Theophany

Not clearing the crease. Lidstrom is just about the only one that I see regularly locking people up in front of the net. Stuart, Kronwall, Ericsson all just stand around. I blame this partly on Lidstrom and whoever is coaching the defense. Lidstrom doesn't hit people because his stick is so good; Stuart, Kronwall, and Ericsson are all learning from Lidstrom, and they don't see him knocking people down when they're fighting for the puck. If your name isn't Nick Lidstrom, you need to be hitting people fighting for the puck in front of the net, mainly because your stick isn't as good as his, thus you're not tying people up.

Hossa was pretty much the 4th best defensive forward on the team after Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Draper. How on earth you can say he's even mildly bad when he held that status on a team that was stacked with defensive forwards, I don't know. Here's a tip for you: stop trying to backtrack and recover whatever modicum of respect people had for your opinion. You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole trying to justify why you said Hossa was bad. He's not. He's a great player, he just had a bad post season. Datsyuk had one too, and we're not roasting him on a spit.

Take a deep breath and realize that you're overreacting.

Actually, Datsyuk was a PPG player in the 08 playoffs, FYI. 22 GP, 23 pts. But y'know, he was playing on the PK, too. Oh, and he's got a few Selke trophies. I wouldn't say that Crosby and Ovechkin don't belong up there, but they don't belong at #3 and #4. There are SO many better players that have played this decade. But it's alright, flashy goal scorers are always going to be noticed more than two-way players. The only reason Yzerman is so respected—outside of the organization—is because of his leadership (and 3 Cups), not because of his two-way play.

As much as I don't like most Hawks fans, I can't find myself not liking the Hawks. Hossa just adds to that, since I like the guy, and happy he got the deal he got in Chicago (especially since there was no way we could keep him here). It'll be nice to see Hossa back and skating again.

I agree with pretty much everything Marcus has said. So, yeah.

Let me know when Crosby and Ovechkin become mainstays of their PK, then I'll start caring about their PPG.

Lebda has actually been playing pretty well for what we've come to expect of him.

Get Sportacular, it'll give you push updates so you don't have to keep checking the score. It also has more detailed info (almost play-by-play).

Except that Helm won't turn into an 80+ point player by the time he's 27. Eaves has a real scoring touch and a good shot, but Helm is lacking. Granted, the kid is only 22. He could develop further, but I don't see it. I see him as Draper 2.0. Edit: Also, Leino being lazy? Leino's been fighting his ass off for the pucks, and has been making some great passes. Zetterberg likely wouldn't have so many goals without Leino on his line, because he's certainly more visible on that line than Cleary is at the moment.

That was when Rafalski was out. For the PP, we were rotating Lids/Rafalski and Lids/Ericsson, though I thought I saw Stuart out there with Ericsson as well. I see no issue with running Lids/Rafalski and Stuart/Ericsson. That was for the individual minors. We were playing every D pair during the 6 minute set of minors.

Really? I mean, I realize that a lot of Wings fans probably hate the Hawks, but when you have guys like Toews, Kane, Versteeg, Sharp, Kieth, Seabrook, Madden, and then add Hossa to the mix, you have a great team. Huet and Campbell are the weakest links I can see on the team. Hell, even Kopecky is playing very well (compared to how he played for the Wings) for them. Hawks are easily a Cup contender with all the talent they have.

Ericsson won't play on the first line. Babcock has confidence in him, but not that much. Ken and Larry obviously are the sources of all Red Wings news.

Yes, trade one of our best specialists. That's a GREAT idea, especially when he's playing better hockey than he has in years.

Janik is more likely. He's already played a game with the Wings this season, and from what I hear, Kindl isn't ready yet, even though he's close. IMO the pairs will be: Lidstrom-Rafalski Stuart-Ericsson Janik-Lebda

Winner! You're officially the funniest person on LGW. Or you are until someone else makes a your mom joke.

Not really. Bert's not a specialist, as Homer is. Homer is perfect for line-mates like Zetterberg/Datsyuk, or Franzen/Datsyuk. When there are two players on the ice that can cycle without needing the third player to help out 100% of the time, you can afford to get a specialist in there like Homer. Especially when you get scoring defensemen on the blue line like Lidstrom and Rafalski. Having Homer is a huge boost. No one in the NHL is as good at screening or deflections as Homer. With Bertuzzi on the same line as Datsyuk, I agree, he's not at his most effective (granted with the control Datsyuk has, it's almost superfluous to try to cycle). But once Franzen is back, you'll see the benefit of Homer; Franzen is a born goal scorer, and that will be an incredibly solid line.

Actually, it's more due to my high expectations that I'm disappointed in him, and his turnovers have led directly to goals. Trust me, Rafalski is on my s*** list much more than Ericsson; but the defense as a whole seems to be noticeably worse than last season outside of Lidstrom, Lebda (anything more than a negative is a positive), and Kronwall. This isn't specifically tied to every game, but more over the whole season thus far. I've just been looking at what he managed to do last season in the playoffs, and then compare it to his play thus far; he didn't make bone-head decisions that led to 2-on-0 goals. He didn't cough the puck up in the neutral zone. Him playing on the PK doesn't really mean much, frankly. Babcock had Drew Miller playing on the PK the night he arrived to meet the team. He probably assigned him a locker and said, "oh, btw, you're playing on the PK, dude." Based on Ericsson's success last year, it wouldn't shock me at all that he was playing on the PK simply because he's the only defenseman that Babcock trusts to be out there next to Lidstrom (as Stuart/Kronwall play on the second PK pair). When your options are Brett "I'm still bad" Lebda and Brian "I can score but can't PK" Rafalski... Yeah, you're gonna give a kid with promise some experience.

That's not a very good joke. You should work on your punch lines.

You realize that your sarcasm is really blatant and you're probably gonna get banned again, right? And it's not that you expressed your dislike for Homer; it's that you did it to the point that your hate for Homer is a forum meme. On-topic, I wouldn't be happy with the top line either; when you think of what a healthy Franzen-Dats-Homer line could accomplish at the current level Dats and Homer are both playing at, looking at Bertuzzi in that role just isn't fair. Yeah, Bertuzzi can still play hockey, but certainly not top-6 forward hockey.

Eaves. Ericsson, speaking of him, is making me cringe every time he goes near a puck, mainly because he makes some really dumb decisions. (Yes, I know he's a rookie and he's allowed to make dumb plays.)

Yeah, this. Look at the names retired thus far: Yzerman, Howe, Lindsay, Sawchuk, Abel, Delvecchio... And add Lidstrom. All have been not only huge influences on the Wings organization, but hockey in general. You actually have to be better than HOF-quality to get your number to hang in the rafters; you have to epitomize the Red Wings during the era you play for them. The only two numbers I could see being retired other than 5 at this point are 13 and 40, and those still have a good 10 years to see what kind of legacy they'll leave. Even with the impact they've had on the org, they wouldn't be retired right now, and it wouldn't even be close.

There's little to no chance his number gets retired, though he's a first ballot HHOFer for sure.

This.

Where were you sitting at the Winter Classic? Out in the bleachers, it was definitely louder than any other chant started that day.