evilzyme

What makes me feel more comfortable about Bert's return is things like this: He knows he can't afford to come into the lineup and not be effective. I want to see a down digging Bert flying down the ice with a purpose. Give us that veteran spark plug.

and most importantly... :siren: :siren: :siren:

Welcome back mindfly.

Big game tonight! Dustin Brown has a hearing with Shanahan today, so he may be out. Most likely Quick will be dressed tonight. Goose is due for one, Pasha needs one, and DeKeyser WILL GET HIS FIRST TONIGHT!

Browner's dumb for extending out his elbow. He could have used his shoulder to protect himself in that situation, absolutely no need to extend your elbow. Especially when you're in possession of the puck.

LeftWinger! Welcome back buddy! Was wondering where you had gone... especially after DeKeyser had signed. Happy everything worked out and he's with the team now. Didn't want to see what happened if he went elsewhere with you, haha. He has definitely made a smoother transition than expect, at least in my opinion. Really happy to see his success thus far.

I think it may have something to do with Tootoo having to sit off the ice for 5 minutes. It forces Babcock to change up lines, and others to eat the minutes. Add that on top of his lackluster defense, you can see why Babcock benches him. He'd rather have the PK'er (Eaves) out there against teams that we need the PK on. Tootoo has brought another dimension to the team, but he can find himself out of position while trying to finish checks. He has done his job, as assigned though.

I just can't see it being feasible. Well, let me rephrase that. It is feasible, but it would destroy our roster and farm system in the process of doing so. I was trying to find the history of trading for the first overall, but came up short. If i'm remembering correctly, I swear there's been some trades for the first overall in the past, but the cost of them has been through the roof, to the moon, and back. Missing the playoffs wouldn't increase our odds, or make it worth it in reality. Coming up short at 9th would give us like a 0.5% chance at landing it, and trading is just out of the question at this point and time. I've seen highlights of Drouin, and many have him going 1st over MacKinnon right now. All 3 of them work very hard and have outstanding talent, but unfortunately, like you said, it's simply a pipe dream.

Wow, overreaction? Babcock himself was the one that said that he wasn't even sure if Bertuzzi would play when he was cleared. Babcock said that he didn't want to mess with a good thing, and that he was giving ice-time to those who were going to help get the wins. You don't know Babcock's intentions, so I would refrain from jumping to conclusions and calling him an idiot. Bertuzzi looked like he was in the best shape of recent years at the beginning of this season, and during their mini-"training camp." He has been skating, but that doesn't translate to game shape ready. He could be absolutely slow, but he does hold on to the puck better than majority of what we have in this lineup; which would help translate to longer possession times and more sustained pressure in the other zone. Personally, I think the defensive pairings have been the best they have been all year. Kronner and Ericsson seem to be an okay pairing to help shut down top lines. They certainly aren't the 1-2 punch you want from your top pairing, but they've been getting it done. Smitty and Quincey have been playing together for the majority of the season now, and starting to gel together. There was much Quincey hate in the beginning of the year, but he's made some great plays in recent games. Smith has been bad, there's no denying that. It's also been expected that he would make numerous mistakes this season. Still doesn't mean it's right. He is an offensive defensemen that struggles in his own zone. He needs to be more effective with the transition and knowing when, what is acceptable, in given situations. All within time I suppose. DeKeyser and Kindl have been the shining bunch. Kindl completely became who we wanted him, and made numerous strides to becoming an NHL defensemen. DeKeyser made the transition to the big show more smooth than i've seen in recent times. The man has been a godsend for this team. I don't see Babcock sending Goose back down. He has said how effective he has been, how outstanding the Goose-Andy-Brunns line has been. For the past few games, he has stated that it has been their hardest and most effective line out there. I just can't see him splitting that up in critical games like this.

Ken Daniels was talking about Sammy being ready tomorrow... we'll see what Babcock does. He sure talks a lot about playing the best.

I'm not sure if anyone has these feelings but i'll bring up what I've been thinking. Maybe you guys can settle some irrational thoughts. So I have mixed emotions about Brunner and if he's going to stay in the NHL, or at least want to re-sign with Detroit. When he first came here, he was all smiles and happy. He loved the opening night and coming out of the tunnel, he had gotten the full "NHL bright lights" experience. He started off real hot, most likely due to playing during the lockout and having the physical advantage of having his legs under him immediately at the start of the season. Still all smiles. We can all expect when a goal scorer is scoring, they're happy. But when he started to cool down, his demeanor had changed to me. He started being more "depressed" looking. Even in his interviews, he just seemed like he was out of it. I'm not sure if its fatigue, or if he honestly isn't enjoying his experience right now. Could it be that he's facing adversity immediately when he came into the NHL? Adversity not only having the league adjust to him, but coming to a team in the middle of a transition. I watched his face when others scored, even when he was assisting and it just seemed like he wasn't smiling anymore. It was like someone stole that spotlight from him, and he didn't exactly like it? We know that he had been the leading SEL producer for 2 years (IIRC?) before coming over here. He was known as the go-to guy back in the SEL, the superstar. It's different here. He wasn't in the spotlight. Maybe he isn't used to it? I know this is absolutely irrational and is probably the furthest from the truth, but, I thought it would be fun to bring up. Last night he had seemed like he was just beyond tired during the interviews during the intermission and after the game. So most likely... he's just tired haha.

Seeing in black and white? I'm looking at how he has played throughout his hockey career. I'm not sure why there is any reason to believe that magically now in this point in his career, would he magically start producing offensively? Danny DeKeyser, even in his younger years, hasn't put up numbers offensively. It is not his game. Your complaint about him was that he lacked confidence in the offensive zone. I tried explaining to you, for his role, his has more than enough confidence. He pinches when he sees fit, he keeps the play going, and he absolutely helps the transition. All of those attribute to offensive production and confidence. You didn't want to believe this for some ungodly reason and took it as if I was trying to be high and mighty. I wasn't. I was telling to have you understand the type of player he has been through his career. You then take me trying to explain to you once again, that it's simply not his game to score goals. It shouldn't be regarded towards his play either. His play revolves around that in his own zone, not in the offensive. He has never scored goals in his younger years, why should we expect him to magically start scoring at this level? It is not his game. Nor should it be expected.

Okay, seriously... I had to make a thread about this one gents...

Ignoring the ridiculousness of your post, the problem of your thinking is exactly this. He doesn't need to be good offensively. You don't need to make every player "offensive." You need defensemen who are willing to keep defense as their #1 priority. We have enough defensemen that you're speaking of, offensive minded defensemen. They may not be producing this season, but they certainly exist within our roster. If anything, we need more defensive minded defensemen, because we're lacking it. I'm not trying to lecture you, but I am trying to get you to understand that DeKeyser is not going to be that player that you're looking for. He doesn't need to, or should have to improve his offensive game. He has success in hockey because of his defense, skating, and long reach. He was sought after because of his defense. He isn't Justin Schultz, he isn't anything resembling of any offensively gifted defesemen. Simply put, he is not going to be good offensively. It's never been apart of his game, and quite frankly I just don't see him magically bringing it to his game. He would rather be the stay-at-home, mistake free, risk free defensemen...

You don't need to get mad, i'm just letting you understand Danny DeKeyser a little better because it seems that you don't have much knowledge of him. He doesn't need your so called confidence in the offensive zone. That isn't one dimensional. He has numerous dimensions but most importantly, he's going to play the way he's always played. Stay at home, risk free, mistake free hockey. We need that with our team. We don't need DeKeyser to be confident in their zone, we have more than enough defensemen that can play that role. We need DeKeyser to stay within his role, and keep his success up. I told you that your expectations aren't going to get fulfilled because that isn't who DeKeyser is, and never has been. If you've paid attention to his development throughout the years, and actually watch him prior to his NHL debut, you would know this. You don't need to get mad when someone is simply explaining a player to you. The game isn't one dimensional, you're correct. You're mistaking defensemen roles though. A defensemen defensemen should never make offense a priority within their role. Their dimensions are to clear the crease, make that first pass, ensure the transition will happen smoothly, make sound defensive decisions, and ensure they don't get caught flat-footed on the backcheck. He's playing that role, and excellent right now.

I stated all of that because your expectations of him aren't going to be fulfilled, ever. That's not Danny DeKeyser. Never was, never will be most likely. He shines in his own zone, always has. That's what makes Danny DeKeyser good. His play in his own zone, his first pass, his skating ability. You can't look for confidence in the offensive zone because it shouldn't exist. He doesn't need that confidence, it's not his game while in the offensive zone. Now, with all that said. I honestly think he's outstanding in the offensive zone. You have to realize that he's a defensive defensemen. His selection of when to pinch, keep the play within the zone, and overall decision making while in the offensive zone is outstanding. For me, that means he already has "confidence" in the offensive zone for his role....

He's a defensive defensemen. He stays back at home. The biggest thing people needed to realize about DeKeyser before he came here, was the fact that he would not put up huge numbers offensively. That's good. We need a defensemen like that. He plays a very simple and risk free mistake game, that's what we need. You can't ask every defensemen to put up big numbers! Let him do what he excels at, playing mistake free defensive hockey!

I love DeKeyser, and I think he plays well. People will want to compare him to Lidstrom, but it's not a fair comparison. Lidstrom excelled at defense and offense. DeKeyser is a defensive rolled defensemen, he's not going to be an offensive powerhouse like Lidstrom was. We can compare him that he plays a clean defensive game, and that makes us happy. DeKeyser will be a great defensemen, the more he gets used to the league, the better he will get. One thing I may ask you Axe, you're very selective with your reasoning on some players. Mrazek with all of 2 games should be our starter, the next dynasty goalie, etc but you want to tell people to shut it down with a 10 game sample on DeKeyser?

I'm guessing you didn't pay close attention to the Red Wings during the Scotty Bowman times, eh?

Wings are resorting to old Scotty Bowman tricks.... Coyotes are left without hot water at JLA right now. Shane Doan had confirmed. *Cue "paint the locker rooms!"*

The Wings will need to string together some wins here, starting tonight. This 3 game homestand is huge for us. I have a feeling the boys are going to come out swinging hard tonight, and the crowd is going to be motivating them all night. Going to sound like a playoff game tonight. If you're going to the game tonight, I want to hear you tonight!! DeKeyser gets his first NHL goal tonight, Mule gets one, and Brunner. Final score of 4-2 Wings. (DeKeyser, Mule, Brunner, Pasha)

You're ignoring every bit of truth. This was the story BEFORE they had signed with Minnesota. This post goes into detail WHY they had thought Minnesota was going to get Parise and Suter, and sure enough, it was. Ignoring the part about Weber, the truth of the matter is that Parise and Suter had their minds set. There was no amount of money that was going to change that. They both had lives in Minnesota and it made the most sense for both parties. Holland could've offered them the moon, but unless he went back rewrote history, it wasn't going to change anything.

Mistakes =/= Lack of Care It is simply your own speculation. All because someone makes a mistake in life, you can't automatically assume they don't care. In your theory, if I miss a pokecheck, or miss my man coverage it means I simply don't care. That's completely wrong. I can make a simple mistake, and I can care. You notice when people make mistakes they usually cringe or get mad at themselves. You can see the emotion displayed by individuals when they make mistakes. They display those emotions because they care. It would be silly to say otherwise.

A pass fumbled over his stick, which proceeded to a race for the puck and a mis-judged line-change. He had thought his teammate had the back-check and didn't see the play developing. That doesn't automatically equate that he doesn't care, it equates that he had horrible judgement and decision making.

Actually, the Red Wings play outstanding when dealing with back-to-backs. They're like 7-2 in back-to-back games, FSD made note of this. The biggest problem is the first game after an extended road trip. It has everyone's number this season, including ours. I believe tonight's game will be the bigger of the two against LA/PHX. We tend to play better against contenders, compared to weaker opponents. Let's get this homestand started here boys, we need it.