kook_10

they're all the same sort of jumbled mess to me. the only really busy one I particularly like is Huet's. other than that Brodeur, Biron, and Luongo have classy masks.

http://www.freep.com/article/20091016/SPOR...0387/1053/rss17 I have been a fan of Fils since the beginning purely because he was Finnish. There have been a lot of naysayers around here about him (much of it valid), but he definitely has been skating his ass off so far. If everyone had the hustle and defensive responsibility he has showed, many of the team's problems would be cured. That having been said, I still find myself frustrated with some of the aspects of his play. It drove me crazy how many times he reversed the puck and also curled up along the half boards instead of going to the net last night. It seems like he has a lot of good ideas, but a lot of his passes have been just a little bit off and have ultimately caused turnovers or at least broke the momentum of the breakout or zone entry. Is this just nit picking? Is the puck reversal just a concerted effort to regroup? Or does he really need to sack up, head north up the ice and get a nose for the net?

That is kind of what I was thinking. Is it such a great thing that our top forward at the moment is optimistically expected to score 20 goals this season? I think its great that he is playing well and skating his ass off but, correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that what they're all paid to do? Since when does the team hand out blue ribbons for skating well? Ten years ago the Wings won games by outskating, outhustling and outbattling the other teams in addition to having a wealth of talent. I understand that they're a more finesse squad these days, but is that an excuse to be outskated or outhustled?

Friday: Atlanta @ New Jersey NY Islanders @ Buffalo Philadelphia @ Florida Boston @ Dallas Vancouver @ Calgary Minnesota @ Edmonton Saturday: Atlanta @ Buffalo NY Rangers @ Toronto Ottawa @ Montreal Carolina @ New Jersey San Jose @ NY Islanders Nashville @ Washington Colorado @ Detroit Los Angeles @ Columbus Tampa Bay @ Pittsburgh Dallas @ Chicago Boston @ Phoenix Minnesota @ Vancouver St Louis @ Anaheim Sunday: No games scheduled

The fact that it was the highest single season point tally by a Red Wing ever warrants its place in this discussion every time. In terms of true individual achievement it may even be tops. His peers didn't think his achievement that year was overrated either as evidenced by the Pearson Award.

double post facepalm for me

We voted and you will have to use metaphor from here on in.

QFT These guys have been there - they know that there is never anything to prove, just 98 games and one cup to win.

let me get this straight. Let's take the Rangers and Maple Leafs as an example. You're saying that if Donald Brashear watches Colton Orr kick the crap out of his linemate he would be less likely to cause trouble?

i didn't miss it. it's right there on top of your head.

I forgot about that (despite having him in my avatar). That was the year I (and Tiger too) moved to LA - I was 9. All of those great childhood memories were of purple and gold goonery.

wasn't that Brad May himself talking to John Keating in the first intermission Thursday night? Or was that "they don't need me when they're scoring"?

No particular order...can't seem to narrow it down to 5 either. Joe Niewendyk Mike Modano Teemu Selanne Theo Fleury Joey Mullen Tiger Williams Joe Sakic Lanny McDonald Larry Robinson Esa Tikkanen Dale Hunter

The Detroit News picked up a little more of Babcock's quote, which is interesting: http://detnews.com/article/20091008/SPORTS...kader+to+minors It sounds like he is saying that the Wings' opponents think they're so soft that even the non-tough guys want to push them around. It also sounds like he thinks it is undeserved. I will be interested to see if Chicago is interested in continuing a physical rivalry tonight, considering that their top forwards aren't exactly forged out of iron either.

Friday Florida @ Carolina Dallas @ Calgary Saturday NJ Devils @ Florida NY Islanders @ Boston Pittsburgh @ Toronto Atlanta @ Ottawa Washington @ Detroit Anaheim @ Philadelphia Carolina @ Tampa Buffalo @ Nashville Los Angeles @ St. Louis Colorado @ Chicago Colombus @ Phoenix Montreal @ Edmonton Minnesota @ San Jose Sunday Anaheim @ NY Rangers Dallas @ Vancouver

I agree - it would like to see them have one person on every line who could even protect themself, much less others. If the Wings had a group of guys like that, then I would agree they could match any style of play. I just don't think one guy would tip the overall toughness balance of the team unless maybe one of the youngsters steps up with some balls and accepts the role as well. As a whole they are too soft for a physical game (which is not too soft to win), thats why every year they avoid it until around the All Star break when other teams force it on them. I think St. Louis came out and took it to them like that, but we won't see that many games like that once they're a couple weeks into the season. I could always be wrong.

Read again smart guy. The Wings don't have the size, gas or inclination to play a physical game all season long.

Scenario D - enforcer pairs up with the opponent's enforcer and both sit for 5. both teams are riled from the ratcheted up physical play. the opposing team, who are top-to-bottom tougher than the Wings, lay the body and the lumber on the remaining Wings weaklings while the enforcers watch. An enforcer would engage their opponents in a physical game and draw more heat onto the players who don't want it. By heat I'm not even talking about cheapshots - just hard play. By not getting an enforcer, the Wings are opting to not engage in a physical game at all. It makes sense given the concentration of money on players who would not benefit from 82 games of punishment. Babcock understood last year that in the runup to the playoffs there would be more physical play like it or not. The Wings then stepped up their own physical play and actually outhit most of their opponents and called up D-Mac for a little protection. I don't mind an enforcer, but I think Babcock got it right. They just don't have the personnel to play 82 physical games before any playoffs. We will probably see May mostly stay down in Grand rapids until the Olympics.

Do you guys really think one lonely enforcer would help a whole team full of pansies? I would think a couple or few rank and file guys who will drop the mitts on occasion would serve us better than one "enforcer".

gotta love LGW!

I think the Hustle and Energy/Motivation points here are the biggest. You can't successfully execute a puck control game plan when you don't compete for those pucks, much less win the battles for them. There were too many times when the Wings were content to let the Blues have the pucks on the boards without a battle. The lack of Chemistry just added to it - that just means there were too many passes to nobody. Lack of puck control is not an excuse for poor team defense, but if they had connected on more passes and won more puck battles they wouldn't have to play as much defense, as poor as it is. I wonder if it also time to reevaluate the PK tactics. Putting strong pressure on the puck carrier in the defensive zone just doesn't seem to be cutting it. It looks like they're just running around out there sometimes. Do we really have that few players who are willing to clog the shooting lanes and block a few shots?

Friday Florida vs Chicago St. Louis vs Detroit Philadelphia vs Carolina NY Rangers vs Pittsburgh Saturday Chicago vs Florida Vancouver vs Colorado Detroit vs St. Louis Carolina vs Boston Montreal vs Buffalo Philadelphia vs New Jersey Pittsburgh vs NY Islanders Ottawa vs NY Rangers Toronto vs Washington Tampa Bay vs Atlanta Minnesota vs Columbus Nashville vs Dallas Calgary vs Edmonton San Jose vs Anaheim Phoenix vs Los Angeles

for me the best seats are in section 109 - between the top of the circle and the blue line, opposite the benches, at the end where wings shoot twice, about 10 rows off the ice so you can see over the glass.

no love for Uwe Krupp?