SouthernWingsFan

The Red Wings fan in me wants him to remain a Wing as long as possible obviously, but if he wants to move back to Sweden sooner, I will hold no ill-will towards him, nor should any other Wings fans. He's been one of the best Wings players for years and he's been a professional and has done nothing shady. I wouldn't blame him if he wanted to go back there sooner rather than later, it's home and familiarity for him.

I don't care if it might be another challenge, as a goalie, keep your rear end in the net. And I don't care if it is Hasek or Greg Goldberg from District-5, we can question whatever players and styles and decisions they make as we see fit, heaven forbid Hasek gets some criticism. If you didn't question somebody's decision-making in your own business or a job for the company you'd work for even if the decisions have minimial doubt or the company is doing well, probably wouldn't do the company too good to completely maintain a status quo.

1. Whether a majority on here thought we'd just completely suck is up for debate, but I definitely was expecting a down year somewhat. Not missing the playoffs or anything like that, but my expectations were a bit lower than normal. 2. As probably stated in here already, Yzerman still is getting his feet wet in the business/managerial position, despite all those years of experience on the ice and the people he's met, including fellow athletes, coaches, general managers, and so forth. I definitely see what you are saying and Yzerman is the man for all he's done for the Red Wings, but it's not like Yzerman is an expert behind the desk after 3/4 of just one season. I'm no Holland slappie, he's definitely not my favorite person, but some of the criticism he has gotten on here in the past has gone a bit off the deep end.

MacDonald certainly deserved a better fate than last night's result. If not for a few posts and some timely saves by Sanford, the outcome might've been different. Legace certainly did his part as well, he just didn't seem to have to stop as difficult opportunities. Anyways, back to MacDonald. I was extremely happy for him last night how he performed. I'm not getting ahead of myself with him though. He has some big issues with rebound control, but that should be expected to an extent of a rookie in the NHL, especially one who hasn't even played 10 games there yet. Hopefully his game last night can be used as a mesauring stick for him to get more playing time in the future with the Red Wings or another team and show that he could be a starter in the NHL in the future. That being said though, I still can't really get a reading on this guy based off of one or two (Colorado road loss) extremely solid games, plus a few average ones, whether he is good/bad, etc. Hopefully he'll get more PT down the road somewhere.

I hope we trade this idea for a better idea.

Definitely not a time to break out the champagne and celebrate as there's still plenty of hockey left to be played and the postseason, but I have to admit, I'm fairly surprised (and happy) how things have gone so far with the Wings this season. I really wasn't worrying about missing the playoffs completely, even after the horrid start b/c there was still plenty of hockey left to be played, but I definitely didn't expect the Wings to quite possibly win the division if you asked me a few months ago. Up to this point in the season so far..... 76 points so far, one of the best in the league, in spite of not having Yzerman and Shanahan on the ice. Hasek remaining healthy (knock on wood/crosses fingers) and being one of the better goalies in the league this season at a really good bargain The defense not giving the opposition that many chances overall Guys like Hudler and Cleary that have stepped up, guys you might not have expected to mention first in that type of category Markov being a fairly solid stay-at-home defenseman adding some strength to the blueline Not too shabby of a job done so far by the Wings.

Meh, this should've been expected tonight being the 2nd of a back-to-backer. MacDonald's been doing a good job of holding the fort down, he's seriously got to control his rebounds better though. Rest the legs and they'll probably get going in the 2nd. I just hope they aren't already gassed out.

Maybe we could convince Bettman to step down by guaranteeing him strippers for life and free lap dances. He's got the money to live comfortably I'm assuming. Lap dance before breakfast. Lap dance after lunch. Lap dance during dinner. Lap dance before bedtime. Doesn't seem like too bad of an offer. We all can dream I guess.

As a goalie, the lines of the crease/trapezoid are your friend. Stay within the lines...... I like puck movement and continuous game flow, but there's no need for a goalie to play a puck when there looks to be plenty of traffic in your own area or if somebody on the other team is going to get to a puck first. A goalie's first job is to stop pucks, not move the puck around or playmake.

The game is a big deal to hispanics, especially whenever they play the U.S. I didn't watch the game but Mexico has, more often than not, been regarded as a very good soccer nation, at least to me. Not the best like you would think with Brazil, Italy, England, etc., but they are probably in that 2nd tier. The U.S. isn't regarded as such more often than not, but the national teams have slowly worked their way up to respectability and while they won't beat the big countries more often than not, it'll be rare that they will be dominated either. U.S. also beat Mexico in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, a game that pretty much any Mexican probably guaranteed victory. They will always be bitter for that loss, for better/worse. It's not really arrogance by the fans or players, it is just a big, big, big deal to them, like life/death.

Meh, I dunno... I don't like Bertuzzi personally, but if it were to help the Wings in the long-run (or short-run/postseason) and they don't have to give up much to get him, I'll keep silent about my personal feelings toward him. I don't think he can be counted on to be a top guy night in/out, but I wouldn't mind actually seeing him paired with Lang/Cleary. I think that could be interesting, also b/c I just don't' see Babcock breaking up Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom unless they absolutely just go stone cold. You can't expect them to keep on their pace forever lately, but I highly doubt they'll snag that low.

I'm sorry, there is absolutely just no way you can defend Hasek for that one. He shouldn't have challenged the puck, he didn't have to skate aggressively to challenge the puck, and you cannot accurately predict that 'Doan would've scored anyways'. He messed up that time. Yep, sometimes goals are his fault too.....

Hasek, for the love of god, you are a goalie. Stay the f**k in your net.

I love Zetterberg

And boys and girls, we have learned our Algebra lesson today. Now do some homework damn it!

Yay Lazy Slug! HOH you cheated, you can't quote yourself!

Aren't you an American?

Woo hoo! Let's not get too ahead of ourselves though. I see no reason that the Wings will lose to Phoenix unless the Yotes just play lights out or the Wings dink around, or both. I won't be shocked for Phoenix to play desperate as they still have a fighting chance for a final playoff spot. The same goes with St. Louis. We saw them play pretty solid against the Wings last week despite the loss. 2/4 points is not a guarantee, especially with the games on back-to-back nights. Nashville concerns me. All teams concern me b/c if you don't give it your full effort and play around the top of your game, you're likely going to get beaten more often than not, I don't care who the team is.

While it definitely must've been cool to see them rally, and I'm not denying that the fight had some affect in momentum swing, toughness/fighting isn't the end-all solution to completely prevent hard hits, runs, or any significant advantage in getting more wins IMO. I like intensity, I like your regular 1-on-1 fight every now and then. I'd always try to stick up for a teammate if it looks like he deliberatly got run over or was intentionally injured (or attempted injury). I get irked though of the perception in here that it only happens with this team though and that it is a problem that happens nearly every game. Maybe it does happen a little more with the Red Wings since they aren't as physical a team as others. Maybe it doesn't...you can't make me believe that having 5 more tough guys on your team, for all other teams in the NHL, is going to significantly help everybody improve in the standings, stop taking runs, and so forth. I'd like to see people sticking up for each other and for somebody to hold Johnson accountable for his actions when he ran over Hasek for instance, with a fight or something, but I'm not worried constantly about sticking up for a guy who might get ran at once every 30 games. It just seems a less frequent event to me versus how it's portrayed in here by others.

Riiiiiiiiiiiight, because board play is the only thing that defines a hockey player................... Anyways, I'm trying to see both sides here...I'm not going to get ahead of myself saying Hudler is one of the next best star talents who will consistently pop up 30 goals a year in a few seasons. I'd like to see him get a little more time and I think he's deserved some more time to an extent, 10-12 minutes a game, but I'm going to trust Babcock since he's the coach and I'm not, not putting him on a 1st/2nd line consistently, etc.

When you get kicked off of your team because of continuously venting your mouth with controversy and bad attitude on the PROFESSIONAL level, that says a lot to me. Avery should have been kissing butt that the Kings let him back on. I don't doubt that he has some skill on the ice or he wouldn't have been able to play night in/out in the NHL like he's been able to do the past few seasons. I like how he plays hard and intense more often than not. But there's a fine line between playing intense, and just being out of control on the ice and with your mouth in the locker room and to the press. Avery might not have done it (yet) this season, but he's done it one too many times in the past, this is why I'd always be cautious about having him on my team. He has that ability, unfortunately, to be a major locker room/team cancer if he blows his top to where it affects team chemistry and other players that he's supposed to play and work with 6-7 months out of the year.

New York media will eat Avery alive and spit him out if Avery starts to constantly yap his mouth and start unnecessary drama and controversy.

If a team actually has the money like that to dish out, he could be somewhere else next season. He still needs to show he's anywhere near his (or his agent's) demands in a few months, because right now he's nowhere close to that, and I think it's a safe assumption to think that most owners think he's not worth that kinda money, not yet anyways.