Joey v3.4

Tim Cheveldae - Chevy If you think goaltenders today have it hard, look up that dudes career One of the Wings most famous goalies. Not....because they did good those years...either.

Agree. He does not have a bad shot. He does seem to have a game where he comes out and takes a few desperate shots to no avail, and then just goes into pass mode. I think my favorite thing about this game tonight was Franzen. He tried to score like fifteen times, and he didn't finally net one until the final few minutes of the game. But I kept saying all game long, "Oh he's getting one this game", cause I just saw that determination in him. Franzen looked like a man on a mission tonight, and while it took like 58 minutes of trying (I think 5 shots, and a few missed shots), he stuck with it and scored, locking the game away. Flip could score more. We know it. Babcock knows it. Flip knows it. When any hockey player starts questioning themselves, they start hesitating. Flip is a man of hesitation. In life, it's a positive quality, cause it gives you inspiration to realize your flaws, and become stronger. In hockey, hesitation works the opposite....it makes less happen, and frustration grows. Flip is a 60 point guy, if he ever starts to believe and play like it.

Regardless of his +/-, tell me......that you don't feel just better when he's on the ice. It's sad he's at -1, but it's not like he's ineffective, and it's not like we have ANYONE who is better in the D slots. Lidstrom has defied the laws of hockey many times. Now he's defying the statistics too. +/- is a fluff stat. In theory, the leading scorer in the world, could end up negative. It's a cool stat to look at when trying to determine overall production, but keep in mind Lidstrom plays against the top lines in the NHL, and our top line whom he is behind, is generally half injured. I think he does have a few more "Bad" nights than is normal for him, but all in all, he's still the top defense guy on our team, period. Besides, our offense is a lot more balsy than it use to be. Nick use to quarterback our powerplay, but this year especially, we've focused a lot more on forward playmaking and goal scoring. In the past, we relied a LOT more on defensive scoring, left wing lock, neutral zone traps, etc, with defense controlling the play. Our style is a lot different now, and we suffer a lot more turnovers in our puck possession game........but we score a lot more pretty goals than we use to. A lot of our offensive time is spent down deep, behind the net, trying to get the short pass/quick shot. Rarely ever will you see Lidstrom set up a play from the blue line anymore (Ok not rarely, but less often), and while our offense is pretty freaking good, we spend a lot more time in our own zone than we use to because...well....that's what turnovers do. Nick is a nearly flawless defenseman on the attack, and he's brilliant at neutral zone control, but in our own zone Nick generally sets up to end the attack and get back to the other end, but he's not often near or protecting the net.....so a lot of the goals against us while he is on the ice are more the fault of the forwards who made the turnover, than Nick's failure as a defense-man. Nick is a great defenseman, but he can't teleport, and I think his +/- almost more accurately reflects our horrible habit of turning over the puck......than it does his skill level. I'm high, I don't know if that made sense. As an avid EA sports NHL fan, I feel more than qualified to make this judgment jk jk

We all know Lidstrom is going to probably take a front office position when he retires. It actually would be cool if he took a job as an assistant coach. If we can't have him on the ice providing defense, perhaps he could instruct others on how to do it. I think he'd be more useful to us as a defensive coach/assistant coach, than say......scouting or whatever it is they offer every retired wing I'm pretty sure Lidstrom can do whatever the hell he wants when he retires though If his goal is to buy a small island, and rule a clan of monkeys with an iron fist, while they bring him berries and treasure as offerings, I'm pretty sure he could do that.

What city do the Panthers actually play in? Seriously, I could look it up, but I'm not sure where their arena is actually located. I'm in Florida and might be interested in the extra tix.

That is kinda valid, IMO. Sure, the guy was a moron for trying it. But they DID offer that as a promotion. To me, that's almost a valid lawsuit. If I collected a billion mountain dew points, I better get at least some kind of jet. Or a mini helicopter or something. If nothing else, that guy must have had kidney stones for years....

Considering he put up 97 points once in Vancouver, I nominate "While he's not the same as he was in Vancouver" as understatement of the year But yeah I like the guy. Cool to see Em get a goal the other night too...even if we did lose that game Mattias was fast tracked into the NHL out of need. I don't think he was ready, and if he had stayed in Detroit he'd be in the AHL still. Good for us cause Em seems to be developing well, good for Mat cause he could very well have ended up a lifetime AHLer if not for being traded.

I like Flip. I think he's going to bring it in the playoffs this year. Watching this team play, it seems like a lot of guys are slowly starting to find their niche. Hell, sometimes I even notice Hudler out there lately, seems like he's finally trying. Flip is no exception. Fact is the guy can skate, and he can shoot, and he has a solid offensive awareness, he's just not consistent so for every two good games he has, he has a bad game and it's always easier to remember the bad games I would have liked to see him at 60+ points by this point in his career, but I'll take 50 and a solid playoff performance, so lets hope Flip brings it come Spring. His production is perhaps a little bit low for what "we" expect from a second line center, but I can think of a lot of teams who would kill for Flip to center their second lines. Whenever I see debates about the Wings, I think to what a comedian said about Transformers. He joked that all his friends were jaded movie critics who mostly talked s*** about the movie....but he then made the comparison "If you showed that movie 50 years ago, people would go insane!" Nobody, and I mean nobody would have talked s*** about that movie in 1950....if anything the CGI and effects in it alone, would be enough to get people burned on the stake as sorcerers. Now though, we're like...eh, whatever....Seen better. In accordance, the fact that Detroit has rocked for two decades.....produces a lot of jaded, dissatisfied fans. Ignore the fact that we win most games, and have a valid shot at the cup every single year. Ignore the fact that we have one of the most entertaining (And occasionally frustrating) teams to watch. If it was 1985, we'd be begging to have Flip on our team It's amazing how much of our opinions is based on perspective. Comparison. "A king once demanded that his fishermen find him the most delicious fish in the sea. For months they headed out on ships and shorelines, each bringing back a feast finer than the rest. The king discarded them all, casting them from his castle window into the streets below and in his frustration vowed not to eat until he was provided with the best fish in the sea. The king died of starvation before he was satisfied, meanwhile the peasants below gathered up his discarded fish and prospered." It's just a story, and I'm bored :-p

Lol, exactly what I was thinking. I had a friend in real life who talked like that routinely, even in adulthood. He didn't get laid very often.

Yep, lately our 3rd and 4th lines are playing a better puck possession game than our top lines are. I like our current team, and I like our prospects. We could be a LOT worse off. I think it would be nice to have an Enforcer on the books, someone we could call up from the minors for a few games here and there, or in a particularly chippy playoff series....but I don't think we should replace anyone on the current roster with an enforcer type. Even our rookies are playing our system well, and showing marked improvement. What I would like is for guys like Applefritter to take a more physical role. In the playoffs a lot of our guys step up their physical play. If we lose in the playoffs, I firmly believe that it is not the lack of an enforcer that will do it. I'll eat my words if I'm wrong, and we get the crap beat out of us, but until then I happen to like having the highest scoring roster in the entire NHL. Just saying, a pretty big accomplishment considering we're missing half a dozen guys.

Constant Litigious Over-Reaction? You mean like when this guy actually tried to sue the ice cream truck driver, lol. Ice Cream Truck Or how about the snotty old hag who became a millionaire because her coffee was hot when she spilled it on her bat cave. What ever happened to good old fashion duels?

Who is the last "Tough Guy" who actually worked out well for Detroit? Drake in 2008 had 6 points in 65 games. If we picked up a tough guy, I would just hope it's not someone on the down slope of their career. I don't know who you might replace anyway. Normally I would say Hudler, but as much as we talk s*** about him, the fact is he's still young and does have 60 point potential. I find it funny that I started watching hockey...eh....about eighteen years ago, and every year one of two things happens: 1) People demand we toughen up, and find an enforcer. 2) When we do, people complain about something else instead. :-p

Nah, most of the State of New York claims the Rangers or the Sabers as their team. The Islanders is who you see if tickets to the other two teams are sold out :-p It was pretty lame of them. If they were a playoff contender, it might make sense. But it seems like they just pretty much wanted to get the last laugh. It will bite them in the ass, eventually. (I assume you're talking about Nabokov.....since you never really clarified in your hate rant )

I love how our forwards are producing offense. For years it seemed like our offense always originated with the defense. It's nice to see us playing a system where the D-men are still involved in the offense, but we don't have to depend on it. I think a lot of it is because when our team is healthy, we play a very tight system and attempt a neutral zone lock....but since we're made of glass and all these young/rookie guys are in the line-up, we're seeing a lot more creative play making by the forwards than we use to see. We'll need that when guys like Lidstrom hang up the skates. But, that's just my opinion. And I'm thinking in terms of "This year" versus "The past few years". Can't wait till Datsyuk is back. I'm going through withdraw.

Isn't there someone who can like tap the announcer on the shoulder, and tell him how to pronounce names? Isn't that really your primary job as an announcer....to know who the people playing are, and how to say their names? He has said "Franzine" multiple times

I thought that's what the announcer said. I couldn't figure out if I really heard that, or if I'm just high.

I like to think of nosebleed seats as "Front Row"....to the beer stands. My glass is never half empty.....cause it's a mug.

Simple solution. Fake his death, change his identity, and pretend we found him playing goalie in an alley somewhere. Some simple reconstructive surgery on his face may be necessary too.

Define competitive hockey. Are you talking college/minor league level? Or does anyone who played on a hockey team when they were six count? Since by that poll 2/3's of people here have played competitive hockey, and I find that hard to believe, unless everyone is considering the time they played roller hockey in a parking lot to be "Competitive NA hockey".

If we blow this game, something is wrong.

Ten years from now we will look back on this project....and we will lauuuugghhh... I personally think this project is going to redefine "Failure" in the marketing world, and it's gonna be funny when it tanks. ------ To cover my ass, if it does miraculously do well, then humanity is doomed, and the end is near.

Enforcers don't really win cups. They're nice to have, sure, but I'd rather have a scoring, producing forward...than just to fill a slot with an enforcer. Enforcers have a clearly defined roll in the NHL, but it is not a critical role for a team to be successful, and certainly not required for a team to win a Stanley Cup. I don't know if this guy has been watching games or not, but it would seem more fitting if he wrote an article on our increasingly faltering defensive strategies. The Enforcer debate is what people who have no idea what they're talking about use to criticize the wings. Guys who write articles like the Free Press article in the OP, are the jerk sticks who have written articles about the Wings being "Too Old" for the last fifteen years in a row. The Freepress is only useful if you're old, and gullible. In order to qualify to be a writer for them, you have to exhibit a complete lack of knowledge of the subjects you're suppose to be covering. A grasp of English helps as well, but it is not essential

People have been embellishing injuries for years to skip All Star Games. Any serious cup contender appreciates the All Star Break more for it's rest and recuperation value. Crosby has missed ten games. I think in a league where concussions and head shots and stuff are becoming a progressively bigger issue, the league would look like a bunch of hypocrites if they disciplined Crosby in any way for skipping it because of a concussion. Imagine how horrible it would look on the league if he played and sustained an even greater head injury? The only reason it is even an issue is that the NHL knows there are half a million Crosby Fan-boi's out there, who won't watch any hockey game unless Crosby is playing. The ASG is a big ticket item for the NHL, and they're trying to make it even bigger this year than ever before......it really kinks their plans when the poster boy for the NHL (And for Big kids Diapers), misses out on the event. Hell, as it is it's the number 1 news item on every damn hockey site. It's a shame IMO that players can't voluntarily decline the ASG. But then hardly any serious playoff teams would send anybody. I think it should be as follows: Each NHL team should be required to send one player to the ASG, but in the case of Pittsburgh where three players were selected (I think, didn't really look it up), two in theory should be able to opt out of the game. It seems crappy to me that they can pick three guys from a playoff contending team, and force them all to work all weekend, while the rest of the league takes those days off. I guess it's what they get paid the big money for......but as a potential cup finalist....I sure as hell wouldn't want three of my top guys wasting time and risking injury in a game that is worth absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. I like the skills competition, but IMO the ASG is a joke, and is lately becoming a HUGE distraction in the NHL.

Someone else said it, but I support it. Learn to skate with a stick in your hand. 1) It will balance you, and you can use it in an emergency to help stop a fall. I used mine a lot when I learned to skate backwards. It was as much a cane as a hockey stick in my early days. I ALWAYS had a stick with me, even if I was doing long distance skates. 2) Your arm movements are different with a stick. Without one you can use your arms to generate speed via swing. With a stick in hand, you have to hold it one handed to generate that same speed swing with your arms, and while holding the stick two handed your posture is different, as is your skating. Most notable is that with a stick you skate with more of a forward lean (Good all around. Get out of the habit of skating "tall" pretty quickly, unless you're one of those rare few who for some reason just does better with a tall stance) 3) Having a stick will help you focus on keeping your stick on the ground. Because you're constantly doing things with your stick on the ground, it will help you practice skating with a lower posture. The lower you are able to skate, generally the more stable you'll be on your feet. 4) It will improve your stick grip, and improve how natural it feels in your hand. If you skate with a stick 90% of the time, when you skate without one it will feel awkward, but that's a good thing if you want to play hockey. Take a ball with you wherever you go, or a puck if you have a flat surface to practice on. 5) If a girl sees you skating, she'll think you're athletic. If she sees you with a hockey stick, she'll start working on wedding prepartions

Bert had that look you get if you think you see a dollar on the ground. Instinct says to go for it, but it takes a minute for your mind to register it :-p