kipwinger

Joe Hicketts throws the puck away a lot. Should fit right in with our existing defensemen.

Ugh, I have to listen to Jack Edwards tonight.

I know, we may actually win :-)

Kronwall Cholowski Sulak Hronek Hicketts Chelios

Yup. And again, I'd reiterate we played 5 rookie defensemen. So there were plenty of gaffs to go around. It happens. Not too many rookies are gonna consistently get the best of Patrick Kane regardless of how good they are.

Against a defense that has only one regular in the lineup. I'm not too worried. Add Daley, Dekeyser, Ericsson, and Jensen to Kronwall and Cholowski and I'd say we probably let in a few less goals.

Thomas Vanek is a freak of nature.

Watching on a mobile device?

Anybody willing to share how they're watching the game in my DM?

Given that at least one of the two rookie defensemen will likely be spending a bunch of time in the press box, I would prefer that second spot go to Hicketts. Otherwise I think Cholo and Sulak have looked the best of the defensemen. Offensively I'd probably bring up Ras and go with Frk until such time as he can be traded (if he's playing decently well) or waived (if not). Then bring Svech up. Zadina should spend 2/3 of the season in the AHL learning how to play pro hockey and then come in like a house of fire after Nyquist is traded at the deadline.

A) Who cares about being up against the cap, it's Illitch money not yours, and as you've already acknowledged we're rebuilding and therefore shouldn't be signing FA's anyway so what do we need the cap space for? B) Tired of hearing about people being good? Like who? AA and Dekeyser weren't supposed to be good. They were a 4th round draft pick and undrafted free agent. The fact that they're on the team means they're better than originally anticipated. The guys who were supposed to be good (Larkin, Mantha) are. Several other guys have turned out better than expected as well.

Dude, you're being super negative for no good reason. AA was a 4th round pick, DD was undrafted. Who cares if they aren't top end guys, they're still WAY better than anyone could have reasonably expected them to be. Both of them are 1st or 2nd round talents who didn't require that we expend the picks. Bertuzzi is looking like a really good pick, Hronek too. ALL of this year's picks were ranking (by one organization or another) in the 1st round, and we got all 4 of them with 2 firsts and 2 seconds. There are a few (potentially) legitimate criticisms of our recent drafting, so I don't think Holland is untouchable there. But pointing at AA, Dekeyser, and implying that others are unproven seems pretty flimsy.

He's probably more advanced defensively. Dylan still isn't great in that regard. I'd be thrilled if Veleno turned into a Ryan O'Reilly type guy. 20 goals, 50+ points, stud defense and faceoff wizard.

Zadina is definitely not NHL ready. I'd leave him in the AHL. Kid needs some time.

Art Regnar doesn't know any of our prospect's names despite being a Wings reporter. "Jarri" Saarijarvi and "Jason" McIsaac.

Put advertisements on the uniforms in the bottom video and we'll no longer be able to tell them apart. It's a slippery slope my friend.

Hockey and soccer are basically nothing alike. Aside from the fact that both have goals, they starkly different. If anything you'd think ice hockey fans would be deathly afraid that the sport would become more like field hockey or something.

I wonder if fans of other sports are as pathologically insecure as hockey fans are when it comes to soccer? Like, I wonder if baseball fans keep themselves up at night worrying that their beloved game will become too much like cricket? Or if the existence of rugby just gives football fans the vapors?

I've basically used that same argument to suggest that ads on uniforms is not a big deal. It seems like it now, because we aren't used to them, but the minute you become used to them you don't see them. Like tattoos.

If showing up to games, even when the team is terrible, meant anything then Detroit would be called Footballtown on account of idiot fans' dedication to that dumpster fire of an organization.

I think they have to be local if they're going to be on LTIR. Franzen stays in Detroit every season despite the fact that he'll never play again. Part of the charade I suppose.

That wasn't a third was it? I thought that was the original?

I actually like the black sweater with the red flag logo. They should stick with that, get rid of the cyclone, and not worry about a third logo (which is typically a lame stunt anyway). Only third jersey I like is the Caps.

I think I'm probably one of the few who sees the bright side in this. Zetterberg was a good pro and he had a good long career. But he was never going to be good again. Who wants to see him slowly devolve? Plus, for the first time in a long time I'm excited about what's going to happen to this team. I'd rather we be bad for another year or two, and get excited about this group coming up, than watch prolonged mediocrity. I'd be excited about our team in two or three years based on our prospects right now, I'm super excited knowing that we're likely going to be a lottery team again this year.

Guess I'll write this here, but for those of you with an Athletic subscription there's a really good write up on Rasmussen today. https://theathletic.com/491908/2018/08/28/michael-rasmussen-the-once-every-10-years-kid-may-be-ready-for-red-wings/