PavelValerievichDatsyuk

In defence of Weiss's preseason - They made him play 6 out of the 8 games and he played 4 games in 6 days. that's pretty demanding. Hopefully his lackluster play in the later games is owing to that. It is pretty alarming that he could be out of the lineup.

Maybe, buy I think it has always been a given that Cleary will at least be given a shot at the beginning of the season.

Agreed. Cleary will at least be given a shot at the beginning of the season. I don't think that Andersson has a future with the team - if Nestrasil impresses, Andersson could very well be waived when Datsyuk comes back.

I see our tradable assets are an abundance of Centers (one too many #2-#3 centers), and an extra backup goalie (I think the preseason confirmed that Mrazek could definitely handle the job). We also have depth defencemen, but with Kindl we would really just be trying to getting rid of his cap hit and Lashoff is probably not much in demand either. F: 1 of Sheahan, Helm, Weiss... Andersson also, but doubt he would be in demand G: Gustavsson D: Kindl, Lashoff (little demand) Of course, people will say Quincey, Cleary, but nobody would take those guys due to Q's contract and Cleary's knee. Many would say Franzen, but we can't replace his production and we'd have to worry about the cap recapture thing. I see possible interest in one of our Centers. I really like Sheahan and Helm and don't want them to go. If Weiss can play like we expected he has a better chance at solidifying that #2 center position than anyone not named Z. That's a hard decision, but there are too many unless Helm can runaway with the role of winger. We also have Prospects of course. I think Pulkkinen. has been pushed farther down the depth chart by Nestrasil this preseason. With Jurco, Tatar, Nyquist, and soon Mantha, AA coming I really don't see how he's fitting in the top 9. I count him on the tradeable list. I don't know how much interest there would be for him, though. Of course, our need is a top 4 RH defenceman. Do you think there's a package in there someone would go for? I actually think so if it involves one of the centers. If anyone is in desperate need for a goalie, I think trading Gustavsson would hurt us the least.

Tatar is ready to play. http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/khan-pleiness-red-wings-send-nosek-pulkkinen-jensen-marchenko-to-grand-rapi

True dat.

Anyone else want to admit that Quincey had a really good game? He showed some good offensive push as well. If he plays like this year i'll be happy.

Well, I didn't watch the game last night, but I just watched the highlights and Weiss's battle in front of the net and screening was responsible for the Ouelette goal. The lineup also said yesteday that Weiss played wing for some reason. That might not be the best time to judge him. He's looked quite good in earlier preseason games. Edit: It wasn't really a full screen on second look - I kind of withdraw the first comment.

If Babcock does leave, I want him to go to Edmonton. See if a great coach could turn them around. If he did turn them around it would be his key to a Jack Adams award.

As Don Cherry would say: "These are the type of guys that you win with". As proven by the Leafs the last few years.

That kind of goes against the idea of a prediction.

Yeah, i know. I was talking more to the reaction to the injuries so far this year.

People seem to think this only happens to us. And there are many comments about our players being weak pansies who are made of glass, etc. It's kind of understandable since most here focus on the Wings and don't follow other teams to the same extent. The whole league is like this, though. I think it's just the effects of the faster, bigger league. Here's some other teams' current situations to give some perspective: Pens: Malkin still not skating, Crosby missed the beginning of camp, Beau Bennett has a knee injury, Robert Bertuzzo possibly has a significant injury Kings: Derek Stepan out with broken fibula. Philly: Giroux (lower body), Timonnen (blood clots) Couturier, Emery injured, Bellemare as well (who's he?), Leafs: Bozak, Robidas (leg), Clarkson all injured. Tallinder also (PTO) Rangers: Malone out(hip flexor) Carolina: Jordan Stall (broken leg) Bruins: Cambell still hasn't skated, Camara (illness), Pasternak (probably wouldn't have made the team) Lightning: Druin (fractured thumb) Avalanche: McGinn, Bordeleau (both had back surgery) minor injuries to Gabe Landeskog, Max Talbot and Ryan O'Reilly and Jan Hejda Columbus: Horton will miss start of season (back pain) Canadiens: Eller injured plus a lot of prospects: McCarron, Grimoire, Connor Crisp, Dalton Thrower, Stefan Fournier and Jack Nevins Wild: Harding out indefinitely (foot injury) Ducks: Palmeiri, Shea Thodore

You're definitely stretching my words with the magic cure comment. I do think that playing with Zetterberg and Datsyuk will help out Helm more than Miller and Abdelkader and whoever else he usually plays with. Filppula had his career year when he was moved to Zetterberg's wing. Don't argue that Helm isn't Filppula, i know, i know. The point is it often helps centermen production when they switch to wing and don't have all the same defensive responsibility. It does depend on how they make the transition, but I don't see it as that likely that Helm won't be able to play wing. I don't know about the boner comment, Helm was relegated to the 4th line last year. He's too good for the 4th line. We've got too many centers - not enough elite wingers. Like i said twice, i just think it's worth a shot.

Anyway, my point still stands. Yes, he probably won't keep up that shooting percentage, but he's not Abdelkader. He scored 11 in 2010-11 and 12 in 2011-12 (and would have got around the sam in 12-13 if he didn't miss the last 24 games) while playing on the 3rd line without D or Z and without PP time. If he plays top line minutes with Datsyuk he'll have a career year. I think you can bank on that. even abby upped his totals. I think it would make helm at least a 15 goal scorer - making up those 3 goals that you said would make an upgrade. But we don't really know what will happen with Helm at wing. Maybe Datsyuk's passing ability and Helm's speed will create many opportunities for breaks. Maybe Helm being freed from the defensive responsibility will help him find more offence. Maybe he just won't be suited to the play along the board and will only play there a couple of games. I say give him a chance, then Jurco or Mantha get a shot.

Helm : 12 goals in 42 games without Z or Dats. 15 goals in 82 games doesn't sound like an upgrade. Let's at least give him a chance in this new role before we consign him to the same category as Abby.

Everybody talks about Lindstrom. 0:44

I didn't how to back it up, but here, from Bure's wikipedia page: "Early in Bure's career, he was noted for playing a strong two-way game. Having joined head coach Pat Quinn's defensive-minded Vancouver Canucks in 1991, his transition to the NHL was cited as being much easier than that of his countryman, Igor Larionov, due to his quick adjustment to the team's defensive demands.[149] Regarding Bure's first NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets, reporter Mike Beamish explained that "hockey fans marvelled at his offensive thrusts, but hockey people were taken by a singular display of jet-powered defensive diligence. Bure was used on the team's penalty kill for his entire tenure with the Canucks, and was proficient at generating shorthanded chances, pressuring the opposition with his quickness and positioning in the defensive zone.[151][152] During the 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs, commentator and ex-NHL coach Harry Neale commented, "I like the effort he gives it when he doesn't have the puck. We all know what he can do when he thinks he can score, but he's killing penalties, he's checking, doing a lot of things."[153] Bure tied for second-place on Bob McKenzie's 1993 coaches poll for the NHL's best penalty killer.[147] " Sports journalists Damien Cox and Stephen Brunt wrote about Bure during the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs that he was a "two-way dynamo," Check Mogilny you'll find similar. The Russian stereotype is just received opinion that people repeat (Thanks Don Cherry!). It's especially laughable to have a type when there's only 26 Russian players in the league. Here's a list that includes some extras that are just prospects (Marchenko, etc) probably gone (Loktionov, Belov, etc) or have only played a couple of games (Grigorenko) http://russkiyhockey.wordpress.com/russians-on-nhl-teams/ Of the full-time players, only 8 are forwards. Datsyuk is Mr. Selke. Anisimov and Kulemin are two-way players. Tarasenko is developing into a very good two-way player. Malkin's defensive game has been getting better. Ovechkin, Semin, and Yakupov are bad eggs, but it's a mix as it probably is for other nationalities. Edit: I realized that the conversation started about Russian WINGERS. The current crop of 4 (minus Tarasenko) do actually support the negative stereotype so I concede to GMRwings1983. It still seems wrong to me to form a stereotype on so few players, though, and I don't believe the majority of past Russian NHL players have fit this stereotype.

Fedorov, Bure, Mogilny - Russian wingers known for their two way game just off the top of my head. Jingoism Edit: Yes, Fedorov was a center. He's my all-time favourite player and I just had momentary brain-fart.

Didn't Boudreau try this and Ovie fought the change and struggled? I thought that's what lead to his relative down years of 2010-12. And then Ovie's resurgence has been when the team has just let 8 be 8. I don't follow the Caps too closely, but that's the narrative I've picked up.

New Jersey released him unconditionally so he would be a FA.

Good point. Maybe it was a revealing slip of the tongue, lol: when he has said tie he really meant decisions.

Sorry, I didn't see the first explanation. Your original post reads a lot different than that so you should understand why you got responses. Anyway, I agree with you. Babcock didn't follow his own statements last year - let's hope he does this year. In practical terms the statment has bearing on these cases: Cleary vs. Jurco: If Cleary outplays Jurco or Jurco doesn't look ready, then it's fine if Cleary gets chosen. But Jurco looks ready he should get chosen. D prospects vs. Kindl/Lashoff. Gustavsson vs. Mrazek. Here, I think the consideration of playing opportunity trumps Babcock's statement and, even if Mrazek outplays everybody, there's no way he's on the team.

His statement is that the approach is now different. Of course there isn't any examples - it's a future proclamation.

Jurco's main competition for a roster spot is Alfredsson if he returns. But, Holland has said that they were giving Mantha a chance to make the starting lineup - so even if Alfie doesn't return there was the possibility that Mantha is in Detroit and Jurco's in GR. Now that Mantha's injured, if Alfie doesn't return, Jurco should be on the team unless madness ensues and Cleary gets his roster spot (sadly, this is likely, IMO at the beginning of the year). It does help his chances, but only depending on whether you believed Mantha had a shot.