kipwinger

I should have said "unfortunately for him". Since this basically ends his chances of getting a contract this season. I'm not worried about Helm. He's a boss.

Verrier makes more sense than Nedomlel. Richard is HUGE. Verrier, unfortunately, is not. There goes his chance of getting a contract. Bummer kid. Better luck next year.

Richard Vinnik, Daniel Panik, what's the difference? The only thing that matters here is that SOME Maple Leaf is better than Jurco. Because the Maple Leafs do it right, and the Wings don't. Hence their respective levels of success throughout the years.

You mean like how you always used to say that Subban was "cocky"? Or like how Chara and Weber absolutely kill Johnny Gaudrea because he's so small? Do you ever get tired of just repeating the same tropes over and over again or is that half the fun?

William Nylander shouldn't see the NHL until after he's gone through puberty.

I'm confused, are we saying that PK Subban pledged 10 million dollars to charity because he's insecure? Seems like being rich, famous, and a professional athlete would take care of that problem. Guess not. Maybe he should just bang every woman (or man) on Montreal. Probably easier for him than giving away 10 million.

Pick your pony: Quenneville and his team full of PTOs wins another Cup Or Babcock and his team full of PTOs makes the playoffs

But they're all veterans. And ties go to the veteran.

Yeah, but why trade for a guy to do that for when there are a million guys who wouldn't cost you any assets to acquire. I think they'll plan on keeping Grabner. He's Babs' new Helm.

I don't know how much offense they'd generate but they'd be hellish hard to score on I'd think. Both those guys are pretty good in the defensive zone.

Some interesting things I'm seeing in those lines. -Glendening on the wing -AA back in the middle (love this) -Franzen on what would be our 3rd line during the regular season -Kindl on his off side -Andersson back at center -Cleary with Mantha (saw that coming) -Blash seems to favor a digger, and a scorer, on each line (just as Babs did) Lol. I was just responding to the post from HockeytownRules19. He said Quincey was with Kindl, and Marchenko was with Smith. Which doesn't appear to be the case.

The link has Quincey with Marchenko and Smith with Kindl. Is that a mistake?

I think the big sticking point with Smith is that many folks see a lot of potential in the kid. Which is fine. He did produce at lower levels. He was a first round pick. He does seem to have the natural physical gifts. But at least for me (and a few others), he needs to show me something with all that potential before I'm going to agree that the guy is "above average" or whatever. I don't expect him to even be all that good defensively (Babs did, and that was a mistake), but he needs to find a way to consistently produce offense. So far he hasn't. And while I'd agree that he hasn't necessarily been used properly, I think the same thing is true for Kindl and he's found ways to get on the board when Smith hasn't. Regardless of his potential, or his usage, this really is a make or break year for Smith. He'll get has chance to lock down a spot (as he should) but I don't imagine the Wings will continue to pay him 2 million bucks to play mediocre defense and not score points. Marchenko can do that for less money. So Smith better be ready to show what he's got this season.

Again, Kronwall is one of the better PP quarterbacks in the entire league. I get your point about his hard minutes, but I'd be very reluctant to take him off the PP. He might be the very most important part of it afterall.

I'm sure he'll get a look in the preseason. They usually use two different "teams" in preseason games, so I'd imagine that Kronwall-Ericsson will be the top pair on one squad and Green-Dekeyser will top the other. Which means the second PP QB spot will be open for each team. Which is where I imagine Smith and Kindl will get their looks. If either of them flat outplay Green or Kronwall, then sure, give them a spot. Doesn't hurt. But I'd be surprised if they did.

Ok, noted. I've heard you argue for that in the past. But since that's not likely to happen, what do you really think they should do?

Stoll, Richards, and Voynov. Three up, three down. I'm not going to pretend that LA handled these situations well. Or that (at least in the case of Voynov) public opinion didn't force them to do something they otherwise wouldn't have. But the fact is, none of those three dummies will be playing for, or getting paid by, the Los Angeles Kings. And that does resemble accountability, at least a little bit.

Provided he gets a shot on the PP, whose spot does he take? He's surely not going to supplant Green or Kronwall. Kronwall was 8th in the league in powerplay points amongst defensemen last year. Green was 16th. I just don't see it. Unless you think he should replace a forward. I'd imagine that either Smith, or Kindl, will be the first replacement should Kronwall or Green get injured. But I'd be really surprised if either of them saw much time on the PP with those two guys healthy. And as much as I hope Blashill can rejuvenate both of their careers, I've got to conclude that this decision is a no brainer. We've finally got two legit, proven, pp quarterbacks. Why over think it?

Word on the street was that Columbus was actually willing to trade Rychel this off season.

Nashville was just a bad fit for him. When Trotz was the coach, he fit right in, because they played a different game. Laviolette's system isn't great for Franson because speed is so important. It's the same reason why I think Franson would have been a better choice for Detroit if we'd kept Babcock. Green would have been a disaster under Babs for the same reason that Trotz didn't use him much. The skills he brings to the table aren't valued in a system like that. This is also the same reason why Detroit wanted Phaneuf while Babs was here, and lost interest when Babs left (And why TO suddenly wanted to keep him when Babs was hired there). Franson, and Poile, were familiar with one another and that's why he want to Nash. But the presence of Laviolette, instead of Trotz, made it doomed from the start.

Quincey played for one of the best possession teams in hockey. Franson played for one of the worst. The other day I posted a very good article with a quote from Dallas Eakins where he says that in a perfect game your team would have zero hits because you'd have the puck the whole game. Franson had a lot more opportunity to block shots and hit guys because he was playing defense the whole game. When he went over to a good possession team (Nashville) he played himself right out of the top four, and if you were to look into it, I'd imagine he had a lot fewer hits and blocked shots (Laviolette's teams play in the O-zone more than Carlyle's do). Again, I'm not knocking the guy. I think he's a good defenseman. But I think people are a bit off the mark when highlighting his "physical game". At least from what I've seen.

Quincey is a much more steady defender than Franson. He's a more traditional stay at home type. Again, Franson just isn't that great in the defensive zone. Quincey (and Phaneuf) are also much more physical, or at least consistently physical. Franson will knock a guy down in the open ice now and again, because he's really big and heavy, but he doesn't play a physical game. At least not that I've ever seen. Kyle Quincey, on the other hand, is the opposite. Doesn't really lay guys out in open ice, but is tough on the boards, in the crease, and as a shot blocker. Cody Franson really is just a big(ish) puck mover, with hard shot. He's more like Kindl than Quincey (disclaimer: he's better than Kindl, I get it. Just stylistically similar). People think he's physical because if you youtube "Franson hits", you'll see some quality body checks. But it's misleading. Had he come here, people would have been very disappointed in his "physical play".

I've always shied away from the Franson comparisons because for whatever reason people feel the need to denigrate one player, if they like another. But I don't think he's comparable to Quincey. Cody Franson is a good player. He's a legit top four defenseman on about any team in the league. That said, there are things he's good at, and things he isn't. When people say he's "physical" they seem to be talking about his body checking ability, which is true. But he's not particularly great on the boards, he doesn't block shots, he doesn't clear creases. He was considerably less physical than Phaneuf while in TO. Offensively, he doesn't have the handles that a guy like Green has, nor does he have the speed or the wrist shot. But he's got a really good slap shot/one timer, and he's an excellent passer with very good vision. Franson will score you some points, contribute on the powerplay, and occasionally lay a guy out in the open ice. But because his offense is limited to his slapper, and because he can't skate well, he's not going to be a strong possession guy. It doesn't make him a bad player, and he's certainly no Kyle Quincey (whom I love, but who is not comparable). I think the guy he most reminds me of is Sami Salo (minus all the injuries). But that's just my opinion.

Well, any defenseman that gambles offensively will get caught now and again and you'll see odd man rushes the other way. This is true of Green, but was also true of Orr, Coffey, etc. It's a fact of life. Teams that employ guys like that tend to assume that the offense they generate will outweigh the chances against over a whole season. So there's that. But I don't really think of that as a "defensive lapse". I think of it as an opportunity cost, which coaches feel is worth the risk. Otherwise, the traditional notions of "defensive lapses" don't really apply. He's sound positionally. Doesn't throw the puck away. Gets to loose pucks with ease. And (as I've mentioned) is surprising physical. I think Green is the victim of narrow perception. If you think that there's only one way to play defense (e.g. block shots, clear the crease, etc.), and someone doesn't do those things, then you'll naturally assume they don't play defense well. But that's really only one way of looking at defense. Another is that, if you're really good at keeping the puck in the O-zone, then you're playing defense by default. For example: People always say Gretzky was bad defensively. But that's only true if you have a narrow definition of defense. He was great defensively, because when he was on the ice, the puck was never in his team's defensive zone.

If Rechlicz wins us the Cup (as would obviously be the case) then I'd like Ken Holland to trade him to the Detroit Tigers. Because as much as the Wings are my favorite team, I REALLY want to see a World Series Champion in Detroit.