Matt

If it's in something like the Photoshop War thread it's fair game.... That's the intention of the thread, after all. (Within good taste, of course.) But, yes. If it was a 'Hawk fan or some other fan image-spamming a random thread then yes, they'd be banished as vladdy indicated. I'd highly suggest not flaunting trolling on other forums and bragging/posting about it here -- it will get you suspended here as well. (Neither the mods, nor myself, want to be the ones to clean up the mess when the opposing fans pay a visit for 'retribution'.) That has been one of the oldest rules on this board.

I don't think being tired had anything to do with it -- you're just 4 minutes into the overtime session. It was, however, totally attributed to stupidity (the icings), bad angles, horrendous giveaways, etc.. Michigan played stupid hockey in the overtime -- and for long stretches of this game -- and it eventually cost them. What had me yelling the most in the third period was the lost faceoff on Michigan's power play chance late only to blow it by the horrible angle -- and late decision to actually hustle and skate -- by Merrill, resulting in the hog-tie penalty to put it four-on-four. It's amazing that they flew in the face of an obvious strategy -- staying out of the box against the Bulldogs -- and still had a chance to win the game. It's mind-blowing that you'd give another team, what, 9 powerplays in a championship game? Wow. Ugh.... What a terrible performance. And to think they could've almost still won it.

Featured for the month of April are speedsters Darren Helm and Sergei Fedorov: Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1680x1050 | 1440x900 | 1280x800 4:3 & 5:4: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 | 1024x768 Enjoy!

The Stanley Cup playoffs get a bracket wallpaper that isn't Wing-centric. I've been doing those for years (has to be closing in on a decade soon, I lost track.)

Featured for the month of April are speedsters Darren Helm and Sergei Fedorov: Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1680x1050 | 1440x900 | 1280x800 4:3 & 5:4: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 | 1024x768 Enjoy!

Featured for the month of March is the freshly re-signed Jimmy Howard and Hall of Fame legend Terry Sawchuk: Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1680x1050 | 1440x900 | 1280x800 4:3 & 5:4: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 | 1024x768 Enjoy!

Lombardi is a whiny blowhard, bottom line. This is the same guy that blasted Red Berenson over the coaching of Jack Johnson last year and questioned the integrity of Mike Murphy and got slapped with a $50K fine earlier this year. There's clearly a disconnect somewhere between his brain and his mouth.

The Red Wings Central and CapGeek are an entirely different Matt. But you can still substitute raising two little girls and all of the side projects I take on for the other two! And thank you!

Featured for the month of March is the freshly re-signed Jimmy Howard and Hall of Fame legend Terry Sawchuk: Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1680x1050 | 1440x900 | 1280x800 4:3 & 5:4: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 | 1024x768 Enjoy!

Even though it was shot down by Holland, I'd do that trade in a heartbeat. No hesitation at all.

It puts the lotion on its skin...

Shortly after midnight I pushed the new LetsGoWings.com Forums template live. This updated includes updates across the board, from functionality to new features for some member groups. If you're experiencing any problems try refreshing/clearing your browser's cache. If you still experience issues please contact me via PM with your issue, a screenshot (if you can), and the browser type/version you're using. There'll likely be some minor tinkering as the template is put through its paces leading up to Thursday's game against the Lightning, so feel free to leave some feedback! (a quick note: the extra space up at the top in the white area is for the drop-down menu for the main portions of the site. since that is still a work in progress it's currently disabled, but the placeholder is there.)

I'd prefer to call it the "Winter Classic" version rather than the away jersey.

Thanks for the comments and feedback, everyone. Trust me, I'd love to do away with *all* of the ads, but it's simply not an option. The site maintenance costs (monthly hosting, upgrades, subscriptions, etc.) continue to steadily rise. Without them to offset those costs this community simply does not exist. I'm always trying to find ways to make the ads more effective individually so they can be less intrusive, but it's a delicate balance and doesn't always work. If you love this community as much as I do and want to see it continually grow you can contribute directly by becoming a 'Booster', which removes some of the ads and also gives you access to more site features (exclusive forums and chat features, among others). I pour as much of my free time as I can into making this place better for every visitor -- and I genuinely appreciate the feedback I get! Thank you!

Shortly after midnight I pushed the new LetsGoWings.com Forums template live. This updated includes updates across the board, from functionality to new features for some member groups. If you're experiencing any problems, try refreshing/clearing your browser's cache. If you still experience issues please contact me via PM with your issue, a screenshot (if you can) and the browser type/version you're using. There'll likely be some minor tinkering as the template is put through its paces leading up to Thursday's game against the Lightning, so feel free to leave some feedback.

February's featured players are Conn Smythe Trophy winners Henrik Zetterberg and Steve Yzerman: Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1680x1050 | 1440x900 | 1280x800 4:3 & 5:4: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 | 1024x768 Enjoy!

Fixed!

February's featured players are Conn Smythe Trophy winners Henrik Zetterberg and Steve Yzerman: Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1680x1050 | 1440x900 | 1280x800 4:3 & 5:4: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 | 1024x768 Enjoy!

Terrible because there's not a soul on the roster right now that can (or is willing) to clear out the front of the net? That's been systemic of the Red Wings' play of late and that certainly isn't Howard's fault. He hasn't been as electrifying as he was down the stretch last year, but the Red Wings' defense around the net has been abysmal so far this season.

^ This. It has no place in a workplace environment, especially with people that are part of management. Whether or not it was said to him directly or just "while he was in the room" doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with "growing a sack" or "that's hockey" or some other nonsense -- there's appropriate behavior and there's not. This isn't. This isn't a bar conversation amongst friends -- this is where you work and try to earn your living and you shouldn't be subjected to ridicule because of your race, religion or sexual orientation. It doesn't appear that he was getting litigation-happy at first glance either, just that little to nothing was done (outside "internal matter" suspensions) and that it needed to be made a larger issue so the problem gets solved, not just brushed under a rug and forgotten. I don't think it's "sad" that some people honestly think he needs to just "grow some balls" as the solution -- I think it's downright pathetic.

David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail reporting that Nabokov's agent, Don Meehan, has officially said his client will NOT report to the Islanders: http://twitter.com/#!/dshoalts/status/29017122822692864

He didn't say that *exactly*, he said he spoke with Ken Holland and that the team is moving forward under the assumption the Nabokov acquisition, as it pertains to the Wings acquiring him, is dead in the water. Who knows what happens with the reporting to the Islanders part. I read somewhere else that San Jose was one of the teams that also put in a claim, but I can't confirm that. It's highly likely that there are more teams that filed a claim on him outside of the Islanders and Detroit. @JSportsnet "Just checked..Nabokov doesn't report and NYI suspend for remainder of season...NHL position would be that he owes team a full season." http://twitter.com/#!/JSportsnet/status/29005142179184640 Wow. If that's true then it would appear that Nabokov had better report lest he be condemned to purgatory for another FULL year at $570,000 (if the Islanders opt to suspend him instead of waiving him again.)

Nabokov CANNOT be traded. The only chance the Wings have of getting him at this stage is if the Islanders waive him and every team that's lower in the standings passes on a waiver claim. Then Detroit can claim him. Other than that, this ship has sailed.

First Osgood, now this!

Agreed on virtually all of this. It seems to me that the most likely thing is that Osgood's surgery, despite Holland's quotes today, was more intensive than previously believed. (Besides, Holland needs to play his cards close to his vest until something happens if it does, because he can't just let it be known if Osgood's rehab period jeopardizes his season.) I would like to think Howard would rise to the challenge, and I ultimately think he would -- the Wings aren't about to pull the rug out from underneath a goaltender they have spent so long molding into a potential Vezina finalist. As I mentioned earlier, all of this is very, very intriguing.