SouthernWingsFan

It wouldn't kill me if the following people were not with the Wings next year, my feelings are neutral for all of these guys... Lilja Maltby Lang Samuelsson I'm assuming though that Lilja and Samuelsson have one year left on both of their contracts next season, so for better/worse they are staying. Some people I'd like for the Wings to resign are Markov and, if Holland can do it at a reasonable price, Datsyuk (please for the health of the forums, let's not go down this path). As for the 'tending, I'm surprised Hasek's groin hasn't bucked the kicket yet (knock on wood). If he can maintain his physical health, I don't have a whole lot of doubts that he can still be one of the better goalies in the league, even being over the hill. I'd like to see Osgood in a starting role again next season with Howard as backup, but if Hasek comes back healthy for one last hurrah, you won't hear much complaints from me.

No, they aren't.

Another early playoff exit? Glad to see the high level of optimism in here.

I just don't get pissed off or irked at a lot of things that other people get ticked about in here and I'm willing to be patient. Besides, we aren't going to control what the coaches do/don't do and we're not going to have any influence on Babcock's decision making now or in the future, so why waste the effort of losing your hair at an early age then?

I create a teepee, dress up like an Indian, and meditate with steam and herbs for wins....or something like that. No playoff traditions for me. I can grow facial hair insanely fast, if I don't shave for like 3 or 4 days I have a full-grown beard, so I grew a goatee for last year's playoffs, but I like to be clean shaven and it's a pain in the butt to trim/keep up with, so nothing for me.

Samuelsson isn't useless, but he can be utterly frustrating. He doesn't do anything just completely horrible in my mind, but unless he's on a hot streak, he's just kinda 'there' in the game. It's a catch-22, a lot of his shots are wasted efforts, but you never know when it will yield a goofy rebound/wicked bounce off the boards. I'm not going to throw a temper tantrum if he's favored over Rex or Flipper in terms of the last guy being scratched (if everybody is healthy), but I'd like to see Rex/Flipper out there first. I like how Babcock is constantly on Hudler's rear, pushing him even when he does well because I think he knows that Hudler can be one helluva player for years to come if he keeps working hard, but I think Rex has earned his shot for more playing time (whenever everybody is healthy).

The theme should be... "Score More Goals than the Other Team" Or if you want to get serious about themes for the Wings, how about..."Win 16 for 16" (would've worked in '99 or '00).

Indifferent on Schneider. If he wasn't so critical on power plays/joing rushes etc., I'd say let him sign elsewhere, because he makes some bad defensive gaffes at times.

Not a knock against Osgood as I have a soft spot for him, but do you realize what you are saying? Hasek has been far from streaky/mediocore, and to consider playing Osgood over Hasek in the playoffs when both are healthy, unless Hasek for some reason just falls off the center of the universe, is beyond ridiculous.

Well, I stand corrected to an extent after watching the replays one more time and getting grilled for being one of the only one's taking up for Niminnen on this sole instance in this thread. Ville could've let up a bit prior to the hit/not thrown the elbow or hit him a bit lower in the middle back area, but on the devil's advocate side, I still stand by my opinion that we've seen much worse hits as well in the past. 1-2 game suspension is probably the right amount of justice.

It doesn't matter to me who they play, in all honesty. If I had a preference, Colorado, but if they get in they'd already be playing around the top of their game fighting to get into the playoffs already, even with their defense/goaltending being suspectible. It's basically like pick-your-poison for any team in the Western Conference playoffs this season.

Again, winning the division and placing 1st/2nd would be nice, but we have to quit fretting about what Nashville does/doesn't do and let the Wings worry about themselves. It's not really going to matter where they place because any first round matchup for all eight teams will be very, very difficult. It's an extremely wide open gate for the conference this year, no one team is going to have a walk in the park. The importance of standings and the like go like this for me... (1) Wings are as healthy as possible going into the playoffs (2) Wings have some good momentum going into the playoffs, which there is a good chance of happening I think with Chicago/Columbus on schedule (with no disrespect to them) and the Wings probably breaking out of their funk soon, IMO (3) Winning the division, due to the conference playoffs chase being so wide open

Fair/unfair, intentional/unintentional, a player has to be in control of his stick at all times. You hit somebody intentionally/unintentionally in the face and the ref sees it, it's a 2-minute minor. If the ref sees that the guy is cut, it's going to be a 4-minute double minor. That's the rule in all instances, simple as that. Bertuzzi accidentally clipping the guy today isn't exempt from the rule.

Hits from behind can certainly be clean. He was kicked out of the game b/c of the after effect IMO. If Lebda didn't get injured, probably would've just been a minor penalty me thinks.

You'd definitely be one funny-looking guy, if you were one. Although I'm pretty funny looking, and I am a guy! Anyways, I will never boo Fedorov after all he's done for the Wings. The people who don't boo for their own personal entertainment and s**ts and giggles and do it because they might not like him, they need to get over it I think, it's been a good amount of time since he's been with the Wings, it is time to move on. These are the ones that really need to get over it the most. However, I understand why he might get jeered and know it won't stop soon, so why get irked over it. That's my whole mentality on the thing. I'm over it, but I stil expect it to happen and don't pull my hair out becaause of it. Just think of it this way, it could be a respect thing as well, because of all Fedorov has done for the Wings.

Game misconduct b/c of the unfortuante result. Would get no more than a game suspension, if any IMO. Lidstrom could've done the same thing, yes, but you are comparing to completely different playing styles. Lidstrom doesn't play as much of a grinding/physical game, whilel Niminnen does, so that argument is moot in my mind. Clean

Sorry, but I gotta go with the Blues fans on this one then. I don't like Ville but it was a good, and fair, check.

Please use caps (when necessary) and spacing between sentences, much easier to read. And the refs didn't cost the Wings the game here. Sucks that Cleary scored after the whistle in the 1st, but what can you do, gotta freeze the puck and it's a judgment call for the refs. Weight's attempt was in, plain and simple. And I'm sorry, as much as I wanted them to reverse Cleary's attempt, I couldn't see the puck past the line, the refs couldn't see it after reviewing it for about 10 minutes, hence no reversal on the call. I've seen many worse-officiated games, like in Vancouver recently.

It was definitely from behind, but it's not like Ville was charging at him or anything like that. Believe me I don't like the guy, but he didn't do anything deliberate to injure him, Lebda was just in a bad spot. 1 game suspension seems justifiable, but the refs did the right thing giving him a 5:00 major and the like. I don't think much more action will be taken.

Wow, that was an entertaining game to say the least. It's a shame either team had to lose this games because the Blues played well for most of the game and the Wings just went loco starting in the 3rd. I forgot the Blues goalie's name already (would butcher the spelling ), but he deserve much kudos, he made some ridiculous saves. I can already predict that there's ridiculous rantinng about the referees, but they did not cost the Wings a point in this game, I hate to break it to you. It sucks that they blew the whistle dead then Cleary poked it in during the 1st period, but what can you do, they thought it was frozen and you have to step in to do your job. Weight's shot was in. And as badly as I wanted them to reverse the call on Cleary's attempt, I didn't see it cross the line after extensive TV shots, the referees reviewed it for like 10 minutes after iniitally calling it no-goal and couldn't find anything conclusive/inconclusive to change their minds, hence no goal. Just have to trust their judgment on that one. It's a shame the Wings couldn't finish the deal because they were kicking tail the 3rd period and overtime, but we calm down and move on to the next game on Monday. And if anybody wants to yell at me or call me a dumb a** for backing the officials or that I am wrong, that's fine, but I'm not changing my opinion on those calls just because the Wings lost the game and I'm not going to respond to any rants that would increase my blood pressure.

I guess I'm glad I haven't prescenced the GDT, I'd probably lost all my hair then reading through panic/gibberish... Anyways, the hit didn't look cheap or anything like that despite Niminnen's (misspelling abuse) rep in my mind of kinda being a bad boy. At first I thought Lebda would be fine but on replay I got really worried when it looked like his head/neck area really snapped. Hopefully I'm right in that he's only out for just a few games with a concussion. *sighs at the annoyance of future/immature OH NO LILJA IS GOING TO PLAY NOW HE IS HORRIBLE posts in this thread*. I will bang my head against the wall if there are posts in here saying the Wings need to get tougher and all that junk because of this incident, Bertuzzi or anybody else in there would not have prevented that hit and an immediate fight between two different players after would not have changed much in the outcome of the game. Ville getting the shaft for the whole game after the hit, questionable of whether it was fair/not by the refs, but probably better because the game might have gotten more ugly with him in there, more fights b/w the teams, etc. I highly doubt any suspension/action will be taken on this sole instance, nor should it. We've seen uglier hits before and as much as I don't like Niminnen, is was a good, farily clean hit, not a cheap attempt to injure a player.

Put down any sharp objects near you people, there's no need to panic. That last post with the words coming from Zetterberg himself should reverse the pre-mature freaking out syndrom. He is smart enough to know when to push hard or take a break. He's just being cautious. Unless Zetterberg grows the brain of Wile E. Coyote and an anvil from the Acme Company falls on his back, he'll probably be back, at the latest, for the games in April, in my strong opinion.

I wouldn't necessarily call it a stupid topic, Fedorov IMO should hold a place in the hearts of all Wings fans in some kind of positive way, he's going to get some attention still. I'll be the first to admit he rubs me the wrong way sometimes with his personality. But the way he played on the ice more often than not spoke for itself. A good part of me does miss him on the Wings, in spite of all the contract mess his final year. However, I could really give two s**ts about the booing as I probably stated on the first page of this topic. To get all hellbent out of shape over it years and years later, is a waste of effort IMO. People boo him. Yeah, it's a bit silly, but who cares that badly? People aren't going to stop jeering him until he retires or if he ever comes back to the Wings. The ones who liked him a lot, I'm sorry, but you aren't going to change their minds or the jeering, even though I know you would like to. We all know what he meant to this organization in spite of the jeering, so let's all just move on with our lives...

I have an old Fedorov white jersey, plus a few others... Pavel Bure black Vancouver #96 (early/mid 90s Vancouver jerseys) Joe Juneau white Washington #90 Eric Lindros white Philadelphia #88 with the "C" As you probably have figured out, these were jerseys from years and years ago. I've almost broken down and bought a Holmstrom jersey (or another one) since he's my favorite player, but I haven't worn jerseys really since high school and they wouldn't do me much good here, since hockey is barely popular in my neck of the woods. I don't collect them/buy them anymore for better or worse.

My apologies if I have re-hased anything but my 0.02........ I'm all for your regular 1-on-1 fight every now and then in a game. It's my perception that referees don't encourage fighting or break them up before the two guys really get to scrap, which is a joke. I don't want games to just get out of control with melees every 10 minutes, but I get so annoyed when referees just won't even let anything outside of a scrum happen. Get rid of the penalties for instigating.