evilzyme

I always park at Greektown and then take the people mover over to the Joe. Parking normally is free at Greektown or it'll be $10 but they normally give you a $10 comp to play at the casino.

Someone had posted a very interesting article from his stay with Calgary. Basically, he came off as a complete entitled sack of poop who had a douchebag personality. Thought of himself above everyone, thought down on all the youngsters on the roster, just overall cancer in the locker room. Hopefully I, or someone else can get a hold of the link again for everyone.

Guide us, will you YFMB? That he shall.

Well, there's all the stories of him being a horrible teammate. He sounds like a complete cancer for the locker room. I'm surprised if that was the case, or atleast maybe it was kept down while Lidstrom was still aboard. Maybe when Lidstrom left he thought he could be that jackass again. Anyways, when you're a horrible teammate, can't make a first pass to save your life, turn the puck over because you're scared of getting hit, molasses can track down the ice faster than you; your head coach normally doesn't want to play you. Not anyone's fault but his own. And to add on top of all of that, when he was a healthy scratch he wanted to make it public how much bulls*** it was. Instead of crying to the public, go hit the weight room and grind out some hours of practice so you're ready when given the opportunity. Even Carlo had a better mindframe than Ian frickin White.

Nyquist - He's shown he can be very hard on the puck. I was upset with how much he got pushed around at the beginning of his stint, but he has found his legs and has been playing with much more confidence every since the beginning. Very shifty player, will most likely be that replacement for Pasha in the sense that he plays a solid 2-way game and has some silky hands. More of a playmaker, but has shown the ability to pot them when needed. I see him becoming a top 6 star for us. DeKeyser - For being thrown into the fires of a transition year, coming in with ~10 games left in the season, he has blown away expectations. Next season is going to be a true testament but he's more mature, and is older than majority of players immediately finding themselves on a NHL team from juniors/college. Has all the poise in the world, and will have another off-season to add weight and train. It certainly helped, regardless of only being 11-14 games (2 being playoff), that he played this season. It was a learning tool, as he got to see how fast the league can be and what to expect. Two playoff games adds to that, giving him more experience at higher paces. He's going to be very solid for us, as he has an amazing first pass and plays a very stay at home style which we direly need. Andersson - I voted him because he isn't flashy or shiny, but he plays an important role. He's a very smart, poised playmaking center. We don't need him to score goals at the cyclic rate, but he is the cog for the 3rd line. Defensively responsible, bigger framed body, plays the body, and can hold the forecheck. He's a true depth piece. Tatar - I like Tatar a lot. Great wheels, smooth hands, and has a knack for the back of the net. You gotta love that. The only thing that really scares me is his personality. I don't want to lose him because of his personality, but I can see the franchise moving him because of that. He's a goal-scorer motivated youngster who we could use. He never gives up on the play, and wants the puck in the twine as fast as possible. I really hope we find a spot for him next season, and choose not to just move him. I didn't vote him just because I do feel like he's going to be apart of a package this off-season, unfortunately.

Datsyuk's agent came out immediately saying it wasn't true. Most likely Chicago journalists trying to get them off their game

I think you're discrediting our players alittle too much. Have the Hawks not played to their full potential? Sure, one can say that but they're been very close to it. You have to look at the shutdown job that the Wings are providing. Babcock is simply out-coaching Quenvielle right now. Now that he's at home ice, he's ensuring that he gets the match-ups he wants. Zetterberg on Toews and Datsyuk on Kane. Our coach is doing a damn good job at ensuring we know how to neutralize the Blackhawks and our players and leadership cast have ensured that we're following the program. I think tonight is going to be a big game, as the Blackhawks are going to have to showcase everything they can to ensure they don't go down 3-1. Jimmy will have to get ready, but to completely dismiss our team and think that we're simply "hanging on" in this series is just asinine. Hopefully i'm just reading this completely wrong.

Basically a must win for both teams here with different reasonings. Wings need to win because if they allow Chicago back into this, I believe Chicago will run all the way to the bank with it. We can't afford to give them any momentum. The Hawks need to win because if they go down 3-1 I just don't see them having the emotional make-up to deal with all the adversity. It's simply too big of a hole for them to climb out of, especially when they're already frustrated. Tonight is going to be the game of games between these two. If the Blackhawks don't come out with a win here, I think they simply realize that they can't beat the Wings. Basically, both teams are going to be showcasing their best tonight, especially Chicago. If they bring their best to this game, and it still doesn't measure up to a win; they're going to be deflated and I think the series is lost for them right then and there. My keys to the game: 1.) Defense needs to keep their feet moving, can't afford to get caught flat footed against them, especially through the neutral zone. 2.) Weathering the initial storm. Wings need to either have the game tied or leading at the end of the first. Hawks are going to be coming out of the gate flying. 3.) Keep throwing pucks down range. Crawford can't afford to rest ever in the game. Let him know that he needs to be ready for a shot at any given angle, never dismissing the possibility of a shot being released from afar and at adjacent angles. 4.) Play the body, but play it smart. The refs are going to have their whistles ready. We can't afford to not continue to finish our checks, but we're going to have to choose our times properly. Allow the Hawks to dig a hole if they want with the diving acts. The refs will start denying them the benefit of doubt. 5.) Continue the smooth and fast transition. Our transition game has been good through the past 2 games. If we got the puck, it's getting moved forwardly and efficiently. Continue this and ensure that we're making their defense stay high.

Did anyone get to hear Micky Redmond on 101WRIF last week? He had brought up that Eddie Olcyzk is the equivalent of him with the Wings, a complete homer color guy. He didn't understand how they would even allow him to be on the broadcast with his absolute bias, and it completely shows. Another funny segment was when they had asked ol Micky if he found himself doing color when he watches the Wings at home. He basically said that he does his own color, which requires him to shut his windows and doors haha.

This is a very important game because I feel that with a win tonight, we would make Chicago face adversity for the first time this season. The Red Wings as a franchise have gone through some insane amounts of adversity this season, all while succeeding when looking it in the eyes. The Blackhawks don't know what adversity is right now. I feel take this game and take the series lead, and we're going to start setting them into a tail-spin. Game 2 was outstanding, but this is going to be the movement maker. Take this game boys, show them that they aren't as good as they think and that the hockey world has underestimated us. We are for real! The Joe better be on fire tonight!! Wish I could really hear the game but I came back to my house with internet and cable magically out. They can't get a guy over to the house to fix the cabling until Wednesday... UGH. Guess i'll be watching from the bar tonight.

Completely agree. I think if he was doing his job offensively, he wouldn't be getting the amount of backlash he has been, or it would at least be shadowed by his offensive production. I think the hardest part for him is that Babcock has stressed this team about defensive play coming first. Because of this he's afraid to play his game most likely, or has to limit it (speculation on my part). Basically, Smith can't be Smith and that works against him 10-fold when it's also his first full-time season with the team, not to mention having to play a role way bigger than he can accept. You're absolutely right though, that he has fumbled pinches, thrown mindless first passes, and hesitated only to burn himself hard. It's hard to look past that just because that's where he should be excelling, especially the more offensively based mistakes.

It may not be that influential, just because it doesn't dictate where a player will actually play in college, or juniors BUT last time I checked (about a month ago) Michigan is #2 behind Minnesota in registered USA hockey players. Michigan and Minnesota basically make up majority of hockey players, as other states are simply categorized within location, "Mid-West, Atlantic, etc." When we have so many players coming out of two states, you're more prone to hearing about those states when dealing with national broadcast, if that makes any sense.

DeKeyser and Lashoff are supposed to be good defensively. They're both defensive based defensemen. Smith hasn't been good defensively throughout his career. It's been one of the main things working against him, "needs to get better defensively." He's been our highly touted defensive prospect for his offensive capability. It's the same reason why people can't expect DeKeyser to throw huge numbers up offensively, it just hasn't been apart of his game. Now, with both examples, it doesn't mean they can't get better at it. I think given the situation we're in right now, Smith has had to change his game up quite a bit. He can't just be 100% offensively minded, and work his pinches like he did in the A. He needs to learn this medium, along with being in a top 4 pairing instead of a top 6 pairing. Given his situation, honestly, he hasn't been that bad. On top of all of this, the guy seriously hasn't even played enough games to equal a full NHL season. He's basically over half a full season in, without playoff games included. You can't expect him to be fully up to speed, especially defensively.

Smith has made mistakes, just as any other rookie would. As many have already stated, he's getting thrown into the fire and having to take on responsibilities that normally would've never found their way to him. He's playing in the 2nd pairing, when he should be on the 3rd. He's playing against Anaheim and Chicago, and their two top lines. That's the #1 and #2 seeds in the Western conference gents. Those are top lines, especially Chicago with how deep they are. I'm sitting here pondering if any of you actually watched Smith through his junior(college)/AHL performances. He has never been that defensive guy, ever. His defense has always been brutal. The upside to him was his offensive capability. Unfortunately, he has nothing to show for that during the regular season. He needs to learn from mistakes when he can make his offensive moves. Not to mention, with this season being so hard on all the rookies, he hasn't had the luxury of pushing offensively. Babcock has had to stress defense first because of our teams capability. This is on par with the Howard = Average thread, knee-jerk wise. Yes, he makes mistakes. No, we shouldn't trade him. If we're going to allow Kindl and Ericsson to get years for their development, you better give Smitty atleast more than 1 accelerated season(he's played a total of 57 NHL games, including last season, this season, and playoffs. (an NHL season is 82...)) . Absolute knee-jerk here.

They don't need to understand fighting nor should they. You're right that they don't know where the line is, and often they cross it. They're kids, it's expected. They know emotions, unfortunately they don't know how to control them at that age. That's when things get scary. That's why young boys are so willing to fight. So much emotions are running and they don't know how to control every single one of them. They don't know the consequences of their actions at that age. They don't know how much injury could possibly be sustained. It's exactly why coaches and the parents should have been all over that ice breaking it up. The refs alone obviously weren't going to stop a 20v20 brawl.

The players and coach definitely saw this. It's being reported on MLive and what not, so i'm almost positive it's been brought up. Babcock had a nice little conference that's on TSN (Under the name 'Firing back', I think dad said something about it earlier. He told everyone to calm down.

Exactly what I was thinking. Kids shouldn't be out there fighting like this, even with emotions getting out of line. The refs should've started separating earlier, but they allowed things to get out of control. When kids started jumping over the boards and joining in should've been the green light for parents to start stepping in and helping the refs break things up. Where were the coaches during this also?

I really don't remember that being the case this past summer. The previous summers when he started the 1 year deals, Holland was pretty spot on with each one. This last summer, most of them didn't say anything except they felt he could play a few more years but ultimately the decision lays in his hands. I'm not even sure why many are trying to compare Lidstrom's retirement at 42 to Datsyuk at the age of 36.

I completely agree that Tatar shouldn't have been sent back down, but it's a business first and fore most. Goose's contract is expiring and we needed to make a choice with him. Tatar we still have for two more years, so we didn't need him to showcase anything immediately. This is all my speculation on the case anyways. I think the main thing that sent Tatar down was that he isn't that well through all 3 zones. He's good through the neutral and offensive zone, but he's bad in his own zone and Babcock is a defense first type of coach. What really killed me about the whole Tatar thing is this: Tatar is a goal scorer, and he's damn good at scoring goals. I consider Goose more of a play maker than an scorer(not to say he can't score, because we all know he can at the AHL level and he's gotten a few in the big show). At the time, we needed scoring and brought up Tatar. He did his role, put it all out there every shift, and potted some. We have more than enough play makers and players that would rather pass the puck than shoot it. In reality, we didn't need Nyquist up here to help play make, we needed Tatar's drive to score goals. I can only hope that Tatar is slotted in the big show next year.

You're talking about Yesterday, right? Or did he re-flare it up today during the morning skate?

So Coach Q had some insight on Stalberg:

This just puts a giant smile on my face if it's true. But wait, KUKLAS KORNER SAID THAT THEY HAVE AN INSIDE SOURCE AND HE'S SCARED OF THE EASTERN CONFERENCE?!!!!! They obviously are a better source than Mike Babcock himself.

Why does everyone here forget that WE CAN'T GRAB ANYONE FROM THE GRIFFINS UNTIL THEY ARE OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS. It's that easy. It seriously is. I'm so sick of reading, "well we care about the Calder more!!!" No. We don't. It's simply that we CAN'T do that. It's the same reason why we don't have any Black Aces traveling with us right now.

Even if, and that's a huge if, Helmer was able to play again this season, I don't see him getting back in the line-up during these playoffs. He hasn't played at all this season, and has already said that he has lost some of his speed. Nothing has gotten better from that point. It's better to just write Helmer off until next season with a full summer of rehab, training camp, and pre-season to get him back to where he needs to be. I really hope the placebo effect hasn't hindered him enough mentally. It would suck to see Helmer never go 100% again.

All of my buddies that are Hawks fans actually hate Crawford right now, and are happy that Emery is coming back from injury. Supposedly they aren't too confident in Crawford's playoff abilities right now. And, in honesty, he wasn't lights out during the Minnesota series (from what i've seen). During the regular season he had a bounce back season for sure, but i'd take Howard over Crawford any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. We need our D and forwards to step up more than our tending, because in my eyes we're winning that battle already.