Doc Holliday

http://larrymurphylovesfriesandhotdogs.ytmnd.com/

TRADE HIM FOR PUCKS NAOOOO!!! In all seriousness, not a great game by Howard. The defense in front of him was terrible, but he didn't help things. Come now, Howard! Lets get last year's goaltender back!

Franzen is my boi. Without him the game is 5-2? The f*** is that s***.

What are you saying? That a legal check to the side while a player has the puck at his feet is dirty? I'll see your Prust and I'll raise you: Well we weren't talking about that for starters. Also Prust stuck his arms up at a larger Staal who was engaging him. It's not like Staal was at risk to lose any teeth for it.

If it is going to help the team, why not do it? Because it isn't nice?

A legal hit is a legal hit. Nothing wrong with that.

He should be arrested.

Staal sucker punched Prust after he made a clean hit on Kennedy. Prust sold it, though.

To be honest, the entire allure for me of the Wings playing the Winter Classic in Chicago was that it was potentially the only time I would get to see it. Now it would just become an outdoor version of a regular season game. That doesn't sit right with me.

Mursak has been recalled. One of Cleary/Datsyuk will not tomorrow.

I would also like to point out during that fight that Mac kneed Claude right in the face when the refs held them against the boards. He got absolutely rocked.

I knew there was going to be an outcry as soon as I saw that figure. Dun dun dunnnnnnn.

My preference.

What about Suter?

Lol Lidstrom with a +7. What the f***, lets just add that to his season total for fun.

The Wings offense as a whole suffered later on in those playoffs. Nobody except for a few did that well on the score sheet, including Hudler. Could there be better options to trade for? Possibly. Do I think it is a huge deal and something the Wings absolutely need? Not really. Hudler is coming back to consistent and I believe he can still be as solid a contributer as he was back when he was here the first time.

Hudler was a much better contributer to the offense than Drake? A specialist is someone who "specializes" in a certain skill. Hudler is able to do more with the time and space alloted to him because he is a very skilled player. Just small and slow. Williams was a PP specialist who was only "a bit better than terrible" when he was here during his second stint. He scored a whopping 15 points compared to Hudler's 57. So you are saying that depth had nothing to do with Detroit doing as well as they did in the regular season of 08 and 09? It's not like the only reason Detroit won the cup was due to Drake. He was a contributer, as was Hudler in the regular season. The difference is you shove aside Hudler's contributions simply because they weren't "clutch in the playoffs" and ignore Drake's lack of offensive contribution in the regular season because it appears the regular season doesn't matter for someone like him. Hudler was 4th in points of all forwards in the 08 playoffs. 9th in ice time. PP specialist or not he contributed better than all but three forwards on the offensive side. Hell Hudler was 6th in the 09 playoffs despite his weak second half of the tournament. You are just making things up, now.

Considerably? Not enough to be on the ice more than Hudler despite your statement that Hudler was "demoted to fourth line detail." We've been over this, newfy. Once again, Hudler is a powerplay specialist who has a lot of skill but little speed and size. Drake's game translates better to the playoffs but is not a guy who is going to do much in the regular season offensively. Both players have their own uses. Unfortunately you prop up Drake due to a 20+ game schedule and bash Hudler for "only" performing during an 82 game schedule which requires performance to even make it to the playoffs. And Hudler has performed offensively in the playoffs before. It's not like he has been a playoff choker every season or something. Despite that Hudler still had third liner ice time. Babcock obviously wanted him out there more than the two he was paired with, and his points in the 08 playoffs spoke for itself.

Horrible comparison. Also in response to your "hudler's role is reduced in the playoffs to a fourth liner" assertion: Hudler's 2008 TOI/g: 9th among forwards in regular season. 9th among forwards in playoffs Hudler's 2009 TOI/g: 9th among forwards in regular season. 9th among forwards in playoffs Good stuff.

^ Epic.

I can level with that.

Before the 2010 playoffs:

Did Toews get hit by someone to hurt his production as the rounds went on in the 2010 playoffs? You cannot disagree that the role of the enforcer is lessened during the playoffs. Things get locked down, time is rationed, and fights are less apparent. Of course this is all moot considering the entire argument is based on "team toughness", which there seems to be enough for the bottom six. The fourth line seems to do very well in the other team's zone and the third line is effective as well. Having a core of Abdelkader, Helm, Eaves, and Miller for bottom 6 guys isn't half bad. A bigger, more nasty player wouldn't hurt on the grit department, either. However it's not like Detroit is really "needing" more of the gritty aspect on the team.

My issue was with your post was the idea that Hudler was made ineffective because he was hit and there was nobody to prevent/defend against the hit laid on him.

I'm not Barrie. You seem to have me mistaken for him.