SouthernWingsFan

I'd love to see it happen with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom but it is very unrealistic to expect three guys, much less two, on one team alone to net 100+ points in a season. Especially when if you play on the Wings, the wealth is generally shared and your production typically goes down than your used to due to so many people being capable of putting the puck in the net. Selanne and Kariya did it with some consistency in Anaheim, Jagr and Lemieux in Pittsburgh off and on as well I think. Scoring/production is up generally speaking post-lockout, but it's not like it is happy-go-scoring out there every night. One might hit the 100 point mark if, but I'm not expecting all three to. As for Zetterberg, I expect 250 goals and 315 assists.

Breakestra - Take My Time

Not sure how this all fits in, but I highly doubt songs or music played kills the vibe of the playoffs or "jinxes" a team. Nothing to worry about or make a fuss over.

Can you explain further? If we're talking about the entire NHL, I'd say people might want him because they might think he possesses qualities exactly opposite of what you said. If you are talking about Red Wings fans wanting him, it's probably a combination of what I just expalined, Red Wings fans be default in general being absolute nutcases about goaltenders, and a bad assumption that just because Ryan Miller lived in Michigan all his life and played in college there, that he'd automatically want to play for the Red Wings.

Can't really argue with the points the columnist made up. For better or worse (and a message for the Captain Obvious base), fans will boo dislike players or because it might be the "hip" or "trendy" thing to do and you just want to go along with the crowd and be "cool". With the Fedorov booing, I got over it a long time ago. I understand why Wings fans might do it b/c of history or because it might be "cool" or whatever else, whether the reasons or justified or not. Let me ask this then, are Wings fans justified in booing Todd Bertuzzi or are they knuckleheads then? Yeah he left to Anaheim for more money, but if we don't even consider his "history" or that he's a fairly disliked player around the leauge and only consider his brief stint in Detroit that was short-lived, are Wings fans knuckleheads for booing him then? How about if you take everything else into consdieration then along with the brief stint? Is it justified then?

Happy b-day!

Two different types of players. Everybody goes through bad stretches of games and if Downey ever gets more than 10 - 15 points a season, that'll be a miracle in itself. Pretty silly comparison there.

Because he kinda looks like E.T.

Of all the times I pick to go on vacation, I do it to miss watching the season opener and raising of the Stanley Cup Banner on TV. Ah well, that's why God invented recording on VCR. Thank goodness Versus is a local channel where I am from and it's not like the pre-game hoopla won't be on the Internet anyways. Actually, where I will be in/around the Denver area for vacation, so it might be interesting to see another season opener live as the Avs opener is that night. I honestly don't really get into any rivalry aspect or don't really care one way or the other for the Avs so it'd be quite fun to possibly go. I like visiting new stadiums anyway. As for the outdoor game at Wrigley, I'd love to go but ugh would be too expensive and I'm already paying money to go on this vacation in Colorado.

I'm trying to get people to understand and consider things outside of "hockey only world". There are other things going on in sports outside of hockey. I get involved with people who slam ESPN b/c they act obnxious about it and think they aren't a real network or whatever else just because they don't broadcast the sport enough. Should they, being the "Total Sports Network"? Perhaps so, but they broadcast other sports, and they are trying to appeal to the masses of the American population. That mass of population probably doesn't have hockey from an overall perspective of 30 teams as the #1 sport on it's radar. Just like TSN or CBC probably not regularly broadcasting American football games or NBA games outside of the Toronto Raptors or Major League Soccer outside of the Toronto Club, because Canadians probably don't care as much about the NBA, American Football, or soccer. Does that make those networks "incomplete" then? Just because ESPN makes fun of the sport, doesn't cover it enough, or perhaps doesn't cover it right all the time doesn't make them the devil of the United States. The making fun of the sport isn't going to go away anytime soon, not just from ESPN, but from other sources as well. Why get so annoyed by it then when (1) you know that you like the sport and (2) the NHL isn't going away anytime soon? Let them have their fun in the sun making fun of the sport, whether it is justified or not, and just enjoy watching the sport that you love watching. You or I aren't going to change those media opinions anytime soon so why bother?

In that case then it isn't historical since they only wore it for one or two seasons if I'm not mistaken. For me personally, I'm indifferent on the whole changing of the jerseys thing for one day if they do it for the outdoor games. Don't care one way or the other. If they think it'll spruce up entertainment value or whatever else, knock yourself out. It's just going to be for one day.

It'd just be for 1 game, other Wings games are going to be broadcasted on NBC as well this season with normal jerseys which the average Joe might watch, even though the outdoor game might have more fans. I understand keeping "tradition", but it doesn't hurt trying something new every now and then. It's not the end of the world if they do have different jerseys for just 1 game and it isn't going to change diddly squat about either organization. They'll go back to their customary jerseys for every other game, if they make different ones for the outdoor event.

I can go with that, and this may be an apples to oranges comparison, but I can also say probably with some accuracy that a lot of people here (or on other hockey forums or people who just like hockey) are ignorant in thinking that masses of fans or sports media should just automatically like or understand or respect or just not make fun of hockey. You can pretty much replace soccer with hockey as well in that last sentence for Americans here who consider soccer their favorite sport and people make fun of soccer and call it boring when they might not respect or understand the skill of dribbling/keeping possession of the ball against many defenders, putting spin on a shot, etc. And on the flip side the people that make fun of soccer without fully understanding and respecting it as well are just as ignorant of the game. Also to stir the pot a little more, for those taking smart-allec jabs at ESPN because ZOIKES THEY HATE OR DON'T UNDERSTAND HOCKEY, but broadcast other sports or 'entertainment' events let me ask you this. CBC and TSN (I am assuming) broadcasts curling. I don't understand that sport much but am not going to make fun of it, but I can guarantee you people on here might make fun of it and the average Joe citizen down here probably will wandering how you play the sport or why it is even a sport at all. Does CBC and TSN get free passes for broadcasting a sport that people might hate or not understand (and perhaps even stuff erred on the side of 'sports entertainment') just because they broadcast hockey with regularity?

Unless a goalie intentionally wants to stink up the joint, nowadays you have to be really, really bad to have a 4.00 GAA.

I've never tried the Sopcast thingy before so I would be of no use helping out there. I did use NHL Center Ice Online last season without any special features to my laptop. If you are just going to be watching games from your monitor without any hook-ups to a projector or TV or whatever, you can watch 4 games all at once, with audio for only one game. Or, if you are just going to use it to watch primarily Wings games or one game at a time, you can enlarge it to one screen, or make the one game take up your entire screen. Honestly though, when I tuned into just one game, I didn't like it completely enlarged, seemed to be a little less quality on my laptop. However, I did have problems sometime to where the game play was bumpy for short stretches, until it eventually corrected itself. I don't know if it was my laptop or due to being on a wireless signal, but keep that in mind as well. Hope this helps!

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. On one hand, we experience Therrien just whine, and whine, and whine................in the Stanley Cup Finals to where it doesn't sound unfathomable and somewhat realistic that there might be some type of problem in the locker room. On the other hand, while Pittsburgh definitely had a very talented roster this past season, you don't get to the SCF by mistake. Sure, their talent and play had plenty to do with it, but you got to coach a team to the Finals as well. And before anybody discredits Therrien for perhaps not needing to do as much because Pittsburgh is/was so talented on the ice, we seem to have a coach (and for the record I do think Mike Babcock kicks a**) that has been fortunate to have some pretty talented roster in his three seasons in Detroit so far. Just sayin... Oh well, at least we'll see our fair share of the droopy-eyed sorry doggy face whenever Pittsburgh loses a game. I think Therrien's accent/voice is very comparable to that of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. BORK! BORK! BORK!

Doesn't every goaltender want to play for Detroit?!?!!?!? Especially goaltenders originally from the state of Michigan?!!?!?!!? Miller was destined to be a Wing damn it!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just a croc of s**t! *End obnoxious sarcasm* Like others, I am glad this happened. Not that I have anything against Ryan Miller, nothing against him whatsoever. Just glad the silly rumors of him coming here will stop and this will hopefully improve the odds somewhat of Jimmy Howard being the goalie of the future for the Wings in a few years.

Losing 80 pounds is quite impressive. Very impressive indeed. I'm liking how my ideas for diet/fit are working out right now for me personally. I don't come close to intentionally starving myself or intentionally skipping meals or anything like that during the week, but I rarely eat any big meals and I probably only eat fast food once or twice a month. I'll never count calories down to the decimal point, but I know I do not consume much if I'm having a normal/routine day during the week. So, most days during the week I either add a glass of wine or a bottle of beer to increase the calorie count a little bit. Over the weekends I'll typically either have one or two big meals. I'm finally over a recent flu bug so I was able to resume exercising. I doubt I'll have to do any big traveling with my job for a good while and I'm not on any vacation for a few months, so if I can stay on a routine I'll actually be in some decent shape in a few months. My planned workout routine now is roughly the following... 3 - 4 times a week of weightlifting 4 - 6 times a week of cardio...involves running outdoors a few miles each time, a spinning class once a week, and an outdoor bike ride once a week, depending on heat/humidity as it is starting to get in the baking heat period of the year down here. All is well with this so far as I weighed in right at 145 this morning, which is right at where I want to be and is fairly ideal for my height since I'm not that tall. As long as I don't go over 150 consistently, I'm a happy camper.

Aretha Franklin - Respect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6C83lwwxJ8

Neat little view on how this columnist thinks leadership is overrated, IF, the younger players do not tune into what the older/more experienced player has to say. http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/8351534...dership'-me

Well I've lived in a region where people play the race card on a fairly regular basis unfortuantely. Thankfully I have been fortunate to live in good settings in the area both when I was young and where I live now where I don't have to worry about it personally, but unfortuantely it is a huge problem down here still. In fact I just read in the local paper this morning how a black politician down here played the race card, for reasons that are not really needed to get into as it isn't relevant to the subject and thread. Also heard plenty of commentary regarding it this morning on local talk radio. And quite honestly, many people of BOTH RACES black and white are sick of this excuse and are ready to look past skin color or descent.

Yep, and recently he had Mr. Chris Osgood on! There is plenty I want to respond to in this thread, so I apologize a head of time if this post is long-winded. If you read the entire thing, I commend you. Syndey Crosby won an ESPY. Good for him, it's probably deserved as he is one of the best hockey players in the game right now. Now, if you question him getting the award strictly on him being injured for a chunk of the regular season, I can certainly understand that. As for the ESPY being a "joke", who cares? It is an individual recognition award, just not "official" like the Conn Smythe or Norris or Selke, etc. It might not be the official award for best NHL player, but it still doesn't take away from the fact that Crosby won it, he's one of the best players in the league, and that he is thought so highly of by plenty of people, whether it is talent or just popularity. He deserves it. Also, there was a smart-allec comment with fans voting in the ESPYS, if they voted in Crosby they must not watch hockey either. While I highly doubt this is fully accurate, if such a smart-allec comment is still somewhat in the ballpark, what does this tell you? There will probably be a few bogus votes in the poll (or any poll regarding anything for that matter), the NHL needs to promote more stars outside of Crosby and Ovechkin, you'll have a few die hard hockey fans that voted on ESPN who really did think Crosby was the best player, and you might have some more casual viewers of hockey trying to get more familiar with the sport and its players that voted, but Crosby is probably the first person/thing they identify when thinking of hockey. If you don't like him getting an ESPY because he is hyped up all the time, I'm sorry but that's a silly complaint to me. He is still one of the best players in the league, and for better or worse, is the current main face of the NHL in terms of marketing/advertising. That isn't Sydney Crosby's fault. If you want to lay blame for that put in on the NHL for not expanding a lot of it's marketing focus of players outside of Crosby and Ovechkin once again. If you are bitter because one of the better Red Wings weren't selected, or the Red Wings didn't win the best team award, move past it. Not everybody has to drool and be in awe all the time of the Red Wings or Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Lidstrom like some people do in here. This isn't the Red Wings ESPYS. Personally I would've picked the NY Giants because they were the lowest seed in the NFC playoffs, had to win all their playoff games on the road with what one probably considers not that strong of an offense, then had to beat a team that was undefeated all season, and they overcame all odds against them to win. However, I understand picking Boston because they had a terrible year the year before and the NBA Championship is more fresh in people's minds over the Super Bowl. One thing I will always be amused by and I will never understand in here is the overreactions towards ESPN because ZOMG THEY DON'T GIVE HOCKEY THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES AND THEY NEED TO COVER IT MORE! Despite this, they do watch and cover hockey even though the degree of coverage may disappoint people. I'm sorry, but I am never going to boycott ESPN like people do in here or think they are the Devil because ZOIKES THEY HATE HOCKEY! That's just silly. I rarely watch SportsCenter or ESPN talk shows in-depth unless they show highlights of my favorite teams, not because I don't like it, I honestly don't have any feelings towards ESPN one way or the other. But I still watch it for other things such as plenty of college football games, an infrequent NBA regular season basketball game, or the NBA playoffs. And to the Jim Rome bit...people whether they are on ESPN, Fox Sports, or other talk shows listened to by mass people in this country, will make fun of the sport. The making fun of the sport will not go away any time soon, nor will the game itself, so they will always have material. Why waste so much time getting so ticked off at people who make fun of the sport? Who cares about them, let them have their opinions whether they is justified/fair or not and just enjoy that YOU like the sport and like watching the sport. There is so much focus on negatives in here in regards to hockey and "respect" and "attention" and "media". Way too much time is spent on worrying what others think of the game. Not everybody is going to like the sport or appreciate it. You like it, I like it, why can't that be good enough?

I'd like to know who these "anti-enforcers" are on here. I certainly don't see any. I see members who highly value them, and I certainly respect that, and I see members that understand their importance but never once have said, "I am against enforcers" or "I hate enforcers" or some variety of that. I do not see any anti-enforcers or anti-fighters on here, only extreme pro-enforcer members that take the words of people who are fairly neutral on the subject out of context.

What excuse is he implying? I don't see it. And what is the excuse that every black person uses? Is it the same "excuse" that Ottawa gave him the starting job just because of his skin color like you said? That is bull, and you being racist about it. Hasek got injured, Emery took over the reigns and played well enough and Hasek couldn't get healthy to play (please for the sanity of this thread no goalie/Hasek/Emery drama). This has absolutely zero to do with skin color.

Isley Brothers - Get Into Something Great early '70s groove, one of their best fast songs. :carrot: :banana: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELt_0UJnZbg