hooon

Looks like a couples figure skating move.

I wish I was. Obviously they weren't ALL saying that. Just one of the fellows behind me. His buddy was correcting him all the time. I think at one point he asked if the Wings still had Hasek... so he was a little behind the times. Otherwise I was in a mostly Wing friendly section, including a very nice family all wearing Wings jerseys.

I was at the game. Yes, the fans were embarrassing. Obviously none of them knew that the Wings were dressing their minor league players, because they don't even know who the Wings starters are. Funny when the guys behind me were talking about how they can't wait til Versteeg gets on the ice. Oh and when they said: "Is Huet in goal?" They pronounced Huet "Hwett". IMO, considering the disparity in roster talent, the Hawks did not play well at all. That was essentially their starting lineup, and for most of the game had little to no chemistry. The goals Turco let in were amazingly soft. Ozzie played well, so did some of the other youngsters. Stuart and Big Rig played pretty awful. Overall, I'm pleased with the way the wings played, I was ready for MUCH much worse.

Kane is quick but really not as fast as helm. He's too short to get a long enough stride to be as quick as some of those other guys.

Not sure, but I don't think those are the official lines for the Hawks tonight.

I just remember when I first took notice of Helm during the 08 playoffs, he was just so much faster than anyone else on the ice, even Draper back when he was in much better form. I would love to see one of those skills competitions amongst Wings players and prospects!

I'm actually glad Downey is in. I feel better having someone out there who will look after these other guys. Anyone know the Chicago lines yet? I assume they're going to be bringing some heat.

I'll be there! I liked what I saw from a few of our younger guys last night.

The reffing will never be perfect. That would be impossible. The problem that myself and others have is that the NHL does not seem to do anything about improving the officiating after obvious flaws and errors are exposed in the system. The NHL never admits fault at any point, no matter how apparent the flaw, and because they can never admit that there is problem, they will never take the steps to fix them. Textbook denial, or in this case, refusal. IMO, so many simple and attainable adjustments can be made to improve the game, or to improve upon the rules that are already in place, but why does it take 3 years to make a headshot rule? Why is there a replay room when a good portion of plays are non-reviewable based on some loophole? Why does a ref's intention get the final priority over the decision of a review booth that so clearly shows how entirely the ref failed in the first place?

Glad the Mule wont be risking it, but this still has me worried even though theyre calling it a charley horse. Mule and Hudler were were two players I was most looking forward to seeing score a lot of goals this season, lets keep em healthy!

Very nice of them. It must be a difficult decision to make when you are in mourning, but you never know how many people can be helped.

I hope Mule sits out tomorrow too. Hasn't every single one of his injuries come against the Hawks? Stay rested Mule! Go Wings! I'll be at the game tomorrow, and even though preseason is meaningless, I just KNOW that Hawks fans are going to be unbearable if we lose tonight.

Nice! Ken Kal kept saying Ritola was a beast last night.

aaah core!

I'm pretty sure the Miller Lite "Commish" makes it on that list over Bettman.

Yep, mine too...

I can't say I agree at all about the reffing. It gets worse every single year. I don't doubt that it is a difficult job, but come on. How many games have to be decided by awful decisions and shaky rules? The games are not reffed the same from game to game, team to team. Its embarrassing how inconsistent it is. Do you remember the disallowed Brad May goal last year? My biggest problem with the reffing is the NHL's absolute inability to admit any fault whatsoever. No matter what the mistake, error, blown call, etc. is, the league always comes out and punishes those who speak against it. There is a refusal to augment or adjust the system, and no, that is not because the reffing is perfect. There is an anti-honesty policy amongst teams and players where they aren't allowed to even whisper about bad calls. This is pretty telling that there is something wrong, if you have to literally punish players for being honest. They have set up the rule book to make themselves completely infallable, every rule has an escape clause that calls the referee's "intention" into play, making every single rule subjective instead of black and white. There are many other reasons why Bettman should not be praised by anyone (other than the owners), and others have already mentioned them here. Bettman and his trust care more about "potential fans", than the actual fans they already have. But to say that the officiating is great is simply baffling to me.

if only we could watch.

I trust that blueadams will get all of us drinking again before long. And btw, I love those lines!

I do love Souse. Tatar Tots can be for the under 10 fan base.

You say hes done a great job in the post lockout era fixing the clutching and grabbing from the 90s and 00s. But, uhh, he was the commissioner in the 90s and 00s as well. I think 18 years is absurdly long for someone to be in office, seems more like a dictatorship. I'm hearing praise for him in this thread for things he didn't even do, but simply occurred during the time of his reign. IMO, his priorities with this league are completely backwards, with quality of gameplay and officiating being much lower on his itinerary than expansion and pleasing the owners, GMs and trustees who will agree to keep him in office as long as they keep getting paid, despite the fact that several franchises are obviously losing money. Not to mention some of the egregious decisions he approved during the NHLs expansion days. I'm no conspiracy theorist. He doesn't fix games, he isn't corrupt, or working for the pens. He's just self-serving. Sure, there have been things he didn't screw up, but I do not believe that he is the only person in the world who can run this league, and there is a LOT of room for improvement.

Cool that you met him! Sounds like a great trip. If it were me, I might call the fan club The Tatar Tots

I will be attending the game Saturday at the UC. Can't wait. Even though its preseason, I really hope the wings come away with a win!

Since when does one preseason game mean that no other young guys will play?