Snazzy

Actually, if you count the Western Cup Finals... it makes 3 years in a row. That's a lot of games for our boys. Wings played more games the past decade than any other team in the NHL. The Red Wings have played more than 300 games in a row just in the past 3 years. That's insane!

WTF? Ozzie has three Stanley Cup championships rings and his name etched on the cup 3 times in his career. Nearly twice as many as Giggy AND Hiller combined! Who the f*** cares about a Conn Smythe when you have that many championship rings? Now I agree that Ozzie isn't a top 5 goalie in the league, but I do say he is, hands down, the #1 post-season goalie in the league... and to me that is more important. Like I said, who the f*** cares about Selanne's opinion? He's clearly bias... not that I expect anything else from him.

Bert and Zetterberg have no chemistry. I think it's time to try Bert one the 3rd line, which will be called our 2nd line because Zetterberg will be Dats and Franzen. Flip leino bert all together on line sounds like something to try. Maybe try Williams in there. Willy has been very impressive with the puck...

So Datsyuk or Zetterberg (or Lidstrom for that matter) wouldn't lose any credibility if they picked Osgood and Howard on the Top 5 NHL goalies? *If* Zetter, Dats or Lids even would give a "top 5", which I highly doubt they would. They're too modest to give their "matter.of.fact" biased opinion. So I guess we don't have to worry about listening to our guys "Top 5" no matter how you slice it. With that said, I consider Datsyuk a top 5 forward and Zetterberg a top 10. Maybe I'm bias, I dunno.. but I read a debate on the Pens forum last year after we won the cup and their fans pretty mch all agreed Datsyuk was #4 after Crosby, Malkin and Ovie. If Pens fans are willing to call Dats a top 5, then he must be impressive. You don't think Zetterberg and Dats are impressive? You must be new to hockey or blind.

Ozzy shouldn't be on the list unless it's "Teemu Selanne's top NHL Playoff goalies", then Ozzy should be #1. Besides, Teemu isn't even near the top 5 forwards, so who gives a s*** about his opinion?

Howard wasn't as bad as many on here try to paint the picture. After the Wings got the lead they pretty much just sat back and started playing not to lose... Howard was very solid even though two goals were soft. Howard got rattled, plain and simple. It was his first regular season game as the official backup for the Detroit Red Wings. He gets the pass for getting rattled. After Babs took the timeout, Howard turned it around and made a couple saves that would make Luongo blush. He was solid after the timeout. Wings lost because they are still sleeping. They are not gel'n and they seem uninterested in the game.. unlike the 2008 team. Hopefully Babcock and Lidstom can shake up the team. Wings are still a cup contender and I'm not ruling out the president's trophy. They should, at the very least, take 2nd or 3rd place in the West. Remember, teams always bring their A game against Detroit, too bad Detroit didn't bring theirs.

To be fair, Red Wings made a lot of changes this off season and have yet to gel. The Wings have only brought their 'A' game for the first 20 minutes then played not to lose... that's not a hungry Red Wings team, and like I said, they are still sleeping from the offseason. I think the long three years going deep in the playoffs is finally catching up to them. I hope Lidstrom and Babcock turn it around quickly. Playing not to lose isn't a way to win. Detroit sat back and let the Blues gain momentum. I agree the Blues are a better team than the Panthers and Islander and etc... But they're not a cup contender *yet*. They don't have the experience or the depth. Respect the Blues, they are finally not in the class of Islanders anymore. Now if Wings just wake up and realize that vacation is over and win some games... LGW can stop panicking like a bunch of prissy little school girls with their panties in a bunch.

In all fairness to the thread starter, Wings are in last place. Wings win a couple games and people like the thread starter will make different threads like, "Wings won't take 1st place in the regular season". However, if the Wings are in 1st place, 12 points above every other team in the NHL with only 2 games left in the season, thread straters (like this OP) will make threads like "Wings will make 1st place in regular season". I really want to learn how they make all these great predictions. They should become professional hockey analysis.

Wings are doomed. Panic! Panic! We need to PANIC! It's over!

I'm not giving up on Howard. He made a rookie mistake and was rattled. Patrick Roy was even rattled early in his career... Luongo was just rattled a day ago. This was Howard's first regular season game as the official backup role on the Red Wings. Needless to say, his team in front of him left him out to dry on a couple of those goals. He gets the pass. Osgood, arguably the best post-season goalie in the league holds more value than any goalie in the league due to his mental stability and sharpness in the playoffs, after all, the object to NHL is winning Lord Stanley, right? Bert and Hank are horrible together. Babcock needs to try Bert on other lines. I'd like to see how he does on the 3rd line.

Should Lidstrom announce his retirement on Monday? Stupid.threads.are.stupid.

The same Lidstrom with the "C" on his sweater that can't rally his team to play like they are capable of. He was also unimpressive on the PP. Kronwall was more impressive. Yes, that would be the Lidstrom that I am talking about. I'm glad his contract is up this year, he is grossly over paid right now.

You can tell the boys are not ready for regular season to start. They are still sleeping and resting from the off season... it's painfully obvious that the past three LONG seasons are catching up to the players. Our stars were mediocre at best... others were invisible. Nobody came to play the past two games... They are not working or playing "their" game. Howard showed signs of brilliance at times. The two bad goals were bad, but I am giving him a break.. today was his first official regular-season NHL start as a backup. Rookie mistakes, nothing more. Even Brodeur, Luongo, Mason, Roy made mistakes in the start of their careers... Howard gets a break. Ericsson and Kronwall are the best defensemen on this team. Lidstrom who? He's showing his age. Williams outplayed Datsyuk... he's going to great for us! Holland did an awesome job getting this guy as cheap as he did... Williams plays like a $2.5 - $3 million dollar player. Bert, GAG! WTF... he's our weak link on the 2nd line. Zetterberg is rusty and out of time... but he was still one of our best forwards Datsyuk is unimpressive. He needs to get his s*** together and stop trying to make the pretty plays. Dats is on my s*** list... Stuart made some nice hits and I love his physical presence, but he makes some of the damnest bone-headed plays. Our 4th line is more impressive than our 1st line. And that's sad. Bottom line, Wings are still sleeping. They are not in NHL form yet.. they are playing 50% at best. They need to get their s*** together!

While I agree Kronwall and Ericsson are two different kind of players, I couldn't disagree more that Ericsson is only a "defensive D-man". He was a natural forward when Wings drafted him... he's a goal scorer and has a hard shot and soft hands. I am predicting that latter in his career he'll put up more goals than Kronwall does. Ericsson will be a more valuable defensemen than Kronwall in the near future.

This blows! Ericsson is one of my favorite players... That boy can score some key goals.

Yep. Mason was the absolute factor today for the Blues win. He stoned Bert, Cleary and Zetterberg. Those were absolutely brilliant saves that would make Brodeur blush.

Then turn the gawddamn channel. Batteries dead in the remote?

1 loss. I wouldn't worry too much about it. The Red Wings showed signs of their old form, the machine isn't oiled yet. When does get oiled, look out! The Red Wings are going to dominate like they always do. This loss was fluke in terms of lot of unlucky bounces, rusty timing, Wings seemed dazy plus a solid game by Mason. Mason might be a good goalie, but he hasn't proven himself yet. He could be a playoff chokers (if Blues even make the playoffs). Red Wings will take first place in the Central Division. Bank it.

Mason is why Blues won. Sleepy, droggy (SCF hungover) Red Wings is why we lost. Not a good combination... Red Wings will have no problem taking 1st place in the Central Division.

Wish I got .10 cents everytime I heard this through-out the years, I'd be so wealthy that Donald Trump would look like trailer park on welfare compared to me.

Bad bounces and good saves by Mason. Wings didn't show up, think they still think it's offseason (after all they have played the most games in the past 3 years than any current NHL team - so I can understand why they are sleepy) Blues played like it was game 7 of the SCF and had to prove their worth. Blues brought their 'A' game and Wings did not = loss. Hopefully this is a wake up call for them.

HAHHAHAHAHAH!!!! Chicago lost to the Panthers. Lol!!

What's funny is these 'experts' neglect to tell you that s***tsburgh took backsteps in the offseason while other teams (*cough* Flyers *cough* Maple Leafs *cough*) got bigger, tougher, and better. I'm not worried about the Penguins, they're not going to be anything special this year. While they *might* make the playoffs, they won't go deep. Wings will surprise everyone again and excel!

I agree. Manny is good enough and could be had cheap enough.. he should have a job tending backup in the NHL somewhere. Other teams have worse backups.

Damn, if the guy would have just played in the AHL for a couple years, he might have improved to solid NHL material.