SouthernWingsFan

Bah. I quit in this thread. You guys win.

I highly doubt that. You are playing the race card just as bad as the journalist here.

That is why I said expectations should be set given your roster makeup, how you have done in the recent past, etc. And for a team coming of the Stanley Cup and in all likelihood looking better on paper next season, the Cup again is a realistic goal, I get it and they should strive for it obviously. But you still cannot win every year and dents will sometimes prevent you from winning the Cup or a championship both within a team's control and factors outside of their control. They can control their effort and the like. They cannot control injuries or fluke bounces for goals or phantom interference goals against them. Again I'm not saying do not strive to win it all, but it might not actually happen and it is necessary in a business or a team to set other benchmarks to accomplish as well before that ultimate prize. If too much stuff out of their control happens to prevent them from winning the Cup and they still bust their a**es and give a 100% effort to try to win the Cup in spite of those things, I won't be really that disappointed. All I want is an honest 100% effort and hopefully that will lead to a Cup, and the odds of that happening with this team are better than the other 29.

That's a bit better. These past two years, this team has not been soft. Again, consistently busting their butts skating hard, fighting for pucks in the corners, not being afraid to take hits and even dish a few hits out themselves. That isn't soft, and this team isn't soft. Softness is just not limited to 6'4"+ goons and enforcers and throwing fists like you are in a barfight, or lackthereof of those things in this instance. Like I said in one of my last posts that I re-edited to be a bit nicer and civil, I have absolutely zero problem with your notion of liking enforcers and fighting over a lot of other things involved in the sport. Blasting fellow fans and an entire fan base though for not seeing your limited view of being soft though, I'm going to get on you for though. It is annoying as hell to see people in here who really, REALLY like fighting twist the words of those who might also like it but to a lesser degree and say we are absolutely against enforcers or fighters just because we do not place as heavy of an emphasis on them, whether it is for the better of a team or just entertainment value. Enforcers are definitely fun to have, and I highly doubt anybody is saying they absolutely or a nuisance or hurt the team. I like them and I like a good fight on the ice every now and then. You are just twisting people's thoughts who aren't on your extreme side about it way out of context.

Again, you apparently must think different overall of the majority of the past 2 seasons. Just because you do not have an enforcer-type in your lineup doesn't automatically mean that you are a soft team. Sorry but your level of thinking regarding this is pretty ridiculous. Did anybody say you were stupid for being a fighting proponent? Now you are just exaggerating and possibly pouting just because you don't have that many people on your side in regards to NO ENFORCER = SOFT BY DEFAULT line of thinking. It is not hard to figure out. I highly doubt people in here are against fighting. People like a good scrap. And, as hard as a pill it may be for you to swallow, people here do understand the value of an enforcer and think they are necessary as backup, just like what you said. Your thinking though of NO ENFORCER = SOFT BY DEFAULT is warped, and not in a good way.

Nope, you're last if you're 5th in the division, 15th in the conference, or 30th in the entire league.

There's more to the game than fighting and enforcers. And this team is not soft and the fans here are not *******. Have you not watched the last 2 years, or at least the last 1 3/4 years? The Red Wings have a coach that has a team bust their rears by going to the net, working hard in the corners, not necessarily constantly dishing out hits or punishment but certainly not backing away or cowering from it as well, regular season or playoffs. That isn't soft. Just because you don't have a bona-fide "fighter" or "enforcer" always sticking up for your team doesn't mean the team is soft. And don't even think about coming back at me that I must hate fighting or things like that. That is further from the truth. I just don't think it is oh so important or the #1/only entertainment value. There are other parts of hockey that are important and other parts of the game that entertain me equally. Sure you can win and fight at the same time, but just because you do not always drop gloves and throw hands with people doesn't mean you are soft. This is not that difficult to figure out. I realize you like fighting and so forth and I like/respect that you think such highly of it. I'll never chew your case or anybody else's case out for such a thing. What I will give you crap for is thinking that other fans suck for not thinking this way or that this should be the ultimate way to play the game. That isn't right.

I know it is, but you can't always win the Cup, I don't care if you are Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, Phoenix, or District-5. People here think that you have to win the Cup every year or you are inferior or you just flat out stink for whatever reason. That's not realistic. I'm not going to cry and throw a temper tantrum like a 4-year old though if the Wings lose fair and square giving an honest effort in the CF or SCF.

I don't like the season is a complete waste if you don't win the Cup mentality. Do you want to win the Cup every year? Of course, I'm not denying that. However, it is about setting realistic goals given various factors such as your roster, how you finished the year before, injuries throughout the season, and so forth. It is impossible to win the Cup every year. What about a team like Columbus, for example, who never made the playoffs? Sure they'd like to win a Cup obviously, but more realistic benchmarks might be either making the playoffs or advancing to the 2nd round or something. Ultimate goal accomplished winning the Cup? No. But that doesn't make their season a total bust or failure. Not even close. How about Chicago? They certainly improved last year, they got better in the offseason I think, they look to have a pretty competitive roster, but they haven't made the playoffs in a while. Is the season a failure if they just make a the playoffs or make a good playoff run but get smoked in the conference finals 4-0 or 4-1? Now, in the Red Wings case this upcoming season? It depends. If they are able to stay fairly healthy, there's no reason with the assumed roster that they should at worst be in the conference finals as long as they play their game and take opponents seriously as everybody plays harder against a defending champion. Anything below the conference finals and I think the season would be a waste. If they just get steamrolled in the conference or Cup Finals if they make it that far and are not competitive, yes I think the season would be a waste. If the series just goes 6 or 7 games and the Wings and other team just slugging it out and the Wings go down competitively, no I don't think the season will be a total bust. It's about setting realistic goals and if you lost, putting things in perspective in terms of effort, manpower (or lack thereof), how the other team(s) performed, and so forth.

What does it matter anyway? It's absolutely both hilarious and annoying how some members here seem to get a ridiculous high on being a member of the LGW Spelling Police. This is a sports forum. This isn't work, this isn't school. There's no spelling tests in here. If I wanted nagging on grammar, I'd want it from my boss for writing a bad formal e-mail or bid proposal, or I'd go back to 1st grade. As long as people DON'T ALWAYS TYPE IN ALL CAPS LIKE this or make 5-line paragraphs in all lowercase and their post is easy to read and understand, I think we can let a spelling error or two (maybe even three? ) slide.

Is racism a problem overall in this and other countries? Yes. But that is for the political discussion thread. While there aren't many African NHL professionals obviously, I haven't heard of racism being a problem among the few blacks that have been in the NHL since I've been watching the game in the mid-90s. The race card in Emery's case is bogus I think. It has very little/nothing to do with race. I don't care if you are white, black, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, orange, yellow, or whatever else. Plenty of guys regardless of race can and have had lazy work ethics or bad attitudes before.

Beautiful.

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/10898588 http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/10898588/2

I guess Jason Williams name on the SC in 2002 for playing 9 games in the playoffs but none in the finals (and not enough in the regular season) just magically appeared then. Good that they are making this gesture. Meech played a very important part of keeping the defense honest and respectable with more responsibility/playing time when there were all these injuries in February.

No fricken lie. I thought we got past this during the season. Enforcers have a decent role on any hockey team. Maybe not so much in playoffs, but in regular season. Enforcers do not prevent cheap shots from happening. Enforcers answer cheap shots accordingly, but they will still happe at some point in time in the same game, or future games (see Vancouver-Colorado drama years ago, etc.). Just because the Wings might not have a true enforcer doesn't mean the Wings are the wussiest or softest team in the league or are not "tough". There are different forms of "toughness" in hockey which the Wings have showed the past two seasons and postseasons. While I like fights, there is more to the game than just ZOMG A FIGHT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!! Pretty simple stuff people...and no I'm not going to choose a side/extreme here.

What else can we do than just go by his words right now? There's no hockey to be played for a few months, it's the offseason. What else do you want Emery to do right now? Sing that he's learned from his mistakes? Whether he's true to his words and he's going to try to change his ways in a different country to either play in Russia for good or eventually come back to the NHL remains to be seen, but he's started in the right direction. He has a long ways to go obviously, but owning up to your mistakes and admitting you played a pretty large role in a negative fiasco is the first step to turning it around. If he's able to change like he wants to for the better, more power to him, and I'm hoping it happens for Emery.

True as well, but again, if Winnipeg re-located south to Phoenix, Quebec located south to Denver, and Hartford located south to Raleigh, three former NHL-franchise cities which I think is a safe bet that hockey is more popular overall than the latter three that they relocated to, what does that tell you? It isn't just a case that a city automatically deserves an NHL franchise because it's more north/cold and people "like" hockey. Nor it is a case of teams south of the Mason Dixon line perhaps making the NHL look "silly" (no I don't think the NHL is silly). You need a decent population base as well as economic support from big businesses. If the owners of those franchises didn't re-locate to more southern cities because they though they wouldn't get enough of both corporate support and public/fan support, they wouldn't have moved to more southern locations where ZOMG HOCKEY IS LESS POPULAR THAN NASCAR (*end sarcasm*) to begin with.

Missy Elliott - One Minute Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjjEdJbek9I

I thought the same thing with Clemens in/out retirement, I'm saying the same thing with Forseberg trying to come back from injury for the countlessth time, I'm saying the same thing with Favre... Who am I to tell an individual to just quit his or her career or doing the thing that he/she loves for a living? If Favre thinks he still has gas left in the tank, more power to him if he does come out of retirement and can still work and perform at a level he's comfortable with. It'd be cool to see that happen I think. In terms with Aaron Rodgers, sure I'd think he'd like to start. It cannot be personal though or he cannot go apes**t on the Packers or Brett Favre if he returns to the Packers. Aaron Rogers has to worry about Aaron Rogers. For the Packers organization, I understand their latest stance (I am assuming) in saying that Rodgers is the starter. It is business, not personal with an icon. If I were a major part of managment, I'd definitely welcome Favre back, but he has to compete to get his #1 job back, not have it handed to him.

Here's how I see things, and this is just one imbecile's opinion here (which is probably a good thing ). Assuming Drake retires, and both McCarty and Downey are re-signed, and Hartigan finding a better opportunity with another team... Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Homer Franzen-Flipper-Hossa Cleary-Draper-Maltby Hudler-?????-Samuelsson That leaves the final spot for Kopecky, Helm, Downey, and McCarty. If there is a game against a "physical" or "goon" team, Downey or McCarty might get the nod. I think it is a safe bet though that Kopecky and Helm bring more overall to the table at their careers than Downey/McCarty at their careers. The final spot depends largely on Kopecky's health and waivers I think. Can Helm go back down to Grand Rapids without having to worry about clearing waivers? If this is the case, then it might make sense for him to play every night in GR than play off and on with the Wings, even though we all know how damed good of an impression he made in the playoffs. I am assuming Kopecky is out of waiver options? If Kopecky is around 100% during training camp/pre-season, I think it's just too close to call on whether he or Helm grabs the final spot. I think we all have an idea though that ACL injuries are extremely hard to come back from and play like your old self. We saw Fischer be inconsistent in 2003-04 after tearing his ACL, the same thing with Derian Hatcher the same year with his stint with the Red Wings. I also blew out my ACL and MCL years and years ago playing pickup basketball and even after successful reconstructive surgery over 4 years ago, I don't do any contact sports and my knee won't ever feel like it was healthy/100% before the tear, even though I'm the last thing from a professional athlete. I'd love to see Kopecky get back healthy and try to be a regular again and I think the overall negative attitude towards him in here is overblown, but he's got the odds against him if he doesn't get close to fully healthy and Helm brings an encore performance after being solid in the playoffs.

Definitely not the route I would've taken. But that's largely because I don't really get into the "rivalry" game and don't really have any feelings one way or the other towards the Avalanche.

My bad on Chicago, thought it wasn't on there. I think perhaps the writer might have also considered things such as quality of life outside of the sports teams as well. How many cities though did this source list? 5 - 6 only? Whatever the number, I know it wasn't much. There are hundreds and hundreds of cities in this country so that means there were a boatload of cities left out, so it is nothing to get too upset or judgemental over as plenty of great sports cities were left out, with the factor I just explained being a major emphasis. For me personally, I conisdered things such as total number of professional franchises along with what I thought were large enough population metro bases, but it was an unscientific finding without sources obviously, so..... *shrugs*

Seriously though, people might not like what I am going to say here but I'm going to go against the popular opinion here. He knows his body better than me, any LGW member on here, or anybody else. Sure a part of me is telling him to give it up because he's been injured so much. However, once again he knows his body better than anyone and who am I, or who is anybody on here, to tell somebody to quit doing the job or career that he or she loves, is that person wants to keep trying to prolong it for as long as possible? On the business side of this, if this keeps going on after this season Avalanche management might have to consider just pulling the plug on Forsberg since he just cannot get healthy on a consistent basis. But, if he can get through this stuff and play at the competitive level that he was used to years and years ago and that made him one of the most dominant players in the NHL, more power to him, it would be kinda a cool "comeback" story, doesn't matter if he plays for a "rival" or "hated" team of our beloved Red Wings.

Part of a three-part blurb, the three parts being un-related to each other. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ex.html?eref=T1

I drink skim milk, but honestly I don't feel any difference in how skim milk tastes compared to 1%/2% etc. I'm just damned glad that I'm finally better. I was sick for about a week not really improving until this weekend and today was the first day I woke up without feeling just obnoxiously nauseated or with headaches or a numbing sore throat. Thankfully I was able to eat for the most part during the time or I would've worried my weight would've really gone done, but I probably only lost about 2-3 consistent pounds to just over 145. So, maybe being sick maybe helped my weight some b/c I want to consistently get down to 145, but I don't want to wose weight like that though. Tomorrow will start the beginning of finally getting back to plenty of cardio work with weightlifting mixed in, hopefully 4-5 times a week.