number9

Hopefully it's just a nagging injury or something, I don't think he's bored... Purely speculating, but I think he lacks confidence. I can't understand why at this point we haven't seen him whip out some mad dangles. Clearly he has the ability, but he doesn't even try it.

It hasn't even been 20 games yet, it's way to early to tell where we'll finish. Tampa is outside of the playoffs looking in right now. Do you expect them to finish the season on the outside looking in? Me either. I agree that I want to get the most points possible so play the better man, but is there really that much of a difference between Mrazek and Howard? If Howard is worse it's only slightly... it's not like we're talking about playing some average backup like Monster here. I would be fine riding Howard for the majority during the regular season, then unleashing Mraz in the playoffs again.

Confused, why would his points hold more weight if we had a better record? So you're essentially saying that Babcock AND Blashill have some hidden gem in Brendan Smith and that they've both failed to recognize it? Many of us disagree with the actions of coaches and management all the time, but this isn't like they're playing Datsyuk on the 4th line. Smith has been mostly terrible his entire time here. Even Smith's defenders admit that... but assert that they think he will be better in the future. This is why he plays where does. He's bad. He's done absolutely zero to prove otherwise... so I don't know what you're seeing him.

Hey bud, you're the one who asked why he's a loved prospect. Andersson is better defensively than most will admit. Jurco hits a lot, but I think he gets caught over skating the play sometimes. Still, I agree I'd rather watch him play than Andy.

1. #35 overall in his draft year. That's very high. 2. Played very well in GR under Blash. 3. He made the team at 21. Way sooner than most all of our prospects. 4. Hyped by all his dangle videos on youtube. 5. Hits everything that moves. A lot to like about the kid. He seems to be a complete package type player. Just needs to gain some confidence at the NHL level.

Last year was a true back seat for Z and D not playing the PK. Not that that's a bad thing. It's time for other players to step up and fill in. This year I wouldn't mind if they missed the ASG, or any of our players. ASG is kind of a joke/waste of time IMO.

That could be said of a number of our players bruh. You remind me quite a bit of a past member here that went by the name of Hillbilly, he did well here and so will you bruh.

I think Jurco is actually one of our most promising prospects still, despite these set backs. He's proven he can play the physical game and I believe he can be a net front presence as well. This is on top of his natural shooting and dangle ability. He'll be fine. He has a wide range of tools. He was rushed a bit to the NHL. Some type to develop more could be exactly what lights the fire under his butt.

This is misleading. Yes you want cups (we all do) but you don't believe we can get them with the current roster. Thus you believe we should tank AKA the exact opposite of going for a cup... am I wrong Colonel Abrams?

I don't ascribe to the whole west is best thing. Just like I never ascribed to the whole East is tough thing. Sure the race is tighter in the west, but I don't think that's necessarily an indication of superiority. It only indicates similarity. The east has plenty of stars and especially in the All-star game we're evenly matched if not arguably better.

Wait wait... my position is wrong because I'm not sniffing glue? lol If you were not aware, most of the sane world does not sniff glue. But if that's your thing to each his own... The 6th dman being the worst on the team = grasping/reaching? lol I would suggest going back and counting how many D men are on a starting roster and where the worst one goes on that roster. Hint: It's the opposite of the #1 spot!

Cool, but not sure you understand what's going on in this conversation...

And people claim he doesn't have a good first pass lol Sadly I don't think many of our D have very good trade value outside of Kronwall and Dekeyser. Smith would be a "reclamation project" on a different team.

Yup, yup, yup, and yes trading Mraz over Jimmy would be hard for to grasp.

They should try out bigger nets during the all-star game. Not sure why they don't use this game to test more things. Heard an interview with Scotty Bowman the other day, where he suggested increasing the space behind the night and reversing the trapezoid to increase scoring, I personally thought that was genius from the genius.

So Byflugien...?

Cool When it comes to Buff, it's a fun talking point, but deep down you have to know there's pretty much zero chance he ever comes here. He's everything the RedWings management is not.

They say tank, I say Larkin.

I just don't think the defensive shutdown smarts are there with him. But if he can do that/embrace that then yeah that's exactly the type of Dmen he could be. I agree on the offense though. Kindl has seemed to always be the better man in that department.

Are we keeping Q now?

Like Kickazz said, the best thing that can happen is Howie steps up and at least outplays Mraz this year. Then we can give Petr a backup goalies contract and retain both for a while longer. Giving us another year of very formidable goaltending in all 82 games. But yes, If Mraz clearly wins the #1 spot Jimmy will have to be shipped out. And that can be a good thing too depending on the return. However if we wait for that moment, Howard's stock is going to sink. And he's not on a very cap friendly contract to begin with. And that's why I think Howard winning the spot this year is the best case scenario. We could then trade him at the draft for a high return.

He's been our #1 for almost 7 years now, where have you been?

So trade Datsyuk and Zetterberg?/tank?

Bickell who has chronic vertigo and plays in the AHL Bickell? lol

Just a friendly heads up. There's a profanity filter for a reason. This is at least the 2nd time tonight I've seen you skirt it. Mods will get on you if they catch ya brother. Maybe cause he could keep up in College and the AHL? If you didn't follow his early career he was a very good offensive D-men in those leagues. But in the NHL 80-90% of his career he's been pretty much useless. He had some good games in the playoffs last year yup, and when he first started and was paired with Lidstrom too. But there's a reason he's never risen above the 6th spot, and why Babs even tried to play him at Wing. Cause he blows. Not sure how that's so hard to see. He plays like he huffs paint before each shift. Has for a while now...