kipwinger

Yeah that was a pretty ugly period. Good thing all these old guys on our team are standing tall or we'd be in the sh*thouse these last couple games.

That was the second line last game, I don't think they made any changes between then and now.

Soooo, does Tootoo fight Boll or Wisniewski tonight? Any takers?

Maybe the refs and/or league have it out for both teams. Ever think about that?

These refs obviously hate the Blue Jackets and want the Wings to win. That holding call was flimsy.

What does any of this have to do with Gary Bettman?

I hope our boys are ready to work tonight, because Columbus plays a really gritty game. This will be one of our tougher back to back games this season.

Yeah, I saw an interview with him recently and it sounded horrible when he explained his symptoms. I don't wish that on anybody.

The problem is that he couldn't be "elite". He can just be really good. If everybody would stop thinking of his as a potentially elite player then there wouldn't be a problem. Nobody thinks Sam Gagner is elite, in spite of his periodic spurts of exceptional play and Franzen is no different. Also, he never ever ever ever ever said he didn't care about the regular season...ever.

Of course he does, he's a good player. It's just a shame that Franzen's image is forever caught up with dumb ass fan's circular reasoning. Franzen sucks until he scores, then everybody pats themselves on the back and says "see, if he'd just try more he'd always do that". Likewise, Franzen's inconsistent until everybody realizes that last year he had shorter goal droughts than Datsyuk and Zetterberg and then it's "weeeeelllll...at least they play defense". Which finally leads me to, "Franzen doens't play defense" until you see him out on the penalty kill and suddenly it's "see, I told you Babcock plays favorites".

Well if Ruslan's post-period and post-game interviews were any indication, I seriously doubt his spirit will have anything to say to some unknown psychic. That guy REALLY hated giving interviews.

I completely agree with you about the Tatar comments. It's really hard for me to figure out Babs actual thoughts on guys because I think he's often putting his sports psychology training into practice when he comments on them. It seems like he believes some guys respond well to criticism, and others need to be insulated from criticism. He's always really supportive of Smith, in spite of his troubles, but rarely gives Kindl any sort of encouragement without first "grounding" him a bit. I don't think he likes one more than the other, but he treats them very differently. I have to think that his comments about Tatar are just more of the same. As far as Smith's comments, I don't recall a time when a player admitted to not knowing how to improve, and it's hard for me to believe that he hasn't been told why he's not in the lineup. Additionally, the "I am a minus-4, but if you watch those goals, I don’t think there’s a breakdown on my side" line bothers me because it points a finger at other players, and obscures the fact that his in zone coverage, and decision making with the puck has been terrible. If his play was up to par he wouldn't have been scratched twice in two games, so either he screwed up on those goals and isn't owning up to it, or he didn't screw up on those particular goals but every other facet of his game needs work. Either way, saying "the goals weren't my fault" deflects attention onto his teammates, and doesn't address whatever it is that has cost him a regular spot in the lineup. I don't remember other young defensemen behaving that way.

I completely agree, I'd prefer that Lashoff stays in the lineup as well. He's a good PK guy and I generally err on the side of defense. I'd always rather play a defensively responsible d-man with poor offense, than a good offensive d-man with poor defense.

Please let me know what you think about him after reading this... http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2013/10/brendan_smith_scratched_as_red.html

Haha, Is it wrong that I never get tired of seeing bad things happening to Luongo?

Just for kicks, anybody have a gif of Kronwall scoop shoveling Eaves off the ice after a blocked shot? One of my all time favorite Red Wings moments.

I don't think anyone expects Smith to be an impact player, but we do expect him to do something. He's poor defensively, which might be excusable given that he's supposedly an offensive d-man but he doesn't pinch well either. He's bad in transition and makes poor passes, frequently turning the puck over, and he doesn't have much of a shot so he's no help on the PP. Add to that the fact that Sproul is developing faster than expected, as is Ouellet, and you have to wonder if he doesn't have more value to the team as part of a trade. Also, his comments about being scratched definitely make me wonder whether he's mature enough to play for this team. Kindl, Ericsson, and Kronwall were all VERY shaky when they first came up. But none of them ever said publicly that they didn't know how to improve or threw their linemates under the bus.

I knew I had to get YFMB on here quick or you'd beat me to it.

I think Quincey has played strong this season. In my opinion he's earned a regular spot on the team. Lashoff and Smith should rotate in the sixth spot, with Lashoff playing most of the time, and Smith playing against s***ty teams to get him some games. Honestly, what I'd really like to see is Sproul up as the 7th d-man rotating with Lashoff, and Smith on some other team. But given how the Wings work, and the fact that Smith has done nothing but destroy his trade value, I'm not going to hold my breath.

If the NHL were going to fix games, why would they waste time fixing games for a franchise that's going to win anyway? Both Detroit and Boston are perennial contenders with strong fan bases. If the fix was in, wouldn't you expect the NHL to help out Florida, Tampa, Dallas, or Phoenix (the team the NHL owned for years)? Why the hell would you conspire to help a team that doesn't need it? Conspiracy theories are stupid.

We've committed six or more penalties three times in six games. In the other three we had four, three, and three. We are not a very disciplined team. Some games we take lots of penalties. When you're constantly committing penalties it's pretty hard for the other team to commit any. Teams rarely take penalties on the powerplay. So it stands to reason that if you commit a lot of penalties, and constantly put the other team on the pp, they're less likely to commit penalties themselves.

Watson hates the Wings eh? Why? Did Mike Ilitch f*** his wife? You're suggesting that a professional referee, who gets paid to be objective, is being obviously biased against a team for no good reason whatsoever. And you have nothing to substantiate these claims, except your honest opinion. An opinion which couldn't possibly be clouded because you're a fan of the team who got the short end of the stick today. Nobody is conspiring the keep the Wings down. There are lots of games where we have more powerplays. I don't see any of you lining up to cry shenanigans when it favors us. Sad fact is, so far this season we're a team that takes a lot of penalties. We've been taking too many penalties since game one. It's not a conspiracy, it's just sloppy play.

Ok, so are you trying to suggest that the refs actively conspired to make the Wings lose/Boston win? Because if so, you're delusional.

My bad, I guess I misunderstood your point. I thought you were trying to suggest that without fighting the NHL would be like women's hockey. Lot's of people around here have made that exact analogy. Fortunately though, nobody is trying to take all hitting out of the game. Just illegal hitting, and illegal fighting. So we're good. My bad for jumping to conclusions though. I was wrong.