Esquire

I am looking to buy 4 tickets to the February 18th game against the Capitals and any help is much appreciated. Looking for tickets in the $100-$150 range so PM me if you are selling. Cheers!

Mattias Janmark with the first goal of the year for the Stars...lol

With the Joe being so close to the river, this one hits a little too close to home. Granted, I realize the height at which the Joe sits, but damn, nature gives exactly zero s***s.

Full disclosure: I've had a few pints and have been reminiscing about a certain someone who I believe to be the true embodiment of a Red Wing Pick up the torch young Wings. This man is your standard.

Win or lose, I've learned more about this team in the last 5 games than in the first 40+. It's been a great series to watch and it's awesome seeing all the kids play at this high level. A major reason this series isn't a rout is due to the effort of the young guys and Howard, so seeing that is quite reassuring moving forward into next year. Obviously there are changes/additions required, but these young guys are hanging tough with one of the grittiest teams in the playoffs. Oh, and the Wings get their grittiest player back for next game. Can't wait for Friday.

Losing DeKeyser feels like when we lost Helm last year.

I truly believe that Homer's retirement has gone massively, massively under-recognized. The coaching staff still appear to be implementing an offensive system that saw Lidstrom launch slap-passes at the net and try for a Homer tip or rebound. The only problem with this is that they are missing two key parts to it; namely, Lidstrom and Homer.

I understand your frustration in the Wings decline, but the fact remains that the Detroit Red Wings are the LAST of an extinct breed called a 'dynasty' in any sport, nevermind just the NHL. Decades of winning hockey have greatly skewed all of our expectations for this team. I'm not going to sit here and say you're wrong in your opinion or that trades couldn't have been made. What I am saying, is that as terribly perceived as things are at the moment, there are much MUCH worse scenarios and teams than the Wings right now. You lament a season that occurred 4 years ago, while a franchise like Toronto is just getting into the playoffs for the first time in a decade. I think some perspective is required with the situation in Detroit. This 'class of the league' you speak of changes from month to month in the NHL now. The Red Wings dynasty of old is dead, and the longer that you try and hold onto that and believe that it can be recaptured, the longer you're going to be unhappy. What I am ultimately getting at here, is that there is/was no other team like the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL, so any rebuilding/re-tooling that this team does has ZERO blueprint. We've retired more Hall of Famer's in the past 3 years than some teams have retired in their entire existence in the NHL. Replacing them isn't a 1-for-1 deal and no matter who you bring in, they'll always pale in comparison to the Lidstroms/Rafalskis/Drapers/etc. These losses are meteoric for any team, let alone one with the history and pedigree of Detroit. The fact that the Wings are even in the playoff conversation is astonishing yet nobody wants to give the management credit for that, they'd rather see trades and action in an attempt to keep an already ridiculous playoff streak alive. This cheque has been in the mail for a season like this ever since the Cup win, and now that the bill is here, not a lot of the fans seem to want to pay it.

I don't know how or why you referenced Gaborik, but anyway... The 'minor tweak' you elude to is not as simple as you are making it out to be. If reports are to be believed, then he did look into possible trades, but ultimately decided that asking prices were too high. I'm not going to dive into a debate on what those prices were, but signs point to draft picks and prospects as being the things that Holland didn't want to relinquish. Keeping those things points to a long term strategy as opposed to a short term gain. Making the playoffs is nice, but fan egos aside, an extended summer for both the players and staff might do them some good after 21 seasons of extended play.

Sacrifice draft picks, players, and long term sustainability all for 4-7 extra games. Gotcha.

What team is going to give up a draft pick/player for White?! He's a UFA at the end of this season, in and out of the lineup, and has already been on 5 teams. A trade is a two-way street folks, and you need a team on the other side that actually needs/wants him. White ain't exactly jumping off paper as a vital acquisition and my guess is that he walks in the summer and a team signs him for next to league minimum.

Both the Bruins and Pens need to be at no less than 100% going into these playoffs. I say this because, if by some act of beelzebub the Leafs make it deep in the playoffs, the people of planet Earth need a team to dispatch them as quickly as possible.

If you're listening to anything that a Leaf fan has to say regarding the playoffs, you're doing it wrong. Kindly remind them that our playoff streak is old enough to drink in the United States, then drop the mic, and back away with your arms raised.

Offer him a 2 year contract at $2M per season and if he balks at it, wish him well and cut ties. These undrafted pickups are always a gamble and it doesn't help his case that it's a shortened season in which he has only performed in front of half the NHL's teams.

Why do you continue to insist on trying to punish a man for a scenario that never even happened?! Injuries happened to roster players and rookies were brought up, which I might add, isn't a situation exclusive to the Detroit Red Wings. And it's because of these rookies, players that HE drafted, that have helped keep this team in a position on relevance in the West. Time to start thinking about putting the pitchfork down.

The way Jiri Fischer's career ended was sad. What you described is just simply mildly annoying.

Has anyone actually stopped and thought, "Oh, maybe New York and Buffalo didn't want to trade top players to a team within their conference/division?!"

Babs having this team where it is at the moment that we can even remotely be discussing the playoffs is an accomplishment in itself. If you check a few hockey sites' preseason predictions on this team (THN,TSN,etc.) you will see that the Wings are at or above where most predicted, and almost every one of them site 'depth' as the entire reason why they all gave this team a sniff when talking contenders/playoffs. It's seasons like this mature prospects, ones where consistency is learned and mistakes are made. And if over half of our prospects are getting regular ice time and all learning together, I'm all for it. This was always going to be a rough year for this team and 38 games does not change this fact, despite some people's pants-busting urgency for NHL 13esqe roster moves.

So, Ken Holland's job hinges on a second liner who cracked 60 pts once in his career. Got it.

There's going to be sooooo much butt hurt on the boards today.

Double post.

Contradiction Level = LGW Board In one post, managing to dismiss one rookie defenseman, and by the end, anticipating another one who hasn't even played a single NHL game. Delicious.

I'd take an elbow to the face from him any day. Happy Birthday to the greatest player the game has ever seen. All the best Gordie!

So, when does his flight to Pittsburgh leave?