Broken 16

Not uncommon for a solid player to have a bad plus/minus when the team he is playing on is playing like s***. His -7 is more a result of piss poor goaltending and shabby play from the defensemen. He's playing a stronger two-way game than I have ever seen from him.

I was thinking the same thing...

I hope he's not expected Babcock and Co. to coddle him. He's in for a rude awakening.

Yup. My bad.

Shorthanded goals and powerplay goals don't affect plus/minus. The loss of Flip will hurt a little though.

I watched and attended games in the Dead Thing era... so yea.

A) Looked to me like someone (a Wing I think) skated right through his line of vision just before Schneider let it go. B) Schneider has a very quick release. C) Schneider's shot is a rocket.

Ordinarily, I would agree with you. However, Howard made a lot of high quality saves last night. The shots against was down last night (I think) but the chances they had were really good ones. Howard did exactly what he is supposed to do. Make the big saves. The only goal he allowed besides the 5 on 3 goal was the Schneider shot that took him by surprise. I bet he'll be more aware the next time he faces him. I think you are downplaying Howard's accomplishment last night. He came in down 2 goals. Made big saves. Looked REALLY strong during the PK (almost had that Sedin shot on the 5 on 3). Last night was a nice step for Howard. He only let in two goals and looked only a little bit confused when the Nucks pulled Luongo.

This. I really like what I've seen from Bert so far. Most notably his defensive play and willingness to drive the net hard. It's obvious he is just gripping a little too tight. Once he calms down he will start popping them in. This team is a perfect fit for him. He's not expected to get ugly. Just play physical and hard.

That's kinda what I was thinking too. I kinda view Zetterberg as our Yzerman replacement (I know people... I know) and Datsyuk as our Fedorov replacement. The rest of the core is pretty much intact. Lidstrom, though slightly slower. He did turn it on nicely in the playoffs though, so I'm not worried about Nik. Ozzy. Played phenomenal in the playoffs last season. No question. Question is... how many times can he pull that off? Malty and Draper. Old in the tooth? Definitely. But their role doesn't require a complex skill set. If they can skate fast, they will be fine. (Besides... I've been playing the Wings in NHL10 and Maltby is kicking ass. Three shorties 12 games in.) Still waiting for the heir apparent for Lidstrom to emerge. I'm not sold on Ericsson even coming close.

First off... we all know how much the media in general knows about hockey... As far as them claiming we are past our prime... which prime are we talking about? Are we talking about the Stevie Y, Russian 5, Vladdy prime? Or the Stevie Y surrounded by all-stars prime? Or the euro-twin, salary cap era prime? We've had 3 "primes" in the past 15 years. No reason to believe we aren't on our way towards another one.

I know it's hard to do, but you are better off not comparing two separate people on two separate teams. The dynamics are completely different from team to team and there is no guarantee whatsoever that Prospal would have prospered here for any stretch.

I was browsing the forum and the newest post I could find was from 2002.

Wow... the Wings are bad enough all of the sudden to not be able to attract free agents? I had no idea a 3-4 start would send such lethal shockwaves through the entire organization. What's next? Talking about moving the Wings to Hamilton? Some of you guys are hilarious.

Kinda nice to have a season where the Wings might actually have to start playing solid hockey before the playoffs start.

I hate when people say this in regards to other people. ANYBODY (this includes you) is capable of greatness if they put their mind to it and have a solid support foundation. The mind is an amazing thing.

That article is disgusting. "Shut up and win." Are you serious? This team has been chugging like a frieght train for over a decade and this is the thanks they get? Red Wing players and staff deserve much better than that article and the legion of mouthbreathers that actually agree with it.

Ya... I kinda grimaced when I re-read the part where I said "a couple seasons of mediocrity". One season is enough.

I've been a fan for a long, long time and Jimmy is doing nothing but stating the obvious. You'd have to be braindead to believe that the Wings are going to just breeze into the playoffs year after year. I had hoped that I was underestimating the roster but it appears that I may have been overestimating them instead. Maybe a couple seasons of mediocrity will do some of the fans good. The expectations have reached ridiculous heights. This team has been in the spotlight as a benchmark team for over a decade. Teams have been gunning for them for just as long. Those that say this is disheartening show how utterly spoiled they have been for the past decade. @gofish Perhaps you would like Jimmy again if he lied to you instead?

Ie. "I interpret the silly little software different than you" You may have gotten a semi imagining all the glorious memories the Red Wings have provided over the years while playing with that cute little ranking system. Personally, I just picked teams based on how I think they would fare in a head to head match up based on what I've seen recently. If the Wings played the Sabres tomorrow, I think the Sabres would win... am I a blasphemer?

Since you obviously have a problem grasping the english language... I'll consider this discussion closed. Enjoy the season.

The reason I said what I said is because because I understand that not only are their a ton of variables in the game of hockey, their are a ton of variables in life. Anything can happen. Dats and Z could get hooked on reefer and start a rock band for all we know. Fact is, none of us know for sure how this season is gonna play out. Especially considering this crazy start we've already had around the league. I thought that was the fun part... not knowing. There you go again... please quote me where I said that Buffalo was a better team overall. Also, I don't really care what the majority think. I made a statement that I would rank Buffalo above Detroit in terms of how the teams are playing currently. Why that statement rocked you to the core? No idea.

I would suspect so. Hopefully. But we won't know until the season is over.

Why does it matter?

Holy crap. Vancouver is hit.