Red Wings Addict

Colorado dominating territorially so far.

Next time Fil goes cold I'm sure he'll be the first to remind us. He's obviously got nothing better to do.

Yeah I know. But I wonder... Did he really send that to the Swedish tabloids?

Through the first 3 games, Goose has 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points.

Willie Coetzee making strong case to remain with Grand Rapids Griffins this season http://www.mlive.com/griffins/index.ssf/2011/10/willie_coetzee_making_strong_c.html

I don't think he's started all that slow. He has definitely aced the eyeball test in my view. The points just haven't come and I think he might be more concerned with sharpening his defensive game right now.

So he said #89 wasn't available as a number for him. If you look at the current roster, Doug Janik has the highest number at 33 and officially Bryan Rufenach has the highest number at 44 should he ever play a game for the Griffins. I wonder if they have a nothing higher than 50 kind of rule, heh.

Babcock says... Perhaps more importantly, Brunnstrom says... Best quote from Brunner so far: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/10/red_wings_mike_babcock_fabian.html

Only Stuart and Eaves haven't scored a point yet. Along with Commodore, Brunnstrom and Mursak I guess. Jeez... Lazy bastards.

Wait what about Brett Favvvra?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4389t5GlJVU

Well in that situation I'd rather he waste his time on LGW. No breeding for him allowed.

Psh... Took him 2 games to get above a ppg pace at the AHL level? Bust.

I just knew as soon as I saw this thread had an update that Gus got a point somehow.

To him, that is reality and he doesn't know any other way.

I feel like Fil's first goal of the season highlights a big difference this year in comparison to last year. He shot the puck, which is a great thing, but it's not just that. I feel like last year in that situation he would have tried to overhandle the puck and then circle behind the net looking to make a pass or an overall low percentage play. I'm happy he shot it and scored on it because that goal in particular should really encourage him to "Just Shoot!" a little more. And this is really just an observation here. I really, really don't mean to dog Fil at all. I read the report and saw that Fil scored off a one-timer give and go. I thought to myself, "Alright! He scored a goal that probably doesn't look like his own unique and odd mixture of weird and lucky." But it did a little, not gonna lie. A goal is a goal is a goal, no doubt. I just think that sometimes a mixture of him not being all that confident in his shot/scoring or passing ability right now along with the fact that sometimes a bounce leads to a goal is just a recipe for a weird looking goal. The way he shot that puck was just like, "Yeah I'll put a shot on net and see what happens." Ultimately I look forward to the day when we see him scoring often and with the utmost confidence.

Haha... Seemed like he wanted to say "Work my ass off" at the end. The politeness and manners he has that everyone talks about just don't want to go away.

Ugh... Quit making that s*** more popular than it is... The tragic thing is I just did what I told you not to... I did it again... And again... ... ... It's pure evil. It really is.

Oh JR... I hope he opens his mouth again and says the Wings won't win the Stanley Cup.

Thanks to parity, the fans of Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis all probably rank their team as first in the division and have a decent argument to back it up.

At least Wiz is happy he's getting market value. So, individually speaking, it's not ALL bad for CBJ.

It's better if the punches land but the fight was a nice sentiment since it happened to a guy like Lapierre. Get him next time Abby. McCarty-Lemieux his ass.

Qualitatively and quantitatively the past few years have been different. The hunger or edge before they won the cup in 08 seems a tad faded and the regular season numbers are slightly lower. I make that observation a lot myself. Yes, the playoffs are the most important but man it's hard to watch them look so bored in the regular season at times. Although, it would've been interesting to see last year if Datsyuk had not gotten injured. Obviously Zetterberg wouldn't have taken over games as much but I think Pav would have for his fair share. In 09 they had Hossa; 09-10 they had injuries; 10-11 they had some injuries as well... I guess; so for me, this year will tell a lot in terms of their regular season performance and what we can hopefully expect. So far it seems like the most consistent force the past few years is the presence of the injury bug. But which individuals in the league take over a game on a frequent basis? I mean, the names Crosby, the Sedins, Ovechkin, St. Louis and Stamkos, Getzlaf & Perry perhaps come to mind. But does every likely playoff team have a player like that? It doesn't seem like it. I mean, all playoff bound teams probably have a player that could take over a game if needed but it just doesn't seem to happen for them either. I was thinking about this whole team-first two-way play (and supposedly not as much focus on offense) mentality and It's interesting to compare the team now to the way it was in the Yzerman-era. If we are to assume that culture started with Scotty Bowman and came to fruition around the time of the 97 cup, the same culture that heavily influences the Wings to this day, then Yzerman (age 30) and Fedorov (age 26) averaged a ppg pace of .974 and .972 respectively as the team's main go-to guys in a team-first two-way play culture from 94-95 to 01-02 or 02-03 (Stevie and Sergei's last valid year as go to guys). Pav and Z, since 05-06, ages 28 and 26, which is just about when the team slotted them as the main go-to guys on offense, have scored a ppg pace of 1.10 and 1.05. Now, of course we have a lot of other different variables to bear in mind (post-lockout changes to the game, parity, etc.) but it's interesting to see another sign that Pav and Z in some ways are right there keeping the Red Wings playoff machine plugging along.