyuk maybe.....?

I'm going to start with the Lecavalier comment because it was ridiculous how far you forced my words out of context... When did I say he ran him out of town? Fil did not show up in Tampa and tell him to get lost this is my team now. Why would you even try to twist my words so strongly? Yzerman went after Fil because he is the type of player he wanted on his team, Yzermans goal was to decrease the amount of goals the team gives up and make them harder to play against. He has done that. When Yzerman goes after a guy that alone should prove to the oblivious people that there is a really good reason. You see how Tampa played us last night? Much different from their game in previous seasons, very little room and opportunities they gave up. Tampa bay is shifting to a stingy defensive trap team like the West plays, getting away from the open and exciting to watch East style of hockey.. Fil was visable every night. You just don't notice people unless someone is on the stat sheet. I watch the details of what a player brings to the team. Fil brought alot of things to the team that lightened the load for Z and Datsyuk. Zone entry is probably the biggest one. Not to many guys in the NHL for that matter can consistently break over the blue with clean possesion of the puck if the defensive team was able to set up their neutral zone trap. Fil was our go to guy for this. His defensive game was absolutely solid all over the ice. The guy could hold on to the puck almost as good as Z and Datsyuk in the offensive zone. The only thing that ever separated Fil from Z and D was instinct. He is not as good as either of those guys, but he is a VERY similar player and constantly is putting pressure of the other team. Having those 3 guys on the same team and you are going to be spending most of the game in the other teams zone. That's what makes you a great team. If you have the ability to spend the game in the offensive zone. Scoring or not Fil could spend most of his shifts floating around the O zone with the puck, which means the other teams second line or even first was being wasted playing defense. Regardless if he scored or not he contributed to winning the game. Things you people on the Internet don't bother to understand. If we were an open run and gun team then a players stats alone would say a lot more about their effectivness to the team.

I would be willing to consider your input if you could explain some details. What did Filppula fail to provide to for this team that made him a bad player? Points? He had 17 in in 41 which is on par to what he done his whole career aside from one season. Hes about a point every other game player. If you gave him constant first unit power play he would have finished most seasons with around 60 points. We have Z and Datsyuk, those are our point per game players. Not many teams have more than two of those guys, and if they do they wont beable to hold on to all of the players for more than a couple seasons.

Lol that's not why they didn't bring him back get your facts straight. He chose not to come back to Detroit. Filppula wasn't bad last year or any year, he makes a difference in every game he plays in unlike Weiss. Filppula was always noticeable in the way Z or Datsyuk is noticeable. Filppula makes your team better and harder to play against each and every night. Why do you think Yzerman went after him? You think Yzerman doesn't know hockey. He took him over Lecalvier. Filppula could hang on to the puck and carry a lines play, break entry clean over blue line, keep the puck in the other teams zone, won faceoffs, and was great on the defensive side. You guys always expected to have a second line center and second line power play to score 80 points per season... Doesn't happen unless your loaded like the Sharks. Crosby and Malkin are the only other one and two centers who do, they both play on first power play unit all season long.

Funny how everyone's a fan of Filppula now. If only we could have a player with that much talent and a rock solid all around game. Tried explaining this to you guys for years now. Now we got Weiss, hope you guys are happy.

I just want to know where Datsyuk has been on shootouts. I'm not surprised that some of the other guys are struggling to score or that Howard is horrible in shootouts. But Datsyuk not being able to score chance after chance? He doesn't even look like he tries to score in shootouts. What happened to those moves?

I don't have a problem with Howard he played fantastic for us in the playoffs and as long as he keeps that up I have no problems. He does suck at shootouts and breakaways though. Hes a good positional goaltender but when it comes to reflex saves he is weak. I know we haven't been scoring a lot in shootouts but Howard hasn't made to many saves either, can't win shootouts when you give up 2 out of 3 shots or more per shootout. That third shot last game Howard didn't even react, not even an inch. He bites on the shooters first most almost everytime.

Um Kronwall and Stuart got paid how much as second pairing? Do you really think your ever going to get a solid second pairing for like 2.5 or something? Ericsson could be a number 2 but even if DK becomes our number one what a great number 3 we have.

Because you can't add 11 kids to your roster in a year and a half time. Are you that incapable of thinking about what I'm saying and understand whats going on with our team? You just think about small details and ignore the rest to build your conclusions and then try to push them to everyone on the Internet like its well thought out information. You want to look like Edmonton? That's what happens when you add to many young guys in a short period of time and cut out to many veterans. Is Edmonton lacking in talent? No. Hmm that's weird. Our players in Grand Rapids will be injected to the Wings roster with a combination of the Wings being ready to take on another rookie and the player themselves being ready. We have 4 young defense-men who are slowly getting to where we need them, and we have 3 young forwards who are now regular roster members. We got our young guys in now and we need to let those guys get there game tightened up before we can afford to add more rookies. You can only have so many guys liable to make rookie turnovers and mistakes on a team, unless you want to look like Edmonton and the only 1st place you will be chasing is to finish last. I know Holland kept Nyquist and Tatar out of the line up a little to long, but lets not pretend its a common occurrence. We definitely let guys develop before we push them into the league and that's a good thing. We have never held out big talent to long before and Holland did make a couple errors on contracts for whatever reason. Errors can be made and it's not a big deal now and likely not to happen again. We currently have no other players in Grad Rapids that should be on the Wings roster right now. Next season depending on how our team develops you may see one more rookie get a full time job. The year after that is when we can likely take another 2 or 3 rookies. That's how it works in the big leagues. We have tons of talent in Grand Rapids and when this happens Dats and Z will still be great players and we will have a great team. Mantha looks like hes going to be a top 1 or 2 goal scoring forward. We lock a guy up for 5 years now what happens to Sproul and Mantha? If we sign them who are we going to lose over it. Tatar and Nyquist will demand more money, Dekeyser will need more, etc.

Good deal here I don't see any troubles with it now or in the future. I just hope the only other defense-men we lock up long term would be Dekeyser. Let Smith and Kindl have another season to see where exactly they will end up. Save some room on the blue line because chances are Sproul and maybe even Qelleut could be great players and demand some salary.

What do yo guys smoke that makes you think adding another 4 rookies to our team on top of all the young players we currently have will make us better or be good for our young players development.... Bertuzzi needs to be and will be resigned, hes a very valuable player to our team. We won't go after a big name free agent because we have our own talent that needs to be signed in the future. Not many big name players are looking for a one or two year contract. Our future is currently on our roster or in Grand Rapids and it looks to be bright.

I know it's frustrating not seeing Nyquist up and the Wings struggling but you guys have no reason to call for Babcock or Hollands heads.I'm writing this post due to the ever increasing complaints amongst the Red Wing fans. Detroit is about 2-3 seasons away at MAX from being a cup favorite, AGAIN. They did this while making the playoffs every single year and they likely will again this year too. If you guys can't see that you're choosing the be blind. Not many other teams can pull that off. Mantha is looking like the closest thing you can possibly be from this distance in his development to look like a lock in the future top 6 and will likely be a top 1-2 player. Nyquist and Tatar are likely going to be top 3-7 caliber players. They both work really hard too so they will be hard working guys for those top 2 lines. Datsyuk and Z have a handful of good years left, especially Datsyuk as he will likely be one of those guys to be dominate until almost 40. Even when they do decline they will be an awesome second line combo. Jurco also looks pretty impressive, and if any one of the guys I mentioned don't fully pan out maybe he will and will and replace the guy who doesn't. That's how deep we are. In a couple seasons or so our guys will mostly be developed, some will be more fully seasoned than others but we will have enough seasoned players with the right mix of raw talent injected onto the team. To the defense..... Kronwall has quite a few years left, the guy is a clear cut number one defencemen and he is still getting better. Ericcson isn't going nowhere, the guy is solid and any team would love to have a solid guy on their top 4 like him. Dekeyser seems like the sky is the limit. This guy could be so good for us I don't even think most people realize what we might have in him yet. Just like Lidstrom he doesn't posses god gifted skill. He is super intelligent and is trying to perfect every detail in his game, he could be the closest thing to a Lidstrom anyone in Detroit may see for along time. Only time will tell, but at worst he will be a fantastic guy to have in your top 4. Smith has tons of talent and if anyone has ruled him out already it's a good thing you don't actually have a job in the NHL. Maybe he'll never be more than a 5 or 6 guy or maybe he will wash out of the league. But give him the rest of the season and maybe 20 or 30 games into next season. He may end up as good as he was projected to be. Kindl he is a solid bottom pairing guy anyway you cut it and will still tighten his game up in time. He may not be needed in a couple seasons in Detroit, but if we do need him to stick around he will fit that bill and be a good one for it. Sproul and Quellet are on their way they both already have proven it. Sproul is leading the Griffens defense in scoring who just came straight from the OHL. That is impressive. This kid could be a top pairing guy and the offensive D that we need. Quellet I am not so sure what he will be for us but so far I am impressed. Plug a couple of our D prospects into our current Wings D core and replace of whomever from this current batch didn't cut it and suddenly.... Suddenly wow what a potent defense we have. Bottom Six Forwards. Helm, Andersson, Glendenning, Abdelkader, Miller look at the guys we have. Oh and I forgot to mention Pulkinen and Jarnkrok. Sorry if I can't spell foreign names correctly, not taking the time to look them up. We are going to be really good guys. Count on it. What a fantastic job this organization is doing rebuilding and still keeping our playoff streak alive. This wouldn't be possible if we made trades. Our team is going to be a lot better for a lot longer than it would if we traded multiple prospects for a top player that would only make us "better" not great for a couple years. Holland tried to land big free agents, he couldn't get them and that's not his fault. Sammy and Cleary were signed to help us get to these years that I am talking about not replace these guys, likely signed more for leadership reasons to help develop our players. I'm sure these guys have a great positive impact on our young players by helping them address the areas in their game you only gain from experience and not talent. Just chill out guys and enjoy watching our young talent struggle and find a way to eventually emerge into what looks to be a fantastic future for this team.

I think your stuck in the past when there wasn't a salary cap. Sorry buddy can't have all the best players in the world on your team anymore. Why Holland chose Franzen over Hossa is clear, salary. Hossa stats 12-13 40gp and 31 points Franzen stats 12-13 41gp 31 points Hossa stats 11-12 81gp 71 points Franzen stats 11-12 77gp 56 points Hossa 2 season / 102 points Frazen 2 season / 87 points Hossa 5.275 million per season Frazen 3.954 million per season Franzen gets paid 74.9% of Hossa and produces at 85.3% compared to Hossa. Frazen is a much better value than Hossa. Good choice by Holland in a salary cap world. Ohh poor you we only won 3 Stanley Cups during this streak and made the playoffs more consecutive years than any team in the league. We better fire them because Wings fans want a Stanly Cup every single year for the rest of their lives. To bad you can't leave the Wings and root for another team because no other team in the league will satisfy you for more than a couple years in a row. How many times have we been in the Eastern Conference Championship game? How many Stanley Cup appearances? Can you say mis managed teams, OMG we only rank number 1 in all the category's. Oh your right man we have nothing in Grand Rapids we just won the Calder Cup led by our prospects... Yeah that means nothing. Landing the big name free agents you mentioned sure has been working great for Min hey??? Oh wait Min doesn't have the management and prospect pool we do to make those 2 star players worth jack chit. I would love to see you guys endure having a crappy GM who would trade off our team tank and try to build a new team that's only sustainable for a few cup runs and tanks for years again and again. Red Wings have down years, but our down years we still make the playoffs and still have a chance to compete in playoffs just like last year. We also have years where we are cup favorites. Man we got it so bad.

We are a winning team last time I checked which was 3 minutes ago, we are 4th in the Eastern Conference. This move would make us a little bit better now but where the beauty of it is... It allows him to develop and we become a much better team in a shorter period of time. We need our future on the ice so we can get to the future. According to you we are a losing team so what's the point of playing bums that are nearing retirement when you could develop your future?

I don't know why you guys are over-reacting. Now days you can get arrested and be a serious charge for the dumbest s***. If a cop gets called for any type of assault they have to arrest someone and they do. Our criminal justice system is completely garbage and there is no common sense involved anymore. The guy probably did something along the lines of took his nephew fishing without his moms permission and when got back the mom flipped out and he called her a physco *****. That can be 3rd degree assault and kidnapping in this country. Believe it because s*** like that happens all the time.

Weiss was never expected to back check in Florida? They just said, "hey man, don't worry about that defense stuff we just want you to focus on offense." I just don't understand these imaginary points you try to make. Why are you even trying still? Also, what are you even trying to say? Now that he is in Detroit he is lost temporarily because he is now expected to play two way hockey? Even if that was true, which it is not...... You would be simply telling me that Filppula is the better hockey player. Oh and your right about Filppula, Tampa Bay just changes to Detroit's systems when Filppula is on the ice. Hey Fil, just do what Babcock told you to do in the neutral zone, defensive zone, and offensive zone.. Oh and can you teach your line mates that stuff too? Thanks Fil we just want you to be extra comfortable here in Tampa unlike Weiss being forced to play two way hockey back in Detroit. Whats Tampa even doing now that they don't run the 1-3-1, haven't watched them play this year. .

Oh Tampa Bay plays the same system as the Wings? Hm that's really weird..... One of us must be retarded because we are seeing two completely different things.

Lol this just proves my assumption. Because he didn't get a point per game like Dats and Z he was useless huh? Filppula made our team harder to play against night in and night out. Like I said before, you don't fully understand the game of hockey when you watch it so you make your judgements based upon the stats you see.

???? Are you saying Filppula didn't back check or was lazy defensively? If so do you actually watch hockey or do you just look at the stats and pretend you know what happens during the game. Filppula was so defensibly responsible Babcock did not hesitate to use him against any line in the league, including in playoffs. The only two players that Babcock seemed to specifically favor using Zetterberg over Fil or any other Wing for that matter was to cover Toews and Crosby in the playoffs only. Filppula was probably tied for second with Pavel Datsyuk on the Wings roster for best defensive player with Zetterberg being the clear cut number one defensive forward.

If only we had Filpulla to center our second line... Alfredsson - Filpulla - Franzen That would be a solid second line that would produce great secondary scoring.

Yeah this is exactly what I was thinking. Mantha is atleast 15 years out from seeing time on the Red Wings. Holland want's to make sure he is fully matured into a past-prime veteran. Babcock has been real impressed with Sammy and Cleary this season. Apparently going into corners and falling down three times per shift shows him that you must be battling hard. Look for long term contract extensions before the season is over. No use for Tatar and Nyquist so maybe he will trade them both for Selanne.

I don't even know what to add to this post. I think we have the capabilities to ice a good team but we just aren't playing the right guys. I just have no idea how to wrap my head around why Nyquist and Tatar aren't playing. It's just absolutely baffling. The little bit of ice time Tatar has seen this year was wasted on a 4th line role. How can you even tell a kid ok here is your chance, you are going to play a 4th line role with checkers for the first time in your hockey career. It is just amazing.. When if at all do we see these kids take on a real role for this team? How can you put a talent like Tatar in the press box?? He needs ice time. I'm at a loss for this one, I tried to be patient but this is a joke. Look at Montreal's third line with the young guns.. Worked for them, worked for us last year.. What's the issue here?

I would take him back in a heart beat. I believe he would still probably be more useful then a few guys we currently chose to play... Even if not I wouldn't even care I was just be happy to see Fedorov again.