sureWhyNot

Great pics man, really nice work. Post new ones whenever you have the opportunity, I am sure people would love to see as much as possible, I know I would.

Ha ha I was actually thinking about something along these lines earlier today as I was driving home. I was thinking how funny it would be if the fans just screamed and did anything they could to distract the opposition when they went on the power play. Think Duke fans when they are playing at home and the other team is shooting foul shots. It would be that, but instead of the seconds it takes for foul shots, our fans would do it with the same energy for two minutes. People would definitely be huffing and puffing towards the end, but I thought it would be hilarious none the less.

s*** ya I do -- but I also have come to terms that this team doesn't have room for a fighter who offers nothing else in terms of productivity. Neil seems to be able to both, at least in comparison to a lot of tougher guys out there who scrap as much as he does. I mean would I rather have a guy who scraps from time to time and is a better hockey player in terms of skill then say Maltby and Kopecky? Hell yes I would.

Ha ha you are something else. Surely when you did your quick Yahoo Sports search of Chris Neil you saw that in the three previous years before this season Neil had 33, 28 and 20 point performances. You can see the numbers slide as the team he plays for, Ottawa, began to fall from their upper overall status in the East. Did you notice those numbers? I am just curious? Or did ya miss them on account of getting all excited to run back here and tell everyone his numbers from this year, seeing as though you thought they would help you make a point. So this is what I would like you to do -- run a along and you find the numbers for the three players you named Draper, Maltby and Kopecky and you tell me whether any one of them or Neil has been more productive for their given team over the past 2-3 years. I would love for you, since you love "crunching numbers", figure out if their is any correlation between playing on a great team (Red Wings) and a team that has steadily fallen from the ranks over the past 2-3 years (Ottawa) and whether or not they may or may not have anything to do with Neils numbers. As far as character assassination goes -- you really don't need to waorry about what I say, you do a killer job of it on your own every time you post something.

Corey Perry -- disliking the guy probably isn't all that irrational given the Ducks/Wings history, but the level of my unadulterated hatred for this guy probably is. I mean if he were on fire and I had an hose -- well I won't even go there. Ian Laperriere - Maybe I shouldn't hate this guy as much as I do but I can't help it. I hate his fighting style, I hate his spot picking, his skating style and I hate the way his face looks (big ass forehead, shaven head, etc). Yup definitely loathe the guy. Steve Ott - Pretty much same reasons I hate Laperriere minus the shaved head. Sheldon Souray - Liked him until the whole wristguardgate came to light. It was mentioned when he got suspended after his fight with McCarty in Calgary -- but when it happened a second time with Craig Weller in Minnesota any respect I had for the guy is gone. You either wear the wrist guard and don't fight, or fight without it -- period.

Wow, didn't know that Cleary, Helm and Sammy were 4th liners -- well, maybe Helm, but you are right -- look at his point production he is much better then the run of the mill 4th liner. Per THN: Chunky I also want to say that you come up with some of the most bizarre and irrational explanations and arguments. I am pretty bad myself -- I have no problem admitting it. But you are on a different level then anyone I have come across on these boards.

Ya know what's even funnier then hockey boards this time of year? People that go on the said hockey boards to talk about how funny they are and how funny the people who contribute there are acting. I don't think anyone has come close to over blowing Neil's value -- in fact I think a lot of people are so well informed that they know the realm of possibilities as too players we could get is very small, and a Neil type -- a fourth liner is about the most expensive and/or likely type we would be able to grab. I mean I could only imagine how "funny" it would be if people were on here talking about getting players like Ryan Smythe or Scott Niedermier (sp?)-- players that have 100% zero chance of getting picked up. But you don't see that, because for the most part people here know that it isn't possible under any circumstance. I will end it by saying that people like you -- the patronizing type, who feel as though they see things about this team at a higher level then others, thus allowing you to disregard and scoff others opinions are the true comedic relief of these boards. But hey, I guess to each his own when it comes to comedy right?

I would love to have a top 5 HW, but I agree with you on rather grabbing a Neil/Mayers type -- especially for the playoffs. Someone like Orr would be great to have in the regular season, but if we are talking about this years playoffs I take Neil/Mayers type guy over an Orr any day of the week.

Wow, you are not funny -- this attempt at sarcasm failed miserably. As far as making moves goes I don't think anything major will go down, nor do I think we need anything drastic whatsoever in order to make a run in the playoffs -- besides turn up the intensity a little bit which I don't think will be a problem with it being the playoffs and all. I would love to grab Neil though, he would add a spark, and an element of physicality that could help in a long series against a team like San Jose, Calgary, etc. Here is some video of Neil -- I think he would definitely look good with a winged wheel on his chest: Neil demolishes Brian Little, then attempts to draw Boulton into taking a penalty: Neil destroys Avery with a solid hit: Gotta love a guy who runs any Anaheim players like this. It's weird Burke had a problem with this, but was upset when Pronger got suspended for the hit on Homer: Chris Neil profile on Ottawa's version of RW Weekly -- Overtime -- which aired this past November (11/13/08). Gives you a look at some goals, hits, etc:

LOL, this actually doesn't surprise me coming from you -- That said, with a guy who rang in an impressive 4.10 GAA and a .857 SV% in his first game of the year, it can't really get any worse. More or less there is no where he can go but up!

I don't know if this has been posted, or talked about -- I didn't see anything but I could have missed it. If not, then here is video of Kyle Quincey dropping the gloves against Phoenix's Daniel Winnik earlier this afternoon. The Coyotes won the game 6-3, but Quincey wins the scrap. Enjoy:

Yes you are correct, Quincey had a go with Greg Stewart of Montreal during a pre season game this year. I agree with you a 100%, it just wasn't going to happen here in Detroit for Quincey. However his success in LA reflects pretty darn good on the Wings developmental program. But you are definitely correct about Quincey and the situation here in Detroit. I too am glad he is doing well, he needed to go to a team that allowed him to play his style of game, and quite frankly - learn on the go. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for us Detroit fans) the Red Wings have a higher bar one has to hit in order to make the everyday lineup. FAIL! Very true. I have gone ahead and thrown up a couple of videos showing what we have to look forward too in the near future (I also included the video you provided the link for): I love Jonathan Ericsson more and more each day. The guy is going to be (fingers crossed) a very rare find, a big dman who can actually move the puck, and jump into the offensive rush. On top of that he scraps -- and when he fights, my man fights. There is nothing pretty or set up/staged about it -- he is looking to hurt. I included below a little Jakub Kindl scrap. It was from last season, but he still is a prospect, and while the video doesn't really show it, Kindl ain't too shabby (look at the other guy skating to the penalty box, and check out his busted nose):

Dude he made a mistake, that's all -- he's human, give him a break. My man has 49 points and is a +16, why shouldn't he get a pass from time to time? God knows everyone else on the team who screws up/plays well below par, does from people here. It would be rough to play defense on a team that has little to no goaltending most nights (at least this season). I mean you have to be perfect, if not, well god knows you ain't getting bailed out by our net minder. Gotta go -- Yzerman on!

LOL this is something else -- Who new Minnesota had such an explosive offense

I know there was a link to see the scraps, but I figured I would toss up the videos anyways. Here are both tilts from last nights game: Justin Abdelkater: Aaron Downey:

I see what you mean. But fighting isn't going anywhere in the NHL, not a chance. As for the various junior leagues (OHL and other first step "pro" leagues) I don't know, that is a whole different discussion.

You haven't read the thread in detail? OK, that still doesn't change that fact the quote you originally were replying to was incorrect. And then there you go again, doing the same s*** I was talking about in my post -- you are not only patronizing and borderline obnoxious with rant, but you dismiss the argument that 99% of the people sitting on my side of the fence are attempting to make. No one said, at least in this thread (the same thread you pompously exclaim "is filled wit people running around like teenage girls") that the Red Wings are "screwed", or that the team is a "joke". But that doesn't really matter to you now does it? Anything that would hinder your ability to play this bulls*** angle instead of looking at the reality of what people are saying just isn't going to fly -- So keep applauding statements that are not true, keep replying to the threads you claim sicken you so much, keep up your same patronizing "I am above everyone who disagrees with me" -- it obviously makes you feel better seeing as though you do it non stop on these boards anyways. You know I have gone out of my way lately to point out I am fine with the makeup of this team even though I am a fan of the grittier parts of the game, and that while I would love to see guys brought in that would be more willing in the less pretty aspects of the game -- I would rather not tamper with the winning formula we have going on. For what though? So guys like you can come on and sum my argument up for me, so you can twist and contort my statements and point of view to the point of changing it all together? Good god, if these posts are so annoying to you then I have a suggestion -- DON'T GET INVOLVED THEM WHEN YOU ARE READING THROUGH THE BOARDS. You know it's kind of funny -- I have noticed a trend on these boards that is unique for a sports forum of any kind. Pretty much every topic has now become (at least in the eyes of some folks, like the individual I am replying too for instance) "boring", "repetitive", "stupid", "more whining", etc, etc. I mean you complain when there are threads on Osgood's performance, you complain when there is threads on team toughness, you complain when there are threads on Kopecky being worthless, you complain when there are threads on anything to do with Flip outside coddling him, I mean this is a Red Wings board right? It's simple, don't take part in the discussion if it annoys you. No one cares that you are sick of this topic -- we don't need to hear about it -- it simple, and as I stated above, I will state again: DON'T GET INVOLVED THEM WHEN YOU ARE READING THROUGH THE BOARDS Before we go I figured I would share with you what I am sick of seeing as though you let us know what you don't like about the posters and their choice of topics here oh so frequently. I am sick of people saying "we don't have room for a goon who will only play 3 minutes" or "if there was a guy who could produce as well as enforce we would be all for it", etc. First of all half the "goons" people on hear refer too (I am going ahead and considering "goons" guys with 9 plus FM's) have better numbers then anyone on our 4th line -- so do me a favor, and spare me this recycled, and fundamentally incorrect logic from now on. As far as the whole "if we could find a guy to do both" statement that gets thrown around here so much, all I have to say is that they aren't hard to find. People who always use this argument draw on the comparison of what they would like in an enforcer to what Darren McCarty was in the late 90's. I always laugh when I see this because the truth be told I could give you a list of 20 plus players who are currently in the league that would fit the bill in terms of adding to our team what McCarty did years back. Darren McCarty: 1995-96: 15 goals, 14 assists 1996-97: 19 goals, 30 assists (career year) 1997-98: 15 goals, 22 assists 1998-99: 14 goals, 26 assists 2000-01: 12 goals, 10 assists 2001-02: 5 goals, 7 assists 2002-03: 13 goals, 9 assists 2003-04: 6 goals, 5 assists For comparison purposes we will go ahead and average these totals -- that comes out to 12.3 goals & 15.4 assists on average, per year in Detroit (I did not include the '94 and '95 seasons, however if you look at the numbers you will see it doesn't effect the average numbers either way. I also didn't include his time in Calgary for obvious reason.) Here are a couple names of guys that would fit the bill in terms of being able to put up equivalent point totals, as well as having an ability to chuck knuckles. * Arron Asham * David Clarkson * Ian Laperierre * Steve Montador * Brian Sutherby * Greg Campbell * Ryan Clowe These are just a couple, I mean there is so many guys out there, and the majority of the are under a million bucks a year (Clowe being the highest on this specific list at $1.6M -- he does have 20 goals and 27 assists though -- what's Flip getting?) I am just saying, stop with the "if there was a guy who could do both" rap. There are guys, a lot of them who can do both -- there always has been and there always will be -- we just don't seem to seek them out.

This sums up perfectly what I don't get about some of the posters here. You are more or less championing a statement that is flat out flawed at the least, and flat out untrue at the most. The statement was: "Calling this team "soft" b/c of they are missing one guy from previously mentioned post is way too much IMO." As another poster pointed out the Red Wings are missing two players from last years team, not one - and while I don't think the Wings are necessarily "soft" in their play (with fighting aside of course), I don't see how it is so unfathomable to think that a team who lost the two players who were responsible for close to 75% of the teams 21 FM's, while adding no one in that department to take their spot - may have gotten a tad bit softer. But who knows, maybe I am missing something. The other issue that confuses me on these boards is why in gods name do people think that winning games and having a couple tougher 3rd or 4th line guys willing to go from time to time are mutually exclusive? They aren't -- at all. However time after time statements such as: "You're right- Kenny isn't stupid enough to trade a top six forward who can kill penalties and play on the pk for a hard-nosed Canadian fourth line player." I mean who ever called, or voiced a desire to trade one of our top 6 goal scorers, who kills penalties on top of it (even though anyone on our PK this year doesn't have much to be proud of, but that's for a diff. day) for a "hard nosed Canadian 4th liner? But that truth doesn't really matter does it -- Some individuals here will continue on with their patronizing dismissal of both the reality, and what those who desire a slightly meaner lineup really want. I'll tell you this much -- no one advocating for the tougher lineup wants any of our top 6 gone, they want them right where they are -- but they may not mind so much if a Kopecky or Maltby spot opened up for a grinder or two.

Ok, here we go. 1) Hossa was "gone from the game" because he didn't have his fighting strap tied, that is the only reason why he received the game MC. 2) You're right about Downey sitting in the AHL -- but what kinda bothers me is that he was going to go ahead and retire after he didn't make the Wings starting roster this year. However Holland and others talked him into staying with it. Now I find it hard to believe that in their convincing of him to stay with GR that the notion that he would see at least some time up with the big club didn't come into play. Now I don't know if it did for a fact, I am purely speculating (yes, I am not stating this as fact, that is the promise of time up with the RW -- Downey's readiness to hang them up however is fact). 3) You declare: "I'm not against of fighting but I'm against of position like "ship is sinking b/c no serius enforcres there" or "my life sucks, Joe Louis arena sucks, game sucks, I want to see some fight" -- Sweet, I'm not either, I have gone to literally 70% of this years home games, I love the Joe and the RW. What's your point here? 4) "Ken Holland is not "anti fighter", he has said (at least once) fighter yes but with skill and RIGHT pricetag." Now this has got to be up there with statements of the year. There is so much greatness in this I don't know where to start -- do I begin with Holland and his stance on dressing fighters? The price tag of "tough guys", I dunno, it's that great. If you want to tell yourself Holland isn't anti-fighting then go ahead -- that's up to you. And as far as "the right price tag" statement, I don't get where you are coming from with this. Here are some guys who are both "fighters" and whose "pricetag", is much closer to Aaron Downey's paycheck then anyone else: * David Clarkson - 13 goals, 10 assists, 14 FM ---> $837,500.00 * B.J. Crombeen - 10 goals, 8 assists, 15 FM ---> $550,000.00 * Steve Montador - 4 goals, 16 assists, 11 FM ---> $800,000.00 * Greg Campbell - 12 goals, 14 assists, 6 FM ---> $762,500 * Ben Eager - 8 goals, 4 assists, 8 FM ---> $600,000.00 * Brandon Dubinsky - 8 goals, 20 assists - 6 FM ---> $633,333.00 * Colin Fraser - 5 goals, 10 assists, 6 FM ---> $500,000.00 * Brian Sutherby - 7 goals, 4 assists, 6 FM ---> $700,000.00 * Aaron Voros - 8 goals, 7 assists, 9 FM ---> $1M * Ryan Clowe - 20 goals, 27 assists, 5 FM ---> $1.6M Clearly, with the exception of Clowe (who I think is def. worth what he's making) there isn't a guy on here making over a million bucks a year. So I mean maybe this will show you that when Holland says things like "guys with skill and right price tag" in regards to grabbing a tough guy, he is simply bulls***ting 100%. I do want to say though that I am happy with the team we have, while I wouldn't mind a tougher lineup, nothing, and I mean nothing trumps winning games and that's what we're doing. But I do think we should call things for what they are, and stop lying to ourselves.

The instigator rule which he cited with a link to the NHL, and referred to as the prime entity weeding out "headhunters" was introduced in 05-06.

Nope, I am sorry but you are 100% wrong. Fighting has rose steadily every year since the instigator rule was introduced. Sorry about that.

Ha ha, wow - I can tell you are a hockey aficionado already, and by aficianado I mean someone who is knows literally nothing about the topic he is opining on. Now I will take you to school on a couple of things. First of all you claiming that the instigator, which was instituted in 05-06 is ultimately the beginning of the end for fighting in the NHL. Well, you are wrong -- I mean you are very, very wrong (surprise, surprise here): TOTAL FM in the NHL By Season: 1997-98 - 838 fights 1998-99 - 660 fights 1999-00 - 573 fights 2000-01 - 684 fights 2001-02 - 803 fights 2002-03 - 668 fights 2003-04 - 789 fights 2004-05 - No season 2005-06 - 466 fights <----- INSTIGATOR RULE INTO EFFECT (or as Genius put it, the headhunter rule) 2006-07 - 497 fights 2007-08 - 664 fights 2008-09 - 784 fights (projected by using current FM totals which equals out to .64 fights a game) Moreover, I wish people would stop saying "goons" this and "goons" that. How many times have I posted the numbers of these so called "goons" who have over 9-10 FM as well as more points then a handful of the guys dressing for the Wings. Stop with the "worthless goon" tag when referencing fighters because truth be told, they are better hockey players then a couple of the guys on our team that people like you, who are clueless, stick up for time after time. Cliche's are not flattering bro, so please stop with them. When individuals like yourself who know nothing more about hockey then the handful of playoff games and the you tube highlights reels you watch call players worthless it really gets under my skin. You then go into some incoherent dribble regarding "handsomeness" and acting like grown ups. I won't even get into this, I' will leave it by saying you really need to look into some of the things you post your personal opinions about -- it makes it easier on everyone, and less embarassing for yourself.

Yes they do function this way a lot of the time. They are not neccesarily "blaming" him, but confidence has everything to do with it. The same can be said in football in regards to the o-line and protecting the QB. If a quarterback looses his linemen, its all over -- regardless of whether it is said out loud, or not.

I was actually thinking the exact same thing the other night when they were playing, and beating up on Nashville. They seem to have a little more pop in their step, at least over the past month or two, with Conklin in. I don't know if they are over thinking things when Ozzie is playing because of his recent performances, or what. But I definitely noticed the same thing.

What rules are you speaking of?