evilzyme

1-0 Vancouver! Bieska!

Well, that's a blunder.

Puck moving defensemen are valuable because they support the transition. The transition is one of the most important factors of hockey. With a clean transition, you enter the zone with speed. You need clean passes on the blades of the sticks by the defensemen so the forwards can speed ahead on the breakout with no problems. Without speed, you get clogged in the neutral zone and they stack the blue line.

Brunner has an undisclosed injury, day to day. DeKeyser I think they're just too scared to play with playoffs on the line. We are WAY too close too 9th seed. I'm not that worried about Columbus as they are 4 points behind us while tied GP. Edmonton is on a 5 game winning streak and behind us by 2 points, tied GP. St.Louis is the real scary one. We have 2 games on them, and only a 2 point lead. I would count Nashville and anyone below them out. Nashville has a game on us, and they're 3 points out. I think it relies too much on Edmonton, St.Louis, Columbus, and Detroit to fail while they would need to start stringing together some wins. I have an excel sheet that I made with the remaining schedules, home-vs-away with back-to-back listed. I just need to convert over my predictions and predict the standings. Lashoff was simply sent down in a paper move to make room for DeKeyser signing. Immediately after 3pm yesterday they re-called him back to the Wings when the 23 man roster was removed. They then immediately sent down Lashoff, DeKeyser, Nyquist and Andersson and called them back up so they were all eligible to play for both the Wings and Griffs for the remainder of the season. Danny D isn't playing tonight, and neither is Quincey.

25 actually, Boston holds the most with 29, followed by Chicago with 28, then St.Louis and MTL with 24 and 21. Hawks and Blues the only ones that didn't bring a cup during those streaks. Different standards for different peeps!

You guys can hate Crosby but he is a damn good product for this sport. Yes, I hated him and still do hate him with a passion but he is still a damn good hockey player and there is NO debating that. He has cleaned up his little hissy fit attitude bulls*** and has matured. He is becoming a better leader and a better hockey player. He brings new fans to this sport just from his play alone. He is good for this sport, and it frickin hurts when he gets injured like that. I would NEVER want to see the world's best player get injured to the point where he could not play this game anymore. Now, back on topic. Last I heard because of the titanium plate, he was looking at a 4-6 week long recovery. They didn't need to wire his jaw shut and the new technology of these plates make recovery time less. They were talking that he for sure would be back for the playoffs, but I certainly could see concussion symptoms coming back to haunt him after such a viscous hit to the head (not by a player... but a puck). In good news though, hopefully I can watch the Penguins melt down in the playoffs.

I heard: Zetty in, Lashoff in, Brunner out, White out, DeKeyser out, half the GDT's this year haven't been started until like mid afternoonish. Hockeytown and FlashyG do an outstanding job, the GDT will be up before the game time and that's all that matters.

As much as Danny D wants to get some playing time in the big show, i'm sure he isn't as pissed as many of us are in these forums. He knows the team is fighting for a playoff spot right now. Do you really want to play your first games as a Red Wing and make mistakes that cost them the game? Would you want your first experience to also be stained as "why the wings didn't make the playoffs?" We had a seasoned player in Kyle Quincey that joined us mid-season when we were on our beautiful home-streak. What happened when we added him to the equation? That s*** ended quickly. I would hate for DeKeyser to magically get blamed for making us miss the playoffs if he made some rookie mistakes in his first game that lead to direct goals. That ruins confidence, and we need to build his confidence within this league. Does he want to play? Absolutely, but like Babcock has said, he's only going to play DeKeyser when he knows he will excel and help the win. If he doesn't see DeKeyser helping the win, he isn't playing. It's very risky placing a player with no experience within the roster that is fighting for a spot.

I think Gaborik will do well in Columbus just because he is getting out of New York with Torts. He was quoted while in transit to Columbus saying something along the lines of, "I'm happy to play where they actually want me." Him and Torts couldn't even look each other in the eye. I think we'll start seeing flashes of the real Gabby with CBJ. Not to mention, he'll be joining some of his old buddies there!

No he's right. Bettman came out and said that due to the lockout they wanted to give the fans something to REALLY talk about. It included 2 more games besides the Winter Classic at the big house. They were in talks to bring one on the west coast, and one on the east coast. Basically, I just don't understand it because we already got "Hockey Day in America" and that's all the Winter Classic is going to become if we add in numerous games. YES, OUTDOOR HOCKEY DAY IN AMERICA. LUVS IT.

I tried hitting on everything, but this whole post just makes me want to implode. If they weren't competitive they wouldn't have continued talks. Holland just wouldn't extend further when they took the price too high. The Rangers wanted Brunner apart of a package for Gaborik. Pominville would've costed us Mrazek, Jarnkrok, a 1st, and 2nd; LGW would've IMPLODED if that had gone down. Iggy didn't want to come to us. What else did you want him to get? Another depth player? I'm sorry but Holland is 100% right when he says, my injuried players are better than any depth player that was on the market. WHY trade away a prospect, pick, ANYTHING when you already have a player of that skill within your system, they're just injured? We need to seriously take a step back and see the smartness in not pulling the trigger on these dumb trades. So what if Holland didn't do s*** this trade deadline, he was smart for not doing so. That rebuild you don't want us to experience... we would've been experiencing if we wanted to start trading away picks and prospects at this point. At this point and time, Wings fans just want a new toy, some change, something. You know it's bad when you consider fighting for a playoff spot for the first time within 22 years, "a horrible thing." MY GOD HOW COULD HOLLAND ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN? FRONT OFFICE. UNACCEPTABLE CONTINUED SUCCESS. Oh and final note: we have enough of these "I hate my life and the Red Wings life" threads. Stop making separate threads to simply ***** about something. This easily could've been included within another "I ******* hate Holland and this team" threads. /rant

I think it's a pretty basic principle that if you keep possession of the puck, it makes it hard for the other team to score goals. You know?

Yay! Make it official and i'll be happy again even though we all knew it would just be delayed a year!! YYeaH!!!!!!!!!

I was doing my normal morning hockey reads, catching up on the latest news that happened from when I went to sleep until when I woke up, and I came across this article written by Malik. Babcock has said that he loves the new challlenge this young group provides him, and that while decisions and mistakes may make people scratch their head, this is the most consistent group he's had in terms of work ethic and preparation. Along with that, the article provides information on Holland and the trade deadline, DeKeyser and Abby speaking on behalf that any team could win the cup this year. http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/this-years-red-wings-is-enduring-a-transitional-year-but-its-coach-is-enjoy DeKeyser: Holland:

Actually, I believe that only applies to the regular season. So, if that is the case, Tatar could be used as a black ace during the playoffs. Sucks he can't be used during these last 12 games. I could see the team getting hot going into the playoffs and Babcock not wanting to mess with any combinations, so Tatar probably wouldn't even get used. BUT, at the same time I think Babcock would switch Goose and Tatar in/out during a 7 game series if needed.

The Pominville trade isn't finalized but some of you are underestimating how much Minnesota just gave up for him. They gave up their SOLID tendy prospect that equals out to Mrazek They gave up their SOLID center prospect that equals out to Jarnkrok and now it's heard that it's also a 1st and 2nd round pick. Just allow that to float around if you guys really wanted to give up Mrazek, Jarnkrok, a 1st, and a 2nd for Pominville. I'll just be sitting here calling bulls*** because Mrazek and Jarnkrok would've sent this damn forum into full melt-down mode, none the less the addition to a 1st and 2nd.

We could've said the same thing in previous years. Hind-sight is great when looking back but the thing about it is that we don't know exactly how these prospects are going to pan out. They could magically become the players we want, they could become much better than the players we project, and then again, they could become absolutely everything we don't want. I came into this season with armor knowing that we would get thrown around, I know we weren't going to be the dominate force we once were, but all-in-all they've impressed me. There's been times this season that I see an outstanding product on the ice, while other nights i'm wondering if I change the channel over to the Griffins game. No one knew Pavel was going to become the dominate force he is, no one knew Zetterberg was going to become the dominate force he is. If they did, they would've been drafted a lot earlier (I know the whole Pasha thing but still!).

He stated that he wasn't parting with his 1st round pick, and he wasn't giving up top prospects. That leaves us to having decent prospects and two players that are currently on their contract years. For what this fanbase was asking for, it wasn't going to get it done. Unless Kenny was willing to part with those, it simply wasn't going to happen. At the same time, I feel like if Holland did pull a trade today, and he DID use a top prospect or the 1st rounder, he would've been killed on this forum anyways. The guy just can't win in the eyes of this fanbase, ever. Unless he brings a Stanley Cup to Detroit, the fan base hates him. It just doesn't make sense. It's like we want our rich parents to supply us with 1 year, 1 million dollars instead of 10 years given 100,000 dollars. If we have our head on our shoulders, we would take the continued payments of $100,000 every year, for 10 years instead of having the joy of $1,000,000 for a single year. I would rather have a chance at winning the cup every year by making the playoffs, than winning 1 cup within ten years while never making the playoffs during that stretch. But, like everything, that's just my personal opinion.

"We aren't holding try-out's right now. We're trying to make the playoffs." and then they don't play. We'll see one of Tatar/Nyquist up, which will most likely be Nyquist and DeKeyser may not even play this season at all. Holland already said that. They're hoping for Thursday, but at the same time don't be surprised if we don't see Danny D at all.

I'm going to be the darkhorse here and not blame this all on Ken Holland like all the other fans. Why? Because I understand that Holland COULD"VE tried to get all he could. What honestly did he have to play with? Ian White? Filp? Great, two players that would be RENTALS. You think we're going to cash in and get a top-6 player or top-4 defensemen with two players that contracts end at the expiration of this season? For all we know, Holland could've been on the phones for the past who knows how long -- TRYING his best -- only to get turned down on the other side. Everyone is so fixated on just getting rid of White and Filp but you have to understand, if you wanted any value out of these players they would have to get packaged with a top prospect and/or picks. No rightful GM is going to take on a rental and give up top roster players. So, if we could all calm the hell down, stop thinking that the world is over and re-evaluate things, you will be in a much better mood today. Does it SUCK that we didn't do anything? Yeah, but at the same time atleast we have a GM that won't just trade away things to trade away things. Holland is one of the few GM's in this league that will keep his team competitive. Stop thinking you need to win the Stanley Cup every year. You could be in a fan base that hasn't made the playoffs within 20 years, you could be that franchise that hasn't won a cup in 40 years, but guess what? WE AREN'T AND HAVEN'T DEALT WITH THAT SINCE 21 SEASONS AGO! We've been in the playoffs for 21 straight seasons, and we won frickin 4 Stanley Cups within that timeline. Some of you guys are seriously just looking to get some "change", and "change" isn't always going to result in good things. Look at the penguins (this is a s***ty example but roll with it gents); They add Iggy, Morrow, and Murray. They play last night and get steam-rolled by BUFFALO 4-1. They had picked up those 3 and people were immediately dawning their names on the Stanley Cup. Crosby goes down and their line-up looks shaken now. We don't even know how this is going to end with all these franchises that made moves today. For all we know, every team today that traded could go on losing streaks because it screwed with chemistry. Moral of the story: STOP BEING PESSIMIST AND START BEING A LITTLE FRICKIN OPTIMISTIC GENTS.

So you're saying that this trade belongs in it's own thread and the other's don't? Come on buddy. We all have to sort through it, and it's a hell of a lot better than flooding the general discussion section like it's the trade rumors and free agent signings section of HFB.

Were they dealt at the trade deadline? Okay. It should probably be discussed in the trade deadline thread..... FFS people, the damn thread has exists for what, 2-3 DAYS?!

Pomm going to MINN

Without roster limits, they need to be fielding the best team in order to give this team the best chance at ending this season on a great note and into the playoffs with some confidence. What scares me is that even with roster limits removed and waivers gone, we're still not going to see Tatar up in the big show. I really think he's going to stay down there for the rest of the season. They've said that Andersson has proven his worth, and Nyquist hasn't gotten the true opportunity that he needs, but that Tatar just had better opportunity. They said he did good, but immediately with Lashoff they said, "Come after Wednesday, he's immediately back with us." They haven't said ANYTHING to that extent with Tatar. You have zero excuses now Babs, play the boys that will give you heart and drive ontop of bringing some skill in the bottom 6.