kipwinger

Hmmm, good question. You take a stab at answering it and then I'll do the same lol.

Cool. Thanks for the recap. Sounds about like your typical preseason game. Still a lot of rust to shake off.

Say what you want about how bad the Pens announcers are, blah, blah, blah. They called the Marchenko penalty as it was...a fantom call. Can we please not start the "everybody in the league has it out for the Red Wings" crap so early in the season?

So I just caught the end of the second. How are things looking?

I wanted to put this in its own thread but decided to post here instead. I just wanted to comment on how awesome it is that the organization has fully embraced social media, and particularly the "all-access" philosophy they seem to have developed. Between the Red Wings and Griffins Youtube channels I've watched behind the scenes videos of last year's playoffs, development camp, the prospect tournament, and now main camp, along with individual profiles of many of the up and coming guys as well as Wings regulars. In each case the footage was more insightful and better made than the hyper-dramatic, scripted, crap that we were fed on 24/7 last year. No B.S., all hockey. Exactly what I want. Kudos to the organization for giving fans an absolutely massive amount of media to help get them through the long offseason.

Agreed. Marchenko is a righty, but he's not going to be expected to score so the side he shoots from matters a little less. And while he and Quellet are probably better all around (right now) than Sproul, they got to compete with each other plus Quincey, Dekeyser, Ericsson, and Lashoff for a spot. Sproul just has to be better than Kindl, or Smith, and he's got all the best attributes of both. He's as big as Kindl, as fast as Smith, a better shot than both and his only noticeably shortcoming is one that the two of them share as well. Plus, as you mentioned...he's a righty. Edit: Lol. Just saw this. Check out Fischer at 2:09..."We bring him to development camp...he puts on some weight...he is a man now".

The three guys I'm looking at tonight are Sproul, Frk, and Athanasiou. If Sproul can score some points he's got a wide open path onto the big club. While not the best all around defenseman out of the young guys, he's got the least competition because of his skill set. With Frk I'm just interested in seeing where his confidence level is after a poor showing last year. And I'm dying to see whether Athanasiou is really "Helm with Hands". Which is actually a misnomer since he'd be "Helm with Hands Plus Three Inches and 15 pounds".

And Mike Keenan won a KHL Championship. So what? Stanley Cups are harder to win that Olympic Golds, World Championships, KHL titles, AHL titles, or Nintendo Blades of Steel tournaments. And by that measure Babcock's ring fingers are a little light. Boudreau's not a great coach. He's decent. But if people are going to use his lack of success in the playoffs to denigrate him, then they're saying the playoffs matter more than regular season success. And if that's true then Babcock isn't the best coach in the NHL. He'd be tied with about ten other guys for third best. So pick your poison.

I like G.I. Joe as a nickname. I really do. But I think we can all agree that Joe "The Cricket" Hicketts is more apropos.

This.

For the second time, I realize that. Which is precisely why I'd need for him to prove it, this year, in training camp. Because it hasn't ever been true before. Even in the past, when the rule was "tie goes to the veteran", the ostensible rule was that in situations NOT TIED, the best player would play. But that wasn't the case either. So for all of posterity, I get it. Babs says the best player will play. Prove it.

I think we all agree that's what he's saying. Our point is that "actions speak louder than words". I'll believe it when I see it. Additionally, it's a little bit of double speak by Babs anyway. In years past he's said "tie goes to the veteran". But there was no tie when they kept Nyquist down a year ago. He was legitimately BETTER than any number of forwards on our team. Likewise Jurco is currently BETTER than any number of forwards. So even if Babs hadn't "changed philosophy", those guys should still have been (or be) in the lineup because they're not tied with guys...they're already better.

Which will only lead to more media speculation, since nothing was finalized. Which was my point.

I just said the same thing on Mlive's comment section. I really can't think of a single time in which this has been true.

I'm already sooooooo sick of this story. Until he signs a contract this is going to be one long, speculative, pain in the ass. Not because of Holland. Not because of Babcock. Because of media goobers who see the value of rabble rousing. Prepare yourselves LGW, this will get worse before it gets better.

Everytime I come to LGW and first glance at this thread's title my brain registers "Flaming Truculence" instead of "Flames Add Truculence". Which is funny...because I'm juvenile.

Thanks for correcting me on his point totals, you were right, he did score more than I had originally stated. However, three guys on that team scored more with less ice time, and one guy score three points fewer with less ice time. He was also fourth on the team in powerplay time so it's not like he didn't get chances. The sad truth is, Selanne just wasn't a better option anymore, so heaven forbid Boudreau play someone else.

I totally get your point, but to be fair he's hardly the only person that bitched about Kronwall's hits over the years. I was just referring to the fact that he was pretty well respected around the hockey world in general. But I agree, he's pretty whiny.

Well that's a good way to throw out all the good will you'd built up over a career. I've got no love for Boudreau, he's a clown, but Selanne is apparently a petulant child in a grown man's body. Keep in mind Selanne had 9 goals and 18 points in 64 games last season. Lol.

Ville Leino given an invite to the Boston Bruins' training camp. Lol. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=729718

On the plus side of the Alfie news, if he's not signed then Jurco is on the roster and the team can shelf this absurd "Helm's a winger" idea. Thank god. Unless ties still go to the veteran...in which case Abby's pulling the piano again. Ugh.

Everyone's reporting it's just precautionary. I don't think it's a big deal.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...that guy was drafted 20th. Seriously, 19 other guys where supposedly "better" than that 6'4, 215 lb. pure goal scorer. Next time I hear the argument, "they're NHL GMs, I think they know how to do their jobs", I'm going to laugh hysterically.

Czechmate!

Where do I find this "Hampwagon"?