Jesusberg

Sebastien Piche is on there too, I believe.

You know... it's one thing when your team is playing s***ty and deserves to lose. It's another thing when your team is playing s***ty, then gets opportunities, only to have the opportunities taken away. I've said for a long time that the referees need to be accountable for their actions, and this game is exactly why. Hooking calls are terrible as a whole... but this intend to blow the whistle garbage is insane. Also, I can't even recall the last time a goal was overturned for "being in the crease". This isn't 1999. Unless there's actual goaltender interference on the play, and a penalty as a result of that interference, I haven't seen that called since it was an actual rule.

I'm officially a conspiracy theorist... We've been screwed over one too many times. This is ridiculous.

I'm always a little irked about other team's announce crews, much like I'm sure they dislike Redmond and Daniels. However, I cannot stand Chicago's or their fan base. It's just plain ridiculous how much the homerism comes through. they get a little taste of success and think they're amazing. Sadly, it kind of reminds me of some of my Leafs fan friends. Going into this season I was repeatedly told how much better Stalberg was than Zetterberg. That sure panned out

I'm really hoping he'll set somewhere in the 3-4 million range. It'd be some nice cap relief and would allow for some offensive depth.

I know people have already poked at the "Stuart has been terrible" comment... but I have to reiterate that I agree with this ranking of our defensemen this season. I would even argue that Stuart is almost pushing Lids down to 3rd.

He's a guy who can put up some points at the lower levels (Pretty sure it was like 40 with Portland of the WHL), but mostly he's a chippy guy. He'll scrap when need be. He's not overly big, but he does use his size to his advantage. I think the most you'll see him becoming is a depth guy, but the Wings must've seen something in him because they signed him out of training camp.

I'm a big fan of Tomas Kaberle's cap hit. I think he gets overlooked a lot for being on on the Leafs. He's a guy who plays with a quiet confidence with the puck, much like Lids. He doesn't quite have the defensive game that our captain does, though.

I would REALLY prefer that he didn't rush to get back. I can understand the prospect of winning a gold medal beside Lidstrom, since it's unlikely that he'll be around for 2014... but still Mule, don't do it. I could see a a long-term issues developing if he pushes himself too hard.

I was just talking to friends about this. It almost reminds me of a McCabe-esque situation where I feel like he's not worth the money he's being paid. He's just brutal defensively, and his small stature seems to be more of a liability than ever. He seems to cave under any forecheck pressure at all.

I think the Bertuzzi experiment hasn't gone very well. I saw someone mention that they'd like to see him skate tonight; his problem isn't skating for once, IMO. The problem is more along the lines of him shooting at the wrong times, not shooting at the right times and making no-look backhand passes to nobody. Bertuzzi's biggest issue is that he doesn't seem to have the timing and pace that he did back when he was a force. Once everyone's healthy I'd like to see him bumped back down to the 2nd line, maybe even the 3rd.

"Passive" is an understatement for what the Red Wings were there. Pathetic kill.

As much as I would like to see Kindl in action, Janik has been great for the Griffins. He's been by far their best defenseman, and looked solid in the game he played for the Wings. Like someone said, they're likely to play Meech... but when they doesn't work out I hope they turn to Janik, or give Kindl a taste of some AHL action. That being said, Kindl is finally doing well in the AHL. He's got 10 points and is a PLUS (+3) for once. I think it's important to keep his confidence level up at the minor pro level.

The biggest problem with this league is that the referees are not accountable for their actions.

He had work ethic problems over in Sweden too. I saw this coming. http://www.redwingscentral.com/stories/200...5_RWCReport.php

I had a good feeling about Eaves right from the get-go. Maybe it was just the way Cleary worked out for us. I can see Eaves being a guy who works himself onto the 3rd line, even with a healthy line-up. He's RFA at the end of this season too, so I hope they choose to retain him. I can't see any reason they wouldn't. He's the exact kind of play the Wings need for the bottom 6 of their forward corps. Speed kills my friends.

I'm not going to lie, I would eventually like to see Tardif in the line-up. I don't think this is the year for it, though. Maybe next season carrying him as a 12th/13th forward could work out. As much as it's cool that May drops the gloves, I just feel like he does it at the worst times. There's pressure in the offensive zone and he decides to just throw down? I much preferred Downey's fighting style, but also hated his speed. May is much better at puck cycling as well. It'd be nice if we could find an enforcer who would be a hybrid of the two. Who knows how much longer guys like Maltby, Draper and Holmstrom will be around. Williams, Bert and May are on one-year deals as well. That could open up some room for a guy like Tardif. I'd be a little nostalgic to see that #25 on the back of an enforcer again. Sadly, I think the team will end up letting him go and he'll find someone else to play.

In all fairness to a guy like Tatar, who is only 18, Jamie Tardif is 24. He's had plenty of time playing in the AHL. I'm not entirely sure about his speed, but that's what an enforcer type guy needs to play in our system, imo. As cool as Downey was to have around, his wheels were downright terrible. The upside with May right now is that he has good puck protection skills along the boards, and can make a respectable pass out of the zone. If Detroit is going to keep an enforcer on the team his greatest asset will need to be the speed required to create an up-tempo forecheck.

Who's Sidney Crosby?

I think a big part of it is the pairing he's on. I'm not blaming either guy in particular, but both E and Lebda like to rush the puck deep. Lebda getting caught on a 2 on 1... well he's not that good there, and E doesn't have the speed to get back and gets caught on a 2 on 1 because of it. I feel that if Lilja were around, E would have a much easier time settling in. He would be able to move around, be mobile and play his game. Lilja knows his stay-at-home game well, and would allow E to flourish. This pairing just doesn't allow it.

I would have preferred if they called up An_y _elmore.

I agree that Osgood is good in the playoffs, but right now this isn't a playoff team. I don't think Howard is as bad as most people think; he's played two games, give the kid a break. There have been a few glaring goals that Osgood/Howard should have stopped, but really the team is getting beat by the little things. Watch the games. They are losing the one-on-one battles along the boards. They're getting beaten to pucks. They're also making REALLY stupid passes. If I see one more drop-pass turnover, I'm going to slap Todd Bertuzzi. I think one thing that should be overlooked is the coaching (or lack of) by Brad McCrimmon. A lot of times coaches unfairly get the axe because the team is playing poorly. In this case you just have to look at the '08 defense system that MacLean was running. We had the same team plus Hossa last year and failed miserably. It could be a case of the team finally getting tired because of the number of games they've played over 3 years, but I think it comes down to the coaching system to. A lot of the times guys just look confused and out of place. Let's just hope they can give themselves a kick in the ass soon.

Personally, Draper and Maltby finally get off to good starts and they get benched? Where was this healthy scratching when they were sucking? Happy to see Helm back, though. 5-2 Winnnnnnn

Babcock thought he looked pretty good. I think the thing I've noticed the most is his speed is back. A lot of the reason things didn't work out was because the chemistry isn't there yet. If he happens to develop some with Z & D, watch out. His biggest issue right now is turnovers. But as far as the whole package, he's quicker, goes to the net more and has surprisingly played well defensively. I don't think you can ask for much for at 1.5mil. I just wish he'd get a little more agressive, but what can you do?

Bertuzzi spent the entire game at the half-boards? In all seriousness, I think it's more of a chemistry thing right now. The line was developing chances, Bert was making passes, but everything was just a little off. Like other people have said, we'll have to see if he can get the timing down with Zetterberg.