kipwinger

Exactly, the Penguins who got murdered by a garbage team in the first round of last year's playoffs, despite having arguably the two best players in the world right now.

Based on what? Potential?

The Penguins? Are they talking about the same Penguins who got pole axed by a hardly capable Philadelphia team? The Penguins with terrible defense and goal tending Penguins? Hmmm.

Yeah no s***, not a bad deal for a guy who's never played a day in the NHL huh?

He's only 28 and would look real good in our top four. He and Ericsson or Quincey would be a good pair.

Hopefully The Wiz so we can sign him for something a little bit more Ken Holland's speed and toughen up that d core.

Given that the cap is going down, depending on our play this year I think the best move is to resign our own free agents and do nothing else. Taking on a big contract to the detriment of our depth is probably a bad idea for the next year or so.

To me this whole conversation reminds me of something I used to hear when I lived out East. "Ask a pink hat" was a segment on Boston's sports radio in which EXTREMELY self righteous Red Sox fans made fun of girls who came to the games but didn't know anything about baseball. On the surface it was kind of funny, but I could never help thinking about how the two overweight, middle aged, talk show hosts would gladly exchange their press passes or season tickets for one night with the "pink hats". Here's a link to the "pink hat" segment. Listen to it, it's fairly humorous, but take it with a grain of salt. I'd gladly wager my paycheck that most of these "true fans" do something equally superficial on a daily basis if anyone were to hold them under the same sort of microscope.

Link?

I've consistently hated the Lions for as long as I can remember. Hence, I don't watch any football ever. Not sure what that makes me, but I certainly didn't tune in last season when they looked impressive. That said, I did have partial season tickets the year the Tigers set the record for most losses. Ugh.

I agree with both of you, and I'd add that in all honesty, we're still not sure exactly what we'll be getting with Nyquist. As a fan of the Wings and a guy who watches every game, there's no denying the skill level and potential that Nyquist has, but he's still a little way off from being a regular contributor on this team. There's so much more to hockey than skill level. Playing smart, and playing responsibly, are often overlooked parts of success at this level. I was as dazzled as everyone else by Nyquist's puckhandling and skating, but when I view the guy objectively I have to admit that most of the 7 pts. the guy put up last year were the result of excellent linemates, not because he was making plays happen on his own. He scored less frequently (with Datsyuk and Franzen as help) than Smith did, and Smith was on the bottom pair. If you project Nyquist's totals for a whole season (temporarily ignoring the fact that he probably won't play 82 games and is likely to go through lengthy scoring droughts) he still would only have put up around 25-30 pts. Cleary did that on one leg last season, and didn't have Datyuk or Franzen to pad his stats either. Veterans know the game and know how to create chances for their linemates. Unless your rookie is RNH or Logan Couture or some freak like that, it's better to ease him in.

No.

Well I think there's some in every successful fan base. I don't think we're any better or worse. However, if my time here at LGW has taught me anything it's that there's more of it than you think. Just wait until we lose a few too many games in a row this season and watch how many people either swear on our impending doom, or else swear off the team entirely only to turn around on the next hot streak and talk up the organization. It happens, but again, probably no more than anywhere else.

There's a tendency to want to downplay how good some veterans are, mostly because as fans we like things that are new and exciting. But guys like Sammy, Cleary, Bert, etc. have been playing (and thriving) in this league a long time, and will be HUGE contributors over the course of this season. If watching Red Wings hockey over all these years has taught me anything it's that smart, hard working veterans are almost always a better option than rookies when you need to give responsibility to someone. Let Nyquist work his way into the NHL game by filling in during injuries and starting out on the third line. It will serve him, and the team, better in the long run.

The only season in which Franzen has missed significant time with injuries is the one in which he tore his ACL. Outside of that (obviously serious injury) his games played per season is roughly in line with Datsyuk or Zetterberg...that is, mid seventies typically. However, I agree that he's the perfect successor for Holmer's old job, but mostly because he scores more frequently when doing it.

And just to really drive the point home, here's two more hat tricks from Franzen. 6 goals: 5 dirty ones, 1 "snipe".

Ok I'm going to play a thought experiment. Do you think (like everyone else does) that the 2008 playoffs were the best stretch of games that Franzen ever played? And if you do, I want you to count the number of "snipes from the circles" he had during that stretch. Then count the number of times he scored deflecting pucks, driving the net, or scoring in the lane (e.g. where power forward score). Here's the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n18fsFOhUc For the millionth time, Franzen is at this best when he plays in the crease. Take him out of there and he's less effective, but you're insane if you think he is too timid to be successful there. As a matter of fact, if you look at his playoff goals and his hat tricks you have to conclude that he's MOST SUCCESSFUL when playing there. Note: For those who don't feel like watching the video: Of his 13 goals, 12 were deflections, drives, or rebound goals. 1 was a "Snipe". Or then there's this one...5 goals in one game...1 "snipe".

No s***, but we do have Franzen, Bertuzzi, and Cleary and none of those guys minds going to the front of the net to screen a goalie. Pav, Z, and Brunner will do fine during the regular season, just like Z, Hudler, and Flip did last season. But when the games become tighter and the defense is better (playoffs) they'll struggle. Fortunately we've got more options that this.

I always liked the teams that Burke put together. Vancouver was a solid mix of size and skill, as was Anaheim, as was the 2010 Olympic team. Obviously that didn't happen in Toronto but I have to wonder how much control Burke really had relative to other GMs. I mean, Toronto has a long history of internal power struggles, and resultant s***ty teams. I wouldn't blame too much of that on Burke.

I don't really like the top line. There's no net front presence on that line and because of that, I think that the they will largely be forced to play on the perimeter, which as we saw against Nashville doesn't lead to much success. In today's game you have to have someone who can play in the crease and that's not Pav, Z, Nyquist, or Brunner's game.

Well we can stop speculating. Helen St. James reporting on the initial lines for the Wings going into camp... http://www.freep.com/article/20130109/SPORTS05/301090102/1053/rss17 Edit: Haha, didn't realize someone else beat me to it.

It'd be a real shame if Kovalchuk went to another league to under perform rather than not living up to his contract here in the NHL. Boo hoo.

First of all, that song is not even made by a Michigan band. If our anthem was Alice Cooper, Iggy and the Stooges, or the Nuge then maybe I'd be with you on that one. But Journey? f*** Journey! In all seriousness, I'm not saying we have bad fans, but I am saying it takes quite a lot to get them rowdy. I've been to far too many games where a goal is scored and nobody gets out of their seats. It's just a very matter of fact applause and on to the next one. Nothing wrong with it, but I have to admit I like watching games where the fans are in a fever you know? I used to live in DC, and while the Caps sucked balls, it was fun as hell to watch a game because the fans were going nuts. A little of that wouldn't hurt. For the record, Iggy Pop's "Search and Destroy" should be the Red Wings' song. That's pure Michigan and pure badass!

I'm all for the whistles. Yeah they're a little annoying, but at the same time anything that gets fans into the game I generally support. So whatever, if the whistle creates a more festive atmosphere then by all means lets do it. And let's be honest, Wings fans have been watching the team win for so long that they've become fairly stoic anyway, might as well do something to lighten up.

They're the same person. Many people feel that Sammy is a logo hunter.