Rick D

My thoughts:
1. We outplayed the defending Stanley Cup champs for the whole game. Two stupid penalties completely undermined a really solid effort by our boys.
2. Dekeyser is a millstone around the neck of Hronek, who is asked (again) to do everything whenever he's on the ice. Liked the 3rd pair though.
3. We are one Larkin injury away from an abysmal season. Turns out that not developing a decent center since 2015 is maybe a problem.
4. Loved the 2nd and 3rd lines. But that 4th line?  Woof.

wow, what a game! not even mad at the loss.. we showed we can score with the best of them.
Larkin getting the boot while Joseph got nothing was complete bulls***. Would've liked to see Smith beat his face in. 
Larkin, Joseph, and the entire officiating crew should be under review after that game... holy trigger happy whistles and inconsistent calls. 
Hopefully tomorrow's game is that exciting. I'll be there  

Meh... The Tampa special teams are arguably the best in the league. I'll reserve most judgement for now. I was frustrated with some of the zone entries on the PP, but once inside I thought we were moving the puck pretty well. Hronek is the shooter on the side boards now?
Dekeyser is like synthesizing the power of Big E with the magic of KFQ. He's a $2.5 mil Dman on a good day and is playing over his head much like Larkin. I'd be absolutely fine with him on the roster if he made less and was in the #5 spot.
The good news is DK is the last overpaid player to really moan about. After this season his big contract is gone or re-worked and we're the leanest and meanest we've been in decades pony boy.
 

Agreed and Who knows?
We should be talking about other things though I guess
1. Pathetic faceoff %
2. Brutal PK 
3. DeKeyser
I feel like fixing 1 and benching 3 will improve 2
These things had more of an impact on the game than anything else really. 
 

Yea I had to watch the bolts feed too... which sucked since it was OUR home opener... that's a dick move by the NHL centerice folks.

Lil Bert = Love that boy....looks like he just came down from the West VA mountains....
Result = massive SUCKAGE especially having to listen to Bolts announcers
Entertainment Level = MASSIVE
Hope for rest of year = OVERWHELMING if they are this entertaining each game( ya I know probably not but then again Bert is on pace for like what 288 goals)
 

Love the punch by Larkin!
The Unvaxed guy with the Hat Trick!

I want Smith to run that f***** Stamkos into the glass. 

This game is ******* wild 
Can't blame him for that one. 

Classic Dboss Tantrum

Turning the corner starts today boyos

I wonder if WASH getting Cholowski from Detroit for free (via SEA) makes them think they're still recouping losses from the Mantha deal? 

I think this is then end of the NHL line for Cholo... left exposed by one of the leagues worst teams, claimed and subsequently waived by an expansion team.  Looks like an AHL/KHL/European league career ahead.
He's 2 years ahead of Zadina on the road to 1st round bust.

Pretty interesting turn of events. Does any team claim him?

Holy overpayments, Batman.

Raymond Supremacy Gang

Here's to hoping Bobby Ryan gets a contract today! From what I understand, the final cuts are due today.....

I don't think Jimmy D gets enough love. He's a legendary hockey figure, has impacted the sport on a profound level, and is truly the man behind the curtain and the backbone of this franchise.
Imagine all the dumb crap Holland would have done over the years without Jimmy D there to reach around and slap his peepee  when he gets dumb naughty ideas? Sometimes I watch other teams do seemingly retarded stuff and I think it's probably because some of these GM's don't have a Senior VP with 55 years in the NHL to check them when they're doing a stupid.
Jimmy basically transcended into the next plane of existence and became the guy who doesn't build hockey teams... he builds guys who build hockey teams. Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman, Jim Nill, Don Waddell. Those are all Jimmy D proteges who he mentored. And each one is in the upper echelon of GMs in terms of quality.
Now let's talk about his actual role with the team. He's alternate governor, which means he's basically governor. Chris Illitch is the true governor in name, but do you think he actually serves on the board of governors? No. He's not a hockey brain, and he has a $4 billion dollar empire to run, plus the tigers, and the family real estate holdings. He doesn't have time for this. And that's why he has an alternate gov. Devellano is his proxy and the true governor. Which is exactly why Jimmy is credited with a lot of improvements to the game, like the moving of the draft to the USA, moving it out of hotel ball rooms and into stadiums, 4v4 overtime, and the loser point. The guy is influencing hockey at a meta level.
Then the gritty level is... everything I've personally ever heard about the guy is that he sits in his office all day watching tape of hockey and baseball. He's said to have an obsessive level work ethic and is an extremely good judge of talent. Probably why he's basically one of the most successful scouts of all time. He called out Mantha's lazy BS before anyone else. Never doubt Jimmy D. Not only that, but he's also the guy who lobbied hard for Al Arbour in NYI and Scotty Bowman in Detroit. So not only does he know on ice talent, he knows other brains as well.
Now on to accomplishments. Jimmy has 7 Stanley cup rings. No one north of 1990 can hold a flame to that.
This is exactly the kind of guy you put in place to oversee operations. He's an executives wet dream.
 

I think we should pause for a minute to appreciate the absolute outrage his Mantha comments caused around here. So good. The indignation was palpable. How dare he criticize a 20th overall pick?  Lol

but we need to draft the Hedman and Stamkos guys still.  Thats the problem.  Raymond = Braydon Point.  Seider = Sergeychov.  We need to remove the rose colored glasses and recognize our talent deficiency.

Veleno puts us up by a goal with 4:32 left in the game!  Wings lead 3-2!    

Daniel Lafferty is playing 4th line C for Pittsburgh?

https://detroitsportsnation.com/tyler-bertuzzi-to-return-to-red-wings-lineup-tonight-vs-penguins/mwhitaker/nhl/detroit-red-wings-news/10/07/2021/259095/
 
Looks like Bert will go tonight.

This has gotta be the worst lineup yet, no?

Here's a thing I noticed about Zadina last night that boggles the mind. He almost never hits the net with his shots. Even on the powerplay. He's supposed to be some sniper and his shot sucks. The best part of his game is his forechecking and stick lifting. He's a defensive forward at best right now. Totally agree, put him with Ras and Erne and see what he does down there because he's swimming in deep waters in the top six. Let Bobby be on line two until Vrana gets back.