krsmith17

Great point, which further illustrates how dumb it is to think that NHL players can never have an off night and lose to lesser competition. The exact same thing that happened to Hart against Lausanne can happen to Howard, or any NHL goalie against any AHL team.

So you think it's impossible for any AHL team to beat any NHL team ever... Got it... The bolded is as much a fact as the rest of the drivel you're spewing... I guarantee an AHL team would be able to completely shut down Larkin in a game (0 points). "Fact".

Yes I do think they could win a game or two in a 7 game series. I'm shocked at how shocked you are that people think it's possible for a worse team to beat a better team in a game of hockey. It literally happens all - the - time... That is, after all, why the games are played on ice, not paper... Like @ChristopherReevesLegs mentioned, the Philadelphia Flyers dressed a full roster in their final pre-season game against Lausanne HC, that featured stars such as Dustin Jeffrey, Cory Emmerton and Jonas Junland... Do you not think that the Flyers have 5 or 6 players better than any of those scrubs? The entire Flyers team is likely better than anyone on that Lausanne HC team, but yet they still managed to win the game 4-3... One of the biggest upsets in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was in 2006 when the Oilers took down the juggernaut Red Wings in six games... That team was lead by veterans Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Robert Lang, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Mathieu Schneider, and also had Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall all in the prime of their careers. The Oilers had a few decent players in Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff, Jarret Stoll, Ales Hemsky, Sergei Samsonov, a possessed Fernando Pisani and Chris Pronger. Also, this. ^

Well seeming how the Red Wings are the worst NHL team currently "on paper", and the Griffins are one of the better AHL teams "on paper", I think it would be a little closer than you make it seem... Also, the Griffins have several players that could and would crack the Red Wings if they were assembling a team to *win now*. The Red Wings obviously have the upper hand because they have 5 or 6 players that are better than any player on the Griffins at this point in their careers. But Rasmussen, Veleno, Zadina, Svechnikov and Seider (I know you'll disagree with this) may be better than every other player outside of those 5 or 6 right now. No, the Red Wings would not beat the Griffins 75-1, and yes it is very possible that the Griffins would beat them in a game. Maybe it would take more games than a best of 7, but if they played 10, I think the Griffins could definitely pull out one W...

How I think a team should be built and how the current iteration of the Red Wings are built are two very different things... Do you think this team as is, is equipped to roll 3 scoring lines? Hell, we're barely equipped to roll 2 scoring lines...

Yup, if even half of them become players, we could have some nice trade chips on our hands... That's been a running joke for the past few seasons. The Griffins could beat the Red Wings hurr durr... This season it may actually be somewhat accurate though. I still think the Red Wings would win a 7 game series, but the Griffins would definitely win a game or two...

Yup, Lidstrom playing parts of two seasons with McCrimmon is the reason he went down as one of the best defensemen of all time... Who knows what Lidstrom would have become if it weren't for the guidance of The Beast... May have ended up back in Sweden after a year or two... Who knows...

Do you think Zadina would benefit playing on a line with Helm and Abdelkader? Do you think Ehn or de la Rose are better than Zadina? They never beat Zadina out, because they were never competing for the same spots... It still amazes me how fast some fans will turn on a player / prospect in their organization... Zadina will be fine.

The point is for the team to be better and the player be put in the best situation to develop (get better)... The team and Cholowski would be better off now and in the future paired with Bowey, rather than Daley. The team and Zadina would be better off next season and in the future centered by Larkin or Veleno, rather than Nielsen. My opinion...

I never said that Nielsen is amongst the worst players in the league. That was Daley. I said Nielsen sucks, and in my opinion he does suck. I disagree that Cholowski will benefit more from playing with Daley, than he would Bowey, and I also disagree that Zadina would benefit more from playing with Nielsen, than he would Larkin.

Veterans, sure. Washed up veterans, that AGAIN have been amongst the worst in the league the past couple years, probably not...

If asked, I'm sure they would.

Players often say things that are not necessarily true to the media, especially regarding teammates... What would you expect them to say? "Vanek is old, slow and he sucks"... Probably not... Even if they really, truly thought Vanek benefitted them on the ice, I don't buy it. Sure he had a few sweet behind the back, backdoor passes to Athanasiou. He benefited from those few plays specifically, but overall, I think Vanek weighed Athanasiou's line down... Back to Daley... I'm not doubting his hockey IQ. I'm sure there are things he can teach the young guys, but he can tell them what to do, because he sure as s*** can't show them what to do anymore... He doesn't need to play the games to do that.

What do you think is more indicative of the way Daley and Bowey will play next season? The way they played last season? Or the way they played when Daley was in his prime and Bowey was in pee-wee? Of course I'm comparing the most recent season... Daley has gotten progressively worse the past several seasons. What makes you believe next season will be any different? This is the dumb type of thinking that will see Zadina playing with Nielsen next season instead of Larkin or Veleno because Nielsen is "experienced" (never mind the fact that he sucks...), and the other centers are still developing themselves...

The guy that is 11 1/2 years older has played more NHL games, and has more NHL experience? Really?... He hasn't "consistently over his career been far better at defense", because just last season that wasn't the case. The last dozen games when Bowey finally started to feel comfortable with his new team in particular. You can continue to think and say that Daley is better or in any way a positive to this team, but it's not going to make it true. Was he good in his day? For sure. Is he good now? Not at all...

As was already discussed, I think Seider could use some time (half to full season) in Grand Rapids. Seider isn't in any way being ruined by spending some time in the minors. He will still (likely) play in the NHL before his 19th birthday. That's pretty amazing for a defenseman in the Red Wings organization... I would have to think he will be the youngest to make the team in any of our lives, maybe ever?... What will Cholowski learn from Daley that he can't learn from him off the ice? Like I mentioned several times now, Daley was amongst the leagues worst defensemen last season, and not far off the season before. He's a liability every time he's on the ice. So, if you mean Cholowski will learn more because he will have to cover for Daley's ineptitude, sure... Cholowski and Bowey are better defensemen at this point in their respective careers. Daley SUCKS!

Cholowski is not, nor will he ever be a defensive defenseman. Nor should management attempt to mold him into one. Like you said, he's really good at getting the puck up ice, and when the puck is up ice, you don't need to defend. "The best defense is a good offense"... Anyway, all of that is beside the point... Daley sucks. He was among the worst defensemen in the entire league last season. He shouldn't ever be in the lineup, especially over younger, better defensemen. The only thing Daley has over Cholowski and Bowey is age... Both are better at every aspect of the game.

Well yeah, it was a long winded response agreeing with you...

Not a single team is at the 50-man roster limit. Only three are close at 49 (PIT, TBL, OTT). We currently have 47/50. You always want to have a spot or two open for these types of situations and / or College / European free agents. However, every single team could afford to take on one of these players, and not a single team did. I guess that's kind of telling that maybe these guys are duds...

Sprong and Ho-Sang go unclaimed.