Joseph Franks

System my ass. Which system? The system that nearly missed the playoffs? That can't find solid goaltending for more than a few months at a time? The system that opted out in the second round to a team that went on to get swept? The system where even our all-stars go silent for weeks on end...routinely? To state that he wouldn't fit our system is basically a cheap way of saying that our system has consistently smothered potential talent, while relying an a consistently old and ever aging core of players, replaced when they reach their last legs by slightly less old players. In 2008 we won because our team was mostly still not old (Our rookies were jumping, and our experience was prime, or at least not past it yet), but our age shows in the past few years more than it has ever before. It shows in our injuries, and the consistency of them, and it shows in our inability to even give a team like SJ a challenge. Lets be real. Leino looks better right now, than anyone on Detroit looked during our playoff run. It has nothing to do with a system.......it has to do with Leino being given a chance, and capitalizing on that chance. If anything....Leino is often the leading man when he's on the ice these playoffs. We screwed up with quincey, we screwed up with Leino. Lets just hope we don't kick Abdelkader to the curb too early. Detroit is basically famous for it's ability to pick out later round draft picks, and mold them into top line guys. But the last few years.....we've been highly impatient with our young talent. Imagine if we had discounted Datsyuk and Zetterberg after their first few playoff performances? Remember against calgary? Those guys might as well have been selling hotdogs in the stands...for all they managed those years. I was highly disapointed when Leino went, noting that guys like Williams were still making the starting lineup. We need a Bowman clone to act as an advisor on these deals.

How absolutely crazy!!! I s*** you not, I was just perusing youtube watching hockey videos. Mike Richards videos lead me to some hockey fights, which lead me to some Vladdy videos...and upon finishing watching them I thought...."hey, Maybe I'll make a post on the forums for old times sake". Sure as s***, this thread is sitting right on the top. And his history will be made clip: Loved the comment below that goes, "what if the refs wanted to take this one from Hockeytown". I know it's a little cynical but I couldn't help but chuckle. The day it happened I was practically still celebrating. The story almost seemed like a hoax. It took a few days for the reality to set in.

The topic of Leino and his sudden fame in Philly got me to thinking. The Detroit roster has a lot of talent, but unlike many other teams each player is intricately placed into a role. Forwards are expected to play defensively, and so on. Out of our roster, who would go on to super stardom if they were traded to another team. We'll say...someone like Toronto, someone near the bottom of the league. And who do you think would flop if removed from Detroit's system? Personally...I think Datsyuk and Zetterberg would both go on to hit 100+ Point seasons, if put in the right offensive roles. Franzen could be a veritable powerhouse for a lot of clubs struggling to generate offense. Would not be surprised to see him net 70+ points on some teams. I Think honestly, Holmstrom would suffer a decline if he went somewhere else. Too much about our system plays into his work in front of the net, and we've been doing it for years. Filpula (Never can remember how to spell it) would likely do well, probably even centering a first line for some of the teams out there....2nd line on most others. Take a few more seasons to watch Howard develop, but despite Detroit's fairly decent defense....it just wasn't that great this year. Put him behind a team like New Jersey, and he'd probably post some very impressive numbers. Just a few thoughts....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4jOosX3Pe0 Eh, it's alright i guess, but they could do better.

Plus eminem is a hockey fan. Didn't jump into this thread before on the subject. Eminem has sported hockey jerseys at a lot of his concerts. I mean....c'mon....would you relate if snoop dogg did the song? You'd be like...wtf he got to do with hockey? Nothing racial really even about it.

You sir, sound like a girl. "I hate kane" "I Hate Pronger". Why not just say, "I think Osgood is cuter", or "Nooooo...Shanahan gone....my one true love gone!!!" One day, you might be a real hockey fan, and not hate every team....cause they have XYZ player on them. How about...stfu, and have a little respect. Back in 90, I Bet you woulda said, "I Hate Mario"....and I bet you'd hate gretzky too...if he wasn't retired. I'm sure you love gretzky though....cause you're a fair weather ***.

Best Finals game I've seen in....uh....15 years of watching. Until the very end, no clear victor. Both teams working hard as f***. Down to the last few minutes action. Best Finals game I've seen in....uh....15 years of watching. Until the very end, no clear victor. Both teams working hard as f***. Down to the last few minutes action. <br><br><br>

Liked it. For once, an entertaining finals. Love when Wings win...don't get me wrong....but finally......nobody is steamrolling anyone. Love it. And my thread wasn't even merged, just deleted? Why does this site pick emo mods?

Fair enough. Wouldn't talk to you in life...but fair enough. You remind me of....a Pittsburgh fan....whom also isn't watching tonights game.....but to each his own. -2 tonight, Kane, Byfuglien, and Toews. +2 tonight, Leino, Hartnell, Briere.

Then I guess a merge is in order, but I don't have the power to do that 3-2 now, what.... nice Don't care who wins....just loving them both playing their asses off Something we only sometimes see....in Detroit. 17-9 shots advantage....Philly.

Some hockey fans......don't root blindly. What is the difference between a hockey fan, and a fair weather fan? Well, hockey fans are watching this game, and the rest, are not. Extraordinary game so far. One of the best finals I've seen. By no means a blowout on either sides behalf......2-2 going into the second. Philly clearly out muscling the hawks....hawks clearly skilled enough to take advantage of philly's mistakes.

Best game 1 I've seen in years, for a finals. Back and forth, Philly using exactly what strategy we expected, Hawks capitalizing on their speed.....Just WOW.

I got that feeling too watching the original video. Like someone threw it together after dinner and before bed.

I agree. Hawks are clearly the better team. But Philly did just come back from a 3-0 deficit for the 3rd time in NHL History (1st I've ever personally witnessed it happen, in 15 years of watching hockey), and shut out Montreal 3 of 5 games. Skill wise....this goes way in favor of the Hawks. But Philly is one hell of a tenacious Cinderella team this year. As far as Cinderella teams go....I've never seen any do quite what Philly has done.

Oh my bad..was a little drunk. 95 finals, lost to Jersey. 96 got knocked out by Avs. I always forget that year

Newest rumor on the block! -------------- In a report fabricated by me, Yzerman has taken over GM duties in Tampa Bay. He (Yzerman) was quoted as saying, "My main goal here is to bring all of the players from Detroit that aren't needed up there anymore, and replace them with the top guys from Tampa Bay." When asked how this will make him a successful GM, he replied simply, "Well, I only intend to stay in (Tampa Bay) long enough to get these deals accomplished. Then I will mysteriously vanish from the face of the earth, but secretly take over as GM of Detroit." "How will you maintain this secret? Won't you have to do news conferences?" Fabrication News Network asked. "Well, first I'll buy a suit....similar to batman's. I may or may not purchase a cape....that's still up in the air." --FNN, Detroit 29 MAR 2010

This cracks me up everytime I See it. And that lead to this:

I think that's my favorite of the "History will be made" one's.

I Wish playoffs were set in stone. I'm going to be in Afghanistan next year, and I may or may not be back before the 2011 finals. We leave june this year...so return june 2011....but that's cutting it damn close ;-p We'd have to get back early June for me to catch the finals. Granted, I Will make every effort to watch games from Afghanistan (Managed to catch about 80% of the playoffs when I was in Iraq...at the cost of much lost sleep lol). Least I'll be home in 2012. I've already predicted a 2012 Redwings cup. 2002, 2008, 2012. Yes....that does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it. I was home on leave in 2008 for the finals, specifically took leave just for that reason. 2002 I was living, of all places in Colorado. Man.....I talked so much s*** after the statue of liberty game 7....for months and months. I've never nearly gotten beat up so many times in my life as that year I Would wear my redwings Jersey in public, and anytime someone yelled something or said something, I'd strike a statue of liberty pose and drop whatever I had in my hands behind me. Good times.

As stated before it's all about the $$$$. Pittsburgh and Washington have the two fastest growing "New" fan bases out there right now. Their merchandise sales are sky rocketing, and when you're looking at Revenue the long term numbers involve getting new fair weather fans....and making them stay fans for the long haul. A team like Detroit has an already established fanbase, so it's not going to fluctuate up or down too much regardless. No point in catering to Detroit when there's hotter markets out there. Teams like say....the Wild....well nobody cares less....so you end up with three types of teams. 1) Those who have fan bases that won't change too much (Detroit, Toronto, etc) 2) Those who have little fan base...and simply aren't worth making a big ticket out of (Minn, Atlanta, etc) 3) Those with fresh new up and coming fan bases, willing to spend a ton of money to support their newfound passion. (pittsburgh, Washington) I Remember in 97-98....every single car in Detroit had a redwings flag (or 4) out the window. If you went to the mall 1/3rd of the shirts people were wearing were red and white, or a full out jersey. Hell, even I Had Detroit bumper stickers on my car, owned 3-4 Jersey's, and even a Redwings coffee mug. Back then 99% of us were just becoming Redwings fans because our team was doing well. Three finals appearances in a row, a record breaking 96 season....most of us were the lame fans that we now see springing up all over Pittsburgh and Washington. But we made the league a lot of money ;-p And while the fan craze surged during those years.....many of us remained fans over the long haul....and the 'Hockey' atmosphere that has been created in Michigan attracts new hockey fans with every generation. That's the NHL's goal with these up and coming teams right now.....to build a fanbase that will be self sufficient ten years from now, because god knows if they don't nurse the hell out of Washington and Pittsburgh.....most of their fans won't last through a bad year. Remember....the Caps became ultra popular in 98 as well, right up until Detroit swept them out of the finals. Suddenly....a bad year for them the following year...and poof, Caps fell off the planet for fan base. To get fans, you have to win. To keep a fan base....you have to take those fair weather fans, and make them into real hockey fans...and that takes years to accomplish. In Detroit we lucked out with a good team for about 20 years straight now, but I doubt we'll see Pittsburgh and Washington making the playoffs for the next 20 years, so from a marketing standpoint pitting Ovechkin against Crosby in a highly publicized game is kinda genius.....even if it is a little bit ***. Side thought: How funny would it be if both of them were injured for the Winter Classic, lol. What a kick in the balls that would be to Bettman.

Maybe someone brought this up: Draper scores twice on Osgood lol, I remember when that happened way back in like....2001 or something. Funny, if you google "Draper Osgood spotted" The very top link is to Letsgowings.com More than once I've googled up a rumor or otherwise, and the top source ends up being this site

Just some funny commercials from the past

About the classic, I think it's crap that they lined up Washington/Penguins. 1) There's 30 teams...yet the Pens are back in it just a mere 3 years later? 2) I understand it's all about the ratings, but why not get some canadian teams involved? Leafs/Montreal, or Ottawa/Vancouver. The Canadian market is the most rabid NHL market anyway, with Leafs generally topping the charts for merchandise sales year after year. Or how about some kind of theme....like New York versus Toronto, or like a West versus East....SJ versus NJ. To just pick the two teams with the most fair weather new fans, is disgraceful to the league. Hell, I know two Washington ultra ovechkin worshipers who didn't watch a single game this year. I'd go into work and ask what they thought of Washingtons PLAYOFF game last night, and usually it ended with me telling them, "Oh sorry, they lost", which would be met with a bout of swearing that held absolutely no weight because they didn't even watch the game...and thus forfeit their right to be happy or angry at the outcome. So most of these "so called" fans won't even tune into the Winter Classic, especially if god forbid there's a new episode of whatever reality TV show is popular at the time. 3) Ovechkin and Crosby really are selling the NHL to the masses, by giving them "Heroes" to cheer for, despite my ramblings in line #2. It's good for the finances of hockey, but horrible in that teams with a vibrant history are often overlooked and under appreciated. Not to say Pittsburgh doesn't have a history, but other than maybe Lemiuex, I bet 99% of Penguins fans couldn't list 2 other people from the early 90's back to back cup teams....Barrasso, Francis, Murphy, Jagr. If you randomly pulled aside every person wearing a Crosby jersey and asked them who Larry Murphy was....most of them would probably say, "Uh...a hockey player maybe?" My Washington fan friend had to learn the rules of hockey by playing against me in NHL 2010 lol...and sure as hell he played with the Caps, and spent all 60 minutes trying to run Ovechkin straight at my goalie. Back to the point, the Winter Classic is suppose to celebrate the history and traditions of hockey. Not showcase the two super stars of the league in a head to head matchup. Instead of "Winter Classic" they should call it "A Normal game played with no roof".

That's pretty crazy when you really look at it. That's all we needed was another superstition to worry about. Wouldn't be shocked to see the Caps make it to the finals, so it's a very legitamate superstition. Going on this theory, Flyers will lose this year, and Washington will lose to the WC champs next year....which god willing could be Detroit :-p We need to keep an eye on this trend