newfy

I couldnt resist

NHL wont happen in toronto either though is the thing lol. And seriously people youre negging leftwinger as hes sitting here giving us insode info on a top prospect that could be signing with us in days? Yeah lets all neg him so he stops feeding us info, real smart guys

Thanks for the update. Always nice when the guys with inside info share it with the group. But seriously is his mom retarded? A young hyped dman in Toronto is the worst thing I've seen. Young guys not playing like Holzer and Aulie after Aulie proved he could handle top minutes well. And young guys like Schenn not panning out with that media messing with their heads. I hope he makes his own decision and doesnt listen to his mom

Did they announce Xavier won? I saw he was nominated but not that he had actually been awarded it. Ouellet is the one I have highest hopes for, he will be the top dman in the Q next year and hopefully be on team Canada. Sproul also has potential but he is much more raw so I'm not sure. He could be on Canada next year as well. Quine is bigger than Connor so he will be more effective at a similar style of game I think. He also has a team Canada chance.

5'11 is considered small for a forward but not too bad. But for a defenseman thats ridiculously small. Ian White and Enstrom are probably the only 2 d men in the league that size but they both have good foot speed. That small while being slow like Almquist isnt a good combo. Hopefully his speed improves, and he does grow a bit or else I dont see him being an NHLer. Nedommlel is also joining the griffins

5'11, 175 should not be used in the same sentence as the words not small. The guy is seriously small for an NHL defenseman. With all these dmen heading to Grand Rapids I wonder if Sheahan will still man the point on the PP, especially with Smith coming back. I have a feeling Lashoff and Pyett will see their PP time gone which is a good thing

Ericcson can PK but I dont think Kindl has separated himself from Smith much at all defensively. You also have to remember that he only played a small sample of games and the first three or four alone were him trying to adjust to the game speed. I do think Ericcson has a defensive edge but Kindl has done nothing to show me he would be much better defensively over a full season. Either way, the offense and physical edge Smith brings is much better than both and I think he should be in the lineup over Kindl easily

I watched his first game and while he didnt seem to get a lot of icetime, while he was out there he looked like that was a pretty strong attribute. Not super fast but solid speed and strong on his feet

Selleck is one of the toughest enforcers in the AHL people, Callahan is a rookie and small and he challenged one of the toughest in the league for a dirty hit. Good on him

Yep hes definitely physical and great defensively. We'll see how his offense comes around. I think hes playing tonight for the griffins

No youre right it definitely wasnt, but theyve missed a few guys in those late first and early seconds that have turned out to be players. With the wings always picking there you would think they would get used to scouting and make some good picks in that spot. Smith is really their only good pick, they still raft well in that area but not like they should after having drafted there for 15 years. Lucic was definitely not a no brainer but if the wings scouting was better they could have seen what Boston did. I mean, Lucic made the NHL at like 19 his game must've been pretty damn solid to begin with

The North American scouts take a lot of crap, they do alright though. Reaching for Smith seems to have paid off big time for example. Howard as well. But man they should add another scout or 2 or something for North America. If they could pan out a few North Americans more their scouting would be ridiculous. Clifford or Lucic would have this team right where I want it. Abdelkader would be just a complimentary tough guy, and with Smith and one of those guys the wings would have no problem when games got tough and they could still play their style of game.

Missing O'Reilly and Clifford for Ferraro hurts the most. Clifford is exactly what every person on this board wants, a tough guy that can play the game well

Well after being 5th in AHL defensemen scoring (with a lot less games played from suspension), and playing a nasty brand of hockey it seems redwings top prospect Brendan Smith is getting his shot on the big club finally. Babcock said in an interview toady that he wanted him on the team from the start of the year but Holland said no. Seems like they want him to split with Kindl from here on out to see who to play in the playoffs. What does everyone expect of him? I think he'll actually end up stealing Kindls job and mihgt even see some second PP time here and there. I think before the end of the season we'll see him in 2 fights trying to prove he is well rounded and can back up his teammates to help earn a full time spot. Babcock wants toughness, trading away Commie hurts that but putting Smith in the lineup might even make them tougher and he can provide in other areas as well. Seems like hes just too god to keep down anymore so the wings actually moved a vet from their depth to get him on the roster down the stretch, that bodes well. Good luck out there Smitty, make it count

He wont have these growing pains in the AHL. Hes too good for that competition and the little s*** he gets away with down there will make him develop habits he cant get away with at this level. He seems to already be ironing some wrinkles out of his game already

I know you can win but its no coincidence Detroits biggest, toughest team won. Chicago had some big boys like Ladd and Buff. Pitty has always beena very physical team and that team was no different. Boston and Anaheim were as big as they come sure, but all those other teams you mentioned were definitely above average physically and size wise

In 2008 some people were probably still saying that, but that team was still by far the most physical the wings had dressed since the lockout. They also had a bottom 6 with identity. The third line was Draper, Cleary and Drake that season and they knew what they were out there to do. Drake had a big hit a game, all 3 forechecked like crazy, Draper was great defensively and Cleary was a very well rounded player back than. Bringing up the 2008 team compared to now is a joke

There are big guys available that could play in place of Emmerton, Mursak, Homer (hate to say that), Miller etc. When the wings have been at their biggest and most physical teams is when theyve been most successful.

Different rules for an overseas, older player already playing pro hockey. Dekeyser can only be offered 950k (I tihnk thats the number) plus like 300k in bonuses. He'll get an offer along those lines from every team most likely and will choose the best situation for him

Good. Sheahan has a tonne of talent and the potential to become a second line power center. He isnt given good linemates at Notre Dame and is stuck on the point on the PP, while playing huge PK minutes. The guy was never given time to develop offensively whatsoever even though you could always see the talent there. Hes a pretty huge hitter as well and unreal defensively, cant wait to see him in a different system. Grand Rapids has enormous centers as well. Andersson, Aubry and Sheahan are all big boys

Other teams cant offer more money, he will be on an ELC. Playing time would be the only thing

I'm gonna skip the car analogies and get to my point lol The wings are built in a way that when a top guy or 2 gets hurt they completely suck. They dont have the personel in the bottom 6 to switch up the system a bit and play a more rugged style of game necessary when youre using bottom guys to win. Look at the pens, whenever they have top guys hurt they rally and seem to do just as good as they did before because they play a pretty rugged dump and chase style of game outside of the top few guys. I dont think Babcock has the guys to start playing that way when you only have one good scoring line. A Gaustad or Moen in the bottom would be a good start. People always comment when I complain about the bottom 6 saing if thats the worst thing than who cares and think I make a big deal about it, but its true. The wings have 2 good puck possession lines and than 2 lines with no identity. If we had a couple more Helm and Abdelkaders it would make the bottom 6 more effective on the forecheck/ grind it out game and when top guys go down a little tweak away from the skille puck possession game would be possible

Those seltzer waters arent seltzer waters in Canada is the point lol I'm sure you can find a bunch of different beers in America that are under the radar, as you can in Canada. But the popular stuff isn't even close.

I'm still young and quite frankly in a 3 hour period or whatever it is it would only be like 8 beers to make you get a pretty damn good deal on beer at a sporting event. I havent had years of beer drinking under my belt to build up tolerance like I'm sure some posters here have but 8 beers (especially american beer) in 3 hours wouldnt have me completely wasted at all. I'm also not a big guy by any means. That would get most people drunk, but youre allowed to be drunk at hockey games. And I dont mean to rip on American beer guys, but I live right on the border and have drank my fair share, its just not the same as whats brewed up here in Canada eh

I dont know why someone with a choice of where to sign as a defenseman would pick Toronto. They have a poor track record of developing D and the media hype this kid would get would be brutal. Keith Aulie was talking about how tough the media makes it to play in Toronto compared to Tampa. Not to mention Toronto is a team with a tonne of young NHL ready dmen that they havent been able to get into the line up. They traded Aulie because of this and Holzer hasnt even seen a game yet this season because they have so many D. Seems like she might be from there, because from a hockey standpoint its not logical to go there at all