Viking_Erection

What a game by the Wings. They refuse to go down without a fight. Once our goaltending figure it out, we're going to be unstoppable. Chicago was shutout tonight.. haha

rock

And he had an awesome team in front of him when he was kicking ass with the Blues and the Islanders? He posted 6 shutouts with the Islanders and 5 shutouts with the blues with a 2.24 gaa before coming back to the Wings.

^This x2. Plus the fact that Howard got it done. Come into the game and won while 2 in he hole.

I'm not disagreeing that they are completely dominating weak, non-contender teams. Put them up against a couple of good teams instead of the Panthers, Islander, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes and you'll see a completely different standing at this point. If you can't see that, then I don't know what to tell you. No sense in being a sheep by believing all the media over-hyping the Pens, when they have not really been challenged or tested by some good teams yet. There's more to the story than they're telling you. Look at it from an objective point-of-view rather than reading all the medial hype and the 20 points they have. Don't.be.sheep

What team have the Penguins played that is playing good hockey or contenders? Panthers? Maple Leafs? Lightning? Islanders? Hurricanes? They've played Rangers in game 1 and the Coyotes (which shut them down). They haven't played teams like: Capitals Avalanche Kings Blackhawks Sabres San Jose I'm not impressed by the Penguins. I think they are completely lucking out by facing weak and teams not playing their best hockey so far this season. Granted I have not really followed the Pens, I've been more interested in San Jose, Kings, Coyotes, Capitals and Avalanche over Penguins... But their schedule hasn't exactly been challenging or difficult. Just calling a spade a spade.

Haha. I'm sure Bettman will find a way to give Crosby and his beloved Penguins the advantage somehow. He always does. I'm really not worried about the Pens this year. They appear hot right now, but they're really more lucky than anything. They'll soon fizzle as other teams find their groove. Pens really haven't been tested yet against any hot teams... Seems they've been pretty lucky so far this season playing non-contenders and teams that aren't playing good hockey. Let them play Avs, Chicago, Wings... or even San Jose and watch them meltdown. Heck, they were shutout against the Coyotes (western team). However, they did beat St.Louis, but I think the Blues are suffering from the Sweden trip too. That said, I hope Geno gets healthy quick so Pens fans can't use that as an excuse when they lose.

Tatar.

I think having Franzen back and healthy on the roster will help. But who knows? Hard to say, really.

Yeah, that looks really good on the 1st line. Decent on the 2nd line. The 3rd line looks like a 4th line and the 4th line... risky. The defense is suspect (depending how the kids can handle the leap) And what's most concerning is the big roster change. Wings are learning first hand how much time and losses it takes to gel (adding 9 player- most who are veterans). Hawks are going to add 9? rookies to the roster next year? That could be disastrous, especially for such a young wet-behind-the ears team. I guess Hawks brass have to decide at what cost are they willing to keep the big 3. I think they'd be better off with depth and roll 3 decent lines and a 4th line that isn't a risk. Not one big line and a 2nd average line then 2 below average lines with rookies... add to the fact that the defense and goaltending is suspect.

In a prior post, I calculated that Chicago have only 8 players that equal to over $38 million dollars combined. Using capgeek.com I can't get the numbers to work in Chicago's favor if they keep the big 3. They'll virtually have to dump 10-12 current roster players and sign players that only make under $1 - $1.2 million... and that just doesn't seem logical for Chicago if they want to make the playoffs again in the next couple of years. No matter how you slice it, Chicago is in big trouble. I guess they could try to trade Hossa (if he doesn't have a NTC) and shed some salary by getting rid of Seabrook, Sopel, Barker, Eager, Ladd, Madden, Buff, Versteeg, Bolland, Sharp and their still pushing it. I don't know how Chicago fans can be so optimistic about signing the big 3? No matter how I try to work the numbers, Chicago is losing massive amounts of key players, depth, or both. I think it'd be in Chicago's best interest to keep some depth and role at 2 or 3 decent lines. Having one line with little on the back end to cover defense will probably win Chicago a 3rd or 4th overall pick for the next couple of years. Here's the 8 players I posted in a prior post: Big three....15.4 Hossa.........5.275 Kopecky..... 1.2 Campbell.....7.142 Seabrook....3.5 Huet............5.625 __________________ Total...........38.142

I'm one of Osgood's biggest supporters, but I also admit that he played bad last night. With that said, the guy gets the free pass because 1). We won (thanks to Howard) 2). Osgood is a playoff machine. I would like to see Osgood play better during the regular season, and beat Sawchuk's win record... but my biggest concern is getting the team to the playoffs with a full healthy roster playing solid hockey.

You are correct, out of the "big" 3, Kane should be the first to go. However, the way Chicago Blackhawks are run over there, they think "income / ticket sales / popularity" first and winning a far second... and with Kane being their poster boy, he's probably locked for the future of the franchise. Toews is also very, very popular for the team, so I am sure he's as important to sign for the Hawks as Kane is.. that leaves Duncan Keith as the odd man out. Duncan Keith would be a perfect fit on the Red Wings, and perhaps, a suitor for Lidstrom's replacement (though nobody can replace Norris-Nick). Personally, I'd take Keith over Toews just because Wings already have a solid top 3 unit. With Lids getting up there in age, he's likely going to retire soon. We'll need a solid (scoring) dman that can fill the void.

Wow, what a game. I thought the Wings responded well after the first goal and responded even better after the 2nd. All-in-all, the Wings came to win tonight. Few guys are still rusty i.e. Lidstrom, Ralfi and Cleary were unimpressive to say the least. Leino had a quiet game and Zetterberg seemed below-mediocre defensivly and made horrible decisions with the puck a few times that could have turned ugly. Lidstrom made an ugly giveaway that was totally not the Norris-Nick we all know. I expect the veterans to come on as the season progresses. Williams scored and Samuelsson didn't that's great news! Bert is quickly becoming one of my favorites. He's on fire and I have a strong feeling that once he buries a couple, he's going to be unstoppable. Howard is consistently making the nay-sayers on LGW's look like complete and udder idiots Datsyuk is back to his old form! Rock on!

Whenever a team adds 9-new-guys to a team roster of 23, you will see that team struggle due to lack of chemistry which takes time to gel. To think the Red Wings should be playing well right now with 9 new players isn't logical. Add to the fact that 14 of the regular guys have played more NHL games (with long,grueling playoff runs) than any professional hockey team in the world, it will physically and mentally drain any living and breathing human being. I think people should cut the team a little slack and enjoy hockey - win or lose.

You think Kindl currently holds that kind of value?

Your post sounds very, VERY optimistic. Perhaps overly optimistic. (using your big-3 numbers) Big three....15.4 Hossa.........5.275 Kopecky..... 1.2 Campbell.....7.142 Seabrook....3.5 Huet............5.625 __________________ Total...........38.142 (not too mention Niemi is going to get a nice little raise -- Hawks need this kid to cover Huet's ass) So you have over $38 million tied up in only 8 players -- and you need to dress 15 more players, that only allows Bowman to spend about 1mil per player on average to stay under cap. Okay, so Blackhawks have some good players in the system that is ready to go, however having 15 rookies on one team for a full year is.... insane. Hawks would be better off with 16 Kopecky's. Lol. In all seriousness, no matter how you slice it, Hawks are losing major,major depth and key players. How well the kids from the farm perform in the big league is yet to be seen.

We'd likely have to give up more than most here would be willing to do. Helm, Abby, maybe Kindl and picks. That means Eaves and May would get a full time roster spot.

Wow, apparently Hudler hurt a lot of feelings when he left.

I agree I find it interesting that Wing fans are turning on each other while looking for something (or someone) to blame. Yet these "fans" over look the true fact why the Red Wings lost. Anderson was an absolute WALL. He was un-penetrable and could not be broken. He literally stole the game for the Avs. Those are the facts and they are undeniable. Wings played a complete game with the exception of a few hiccups (Ralfi and Lebda). Personally, I never expected Howard to outplay the hottest goalie in the league last night. Howard was solid and I hope Babcock gives him more starts.

Hope he hits Crosby like that.

Wings were great tonight. The Wings game was nearly flawless. Nobody here wants to admit it, but Anderson is the hottest goalie in the league right now, and he proved it again tonight. Give the kid some credit, he's play like an all-star. That said, Wings were the better team and I like the urgency they showed after the 2nd goal. Howard was strong tonight except for that weak goal (I think was deflected?) Overall, great game. If they play like this, they'll win 90% of the time. Another thing to note, the adversity this team early on will only benefit them later on. I'd rather the Wings have a slow start early in the season rather than later in the season! By the way, Bertuzzi was on FIRE tonight. I hope he keeps playing that hard!

I'm all for Howard playing lots of games this year. I hope he plays as much as Conks did for us last season.

Brett Lebda is a fine player for his pay scale. He'll never be a Lidstrom or a Niedermayer solid-type dman, but he is a fabulous 6th dman that can jump up in the play and can skate. For those who think Lebda is really "that" bad should watch other 6th defensman around the league, they'll make Lebda look like an MVP in comparison.

That 2nd goal was pure BS. It was in Ozzie's equipment. Wings worse opponent the other nite was the refs, not the Coyotes. Bum game!