kipwinger

Danielson! Strips the puck, give and go with Hirose, and he buries it. Coaches are gonna love this dude.

Wallinder is looking really good, Edvinsson too.

I see that Edvinsson and Petry are both in the lineup tonight. I'm really hoping that's a pair two weeks from now.

I agree with most of this but I think you’re underselling how talented we are. Sure we didn’t get top three picks, but we still got the better players. In a redraft the only person that goes higher than Seider is Hughes, so Seider is essentially a top two pick. In a redraft the only guy that goes higher than Raymond is Stutzle so he’s essentially a top two pick. The only guy obviously better than Edvinsson is Beniers. Draft rankings and order go right out the window as soon as the players are picked. We may not have drafted high but we definitely aren’t building around unskilled players.

I don't think I've been this excited about a season in quite some time. Absolutely pumped. The team is better, we've got more talent waiting in the wings, and most importantly they've got some attitude. I love the Lalonde is playing up the "everyone is counting us out" angle. We're tougher, we're more skilled, we're deeper, and all our best players are in their primes or haven't even gotten there yet. We're going to be very competitive.

Yeah, good catch. I meant to say each of Ghost and Petry had 40(ish) points (I was posting from memory and throught Petry had 41 pts and not 31 pts). I agree about Walman. I think his goal scoring will be high but his point totals will be low though. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I think the Wings are going to be under-represented in these types of lists because they're primarily made by looking at statistical models that lack context. For example, their model is predicated on Dylan Larkin being the exact same player he's always been in the NHL. But is there any reason to think Dylan Larkin will outperform that expectation? I think so. He's got a legit top winger for the first time in his career AND for the first time in his career there's enough depth that he can't be keyed on all season. In addition, the powerplay is going to be better. For those three reasons I'd expect Larkin to have a career year this year. Likewise, the model is predicated on losing Bertuzzi, Vrana, and Hronek. All of those players' values (in the model) are determined by their careers up to this point, but with the exception of Hronek neither of the other two contributed to the team last year in any meaningful way. Likewise, guys like Ras, Raymond, Berggren, Seider, and (maybe) Edvinsson are all poised for a breakout and the model won't capture that because they don't have a track record to build on. Then there's the obvious improvements in goal and on the defense (Gostisbehere and Petry combined for 40 pts last season). The other thing these models don't account for (and can't) is inevitable injuries. What if Marchand gets hurt? Or Crosby? Those teams ahead of us aren't deep enough to sustain those types of injuries and they happen all the time. Obviously we need to win the games we play, especially against the Eastern Conference teams, but I think we're in a good position to do that.

I don't think that's out of the question. Edvinsson is 20, he's far from being done developing. Hedman didn't really start dominating the NHL until his 3rd season in the league.

Edvinsson is looking really really good in camp so far. Can't wait to see him during the preseason. I really liked the combination of him and Petry yesterday. Ideally Jeff Petry's style of play is exactly what you'd want from Edvinsson. If he can learn solid defensive play with good even strength offense he'll be an absolute force (think Jacob Slavin here). Petry can help with that. So far my defense pairings to start the season would be: Walman-Seider Edvinsson-Petry Gostisbehere-Holl Maatta

Two goals in his last two games for Axel Sandin Pellikka. Would be absolutely HUGE if this dude hits.

Really looking forward to seeing these line combinations. I'd imagine Lalonde will deploy lines in the same ways Cooper did. I expect him to stack the offense on lines 1 and 3 and have a 2nd shutdown line. Compher is our Cirelli, but I'm curious who his wingers will be. I think that moves Copp to 3C with more offensive guys (Berggren, Sprong?) which should increase our scoring. Of course the defense pairs are a big mystery too. I think I like: Walman-Seider Gostisbehere-Petry Chiarot-Holl Maatta

He could “learn about them” by peeking in their windows at night too, but if he got caught doing so I doubt anyone would buy that as a story. Commodore is right, he’s a pervert. Pervert Babs be pervertin’.

I don't buy it. The "I'm just getting to know them" narrative is bologna. Why couldn't he have just asked them about their kids, family, the gym, etc. to get to know them? Ya know, like everybody else does when they meet new people? Why did he need to scroll through their phones? I got it, Mike Babcock is probably just a visual learner who was trying this best to relate to the kids.

Maybe, I don't really feel qualified to say. I will say that even in my personal life I've always found that lazyness is considered a greater personality flaw that being unethical. Perhaps it's regional but the whole "protestant ethic" thing was definitely commonplace in the households where I grew up. It was fine to berate a child for wearing makeup or something but heaven forbid you have an untidy house.

Yeah, clearly I had Scotty pegged wrong. Thank god this is changing. Imagine if you were allowed to just harass and belittle the janitor in your office building, or the HR lady in the front office? It's insane that coaches get a pass on stuff like this at the professional level.

I'd imagine the OVERWHELMING majority of people, no matter what job they have, would not feel comfortable giving their boss unfettered access to scroll through their phones' pictures, texts, etc. Just like nobody would let their boss look through their wallet or purse. And it's not like Babs doesn't know that this would make people uncomfortable, he's not a stupid person. THE POINT was to make subordinates feel intimidated and vulnerable.

I guess maybe I'm wearing rose colored glasses when it comes to Scotty. Obviously Burr and Dino would know better than me. Mike Commodore says many of the same thing about Babs treating non-players terribly too. That's something I find especially egregious. You shouldn't treat anyone that way but especially strangers or people that work in other roles that aren't directly under the coach's supervision (e.g. building/maintenance staff or training staff).

I don't agree. Bowman was never perceived the way Mike Keenan (more analogous to Babs) was. It was never personal with Scotty the way it is with Keenan or Babs. Paul Coffey famously didn't like playing for Bowman but not because Bowman had a personal vendetta against Coffey. Rather it was because Scotty mandated that the team play good defense and Coffey wasn't really interested in playing that way.

I think there's a difference between having high standards and holding players accountable, and being ego-maniacal. It always seemed like Bowman was a hardass because he wanted to have the best hockey team possible whereas the point of Babcock's hijinx is to project his authority and belittle people in (perceived) subordinate roles within the organization.

I'm sure he does work hard. Matter of fact, I imagine he was able to get away with a lot of his sh*tty, anti-social, behavior because he worked hard and had some successes. For some reason our society values toxic people who are productive much more than it values ethical people who are lazy.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2015/02/16/detroit-red-wings-mike-babcock/23501841/ Reading these old puff pieces written about Babcock is hilarious in light of how his time went in Toronto and now CBJ. "I want to be the best coach of my generation". Lol. That's definitely one way it could have gone. But hear me out...what if, instead, everyone remembered you as a disgraced, self-destructive, weirdo who will be lucky to coach a midget team? Maybe try that on and wear it around a while. "I always say to people that I learned to work hard from my dad, but I learned to talk to people from my mom." What a treat she must have been. Yikes.

Kasper played the first two games with bums on his wings and he still generated a ton of scoring chances. Then I’m the 3rd game he finally got to play with decent wingers and not surprisingly he had two points. I’m not worried about his offense at all.

I wouldn't go that far personally, but I do think that the book on him (he doesn't score much) is probably not accurate. I do think he needs to shoot more though, which I imagine will come with age and development. Not too bad for one of the younger players in the tournament. Stop trolling. It's gross.

Something that's been lost in the weeds a little bit as a result of the Cossa thing, but how about Nate Danielson scoring 5 points in two games? Not too shabby for one of the younger players, in one of the biggest roles, on the team. I liked seeing him out there on the PK as well.

I just can't believe how pussified we've become as a society. Just think of it, you're the guy whose boss's boss's boss's boss is the owner of the franchise and you CAN'T even order around other adult men like slaves? Imagine working all your life to become a middle manager only to find out that you don't literally own your coworkers. Labor laws are ruining this country.