DuckSoup13

Rafalski is a great defenseman but not worth 8 mil a year. Thats crazy! Must've been Atlanta..

Mac is a good 4th liner and provides great veteran leadership out there. If you notice when he plays he is always giving out high fives, pep talks, etc to his teammates. It's a key role especially when guys like Lidstrom and Z lead by example on the ice and not necessarly the way Mac does in the locker room, etc.

My wife and I think Barry Trotz looks like that villain Little Face from Dick Tracy. We also think his name sounds like you have a stomach issue from eating poisonous berries. "I've got a bad case of the Barry Trotz" lol

Conks is the man. He doesn't have all the hype but he sure as hell is better than Osgood at this point in their respective careers. I hope we lock him up to be our starter for the next few years

Put in Leino and Helm for Kopecky and Maltby and we're good to go!

With no salary cap in the playoffs, we will be just fine with the guys we have. Leino and Helm will play and Ericsson maybe too. No need to make a move

I'm glad to see almost all of you are on the same page as me in regards to Kopecky. I don't like to bash my squad but it's getting downright frusterating seeing him play night in and night out with no results, especially in front of the GR guys we've mentioned. Maybe Kenny will read this and will vote with the people and find a way to replace him ASAP!

...seem to be favored ahead of Helm, Leino, Meech and Abelkader in the average starting lineup? He doesnt seem to do any one thing exceptionally well, rarely scores, doesnt hit hard, takes a ton of hits (poor guy), isn't very fast, basically I dont see the value in him vs the other guys mentioned above. Is he a on a one-way contract currently, thus not giving us the option of sending him to G.R. or something? I just dont see what Babcock sees in him

I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH THIS. When Conks is in net the team seems to play better as a whole. He gives them a certain "lift" when he's in vs Ozzy. The players seem to play more focused and determined with Conks in net. I was just talking to some friends about this the other day so it's funny you started this thread.

I would say it's the Depth we have. In years past we couldn't afford to lose top players for extended periods of time but this year we have so much depth in GR that we dont miss a beat. It also keeps a competitive vibe going which helps motivate the players. Meech, Leino, Helm, Abdelkader are all awesome substitutes when the starters go down

Good call!! I cant wait for the playoffs to begin. We're gonna crush

"MELROSE? He will try and coach the team and this is MY team" - Hockey Falls commercial

Agreed! Dont get me wrong..I like the guy and I think he's a future star in the league. But he needs to shoot more and pass more and hang onto the puck less. We have guys like Pav, Z and Leino to do that!

..that Filppula holds on to the puck wayyyy too long? Especially when he brings it in the zone down the wing. With all the talent around him I dont get why he insists on holding it and holding it and holding it before either losing it or losing out on a good time to make a key pass or shot. Not sure if it's just me but I've noticed this a lot lately..

Sweden aint cheap... as a matter of fact it's very very expensive. Hopefully the euro will go to $hit and the dollar will miraculously gain a ton of value between now and then! What a cool trip that would be though.. It would be tough to get tix b/c you know the Swedes will wanna see all their boys on the Wings

Hossa throwing off the gloves was freaking awesome! I was half asleep at the time and I jumped right off the couch lol

This may sound silly, but sometimes I think he's in there to be the guy who the opposing teams can take their frustration out on. If we were full of only skill players and veterans, someone would have to take punishment, and it's better Kopecky than any other player imo. Since Kopecky is a young, vunerable target it seems teams take runs at him more than anyone else. Keeps them from getting stupid and throwing a huge hit at Pav or Nick.

I just watched NHL On the Fly at lunch and they made no mention of this turtling.

Agreed. Most teams use the 4th line to fight, hit, mix things up, etc. Maltby has a purpose there to piss of players, Draper wins faceoffs, as does Helm, Mac and Downey go in and fight, Abdelkader hits..what does Kopecky do exactly that benefits the 4th line? I dont understand why we just dont deal him. We could prob get at least $1.5 mil for him. He is the same skinny, weak guy as the day he started and I dont ever see him being a true physical presence.

We all know our PK has been down this year. I have it figured out.. (at least I think I do) We are being beat at our own game! Our defense is soft around the crease and teams are taking advantage of that. Our defenders dont do a good job keeping the front of the crease clean and teams basically stick a guy up there to block our goalies vision of the blueliners and it works time and time again. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart..just about everyone minus Cheli doesn't do much to clear the area. Teams use their guys like we do Holmstrom and we dont abuse them for it like they do with poor Homer. I would say a majority of the goalies are coming from slapshots and wristers from the blue line because our goalies cant see the puck. If you haven't noticed, take a look at our next game tom. vs Nashville and you'll see what I mean. Thoughts?