kipwinger

You can't use the first 24 games as any indication of this team considering all of the injuries. Our win percentage during that period would likely have been MUCH higher had that not been the case. When doing any sort of statistical analysis you have to be very careful that your baseline stats are actually representative before going any further. If a team starts out under performing for any number of reasons, and then you extrapolate from there you're likely to end up with an even more skewed result. For example, last year Zetterberg started out very slowly. If, during that period, you projected his season totals they would fall far short of what's expected. However, once he got over his funk he produced like he's capable, he finished the season where you'd expect (top ten or fifteen in total points). The same is true for a team, and this season our team under performed for quite a while to begin with. But again, that's not representative.

Bold prediction: If Holland misses out on Dekeyser, at least one member of this site will call for him to be replaced by Yzerman based solely on the results of these NCAA signings. Can't wait.

Wow. I probably should point out that EVERY SINGLE goal ever scored by a goalie is lucky. It's not like they're out there taking one timers, so to emphasize it's "luckiness" is sort of redundant. The luckiness of it is what makes it so rare and odd. Like a freakshow, but with less terror.

I certainly believe they should move as many of their bad contracts as humanly possible. I was just looking at our roster and their salaries and couldn't figure where all the money was going considering only Datsyuk and Zetterberg make any kind of real money. Upon closer inspection I found that 3/4 of our roster is full of people who under perform for their contracts or are hurt. Ugh. Hypothetically, you could trade Franzen for Gaborik and White for a pick and come out pretty close to even against the cap. Who doesn't think that sounds better than what we've got going on now?

Well the rumors I'm reading now are saying that they want to shed salary. They are reportedly interested in trading for Dan Boyle but need to clear space and a Gaborik for Boyle trade won't work because San Jose is looking to shed salary as well. According to one rumor the Rangers want a top four, right shooting d-man, and some depth roster players. If they are planning on acquiring Boyle then I don't think they'd want Smith. Maybe Nyquist or Tatar, but not another d-man.

Just a thought, but if the Wings sign Dekeyser and/or the other guy, the big Czech, would you be willing to part with Smith then?

According to the rumors the Rangers want a defenseman coming back so I doubt it happens. I just reported what I saw on the rumor sites and they said that the Red Wings were one of two teams with interest, but they didn't elaborate. I have no idea if we've made an offer or anything else.

Well I stand corrected. Good work on that one Nyquist.

No s***, can we please just get Tatar back up already? I'd really love it if every time I said, "man he's got good hands" about a rookie it was immediately before or after a goal.

According to the Fourth Period rumor site, Detroit is reportedly showing interest in acquiring Gaborik. Interesting...

Had to share this...too awesome!

Trade him now and get something good for him. All his nifty puck handling hasn't done s*** at the NHL level and it's only going to become more difficult once we move east.

Nice, thanks for the update.

So due to St. Patty's regularities I did not watch the game last night. Anything pertinent happen that I should know about?

I agree, been thinking this for a long time now. Zetterberg and Brunner are better off apart considering they're the two top shooters on the team and there aren't enough pucks to go around for both of them on the same line.

I think everyone on his line has much less space to make plays right now. Teams are bearing down on the Zetterberg-Brunner-Flip line because we've got no offense coming from anywhere else. A little more offensive depth and all of the sudden teams can't focus so heavily on one line, and the entire ice opens up for everyone. Same is true of the defense as well. They're getting killed by the opposition's forecheck because nobody has any fear of being burned by our offense so they press us harder than normal. We need to find effective lines and quality personnel real quick or we can expect more of the same for the remainder of the season.

Exactly! Just for fun I google searched "Young Mike Babcock" to see if I could find a picture of him in his youth, or his days coaching the juniors, or anything of the sort. Being a fairly famous person you would think there would be some. There...aren't...any. "Mike Babcock" is a character created by the National Hockey League to evaluate fan intelligence. If the reasonably intelligent "rabid fanbase" of the NHL does not notice/care that this man is an imposter then surely they aren't smart enough to give a damn about repeat work stoppages, arbitrary rules changes/enforcement, and blatant favoritism. Worst of all, the plan worked. So well in fact, that one of the premier organizations in the league hired this loutish thespian before being let in on the secret. After a good belly laugh Ilitch, Holland, Devellano, and Nill decided to play along with the charade while closely guarding the fact that the Red Wings ACTUAL head coaches since 2005 have been Todd McClellan, Paul McLean, Jeff Blashill, and Tom Renney. Time to wake up Red Wings fans. We're being hoodwinked! Doncha see?

I don't know anything about this Pulock kid but he seems to be getting a lot of buzz, which means two things. 1) I should look into him, 2) Detroit will never draft him lol.

Don't try to rationalize the Tootoo benching. Babcock is the only guy on earth who in the same interview can say “I go through this time and time again with players and media and everyone: The players decide who plays, not me. If you play good, you get to keep playing". And then say immediately afterwards, "Now, Lash, there’s nothing wrong with Lash’s game,” he said. “We just want to change here for a day". Sometimes I have to work really hard to convince myself that he's not a performance artist whose whole "routine" is to make obviously contradictory statements just too see if he can talk people into believing stupid s*** simply by scowling and having good hair.

I know this will never happen, and I don't mean to entertain the idea that it would, but just out of curiosity would any of you trade Franzen+Kronwall+Nyquist+1st for Ovie? Moreover, would the Caps take it?

Seriously awesome shift. Scouting report on him says he lacks hustle and intensity. Definitely proved the haters wrong on that one. Atta boy Shawn!

The difference is that one of them scores goals and the other racks up secondary assists. Also, Nyquist's most common linemates last season were Datsyuk and Bertuzzi so it was more than just "a bit more time". Finally, Tatar didn't cool off, or at least any more than Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or anyone else did. Nobody is scoring goals currently. If we take the last five games as any indication then our only offensive threats have been Kronwall and Kindl. Ugh.

At the NHL level Nyquist is not nearly as good as Tatar has been. In spite of being given as much or more opportunity. I don't know what he did to impress you, but if that did the trick then think back 5-10 games ago and pay attention to number 21 and your mind will probably be blown into cosmic dust.

Who said anything about giving up Nyquist and a 1st for Stafford. I know I sure as hell didn't. Nope, he just invented that. Nobody has ever suggested Stafford was worth that.

It also sounds a lot like what a ton of people here at LGW wanted to do with Zetterberg last season during his prolonged scoring slump. That fact that dumbasses want to bench a guy for a slump does not mean that he's comparable to a 34 year old grinder with two bum knees. Also, as I've already said, I don't think Drew Stafford is a superstar, or some sort of saving grace. He's a big, rugged, scoring winger who has loads of offensive talent who would really help out on a team which has ZERO big, rugged, scoring wingers and instead has to use Justin Abdelkader in that role and somehow hope the fairy godmother magically turns him into a scorer. He makes 4 million dollars and is a legit top six winger. How is that an over payment? He's coming of two consecutive 50 point seasons, AND given his size can do a whole lot of other things most of our wingers can't. Like hold on to the puck down low, score from the high traffic areas, wear down defensemen, clear space for the skill guys, finish a check, etc. etc. etc.