evilzyme

paaaaaaatttttyyyy!!!! hopefully ill see the flow at practice today! i took the ladies dslr to take pics for everyone to see

He was born March 9th of 86. I really suck at doing the birthday math, so I just followed capgeek's reference that he was 26 I wasn't sure if they were going to keep it at before Sept. 15th or make it Jan. 19th.

I think it more or less has to do his college career and the hype, and then being uncertain how he was going to perform at a higher level. He still hasn't fully played at the higher level, against higher level players, but he did play in the AHL with some great superstars. His team was also stacked beyond all hell. I certainly think Smith is going to sneak up on MANY people. On HFB, I swear it was all about Schultz and Grunland. Maybe 1 person brought up Smith and nothing came from it. It's things like this that show me that we could really surprise people this season, including our own fan base.

Brace, BRACE for impact!

When isn't Garth Snow claiming people?

I'm sorry but I absolutely HATE when people try to argue that the team will resemble anything of what it was when Lidstrom was injured. There is a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference between losing someone during the off-season and losing someone to an injury in the middle of the season. In the middle of the season you have to rely on your depth, and you have to rely on those pieces to magically pick up the system and play to their full potential. Not going to happen. When you lose someone during the off-season, you get to train people to take spots, pick up new roles, exercise and get them equated to the system.

Explain why? I would give Chicago the nod over Minny all day right now. A proven team that made minimal adjustments and added some size while the other added in right off the top of my head 3 brand new pieces. Grunland, Parise, and Suter. I honestly don't think Minny will kick it in gear this season. Next season after they develop some chemistry is when they could possibly be a threat but their defense isn't deep and it certainly has holes.

Well double damn damn, our blueline is going out before this season even starts! Haha. Is anyone else feeling these injuries besides us and Calgary? I expect all teams to be taking some nagging injuries during this season, but damn! Dropping like flies in TRAINING CAMP is no good sign for the future if they don't get their bodies there and start stretching throughout the day.

I think this would be a bigger story if Holland already had his eggs in a basket and counted us as a playoff team. When you're in that mindframe, you won't make the playoffs because you view it as a given already. I would rather the team be under the impression that they won't be making the playoffs this year, so they have the motivation to prove otherwise. If anything, this would've fueled the team to prove Holland otherwise.

I was going through reddit and came across a picture featuring the introduction of Jeremy Roenick's book,

"You're damn right he's looking forward to it!" - Garth Snow

you know, looking at both of those quotes that I had just thrown up, it actually adds credibility that pavel was certainly apart of the Russian group of players that were announcing they were finishing the season in the KHL. It was rumored that Ovi, Kovy, Malkin and some other NHLers were planning on having a press conference inwhich they were going to announce that they were staying in Russia for the rest of the season. Apparently the NHLPA had talked them out of the press conference and told them that they were going to work to end the lockout asap. Luckily, the CBA finally came to terms before that press conference happened (even though... i still don't get how that would work considering the KHL is honoring the NHL contracts). Maybe the KHL would've stepped up big time and started that contract war if they had datsyuk, ovi, malkin and kovy..

We all know he's gone soon, it just depends on if he's going to sign a 1-2 yr deal after this current one. I think it will all rely on our performance during this next season and a half. Sure, he just got back from Russia and he just felt what it was like to play hockey in his native homeland. He has a bad taste in his mouth being apart of two separate hockey work stoppages. Hopefully, he can feel like he's back at home and welcomed to the family now that he's back to Detroit. Let him finish out the season and see where his heart wants to be, unfortunately right now the other day he said his heart is still in Russia and it belongs to the KHL. :{ heres the article; http://www.freep.com/article/20130108/SPORTS05/301080126/Extra-points-Sergei-Fedorov-will-miss-Wings-Pavel-Datsyuk-in-Russia another with him saying he wants to finish in russia (we all know this); http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2013/01/red_wings_pavel_datsyuk_arrive.html watch em while we can folks, cause this boy is headed out. *cries*

I hate predicting overtime games, so I simply went down the schedule and did either win or lose, and came to 29-19 as our final record. I think we'll take 5 games as OT?

wrong fkn thread

I think Zett/Pasha/Brunner and the other players that have been actually playing over the lockout have the least chance to get injured. Their bodies have been able to keep up with the intensity of the game, and it isn't such a rapid change. The rest of the teams, along with the rest of our roster that didn't play during the lockout will be the ones that we have to worry about due to their bodies having to go from 0-60. Howie could be very injury prone if he doesn't stretch prior to practices and games majorly. Could be a really scary situation due to neither of our goalies actually playing any real time, that and Howie even said yesterday that it was hard to track the puck and it's something that he's going to have to really work on before Saturday. Luckily, these are things that most goaltenders are going to have problems with in the first few games.

He's underrated and hated on mostly due to his negligence to use that big body of his. He could really box and oppose his body on the opponent but he will just stare at them sometimes and it's frustrating. I think last night we saw some really good improvements with Big Rig. It was funny hearing cleary chirp him on the face-off saying, "I knew that wasn't straight in... i knew that wasn't straight in.... that muffin of a shot" making fun of his shot hahaha. He had awesome form on that 1T though. I think we'll see some big improvements on big rig just like last season.

Dude I saw you post this on the other thread and I immediately fell in love with it, he shall now be called, "The Gunner or Gunner" Damien "Gunner" Brunner

the blues have an outstanding roster, with a great top 9 and a deadly system that hitchcock rolls but i can't see them performing like they did last season. I think they just bought into the system, new coach, new motivation, they had something going for them. I don't see Elliott and Halak throwing a tandem season like they did previously, I completely see Elliott's numbers going down for sure. They are a dangerous team, and certainly could make it out to represent the Western conference in the finals, so who knows. All I can say is that the first game is going to be a good judgement on how we well against top teams and their pressure.

I believe it was the red team that had the griffins power play unit out there once and they were running some of their set plays. it was pretty funny to watch. they moved the puck fairly nicely against the white team.

I think we'll see Tootoo's career excel as a wing. Imagine having to play in a franchise that has absolutely no faith in you. He went through his alcohol rehab days and everything with that franchise. It's hard for him to excel, because he had a bad stain within the franchise, he just had problems. I could see his motivation not exactly being there, especially if you feel the franchise has no trust with you. Being brought into a well-decorated franchise, and being brought in with a purpose will motivate you to play again. I think he finally feels like he has another home, and the wings are going to embrace that. He knows why he's here, and he knows the role he needs to play. He wants people to see that his career over, so now that a franchise is giving him that chance, and they got the trust in him, well s***, it's all on him now. exactly what i'm talking about! this dude is going to be a BEAUTY for us. and someone can quote that if you wanna challenge it.

Yes, Patty played last night due to it wasn't that physical. He still isn't cleared to play in a regular game though. He looked pretty good for not playing hockey in over a year.

Babcock said it the best during the beginning of the 3rd period when he joined Ken and Mick, "Tootoo looks great out there, even when he can't play his game. Obviously in a situation like this, he can't play his game, his game is to go out there and make it hell for the opponent. He can't really do that tonight, but he still looks good." I loved when they interviewed Tootoo, "They know what I bring to the table, and I know why i'm here." A lot of you will be eating crow from some of things you've said during this summer and these signings. Honestly, I think everyone including myself underestimate how much this team can bring to the table if executed right. What was displayed last night actually made me feel better about the season. I saw Mule working hard in a scrimmage, working with his hands and he looked in better shape. I'm actually excited to see him this season, and the one shot he pulled had a great release that railed the post. That's what we need more of, except less post. Bring back that sexy release mule! For it being Brunner's first time on NHL sized ice in a scrimmage setting, he impressed me. I could tell that the first lines weren't really into it at first, but they probably get an ass-kicking within the locker room to put on a show for the damn fans. Bert looked like he was in great shape and i'm excited to see him. Smith looked really comfortable and i'm excited to see him full-time. Nyquist was strong on the puck and probably showcased to some people that he isn't as small as many people tend to think he is. The man put on some weight during the off-season and he's been amazing for GRR this season (yes, you actually had to watch him this season and stop judging him from the last nhl season). Jurco surprisingly looked strong on the puck for his size, I know his main goal is still developing and putting on weight but I was surprised on his foot work and ability to stay on the puck when forced. Obviously they weren't able to throw all their body weight into each other so it's a little off-base to judge everything, but it's good to see the footwork and ability to stay on it.

Also, monster had 4 of our NHL defensemen, while howie had simply Kronner and Ericsson. Kronner uses his body more, and Big rid finally has started to realize he also, is big. When an intersquad scrimmage happens like this and there's no hitting, it's at their disadvantage. Obviously we aren't going to judge howie and monster from games like this!

4-2 paetsch from tatar opening space.