SouthernWingsFan

I understand, but other than a total blizzard or thunderstorm, those are the worse conditions imaginable I think, at least for me. I rarely mind cold weather, but mix it with cold rain, and I am usually miserable. I'd rather it snow. I went to a football game recent where it was consistently around 40 with consistent wind and off/on rain. I wore sweatpants under my jeans, and I was still freezing my tail off.

Not worried at all about him, still too early in the season to be throwing up alert flags about goaltending or the defense when it is an 80+ game season.

Way too early to tell.....

I could use this Public Service Annoucement at my job considering I'm often a pain in the a** to others and get beat up for it.

Nah, I doubt it'll go away anytime soon, nor do I want it to and it shouldn't go away. I think the overall concepts of physicality/fighting/toughness/enforcement are seriously overblown in here at times and it is stuff I tend to avoid discussing since it's been talked about a bajillion times in here and you have overly extreme points of view on the subject by some, but pretty much like everybody else I like a good one-on-one scrap on the ice. I get just as excited though about a highlight reel goal (see recent Datsyuk/Hossa goals), an acrobatic save, grinding work around the corners, etc.

Yep. Fair or not, the lower-tiered defensemen in the Wings organization new the situation, one of them would be released or traded in all likelihood if they didn't perform on the ice or fit into the system. I like Quincey, think he's a cool dude, I hang out and have a few beers with him any day of the week. I don't get the benefit of watching preseason games but if he didn't step up enough in preseason, it's his fault for not playing better than Meech or Lebda or Lilja. As for Lebda, he's been underwhelming so far obviously, but there's plenty to go in the season to turn his game around.

He usually doesn't deserved to get ragged on a majority of the time down here. He's far from my favorite but for just over $1M a year it's a safe bet that he's capable for around 40-45 points a year, and hopefully is counted on for the playoffs. I'm not going to get into the ZOMG HE SHOOTS TOO MUCH or ZOMG WHY IS HE ON THE POINT ON THE POWER PLAY ALL THE TIME?!?!!?!? bit because people beat this to death with 2x4's about 54 times a week. I'm not worried about that, it is what it is and if he weren't defensively responsible as a forward, he would've been yanked of the power play point a long time ago. Even though in the end he produces enough on the stat sheet given his salary, the inconsistent nature of how he does it I think contributes to people not liking him as much as well. He's incredibly streaky in terms of scoring or putting up points as well. With all that being said, the Wings could do a lot worse than him and given his salary, he contributes on the stat sheet etc.

No. And after having to house sit a dogs a few weekends ago when one of them would just not calm the floop down ever, and with my next door neighbor's dog almost always peeing and digging in my frontyard garden, I don't want a dog, even if they are cute. If I have to clean up after somebody and teach them what to do/not to do, I'd rather it be my future son or daughter whenever that may be. The person below me has pied somebody in the face for comedic value before.

Michael Jackson - Pretty Young Thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLgRjEC6VGg Why Michael, why did you turn into a psycho? You were just so damned good back then. This was one of your many great songs back in the day. Why'd did you go nutty?

No, but I pick at my fingers a lot. The person below me is scared of the birds and/or the bees.

Didn't really catch much of the 1st two games, fell asleep watching game 3 and hockey last night. I've been tuning into game 4 currently off/on tonight while doing some personal stuff/research on my laptop the past few hours.

If that is the scenario that happens that you outlined, I hope they would pick in Penn State first, even though I am a big fan of a school that plays in the SEC. Florida/Georgia could be the one-loss teams that could floop up this situation, assuming they win the SEC Championship. Florida's loss is to an average Ole Miss team, Georgia to a good Alabama team, so you'd think Georgia would have the 1-up in that regards. With my school being in a non-BCS conference and them doing pretty well for themselves right now, I'm intrigued by the non-BCS schools trying to crack in. I think it is a good bet that 1 of them gets in. 2 would be a major stretch, although there is some possiblity that it might happen. The teams... Ball State and Tulsa are still undefeated and could definitely run the table, but I don't know if they have the schedule to catch up in the standings. One of TCU and Utah will be out of the BCS race in about two weeks as both have to play each other. TCU, even with 1 loss, could easily make it if they run the table and beat Utah at their turf. Their only loss is to Oklahoma, they beat BYU when they were a top-10 team and they've pretty much taken care of business outside that. If they beat top-10 Utah and the rest of their games, it'll be hard not to include them. If Utah wins out, they are in, no questions asked I think. Boise State is still undefeated and they have a favorable schedule to win out. Do you pick them though over either an undefeated Utah team or even 1-loss TCU if they can beat Utah, since that'll be two wins over top-10 teams and the only loss coming to a top-5 team?

Why not? I know nobody likes him in here but if he thinks he has some gas left in the tank, give it a go regardless of who tells you otherwise or who tries to stop you.

So you're a tree-hugger then? Sorry, just messing, and not doing a good job of it... Negative. The person below me has stuck their hand in a toaster before, burning/not burning.

A bit high of a hit, but nowhere near "dirty" or "cheap". I feel bad for the 'Cane that got decked but you need to keep your head up.

Yeah, not too smart of an idea there. Guess the fan thought Halloween was a bit early? *shrugs*

6-1-1, while you can certainly find parts of that winning record that might need tuning, top-line combos won't be one of them. Lines are inevitably going to change at times during a season whether it be to injuries and/or struggling to produce, for any team and it'll happen for the Wings as well. I didn't see the game last night so I cannot accurately comment on the play of the Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa line, but I saw Friday's game and they played pretty nuts, and even though it took Hossa few games to get his first goal, it wasn't without plenty of chances and it wasn't like he was invicible out there before starting to put points on the board. It comes down to producing and being 6-1-1. I wouldn't complain much of a Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom combo again if/when it happens, but nothing needs to be drastically tweaked with right now.

Nope. Unless shooting projectiles with rubber bands every now and then counts, then no. The person below me has hugged a tree before. *shrugs*

I wasn't wandering those things, but I am now. Sometimes, it isn't so silly to play without pants/stockings/legwear, depending on the "activity". Use your imagination. The person below me has accidentally fallen in-between the springs when jumping on a trampoline before, causing great pain and funny embarassment.

Nope. Summer. Hurricane season. A few recent birthdays when I have evacuated from hurricanes... *gets off personal drama queen soapbox* The person below me watching Beavis and Butt-Head when they were popular and was not afraid to admit it back then.

I'm not throwing Quincey's playoff run out the window a few seasons ago, but it's pretty evident that it's becoming a distant memory. All the lower-tiered defensemen knew the game plan for the Wings this preseason/early season. One of them would be traded or not on the roster if they didn't perform in the given time period, due to the salary cap. Fair or not, that was the guideline. I don't get to see preseason games not living in the immediate Detroit area, but if Quincey was traded, it's probably a good bet he didn't perform at the highest level over Lebda, Meech et al when asked to given the time frame. I'm indifferent on Lebda, and we haven't seen enough of Meech yet I think to say he deserves time over any other lower-tiered defensemen on the Wings. I think you are jumping the gun though on Quincey being better than these two, when he hasn't even had a lengthy season of full playing time, much less half a season as a full-time defensemen on the NHL.

Most of the defense hasn't been too hot lately even though our record has been pretty good. Why the original poster chose to focus on Rafalski first, I don't know, but that was his call. It is a legitimate, non-panic, non-spoiled thread/topic. And the original poster also gave fair credit where it was due, saying that Rafalski has upped his game in other important aspects outside of maybe not-so-great defense. I'm not one to over-analyze when things are going really good or really bad, but some of you really need to loosen your wires towards the original poster. It wasn't an obnoxious over-reaction thread, it was a trade *player* name thread because he sucks without any reasoning why he sucks, it wasn't a tiresome goalie or enforcer thread, it wasn't the weekly LGW whipping boy Samuelsson/Lilja thread that everybody is sick of. I can't stand panic/spoiled threads just like any one of you in here, but the don't ever be critical policemen and policewomen in here are just as annoying when it is a civil and legitimate thread. The original poster did not deserve to be treated like he did by some of the responses in here.

In terms of the 1-goal victories/losses, probably nothing to get bent out of shape about. I'm probably being too simplistic, but everybody wins/loses by a goal in a season. I just don't think it is a good indicator in terms of "worry" or measuring progress of a team. Stuff like goals for vs. against, W/L/T in your last 10 games, PP, PK are better indicators I think.

Nope, cause I live a good ways away from Michigan. I'll probably watch it though if that counts. The person below me has stuck their tongue out today to make fun of somebody. *shrugs*