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I agree. Toronto isn't stacked with fighters. However, they manage to do a great job of enforcing. Orr takes on the heavies, and the other 'fighters' (Komi, Schenn, etc) are willing to go if anyone takes liberties. Hopefully Rosey makes it into more games this year (he and Orr playing together was amazing). Between Orr and Brown, the Leafs should have 40 fights, and the others will likely get ~20.

Asham would win over 50% of fights against anyone on the Wings. He is a good MW/LHW fighter. The Wings were voted the worst enforcing team for a reason (although the Caps were close IMO). I don't understand your argument on enforcers/fighters. You say having a one dimensional enforcer is embarrassing, and then continue to discredit Asham although he is a decent player and fighter. There are no Proberts in today's NHL (unfortunately). Posters here aren't unhappy with the team or bitching about Holland as much as it seems. If the discussion can stay civil and intelligent, discussions on possible players, line combos, contracts, etc can be very interesting and informative. The off-season would be boring if no one questioned Holland. That is not to say that anyone is unhappy with him, but it is worthwhile to question other possible moves. Being an avid fan wouldn't be as fun if we didn't dissect and discuss the off-season.

Less than a month until preseason starts! I'll be going to a Pens v. CBJ games a month from today- rooting for CBJ of course. A few weeks later, I plan to go to the CBJ home opener against the Blackhawks.

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It looks like they're working on the final details of the contract now. http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/08/justin_abdelkader_reiterates_h.html

The question isn't if Modano or Asham is better. Most will agree that Modano is the better player. However, the Wings have Eaves, Miller, and Ritola signed for this year. The real question is if Asham would be better for the team than any of these players. I believe he would because of the dimension he brings (that the Wings lack). This discussion is irrelevant though. Most fans (and GMs with room) would welcome Asham for 700k. The Pens made a good move here IMO.

I think it's great when I go to games and see girls without boyfriends/husbands. My friends and I always say to each other that we wish we could find girls who would wear hockey shirts or jerseys in public because they love the sport.

Downey was signed by a Canadian AHL affiliate? It doesn't look like the Griffins are going to be on CBC. A poster here streamed many of the Griffins games last year- hopefully he/she will do so again this season.

It was definitely a typo. I'm posting on my phone since I'm up in northern Michigan for vacation, so I'm bound to make a lot of mistakes.

It's awesome to see so many female fans. It makes me feel better about ky Wings obsession. We might need to start a LGW singles thread to get some of us paired up haha.

I've never had a girlfriend that's been into hockey. A girl I dated last year would watch all of the televised playoff Wings games even after she moved home for the summer. I think she realized it was all I wanted to talk about. I'm starting grad school at OSU in Sept so hopefully I can find a hockey fan there.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but both players are out of AHL options. Therefore, they will have to pass through waivers to go back to GR. Both have played in GR for a couple years, so it's not like they are bypassing the minors. I would be that both Ritola and Kindl will be on the Red Wings roster (or traded) at the beginning of the season. Therefore, they will have been in Detroit for a full season and will no longer be rookies. Mursak is out of AHL options next year (again, correct me if I'm wrong), so he will likely need to make the jump to the Wings.

From what I have read, Howard loves Detroit. Regardless of how Ozzy plays, I don't see him playing 55+ games with Howard on the team. If another team offers Howard significantly more than the Wings think he's worth, I don't see them trying to keep him. If the Wings lose Howard and McCollum isn't ready, I could see the Wings signing a vet to play for a year or two. Goalies are difficult to predict because their play year-to-year can change dramatically. Hopefully Howard continues to play well and the team can re-sign him at a decent price.

Do you know which defensemen (if any) the Leafs are going to try to trade now? I followed the Leafs a bit last year (watched ~30 of the games), and I'd like to see them contend for a playoff spot as they're one of the few teams in the East I like. The East will be fun to watch this year (especially the Atlantic) as the arms race (enforcers) this summer was ridiculous.

Regardless of who they trade, the Leafs have a great defensive unit. Hopefully they can move Lebda and pick up some scoring before the season starts.

You've got St. Louis, Nashville, and Columbus within a few hours of driving. Living in Louisville (and now moving to Columbus), I tried to catch the Wings a few times each year. Between the three locations, you'll have the opportunity to see the Wings live 9 times.

It is expected that Ritola and Kindl will play the entire season with the Wings this year. If Ritola doesn't, I don't think he will ever become a regular with the Wings. I also posted that Tatar may make the team- he will have to impress to do this, and I doubt many of us will complain if he does. Having Smith up is also a toss-up, but he has the skills to make a quick jump to the NHL. The goalie predictions are tough because Howard's performance this year will have a major impact on the team's decision. The Wings can afford to have a rookie backup if he plays like last year. However, if Howard stumbles I wouldn't be surprised to see a vet (or Ozzy) signed for the 2011 season. My roster leaves a lot of cap room, so the Wings will be able to sign a D-man if needed. With Lids status uncertain, predicting the top-4 is difficult.

The only rookies on that roster are Smith and Mursak. Tatar would be a third, but he will has to have a large progression this year to be ready for the 2011-2012 season. I would like to see the Wings make a move when Lids retires, but I don't see that happening next year. Unless E isn't re-signed or one of our other D is traded, there isn't much room for a new top-pairing defensemen next year.

There likely won't be any major trades or signings after this year. The Wings have too many promising prospects that will (should) be ready to make the jump. Mursak is ready, and it's possible that Tatar or iFlip will also make the Wings. The roster for 2011-2012 will likely be (suggested but arbitrary lines)... Z-D-H Cleary- Flip- Franzen Huds- Abby- Bert Eaves/Tatar- Helm- Mursak Ritola/enforcer Kronner- Raffy Smith- Stuart E- Kindl UFA/Janik/whoever Howard UFA/Ozzy/McCollum/Larsson EDIT- I forgot Huds.

Cause and effect between these two variables cannot be determined from this study. It is pretty obvious that there are other variables that have an effect on both hitting and winning. The first, and possibly most important, is puck possession. Teams that posses the puck tend to hit less and win more. This is, this variable is likely causing the relationship to occur between hitting and winning. There are also other factors- blowout games tend to have more fights, and there are likely more hits too (from the losing team). Also, skilled players tend to hit less; therefore an unskilled team may hit more than a skilled team.

30 was my generous guess for the amount of games that the 14th forward will get. I doubt that Draper will sit more than Ritola or Downey, so the 14th forward likely won't get many games. Therefore, why not have a tough player in the press-box for most of the season? Ritola didn't impress (more than being solid) in his time last year and I doubt the 14th forward will see enough time to get a streak going. In addition to the players in Detroit, there are players in GR that will get call-ups (Mursak, Tatar, Tardif).

I agree with this. While I would like to see Ritola in the NHL for the Wings, it seems that Mursak and Tatar have better potential. Therefore, Draper and Downey could sit and be used regularly and someone could be called up in the event of a long-term injury. If Ritola were the 13th forward I would keep him, but Draper is ahead of him. If the Wings are going to have a ~30 game player, I would rather it be Downey than Ritola.

I agree. They don't need to adopt any major rule changes like those mentioned here. Hockey is already difficult enough for the average person to understand, and most of these only make it worse.

Every goal is already reviewed in Toronto. I'm not sure how they can improve that system, outside of getting better reviewers.

No.