Hairy Lime

I hope Bert AND Tootoo are both in tonight. This team needs a show of force! I mean, why would Sammy possibly be put back in the line-up tonight? His signing was a mistake, it's time to admit that and move on.

Another St. Louis Blues player ... that helped us win 3 Stanley Cups... Lets not get carried away. However you feel about this situation, Shanny will always be a Red Wing.

Yeah, but he was also one of the few Wings that actually hit, which in this case, got him in trouble. And If Tootoo sits again tomorrow, the physical play will remain lopsided. I mean, despite what a some of the younger Red Wings fans may believe, there actually isn't a special, long-standing rule in place that says Detroit forwards are not allowed to body-check, though this suspension to Abdelkader will do nothing to dispel this myth.

Love him or hate him, Crosby is the best *offensive* player in the world.

So Bert is not playing again? Is he healthy or not? If he's healthy, get him in there. He should have played in game 1, then he would have been better up to game-speed for game two. That "winning line-up" line is a bunch of ignorant, superstitious BS. So unless Babs is going to sit him for the entire playoffs, he should play tonight. It's now or never. Sit Eaves or Emmerton.

Based on the lack of desperation in their play, I don't think the Detroit players realizes that they are in a race. Either that, or they just aren't a playoff team, which just might be the case.

Yeah, but a rusty Bert is still a better option than Eaves. If Todd thinks he can go, sit Eaves' ass down!

We're close enough in the standings that when it's all said and done, this St. Louis loss may help us. But for right now, yeah, our only concern is staying ahead of Columbus and Dallas.

Like I said, after Babs' 1st year. McCarty was gone, but did return for a short time and in a limited role late in the Cup-winning season, and Draper was never a very physical player. He hit occasionally, but I would hesitate call him physical. Maltby became a fairly soft player in the waning years of his career, and VERY rarely fought throughout his career. But it is was it is. At least Chicago helped us out a little today.

Yeah, one, and we won the Cup that season. Coincidence? But seriously, name one team that Detroit has had a heated rivalry with since Bowman's departure. Most physical games have been one-sided. I think there was even a players poll a few years back that voted Detroit as the "least hated" team. That's not surprising. Since year 2 of the Babcock/Holland regime, Detroit has routinely had the least physical crop of forwards in the NHL. Outside of Helm (injured), Drake (retired) and Tootoo (inexplicable a healthy scratch against some of the more physical teams?), Detroit has not had many consistently physical forwards. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. But I'm not going to argue about it. It will get us nowhere. Right now, I'm just hoping Detroit will make the playoffs...

Yeah, it's a good, physical game. THIS is hockey! Not the candy-ass tiptoe through the tulips game The Red Wings play on most nights. Rivalries are what make hockey; unfortunately, The Red Wings have no rivalries anymore, mostly because they do not engage in physical play due to the Charmin soft teams Ken Holland has assembled since Bowman's retirement.

I don't even try to figure out why Babs does what Babs does anymore; it makes my head hurt. But the kool-aid drinkers say he's "the best coach in hockey", so who are we no-nothings to question his infinite wisdom.

Oh, come on. Fans are allowed to be critical, especially if it's justified. If someone says that they "hate" this *team*(I don't mind if somebody says they hate a certain player - Emmerton, Quincey, etc), or that they are not going to watch this team until they put a Stanley Cup contender on the ice, then you can question their loyalty. But if someone calls out a player for playing like *bleep* or the coach for making an irrational decision, well, every other sports teams' fans in America, and the World, do that. Me, I have NEVER been a fan of either Mike Babcock or Kenny Holland, from day 1, actually, and consider them to be two of the most overrated people in sports, and consider some of the fans who blindly defend them no matter what, to be kool-aid drinkers, but I have never not rooted for my Wings. Basically, people are entitled to their opinions, right or wrong. As long as you are not rooting AGAINST The Wings, I have no problem. Anyways, I cheer for the Red Wings because, growing up in Michigan, they are the team I grew up watching and have always rooted for, even through the "bad" years. GO BRUISE BROS.!!!

I read that Tomas Kopecky could be on the move. Is Holland on the phone with Florida right now? I'm sorry, I shouldn't even joke about this. Oh my god ... no, Kenny wouldn't ... would he??? I'm scared....

April Fools was a few days ago.

Clowe to the Rangers? Looks like it's almost a done deal.

I'm surprised there are so many people here down on Bouwmeester. He's better than all of our defensemen save Kronwall. The guy has never been on a good team. He would have fit in well here, and really helped the PP. Oh well, another miss. Nothing new.

No, they will also have a chance to suck it up tomorrow against Colorado.

What? How do we not at the very least get Claude Giroux for a prize like Huskins! Get Ray Shero over here!!

Well, it did kinda help that he was FROM Michigan. If he wasn't, I'm too sure he signs here. But who knows... Good signing nonetheless.

Iginla? Ah, who cares, Samuelsson is practicing ... and eventually he WILL return - take that, Pittsburgh! And Bert, lets not forget him. Pittsburgh gets two aging, beat-up forwards? Yeah, we can match that...

Watch out; giving props to any team or GM other than The Red Wings or Ken "I wish Bowman was still here" Holland is strictly forbidden in Red Wings nation...

I'm rolling over on the floor as I type this, so forgive me if I misspell any words...

Well, it looks like it's all or nothing for Pittsburgh. I believe I called this one. Man, I hope the Wings get some name that no one thought was available, because I'm not all that interested with any of the known names available. I thought Iginla and Morrow might have been nice additions, but I'm not all that broken up by not getting them. Pittsburgh is scary THIS year, but what of their future? Like I said, it's all or nothing, and you can't win big if you don't gamble...

Iginla next? Oh well, we'll show them with our huge Mikael Samulsson acquisition. And we got the inside track on this deal!