McAwesome

Datsyuk, dare I say En Fuego

I don't speak Finnish, but I am assuming you mean the guy with the gold helmet playing for HIFK. I was wondering that myself, do they let players wear different colored helmets than the rest of the team in SM-Liiga?

Gotta love the Mick!

No offense to the person who posted that link, nor to the person who created those calendars, but the schedule wallpapers that Matt does are far better in my opinion. I have tinkered with making my own wallpapers in Photoshop, so I have a greater appreciation of how time-consuming it can be, and mine are far less elaborate than Matt's, so my hat is off to him for his efforts and the high quality results.

We Must Protect This House!!! Seriously, we cannot afford to lose at home anymore this season.

Danke I don't know how I missed that, I scanned NHL.com for almost an hour.

Wings: Helm Filppula Holmstrom Sabres: Stafford

Don't get me started about the Lions QB thing. I know Scott Mitchell, he lives here in Orlando now and I see him at church all the time, and he hates talking about his time in Detroit, says he has never felt so unappreciated in all of his life. Back to hockey, I am glad that Howard has been able to man up and earn his spot, especially with how shaky Osgood has been this season, and I feel that the starting job is Howard's to lose even going into the playoffs, but it would be completely irresponsible to keep Osgood on the bench completely until then.

This^ Going back to '08, Lilja/Lebda is a reliable 3rd D pairing, they compliment each other better than Ericsson/Lebda or Ericsson/Lilja. Unfortunately, Ericsson appears to have lost any confidence in his game and looks like he has reverted back to his youth when he played forward, which we cannot afford right now. Not saying it's time to give up on him, I still think he has top 4 skills when on his game, but he obviously hasn't been on his game and is a liability to the team's chances of extending their season right now, and for that reason he has to sit.

I'm down with that, kind of like a mini-fantasy game. Makes things a little more interesting, not just watching the game, but paying attention to specific players during play. Are you going to start tomorrow?

I agree that Ozzie has been good in a mentoring role for Howard, but I disagree with your assessment of his play, he hasn't been completely useless, though he has not been playing up to his ability when he has gotten the chance. I still think Osgood has a season or two left in him, and I would like to see him finish his career in Detroit, maybe he can platoon with Howard next year like he did with Conklin last year. I understand why Babcock has played Jimmy as much as he has, it's sink-or-swim time for him and he has stepped up, but now that that has been established, Osgood needs to get a start or two before the playoffs so that he is not completely rusty if we need to call upon him. Realistically, I do not see the Red Wings waiving him or buying out his contract, loyalty still counts for something in Hockeytown (see Maltby)

Anyone have a list of prospects broken down between NA and Europe, I remember seeing articles for past drafts but can't find one for this year, all of the prospects are listed together and ranked in every article I've found.

OMFG!!! What a short-handed effort. They had better not fricking call that off

Nice!!! No way that shot by Homer beats any goalie without the deflection though.

I completely forgot about Ozzie, which seems to be his fate. Osgood is just good, he's not flashy, he's not vocal, he just shows up and gets the job done, especially when it matters the most. 10th all time in wins, 2 Stanley Cups, one of the most consistent and underrated goalies, and should be considered for both the HHOF and number retirement.

As to the OP, definitely Lidstrom has earned that honor, anyone else on the current roster has a long way to go before they deserve to have their number retired, but as others have also pointed out, Datsyuk and Zetterberg are off to a good start. As for the debate about historic players who have not been retired, I have never fully understood why Mr. Ilitch took #6 down from the rafters, and while I can see why they initially decided not to retire #4 for Kelly (original 6 mindset, Toronto was a very heated rivalry at the time, etc), but with the passage of time, why would you not consider it? Having your number retired is about as great of an honor a player can have, right up there with being inducted into the HHOF and having your name engraved on the Stanley Cup, it is a form of hockey immortality, and those players whose sweaters hang from the rafters now are all undoubtedly worthy of that honor, by virtue of not only their numbers and awards but also their service to the team, all of the players whose numbers are retired played most if not all of their career in Detroit, unlike some numbers retired for other clubs (#77 in Colorado comes to mind). The Detroit Red Wings hold themselves to a higher standard, and that is why they are the model franchise in all of North American pro sports.

This obviously excludes legends that I never had any chance to see play due to age constraints: 1) Yzerman, the reason I started to follow hockey in the first place, a truly great hockey player and more importantly a great human being. 2) McCarty, guy played with so much passion and grit, how can you not like him, he bled and drew blood for his team like no other. 3) Lidstrom, excellence personified, I can count on one hand the number of times I saw him make a bad or questionsble play. 4) Shanahan, I was so pumped when we traded Primeau's sorry hide for him, and he did not disappoint one bit. 5) Datsyuk, an absolute magician, if they ever thought of renaimg trophies they should rename the Selke after him. 6) Konstantinov, what a force he was, tragically cut short in his prime, is symbolic of the values of the Ilitch family and the Red Wings organization. 7) Zetterberg, arguably the hardest working player of his generation, nobody thought he could be this good (except maybe Hakan Andersson) 8) Filppula, probably will get flamed for this, but he is my favorite current Red Wing for reasons I will gladly explain but should not have to justify, can't leave him off my list 9) Kozlov, tough little guy, clutch in the playoffs, and my favorite image from the Avs rivalry after the Turtle is Kozzie sidestepping Foote and slamming his ugly mug into the glass 10) Osgood, one of the most underrated goalies IMO, all he has done is win 3 Stanley Cups, 2 as a starter, 389 wins, 74 playoff wins, and all he gets is criticism and second-guessing. Honorable mentions to: Larionov, Lapointe, Doug Brown

I have been saying all along that Helm should be centering the third line between any combination of Eaves, Cleary, and Williams. We need to get our scoring forwards playing together, not trying to spread out the scoring and diluting the effectiveness of our setup men with inferior linemates. Top 6 forwards: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Holmstrom, Filppula, Bertuzzi (any line combo will do) Bottom 6 forwards: Cleary, Helm, Williams, Draper, Eaves, Miller (Helm centers the 3rd, Draper centers the 4th) There is no reason to have Miller or Williams centering a line when we have 5 centers in the lineup, only one has to play wing and it should be Z on Pavel's wing, those two bring out the best in each other and we need them both to be producing as much as possible at this point.

Right now, I'd have to give a slight edge to Filppula. I do not think either player is playing as well as they are capable of, but the same could be said for everyone on this team at some point this season. This whole team has just been underachieving as a whole, some due to injuries that kept them out of the lineup for stretches (Filppula, Kronwall, Franzen), some due to not as obvious injuries (you cannot tell me that Zetterberg has been 100% at any point this season), some due to overuse in the absence of regular players in the lineup (Stuart, Ericsson). If they had been healthy all season, we definitely would not be having this debate about Cleary vs. Filppula, they are both valuable role players on this team. Cleary's role is to get his nose dirty, kill penalties, and score garbage goals through hard work. Filppula's role is primarily to set up his linemates for scoring chances, be defensively responsible, and chip in goals when he gets the chance. All things being equal, Filppula should be the 2nd line/2nd PP center, and Cleary should be a 2nd/3rd line winger and a 1st unit PK forward. Neither has spent much time in the role they are best suited for and have earned through their effort, we simply haven't been healthy enough to play everyone in the role they should be in. In a more ideal setting, Cleary is good for around 20 goals/40 points a season, and Filppula is good for 15-20 goals and 30-40 assists. Of course, when the entire team is struggling offensively, these numbers seem to fall short of what we want out of them. For some reason, Filppula seems to be a polarizing figure on this board, and there are those who simply have nothing good to say about him and feel like it is their responsibility to rain on the parade of those who are fans of his, to quote Lee Corso "Not so fast my friend" whenever someone says anything positive about his play, to which his most ardent supporters reply with equal haste and usually result in hijacking whatever thread the conversation is occurring in. I don't get it, I don't understand how people who are fans of a team can show such blind hatred towards a member of the team they support, but that's just me.

Another PP upcoming, please let's bust this one wide open

Alright, 2 minutes for math failure Homer, WooHoo!! (sorry, I know someone else has the copyright on the Homer pic)

Another pick-pocket move for Datsyuk, and if that was anyone except Holmstrom it would have been an interference penalty. I like how the hitting has picked up this period.

Thank you!! I knew the jinx would work. Nice goal by Datsyuk, and we're right back in it.

SHUTOUT SHUTOUT SHUTOUT All we need now is for the announcers to mention it and the jinx is in.

LOL @ Ken, Central division matchup against Minnesota. PP upcoming, cha-ching :fingerscrossed: