kipwinger

I'm most excited about the fact that you subtly made a reference to The Rock in that post. FOR THE MILLIONS............

I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea whatsoever why he wasn't going to play. I don't know. And I hadn't ever really given it much thought until that interview a few weeks ago when we played Tampa and he said "I’ve had skates on three times (since his retirement) to do something minor," Yzerman said. “I’ve kind of moved on. I don’t have time to skate, and I don’t have a real desire to do it.” I was irritated because if it came down to desire (or lack thereof) I think it would be a weak move to deprive fans of the experience because whether he likes it or not, pretty much every Wings fan idolizes him. But like I said, I don't know the reason. I was basing my views pretty much entirely off that interview.

He puts Abby in the top six because of puck retrieval, which he's quite good at. I don't think Babs cares if he scores or not. It's not like it's out of the blue either. Early in the year we had serious trouble with one and done offense and on a line with Weiss (soft) and Alfie (old) having a guy who can go get the puck isn't the worst idea in the world.

If it's not picked up nationally, then FSD will definitely carry it. Hell, they aired the Red and White scrimmage during last year's abbreviated training camp. One way or another this will be on tv, and if you've got an internet connection you'll be able to see it.

Any lineup with Cleary and Sammy makes me want to puke. But I have no problem with Bert or Abby in the top six under certain circumstances. Abby has been good with Alfie and Helm and Bert was good with Dats and Z. So depending on how the lines shake out when everyone is healthy, I don't necessarily mind those guys in those spots. But I definitely agree with the general theme of your post.

See what I mean?

I know this won't be popular, and I'm really happy that he's going to play, but it sort of burns my ass that it was such a begrudging acceptance. If the game had been played last year like it was supposed to, we'd have never seen him in the Winged Wheel again. Good for him finally coming around, but this is one fan who would have liked to see it happen differently. When you play for one team your whole career and captain them to 3 Stanley Cups, occasionally you're going to be asked to do things like this, even if you're another team's GM. Ya know? Because it's hockey and we sort of take tradition seriously in this game.

Well it's not too much of a stretch for me. I like Franzen, and the blanket criticism he receives is hardly ever warranted. Does he have bad games sometimes? Sure. Is he a bad player? Nope. On a team that has struggled offensively for four or five years, a guy who can put up 25-29 goals is a breath of fresh air.

I'm happy to see Pavs back and all, but honestly, I get most excited about watching Tatar and Nyquist these days. Beginning of the year I watched every game because I am a fan and want to see them win. But it was more "ho hum, lets see if the same old thing yields good results tonight". Now, I'm legitimately excited to see what these two can do every night.

You know, I'm pretty impressed with the way the Wings played while all these guys were out. What'd they lose two and win one without Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Bertuzzi, Helm, and Dekeyser? They get Dats tonight, they play a s***ting team in Florida, and if they win it they split on during this period. Not too shabby. Thank god of Franzen, Tatar, and Nyquist eh?

I agree with you, but if Neal's not careful he's going to get taught a hard lesson soon enough. Star or not, if he gets the reputation as a dirty player (and he will if he keeps pulling crap like this) sooner or later they'll hand him a real serious suspension.

I agree with you about the hit, it's definitely predatory. He was hitting Eriksson whether he touched the puck or not. It's almost by pure luck that it turned out not to be illegal.

Ah gotcha, I guess I wasn't paying good enough attention while that was on. Thanks for the clarification.

Well Neal got 5 games, but according to Shanny's video he wasn't considered a repeat offender for some reason even though he'd been suspended twice before. I don't really get it.

It's all over the place and it's been pissing me off all day. Orpik didn't do anything cheap, dirty, or borderline. Yet somehow he's got to respond to doing nothing or else get hauled to the ice from behind and punched in the face. I mean, it must be his fault. Obviously frequent goon and occasional hockey player Shawn Thornton couldn't have gotten carried away with his dumb ass retaliation.

Finally, here's a video of the hit in slow motion (please disregard the crappy music and text commentary). There's a slow mo of the hit at :46 seconds. Play attention to the puck, it pretty clearly changes directions after hitting Eriksson's stick about a fraction of a second before the hit. The only way this is a penalty is if someone wants to say that he targeted the head (but Eriksson's head and body moved right before the hit after Orpik had already committed) or that he charged (Orpik left his feet on the follow through). Other than that it's just a good, well timed hockey hit.

Of course he, did they show replays all the time on the big scoreboards. You constantly see players and coaches looking up at it during games. Thornton should have had a good view of it too, since he immediately went to the penalty box after the hit. Which brings me to my last point, Orpik hit Eriksson on the first shift of the game. Thornton got ejected at the 11:00 minute mark of the first. There was plenty of time for his team to look at the board, see that it wasn't a dirty hit, and lay off Orpik. Certainly nobody can say that Thornton was too emotional, or pissed off, or lost his cool. He had ten minutes to think on it. It was deliberate and dirty, there's no other way of looking at it.

Unquestionably Neal should get a huge suspension, and he probably will considering he's been suspended before. They're both hugely chickens*** attacks on defenseless targets. But I disagree about Orpik's hit being borderline dirty. In no way was that a dirty hit. He hit him in the chest, not high, and he was already too committed to the hit to pull up after Eriksson failed to play the puck (although it did hit him, so even then the hit is legal).

I'm not sure what you're "just saying".

Not really, I don't care when people misspell things. I do it all the time. It's just funny that he put the word in quotes, while misspelling it, while trying to take a jab at me, while trying to use a word that means "examine methodically and in detail".

Isn't it the point of a discussion forum to "analyse" what others say and respond? I suppose I could just say something, and then call people names when they disagree with me and tell them to watch another sport. p.s. Did you put "analyse" in quotes because you intentionally misspelled it, or was that just some sort of hilarious irony?

There are two problems with your argument and how you present it. First, fighting isn't part of the game, hence it's against the rules and is a penalty. Secondly, you repeatedly call anyone who disagrees with you "soccer moms and dads", and tell everyone else to go watch something else if they don't agree. Both are decidedly against the forum rules as well as piss poor ways of defending your point of view. Not withstanding that fact that you inexplicably get away with your baiting over and over and over again, one has to wonder why (if you're such a fan of something that isn't part of the game) you don't go watch MMA or boxing. Instead, you prefer to tell everyone else to watch something else whenever they suggest that perhaps the game they love shouldn't be turned into a dangerous freak show because of flagrant and repeated disregard for the rules of the sport.

You think you could knock off the baiting, it's obnoxious?

No you didn't. Here's what you said in May, 2012. Months after he'd been traded for, and while he was a free agent. "Offer him a 5 year $3M per contract. A bit less money, but more security and more money to make the team better. If he doesn't agree, then let him decide what he wants to do. Get the 1st and 3rd round draft picks if he signs for more that elsewhere...Win-Win situation." Here's where you said it: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/topic/72457-will-the-wings-keep-kyle-quincey/?hl=%2Bquincey+%2Btrade#entry2299045. Apparently when you say you "soured soon after" what you really mean is that it would be a "win" if the Wings had re-signed him for FIVE years at 3 million dollars. Get real dude.

My god, I can't imagine the kind of mental gymnastics you have to go through to come to the conclusion that Thornton did nothing wrong and Orpik "shouldn't" be hurt. It's incredible. Forget about us taking your posts seriously, how do you even type this stuff with a straight face.