kipwinger

I hear him compared to James Neal and Jeff Carter most often. I see Neal more than Carter, but those are the players I've heard him compared to.

I sure hope you're right. It's been so long. Lonely. It just feels lonely without two good centers.

Oh snap, you made fun of the way he looks again! Priceless.

Did I say you have to like him? I don't recall that. We should just make fun of him instead. Especially for "taking jabs at the Wings" (lol) and "blantantly favoring the Pens" (lol). Because he does that all the time. Exactly one person, Eddie Olczyk, shows favoritism to the Blackhawks. Probably because he played for them and works for them. Which, of course, is all the more reason to make fun of Pierre McGuire. Duh.

Indeed. Even better. Know what would be even, even, better? If we gave those nerds a swirly after gym class huh bro?

I will. I love Shanahan but I don't feel bad for anybody who leaves the third most scrutinized job in hockey for the second most scrutinized job in hockey. We get it already Shanny, you aren't afraid to be in the hot seat. Geesh! Lol.

Comparing Legwand and Helm after the first 20 games of this season is a lot like comparing them over the first 20 games of last season (e.g. totally meaningless). David Legwand was, is, and will be a better second line center than Darren Helm. Also, he's not getting first line minutes. He's averaging 16:39 minutes per game. Kyle Turris is their first line center and he's averaging 19:34 minutes of ice time per game.

I think Babcock out thinks himself sometimes. And I'm not sure whether that makes him too smart, or not smart enough. Just like the time he didn't put Nyquist on the powerplay in overtime. "Well, we thought about it and then I talked myself out of it". Knock it off. I get the impression he feels like if something is obvious, it must be inferior or something.

Then they're doomed to always be as bad as they are. Good. I don't care, I'm not a Toronto fan. But I do find it hilarious that these goobers think they deserve a salute after each game. For what? Being too dumb to recognize a bad investment?

. I get it. Because of the way he looks. Hilarious.

I 100% agree with your thoughts on the lack of familiarity with roles. I think, because we don't have two reliable centers, that our top six roles are constantly in flux. As such, guys aren't slotted correctly and nobody is developing chemistry with the guys they should be.

See above. I didn't say they're a better team. I said they've won more than lost with him absent. As such, it's hard to blame the loses on his absence.

Of course we're not a better team. I'm just saying that you can't pin loses on the failure to have Datsyuk in the lineup. We don't have too many loses without Datsyuk in the lineup. So far, the fact that our impressive wins are punctuated by loses isn't due to Datsyuk's absence, because thus far when he's been gone we've won more often than lost. That's all I'm saying.

Every time I watch they've been together, and they were a pair during the prospects tourney as well. Though admittedly, I probably haven't seen as many games as you. I watch when I've got a stream and the Wings aren't playing at the same time. I agree with most of your thoughts above, except that I'll say I'm not overly concerned with Sproul being less than stellar in his own zone, given his offensive upside. None of Doughty, Subban, or Cam Fowler were great in their zone for a few years. Still, their offensive skill set made it worth while to keep them on the big club. They just needed their minutes sheltered a bit until them matured. I know it won't happen because this is Detroit, but I'd have that kid focusing almost entirely on honing his offensive skills and being adequate defensively. I'm not convinced its always best to have guys that do a little of everything pretty well. Sometimes it helps to have a few guys who do one thing extremely well. With his skill set Ryan Sproul should regularly put up 50+ points in the NHL. But probably not if the organization requires him to do it the way Lidstrom did.

KHHHHHAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with the second paragraph but not the first. We've been better without Datsyuk than with him. His being gone from the lineup hasn't (up to now) been the source of our tendency to drop games.

Whatever dude. It's the world that's creepy and weird. Our collective obsession with obnoxious, blowhard, assholes like Cherry, Milbury, and Roenick means that likeable weirdos with absurd amounts of hockey knowledge have no place in the world. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of low brow stupidity; he's merely a victim of it — and rather tragically. Cassius was right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." Good night, and good luck.

I'm going to go on record right now as the only person on LGW who actually likes Pierre McGuire. I find his commentary insightful and believe it provides great value added. Additionally, I think he's just a likeable guy with a good disposition. I think people only don't like him because of the way he looks. If he were taller and had a square jaw and more hair everyone would adore him. I'm starting, getting on, and driving the Pierre McGuire bandwagon.

2 inches and 15 lbs is a pretty big difference in size. However, I do agree that Jensen would slot well with Dekeyser, but that would leave Sproul with Ouellet and I don't like that because I think Sproul will need someone who lays back and plays defense so that he can make plays offensively...which, by the way, is the reason why I think he (and Backman) aren't playing well this season. I HATE that pairing.

Ok, but which types of teams are more likely to make the playoffs, let alone peak in them...ones that can string together wins, or ones that have great games (Chicago, Columbus) and then fail to build on them? That's all this thread is about. Inconsistency is a problem, regardless of whether it's been detrimental thus far.

You know who loves Mitch Callahan? Jeff Blashill. Here's hoping he's the coach of the Red Wings next year am I right?

God knows I'm flabbergasted by almost all of Babcock's personnel decisions, but to be fair, all these lines are going to change the second Datsyuk is healthy enough to play.

The reasons I picked Marchenko over Jensen or Backman are these: His size, right shot, great passer, defensive d-man. I wanted another defensive d-man to go alongside Dekeyser. I see Jensen and Backman competing more with Sproul, Ouellet, and Smith and despite being really good, I think they lose out. Also, I think you need to give Marchenko another look. He's a lot like Brad Stuart. You don't always notice how good he's playing because he's not flashy. But you'd sure miss him if he was gone. I definitely see him anchoring an offensive d-man the way Stewie did for Kronwall early on. As for Athanasiou, I agree he's going to be a beast. I only left him off the list because I think you've got to give to get and because we've got Nosek and Larkin. But really, if we can keep two of the three, I don't care which ones. Ideally we'd keep Larkin and Athanasiou and trade Nosek, but he's an unknown quantity and I doubt (right now) he'd get much interest.

Center. But you didn't think Babcock would make it easy did you? Obviously if you want a guy to be your second line center one day, you start him as your third line wing. It all makes perfect sense if you have an honorary PhD in Sports Psychology. Dumb asses like Jeff Blashill just make Weiss a center and give him decent wingers and look how that turns out...

His actual middle name is Mitchell. His given name is John. The more you know.