kipwinger

Did Leonidas have a stupid haircut and a broken nose too?

Exactly, Orr beat McGrattan exactly as many times as Lilja beat Souray. Two best fighters in Christendom. But I'm just joshing ya. McLadyparts is a total sweetheart. At the salon, when he and the rest of the gals are getting their hair colored, they really bust each others' guts.

Whatever bro. All I know is that Orr owned him. Hard. He's got the Eye of the Tiger. Two best fighters of their era: 1. Colton Orr 2. Andreas Lilja. Nobody really cares about number three (Brian McWhateverbro). "This is Brian McCandyass of the Calgary Flames here with a special public service announcement. Kids, don't do drugs. Also, don't get stupid looking haircuts or get pole-axed by Colton Orr. All three will embarrass your mother at church. This is the face of a guy who embarrasses his mother at church. Don't be that guy kids, don't be that guy."

Orr wasn't just in the same league. He was owning McGrattan...apparently. I'm happy to admit Lilja is tougher than Souray, right after I get done watching Orr literally break your boy's face open.

By that rationale Colton Orr is a superior enforcer to you boy McGrattan wouldn't you agree? I wouldn't read to much into it.

Sergei Fedorov.

Wow, this thread got carried away pretty quickly didn't it? Seems like there's got to be a way to say what you're trying to say, without being so matadorish. I'll take a stab at it. DeGraa55: I think the Wings will be just as bad as last year because we made no noticeable acquisitions to a team which has underwhelmed for 5 straight post seasons. Plus, I think injuries will be a problem again because older players (e.g. Dats, Z, Franzen, Knonwall, etc.) tend to get injured MORE and not less over time. Number9: I think the Wings will be better than last year because while we made no noticeable acquisitions, our young player were REALLY good last year and should be better this year. And while injuries may be a problem again a year from now, they couldn't possibly be as bad as last year because that was just insane. Plus, there's no way Jimmy will be that bad again right? He's never been that bad his entire career. We've got nowhere to go but up. All better.

I think Subban is a real good player and all. But they should have let someone offer sheet the guy and taken the picks. One guy, even a top flight defenseman, doesn't make a Stanley Cup winner. This is way too much for any single player, and their depth will suffer for it. They'll have a never ending string of plugs and inexperienced kids populating their team for the next 8 years.

I thought it was Gunnarsson that Carlyle didn't like? As I recall everyone in "the center of the hockey universe" (puke) thinks Gardiner is the second coming of...um....second coming of...Dion?

If he did that I don't know why you'd want to trade him though. A year from now you'd hope that Sproul would be on the team and contributing, along with one of either Marchenko and/or Ouellet. The only way trading for Yandle makes sense is if it's this year...or if you are sending a left shooting top four (Smith) the other way. And if that was the case you could probably get him for something like Smith + Pulkkinen + pick and not lose a 25-30 goal scorer. If Tatar scored 25-30 goals this season I'd consider trading him, but only for a top four who is under contract and shoots right. Someone like Shattenkirk.

You're 100% correct, but at the same time I don't see KH ever signing and trading a guy. Not his style. But yes, you'd get a better return based off the contract alone.

Speaking of Jedi mind tricks...has anybody noticed how Jiri Fischer is like the Yoda of player developement? I was watching those Flagstar Bank prospect report videos and Fischer is a freakin' weirdo.

I'd take Setoguchi, just so that when we sign Alfredsson they'll be able to join together and form the world's funniest sounding duo...Alfie and the Gooch.

Also, I think this "he doesn't play defense" criticism of Tatar is a bit off base. I don't think he's fantastic defensively, but he does try. It's not like Brunner was a year ago. Tatar was always a two way player in the AHL, and he backchecks every shift now. He just isn't strong enough to do much once he gets back. I just think it'll take a little time to find his defensive niche in the NHL. Just like Dats had to do. He wasn't a defensive superstar when he was 185 lbs either. That's just too small to do much in the NHL. Let Tatar get stronger and he'll be fine.

Opposition logos have never felt so safe.

Maybe that's all he'll ever be...but that doesn't preclude him from being a star player. Lots of star players have been one dimensional scoring line wingers. Like Brett Hull. Or Marian Gaborik. Or Theo Fleury. Not exactly known for their two-way play, but stars none the less. I guess the point of contention would be whether he only ever tops out at 60 pts. I think you'd agree he's got the offensive tools to score as much as his situation will allow. To me his production potential would largely depend on the situation he finds himself in and not on his "ceiling". Put him on the second line of a team with a dominant first line, and let him take advantage of mismatches and I could see him up in the 70+ pts. range. For example: If Mantha were drawing the hard coverage in a few years, I don't see why Tatar couldn't excel against lesser competition.

Well, I sure hope so. But I'm not going to hold my breath. At least not this season.

First of all, you're overplaying your hand a bit. Tatar was a regular in the lineup after 9 games...so it's not like those three guys were all getting huge playing time for the first half of the season...they weren't. After the first ten games any two of the three were scratched on a given night. Secondly, that doesn't really address my point anyway. Cleary, Bertuzzi, and Samuelsson weren't the reason we got butchered by Boston in the playoffs. They weren't the reason we blew a 3-1 series lead against Chicago the year before that. They weren't the reason we couldn't beat San Jose for two years. And they definitely weren't the reason we got embarrassed by Nashville in 5 games. But here's the kicker...neither were injuries. In only one of those series (Boston) did injuries play a significant role. There are fundamental issues with this team that haven't been addressed in a LONG time. Acting like those issues have been resolved because we let a couple of frequently scratched third and fourth liners walk is the equivalent to burying your head in the sand. Again, at no point after the first ten games last season did Cleary, Sammy, and Bert regularly play for our team at the same time. On any given night, maybe one of them played. But rarely two, and definitely not all three.

Not from Grand Rapids they won't. Also, how can you honestly blame our bad start at the beginning of last season on lame plugs without immediately acknowledging that those same "lame plugs" are mostly still on the team. We have the same problem we did a year ago. We haven't made it past the second round of the playoffs in half a decade. You can't blame that all on Sammy, Cleary, and injuries. And if you do, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Calling it. He's the next Martin St. Louis. Mark my words LGW.

The problem with placing all our hopes on a healthy team is that it ignores the fact that for the first part of last season we were totally healthy and we still weren't that good. We were also totally healthy for the 4 post seasons before last year. Same results though. Like everyone else, I'd obviously prefer we were healthy rather than not. But a lot of people are going to be very disappointed when they realize that we can make all the excuses we want, but there are a lot of holes in our team that didn't get solved in the offseason, and won't be solved by Datsyuk staying healthy. We've got an undersized, perimeter, team that can't play in the crease. We don't have a single top flight player in his prime. We've got a defense that can't move the puck efficiently. We've got horrible special teams. And we've got an offensive scheme that hasn't yielded quality results in 5 years. Obviously, I'd love to be wrong. The best case scenario is that we get healthy and win a Cup. But I'm not holding my breath. Second best scenario? Get healthy and struggle just as much as we did a year ago. At least that way nobody can use the "injury" excuse anymore.

52 if I recall correctly.

I mean, in a full season Tatar's going to give you 20+ goals. To me 20 goals is worth 2.75 million, every day of the week. 20+ goals and shutdown defense will get you 5 million plus. Ask Kesler or O'Reilly. Tatar's getting paid what he should.

....aaaaaaand the mob goes wild?

I don't really think so. Some are dour, sure, but most are positive. I'd say six of the 11 predictions are positive. But I try to be a realist, so I'm not going to predict we win the President's trophy or anything lol.