Jake Ryan

I just hope it didn't catch any part of his eye. If it was just a cut on his head, he'll be ok.

Yah. I think I'm reserving "suck" or any versions of it for Rafalski. Suckballskis and Rafalsuck are two I'm toying with right now.

Worse than Gramatica jumping up and down after making a field goal and busting his knee.

Poisonstrom got a minus.

Please don't tell me Babcock has Poisonstrom on Zetterberg's line. Please say it aint so, Joe.

Hell yah! I love you!

Agreed. Holmstrom and Bertuzzi couldn't open up space for Tinkerbell. They are the oldest, slowest, wastes of space on the Wings. They both have a bit of skill in them which makes them good on the PP and such, but as far as 5 on 5 play goes, Datsyuk would be better off with a couple spry kids. And guess what? We have them!!! Abdelkader and Helm.

If he turns out like Franzen, I would be happy.

Russia has the 3 best players in the game right now, too.

Come on. Like they're going to suspend the two time MVP of the league a long time. That's just silly.

Who do you think? I looked and didn't see anybody good I thought the Wings could get cheap.

Well, too bad all our money is tied up in slow, crappy has-beens. And I'm 99% convinced Kenny will keep it this way when it comes to the 2010 off-season. I would bet my life that Draper, Maltby, and Holmstrom will still be around next year in some form or another. We have players in the minors that need to get their asses handed to them in the NHL this year so they can be good in years to come, but our genius GM and coach won't let that happen for some reason. Holmstrom - 2.25 million Draper - 1.6 million Bertuzzi - 1.5 million Williams - 1.5 million Maltby - .9 million Miller - .5 million Eaves - .5 million May - .5 million Lebda - .6 million Meech - .5 million Total Waste = 10.35 million. You don't think we could get a good sniper for 6 mil a season and fill in the rest of the holes with our Grand Rapids talent? Helm (1) - Datsyuk (6.7) - Jokinen (4) Cleary (2.8) - Zetterberg (6.1) - Franzen (4) Abdelkader (1) - Filppula (3) - Kariya (3) Tatar (.5) - Draper (1.6) - Rittola (.5) Miller (.5), Eaves (.5) Lidstrom (4.5) - Ericsson (.9) Kronwall (3) - Stuart (3.75) Rafalski (6) - Kindl (.5) Meech (.5) Osgood (1.4) Howard (.7) Total = 56.45 mil

Yah, I'm not arguing that hockey isn't the number one sport in Canada. That is obvious. I'm just arguing that if the US dropped hockey, meaning that it no longer existed in the US, it would have a bigger impact on the sport than if Canada dropped hockey.

I disagree with you here. Datsyuk needs speed on his line. He has to have room to operate. That's why he is doing so poorly (to his own standards, of course) right now. Holmstrom and Bertuzzi are snails and do not open the game up for Pavel. Helm and Abdelkader can do that. If I was coaching, the team would look like this when healthy: Cleary-Zetterberg-Franzen Helm-Datsyuk-Abdelkader Leino-Filppula-Bertuzzi Tatar-Draper-Rittola Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart Rafalski-Kindl Osgood Howard

I wish that Ritola, Tatar, and Kindl were learning to make shifts count in a Red Wings uni, as well.

At least noone is putting golf in front of hockey. I bet more people watch the majors, though.

I want to see Kindl, Ritola, and Tatar before Williams.

Hey, I wasn't trying to force you to look at this one way or the other. That's why I wanted people to say why they felt the way they did. My opinion is just that - an opinion. I just think that hockey would be forgotten if the US didn't promote it. I can't say the same for Canada.

Tatarbaby is the shizz. Get it done, Kenny!

The New York Americans also failed. Ottawa, which is Canada's capital, failed. Of the Original 6, 4 of them are from the United States. So the best hockey has a history of being played predominantly in the United States. The fact remains that the US has 24 teams while Canada has 6. If Canada is such a bad ass hockey country, why doesn't it have more of the NHL? The NHL is talking about expanding to Europe more than they are talking about expanding within Canada.

This argument fails because the Canadian cities are limited to their major cities. Hockey has a great chance to flourish in cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa. The same goes for New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and most other MAJOR cities in the U.S. But remember that hockey died out in Winnepeg and in Quebec, the same way it is dying out in Phoenix. And in response to your last few remarks, do you remember what the Vancouver arena (Pacific Coliseum) used to be nicknamed? Canadian teams have their share of fairweather fans, as well.

Bi-product. I'd bank on YOU finishing with a fair amount of points if you got to play with Pavs and the first PP unit for the Red Wings, ACG.

While I agree that Canada loves hockey, started the game, and still has the highest majority of players, I don't think hockey would be anywhere without the USA. Even though hockey is still behind football and baseball, it's still better to be in 3rd or 4th place in the USA instead of 1st place somewhere else.

Getting Franzen back will help. Getting Filppula back will help. Getting Kronwall back will help. Williams, I'm not so sure about. I'm not a big fan of his.

That's a good picture! But which country do you think is #1?