evilzyme

So a week or two into March? Come back soon

He certainly looks better this season, but he still is making mistakes which needs to be accounted for. He isn't a veteran, and is prone to making mistakes. He has been working his butt off though, and has made me hate him less. Unfortunate for him, once Helmer gets back, he'll be a healthy scratch due to Helm taking the 3rd, and Abby getting the 4th back.

Big win for the boys. Brunner comes up big there. Monster came up big the whole game. I think something is up with Pasha, injury wise. Off to bed!

Last night Ken and Mick made reference that Babcock said that he loved the 2nd line, and the idea of stacking two "big bodies" with pavel. I immediately started shaking my head.

Real good article just came out about Brad Stuart facing Detroit tonight and his return to home: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2013/02/former_red_wings_defenseman_br_1.html

Why can't we see likes anymore?

NBCSN is blacked out due to it being on FSN-D so I don't know, but I did hear they were using the San Jose Shark home pbp and color guys. Toots is got so much emotion being on the ice when a goal is scored, I love it.

That's the thing though. He doesn't NEED to be massively better defensively. He just needs to be defensively sound. He needs to hold his responsibilities within the zone. He doesn't need to be Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or even Filp level of 2-way. He's a sniper. The franchise simply wants him to be defensively sound. Ovi isn't a defensive beast, Crosby is just finally learning how to play a decent 2-way game, Stamkos is basically on Brunners level defensively; he simply doesn't need to be a massive defensive workhorse.

What's stupid is that Babcock told him exactly why he's benching him, but yet he wants to keep yabbing his mouth. I know it sucks to get benched, and it's frustrated as all hell but you take it like a man, professional athlete, and above all, a team player and never let it happen again. Don't give them a reason to bench you, and you won't get benched. Isn't Carolina #1 in the East currently? I wouldn't immediately say we're a worlds ahead of them, they have some serious talent and started to pick up the pace.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl--damien-brunner-might-be-the-latest-overlooked-european-to-make-it-big-with-the-red-wings-165028450.html good article about Brunner

Quincey is also ready to go tonight and has been cleared.

Seems smitty is back in Per St. James Quote: Smith was removed from injured reserve Tuesday evening, clearing him to rejoin the lineup for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury Feb. 2.

Rough, there was some good questions that I would've loved to seen answered. Off to next week for bumpage!

He's stupid in how he says it, and who would get hurt. They shouldn't be worried about Carcillo, if he wants to run the check, he can run the check. The problem with going down like that, is that you're risking injury to yourself in the skates of Yakupov. Atleast, the way i've always been taught when playing hockey is, you don't go down like that because you're more at risk at getting your head staple gunned to the boards and getting kneed there. I wouldn't be complaining or worried about the safety of Carcillo, as you can catch yourself running the boards. I would be complaining, and he should've just said, "Yakupov put himself in a dangerous position there. To all you young hockey players out there, you see how vulnerable Yakupov's head is in that position? That's why we don't go down when a hit is coming." Not, "Oh my god, look at Yakupov, he made that play so dangerous on Carcillo.."

5-3 Red Wings Pavel gets one to try and close the gap between him and brunner in the scoring race, patty eaves gets the goal he deserved last game, cleary gets one just to piss everyone off some more, kronner rails some more clappers, and hank puts it in an empty net to secure the win. Kings could get zero for all I care! They're lucky i'm giving them 3!

Sure, he's a liability but to say he hasn't improved in that category is wrong. He may lose track of his man and cut in, but lately he has been doing better. I'm not saying he's perfect but there's a learning curve present, as slight as the trajectory may be. On the forecheck he has been getting pressured more lately, and has been handling it better. He attempts to "finish" his checks and be aggressive to force the play on defenders in their zone. He wasn't doing that when he first came here. So in my opinion, he isn't too old. He is improving and can continue to improve.

You got some rough reviews of Brunner, it seems like you almost don't like him! He's gotten better drastically since he first came into the league. From day one he's been improving which means he's willing to learn from the franchise. It's an outstanding show of character when you're 26 and not stuck in your ways, still willing to learn, and adapting to a new experience relatively flawlessly.

I don't think we'll see anyone get "kronwalled" in classic fashion this season. With refs calling everything, people getting suspended/match penalties for non-headshots.. I think he and the franchise think its just not worth it. The one time he tried to throw a big hit this season, he went for a complete hip-check to the point where it basically was rolling someone over his back. I really think it's just that they're too scared to get him a match penalty or worst-case a suspension where it isn't warranted.

Beat Kings, lose to Sharks, and end Chicago's point streak. Kings we'll show up for, win. San Jose always has our number and it's the first time we'll see Stewie, plus back-to-back, we'll drop it but hopefully win! Chicago barely squeaked a win against us, we'll come back and end it this time around.

He would.

thanks for merging them!

Not trying to be a debby downer, but the topic has been discussed in already 2 other Brunner threads. Everyone knows we need to re-sign him asap, it would be a joke to allow the one pure goal-scorer this team has walk. Like previously said, I think he'll be worth 3.5-4m at this current moment. He's a rookie and still brand new to the league, we don't know how he's going to do within a 82-game season. The most he's traveled in Swiss was 4 hours, compared to the numerous flights he's going to be on. He could ask more later on, but ideally I think 2-3 years @ 3.5/4m.

And that's what annoys me. The word was already out about him, teams were after him, teams knew about him, now they're just seeing his transition to the N/A game. He's just finally getting media attention because their team got shat on by him and the Wings. I just find it silly to say, "oh s***, he scored 2 goals last night, now the world knows about him and he's going to be the hot ticket this offseason!" He led the SEL in scoring two seasons, and was the front runner before leaving to come to Detroit. Trust me, teams knew about him, and still do now about him.

great extension, much deserved

I don't get why people say these things. Brunner was targetted by numerous teams, he just choose Detroit. Off the top of my head, I remember Philly, Pittsburgh, and Detroit all going after him. Luckily, he choose us. No one knew how well he was going to translate into the N/A game but he was touted. Kenny needs to work on signing him to an extension asap though. I have mixed emotions but I think he'll end up staying with Detroit. This season could possibly turn him aside with the amount of adversity we face. He could be the personality that wants to be with a winning team and doesn't like much adversity in their life. He could possibly think he's worth more than he is, which could be a very realistic thing if he does end up being our leading scorer (not declaring him a greedy ******* right now, just saying it's one avenue of approach). The things going for us: he said Detroit has made his transition really comfortable and if it wasn't for Zetty playing with him over in the SEL, he would really feel uncomfortable. He's going to play with us this whole season, and have some memories attached to it, not exactly something that's easy to walk away from right away. We have the winter classic next year, it's a bargaining chip as many players want to experience something like that within their career. Realistically, I would say he's going to cost around 3.5-4m/season because we don't know his trajectory or potential. He can't demand high money because it was his first season, but he certainly could have bonuses attached to the contract. I think the safe bet would say, 2-3 year extension 3.8/season