kipwinger

But what happens when they play Chicago in the finals. Can they really be expected to compete with this?

Didn't AA and Nosek both have pretty serious injuries during the middle of the season? I think they both performed well considering A) they are AHL rookies, and B) they had long layoffs right in the middle. I'd love to see what either of them could have done playing a large number of games consecutively. Nevertheless, both impressed me.

THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL!!!!

This one is going to be tough to handicap since I'm not exactly sure who plays for which team.

Still...I love Max Pacioretty.

The Wings should move heaven and earth to get that one superstar goal scorer from Michigan... What's his name again Frank? I'll wait. In the mean time, I think Glendening, Miller, Abby, and Dekeyser are probably enough "local heroes" for the time being. Now if you want to talk about finding a local coaching hero I might be willing to entertain the idea. But where would we find an excellent coach from Michigan?

I totally agree. I hope Ken Holland does as well.

I don't think there's any need to undersell what Babcock has accomplished. His career can't be tarnished. He's a good coach, there's no two ways about it. But it's not like our organization will fall apart if he leaves. The hype surrounding the guy has just gone completely overboard since the second Gold Medal. I'd laugh him out the door if he told me he wanted 5 million dollars a year. In my opinion you need to ACTUALLY BE the best coach in the NHL if you want to get paid like it.

Or Dallas Eakins. Or Guy Boucher. Nevermind the fact that he's been a much more successful coach than any of them, no matter what level he's been at. As long as it helps support that notion that Babcock is irreplaceable, Blashill might as well be the next Pierre McGuire. I can't stand all these efforts to run our guys down. Because it's all a desperate attempt to come to terms with the fact that we've got a good team that's been underperforming. Kronwall HAS to be less good than he is. Tatar and Nyquist HAVE to top out as secondary players. The defense HAS to suck. Holland HAS to be cheap and incompetent. Because if those things AREN'T true (note: they aren't) then that means we've got a pretty good team which has been underperforming. And if THAT'S true, then Mike Babcock ISN'T a hockey messiah, who's getting every last piece of success out of a sinking ship. Instead, he's be the guy who keeps getting the same result regardless of the age, size, speed, toughness, skillness, etc. of his roster. And that would make a lot of people wrong, wrong, wrong. And who likes to be wrong anyway?

Forget the Panthers, what about the Ducks, or Kings, Sharks, St. Louis, or Washington. Those are good, quality, competitive teams. But those states down turn out a bunch of future NHLers. When you say "How much talent would the Panthers have", the retort will always be "Well they shouldn't have a team anyway". But I don't think anybody would argue that the teams I mentioned above shouldn't have teams. Yet their states don't create many players.

And Tatar and Nyquist are the new Hudler and Filppula. It's science.

My bold prediction... If Babcock leaves, Blashill will win a Cup first (with Detroit).

I'm so confused by this thread. Frank, you aren't even from Michigan are you? What do you care? Or is your argument that ALL TEAMS should try as hard as possible to only employ guys who grew up there?

But I only bring this up to say that if Babs' criticism of our center depth is accurate, I don't think it would take too much to rectify. I think he's got two legitimate top six center prospects in AA and Larkin, and the team has enough trade assets to land the best young center available via the trade market. Sure it would cost you Nyquist, but he's a ***** anyway so who really cares?

Probably the all time easiest bridge naming process in the history of bridges. Hey Michigan, do you want to name a bridge after legendary Red Wing Gordie Howe? Of course you do. Hey Canada, do you want to name a bridge after legendary Canadian Gorie Howe? Of course you do.

He didn't play heavy enough.

I hope I have front row seats to the Babcock/Keenan stare down. It will be epic.

Holy cow... Another person who dares to ask whether or not the hype surrounding Babcock isn't overblown to the point of absurdity. Exactly one sports reporter, in two countries, actually took the time to sit down and determine (rather than just repeat over and over) whether Babcock is worth all the fuss. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/is-mike-babcock-really-the-best-coach-in-hockey-how-do-we-know/article24380450/

I agree. Sometimes you get it right, and sometimes you get it wrong. We all do. So maybe, just maybe, next time you get it right you could act a little more dignified about it instead of calling people "idiots" for not agreeing with you. Or reminding everybody, over and over, that you were right about Weiss. Display a little more class when you're right, and nobody will go through all the effort of digging up all the things you were wrong about. Or don't. And we'll revisit this same discussion in the future. Something tells me I'll have no shortage of ways to make you look silly whenever you're getting a little too self righteous.

I don't want him to win. Why would I? He's not a Red Wing, and I'm not in the business of idol worship. Until he's working for Detroit again, screw that guy.

Sure, but those same people didn't go on and on, 3 years later, about how they "never liked the Weiss signing". Which is the reason I, and not Number9, went through the 1000 pages of yhis forum to see how you really felt back in the summer of 2012. Weiss was a safer bet than either of the two clowns you advocated signing. So while you can pat yourself on the back for being against that one, it only opens you up to criticism. "I wouldn't have signed Weiss", you say, "because I would have been too busy making two deals which were much worse". Well pin a rose on your nose. It's like patting yourself on the back for not doing meth because you were too busy doing heroin.

Can we all stop with the political discussion. I know that nobody means any harm, but this isn't really the place for it.

Jon Cooper...the most interesting man in hockey.

So did I, but I try not to indulge her. It only encourages that sort of behavior.

Dude, please stop with the "I told you so" crap concerning the Weiss signing. You may have not liked the Weiss signing, but you called David Clarkson a "must get" that same offseason and advocated giving him 4.5-5 million dollars. In the same thread you advocated signing Ryane Clowe for 4-4.5 million. So it's not like you were some free agency oracle that year. Maybe you wouldn't have signed Weiss, but you would have sunk even more money into players who were just as bad or worse. Hell, Clowe doesn't even play pro hockey anymore. So lets just give a rest eh? http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/topic/74189-david-clarkson-a-must-get-july-1st/