esteef

True, which is what begs the question when so many others do. Strange indeed. BTW, what's your av about esteef

Wings - 6 Hawks - 0 Goals: Lilja, Lilja, Lilja, Lilja, Lilja, and Flip. BTW: Why is Koci in the lineup? Isn't he just a useless enforcer and the Hawks should be matching our speed and skill like all teams apparrently do? Hmmm... Cheers! esteef

I'm in SoCal (San Diego) and I saw on one of the newspaper sites here that NHL Network will launch here on Nov 1. If you're in San Diego and have digital cable, it will be on channel 333. Cross your fingers! esteef

If enforcers are so useless as you claim, why have there always been enforcers? I mean, if they don't stop or deter a damned thing from happening, why do GMs, owners, and coaches (who are all smarter than us at putting teams together by the way), always have them on their teams? By your rationale enforcers should've never existed in the first place, since they bring nothing to the table. esteef

Agree. 'LESS' is the key word here. Just because there are guys out there that will still cheap shot no matter what (TooToo, etc) doesn't discredit the notion that having tough guys onboard will decrease the overall number of cheap shots a team will face. Cheers! esteef

Interesting note: 3 of the 5 newest added fights on hockeyfights.com are Red Wings. Drake, Grigs and Cleary. wurd, esteef

Looks like Chrissy was in a kissing mood last night!

Can we count on your GDT prowess and wizardry this year as we have in the past? Enough to make other team's fans rejoice? I've been jonesin' for it since May! Cheers! esteef

Yikes! Then let the GDT Thread Contest BEGIN!!!!!

AMEN! Pronger's first *******! esteef

Agree. Worrell's not that great of a technical fighter IMO, but you have to be careful because he's still a big *****. Downey sure handled him nicely for his size. Cheers! esteef P.S. f*** this thread!!!

As it should be brotha! Cheers! esteef

Great discussion in this thread! (and without arguing I might addl) One point to consider is that couldn't a player like Downey help keep our Goals Against down to some degree as well? Much like what opposing teams use their ramrods for against Dats and Zetts lines? Forwards can't score if they keep having to pick themselves up off the ice, (like Detroit forwards in the playoffs). Could this not be an area where Downey's point total doesn't tell the whole story? Also, keep in mind that replacing point production doesn't exactly equal wins or Cups. It certainly helps though... my two cents... esteef

BTW, I've been gone a while, when did we get Sopel, Ference, Cullen, etc.? Cheers! esteef

If you mean his stupid comments to the media then yes. Avery merely uses the media to further his aggitation game. He'll make a ridiculous comment, then everyone for the next couple of games will try and go after him, and not concentrate on their gameplan. I've seen him do it time and time again in LA. It either draws a penalty for his team cause someone's going out of their way to get to him, his team scores because someone's out of position trying to give him a shot, or someone fights him. All of those scenarios work out for his team. I'm not saying he's the Wings answer to our second line scorer issue, I just don't really give too much credence to the crap he says in the media. He's working his game that's all. Plenty of sports figures make ridiculous comments in the media (hello Gary Sheffield), it's almost commonplace now. peace, esteef

C'mon man, that was BEFORE arbitration, of course they're going to knock him in order to hopefully save some money. Avery has been getting better and better IMO. He looked good in LA last year and continued to in NY. People just don't know it because nobody watches the LA games. All they see is what stupid comment he made in the press and make up their minds that he's no good because he's not "a top six forward". I'd take him in a heartbeat. When he's on the ice he's nothing but fast energy! But I digress... esteef

I'll take number three out of those picks but don't forget when Homer took the stick to the eye against the Sharks. Pretty nasty. esteef

No I don't. All year long I wasn't sold on this guy being hyped as the next Lidstrom. He's got a nice hit, but at what price? He's hurt all the damn time, doesn't really come through on the PP like everyone said he would (I remember for a while there he was noticeably not shooting on the PP and when he did it was weak), and he does make defensive mistakes (that end up being scoring chances for the opposition which is why I remember them so well), with or without his mask. But I agree, wearing the mask sucks. esteef

Here's everybody saying Kronwall's all awesome again, but toward the end of last season didn't he make a bunch of defensive gaffs and positioning blunders and everyone here was on his ass about it? Where are those people now? Kronwall has better speed and offensive ability but I think Markov is rougher, tougher and plays better defensively. peace, esteef

No s***! Kopecky kicked his ass, dealing him blows almost the entire fight. That other dude gets in a punch or two at the end then tries to act like he won or something with his hands all up in the air. What a dumbass. BTW, "stood his ground" in home-town broadcast lingo means "got beat up, but didn't drop." Win Kopecky. esteef

Probably not a bad move for the team, especially if he's cheap, but personally, I think he's a douchebag. esteef

Agree all the way around. I'm not sitting here with my fingers crossed hoping for Yashin, but for the right price and on the right team, he could end up being this year's Cleary, and at the very least, replace what we lost in Lang (if anything). Cheers! esteef

Exactly. Ideal vs. Reality. Holland is fine so far. Resigning Hasek, replacing Schneider and not getting taken for a ride on a player we don't really want. ...and people forget, bringing in Grigs is at least a replacement for Calder. Steady as she goes boys... esteef

Me too. But I wouldn't be offended if Holland brought Shanny back for this year. He'll stay in New York though... esteef