kipwinger

I mean, I think this is goofy. But at the same time, I'm for it. Lets start up a rivalry with these puds. They're like a cut rate version of the Red Wings anyway, plus they've got Stevie. Why not let antagonisms go? I'd love it if we had a team to hate again. And they sure don't seem to mind stirring the pot.

I guess I'm in a generous mood today as well. Then again, he has played well for long stretches of the season lol. Ask anybody...just don't bother to actually verify it.

Tell me again, when were these long stretches where he played great? Because what I saw was a defenseman who was heavily sheltered all season long, didn't score, didn't hit, and didn't play special teams. What was it that he was doing so well? And when? Edit: Or instead of answering any of these question, you could PM me and call into question my "fanhood" because I occasionally miss games and have to DVR them and rely on "stats" to inform myself about the team. Nice.

Finally, we agree on Brendan Smith. He has played poorly, and benching him was the right decision. Glad to see you've come to your senses.

Yawn. More excuses.

Especially considering the frequency with which he screws up. It must be exhausting trying to find ways to explain away all his gaffs. As I've said since forever. Brendan Smith is a third pair defenseman with upside. Nothing more.

Lol. Lets look at the number of excuses you can make for ONE, glaring, mistake. 1.It could happen to anybody. 2. It happens all the time. 3. If the refs wouldn't have seen it, nobody would care. 3.It shouldn't have been called. 4.Nobody would care if it hadn't ended in a goal against. The excuse making for Smith is getting comical. Nope. They're just better than Smith and Howard, according to the coach anyway. None of Ericsson, Quincey, Andersson, Weiss, or any of the other "whipping boys" lost their job to a rookie. Just Smith. And Howard.

Any minute now, Smith is going to breakout. Just you wait and see. He just needs the proper motivation and usage. That's all. After Babs "sends him a message", he'll be a stud. But only if he never has to play defense, gets 20 minutes a night, and powerplay time. But boy will you be eating crow once that happens!

I think he should leave hockey altogether and take up a career in public relations. I mean, his ability to deflect criticism is second to none. And people genuinely seem to like him, regardless of his actions. He's like that guy from the film "Thank You for Smoking". He lost his job to a rookie at the most important time of the year. Stop down playing it. It's REALLY significant. You know who else lost his job to a rookie heading into the playoffs? Jimmy Howard. You know why? Because he's played REALLY badly. Smith too.

He's just not being used correctly, that's all. He's an offensive defenseman. Babs needs to play to those strengths by using him as such. I mean, how good would he be if he got the most offensive zone starts, and least defensive responsibility of anyone on the team? Oh wait. He already does. Yikes.

I wouldn't get too cocky on the Smith/Marchenko topic if I were you. It would take about two minutes to track down numerous statements you made about how "Marchenko will never start over Smith", "There's no chance Smith gets scratched for a rookie", "Marchenko isn't better than Smith in any way", etc. Your boy lost his job to a rookie. He's just not that good. Get over it.

Average at defense huh? I see you're in a generous mood today bud.

Coincidence? Detroit Red Wings ‏@DetroitRedWings 2m2 minutes ago UPDATE: The #RedWings have recalled Alexey Marchenko from the @griffinshockey.

26 years old and 200 games of experience isn't Marek Zidlicky levels of experience, but it's not like he's Xavier Ouellet either. You're making it seem like it's reasonable to expect rookie mistakes out of him because "he's young", when in reality he's played the better part of three full season (admittedly one was only 48 games). He shouldn't still be making bush league mistakes. The Abby comparison is a reach. Abby didn't produce well until this season, but he did everything else right. He played special teams, worked hard, was defensively sound, forechecked, was physical. The only weak part of his game was his negligible offensive skills. Conversely, Smith A) doesn't produce offense, B) doesn't play good defense, C) doesn't play on the special teams, D) isn't phyiscal. Abby had value, even when he didn't score. Which is why he stayed in the lineup. What's Brendan's value to the team? Seriously, what is it that he does well? Edit: FYI, Kindl has only played roughly 250 games and is universally considered a bust. So if Smith still sucks in 50 games is he a bust too? Or is Kindl still too young and inexperienced to really know?

He's 26 years old and has played in roughly 200 NHL games. A) The "he's young" excuse is borderline, B) if he doesn't know how to pass, score, or defend yet, how much longer does he need?

I honestly don't know why they didn't trade him at the deadline to be honest. He really hasn't had a bad season. And I have every reason to believe he'd perform better under a different coach. If I was a team looking for a reasonably priced 5-6 puck mover, I'd give him a look.

I know lol. We need more tough guys, like Smith. You know, someone who hits less often than Jakub Kindl. It's incredible the amount of goodwill a guy can earn just by getting into a couple of fights early in his career. Even though I disapprove of fighting, I would encourage every single prospect coming into our system to get in a couple of fights in their first few NHL games. You can play pedestrian hockey for the next 200+ games and nobody will care.

My frustration stems from the fact that he's always been a version of what he is now, a third pair defenseman with (possible) upside. At no point in his NHL career has he been better than that. Yet, the lengths that some folks go through to make excuses for him have been unrivaled in recent memory. People were ready to trade Tatar after last year's playoffs and yet there's always an excuse for Smith. Until now anyway, when he finally did something so monumentally stupid that you just can't excuse it.

Why do people try so hard to invent ways to keep this dingbat in the lineup? We've got world class forward prospects. We've got world class defense prospects. If Brendan plays his way out of a spot, trade him. Don't finagle ways to give a roster spot to him just because he's there.

People only agree about Smith because of the bonehead penalty last night. Not a month ago the general concensus on LGW was that "Smith's been our best defenseman lately". There were A LOT of people around here saying he should be put on the top pair lol. Of course, it wasn't smart then and it isn't now. It's just that the narrative has changed now. Reminds me of Quincey last year. He was "terrible" all season long, until Babs praised his play, and then suddenly he "turned it around". Which was silly too. Smith has been bad to mediocre all year. Anybody who'd bothered to look would have seen exactly that. But nobody bothered, for whatever reason. Now people can't say enough how "stupid" he is. And he is. And always has been. As Forrest Gump might very well have said on the subject, "Stupid is as stupid was".

You're more of a fan than Jack Squat! Get it? Get it?

I thought she wore Joffrey Lupul's pants...ya know...after they're done doin' it and all.

At times like this, I like to ask myself "who does Gary Bettman think constitutes "real fans?". Because his is the only opinion on hockey that really matters/I care about. If you don't choose Gary's model of fandom, or more importantly if that model doesn't choose you, then you're not a fan. Plain and simple, Gary Bettman IS hockey fandom.

Jesus Christ. Phaneuf looks like a whipped dog in that video. Unbelievable.