krsmith17

Mantha showing off the wheels. Great job Pulkkinen.

McCollum looking good.

Mantha!

Red Abdelkader-Zetterberg-Nyquist Miller-Andersson-Ferraro Bertuzzi-Athanasiou-Mantha Hoggan-Nosek-Callahan Kronwall-Ericsson Smith-Kindl Ouellet-Russo Howard White Jurco-Richards-Tatar Franzen-Sheahan-Glendening Miele-Larkin-Pulkkinen Tangradi-Aubry-Svechnikov DeKeyser-Green Quincey-Marchenko Lashoff-Sproul Mrazek 3-1 Red after first 25 minute half. Red: Mantha - Bertuzzi Red: Ouellet - Bertuzzi, Athanasiou White: Sheahan (PP) - Franzen, Tatar Red: Athanasiou - Ouellet, Jensen

Red: Mantha - Athanasiou (5-1) White: Richards - Franzen, Green (5-2) Red: Nosek - Abdelkader, Ericsson (6-2) Red wins 6-2 Final.

4-1 Red: Nosek - Callahan

Even with a few injuries, I highly doubt Cleary sees any time with the Wings. To be honest, I'd be shocked if he sees a single game this season, this coming from one of the man's few supporters he has left...

Even with Datsyuk starting the season on IR, and if Helm isn't ready to go (which I think he will be), or another player gets injured, I still think Larkin starts the season and in all likelihood plays the entire season in Grand Rapids...

If only Babcock were gone so that he could be given the opportunity to show off his offensive ability... If only there were a coach out there that would take over and allow his defenseman to jump up in the play and free wheel a little in the offensive zone... Listen, I expect big things from Smith this season, but after season is over, if he hasn't proven his worth, I, like the rest of the fans, will be ready to let him go...

... because they haven't been in the league long enough to be exposed... Like I said earlier, it's not hard to have success, what's hard is maintaining that same level of success... Yup Smith is an idiot for grabbing the puck while sitting on the bench, but if that were DeKeyser or any other player it would have been forgotten about immediately after... But because it was Brendan f***ing Smith, it will be remembered forever as probably the worst, most idiotic play ever by an athlete... That was probably a huge reason we didn't win the Cup last season to be honest...

Ouellet and Marchenko are not better than Smith at this stage of their careers. Could they be down the road? Sure they can, but they're not there yet. Besides, they're not at all the same type of players... No player on this team was happier to see Babcock leave this offseason than Smith and Jurco. Babcock is the worst coach to have for an offensive minded defenseman. If Babcock were still here, we would have A) not signed Green this offseason, or B) If Green were stupid enough to sign here, he would have been in Babs doghouse within the first month, guaranteed...

zombo, I said yesterday that I think he should be on the power-play, but also that I don't think he will be. Competing for a spot on the power-play isn't the same as competing for a spot on the top pair or even in the top 4. I don't think Smith is a top pair defenseman, but I absolutely do believe he is very capable on the power-play, if given the opportunity. Does he deserve a shot over Kronwall or Green? No. Does he deserve a shot over DeKeyser? For sure in my opinion. I'm not overstating Smith's abilities, I'm saying that he has great offensive instincts, so why not let him show what he can do. I'm also not saying he should be handed the power-play minutes, I'm saying he should be given the opportunity in pre-season (which he will)... I'm not trying too hard to do anything, I'm just stating my opinion, that Smith has improved and he gets waaaay too much flack from LGW. Some will agree, some will disagree, whatever... MrazekFanBoy, I'd love to know how you KNOW Marchenko and Ouellet are better than Smith with such a small sample size...

Apparently I'm not the only one... Ansar Khan - "A first-round draft pick in 2007, Smith was an offensive defenseman both at Wisconsin and during all or parts of three seasons in Grand Rapids, where he had a total of 27 goals. But in two full seasons with the Red Wings, he's scored just nine goals, partly because he hasn't been given much time on the power play. Will that change under new coach Jeff Blashill and will Smith play a bigger role in the offense?" Jeff Blashill - "I think Brendan has that ability to do that (power play)," Blashill said. "You have to see where the whole puzzle fits at camp. He's somebody I know that's done that in the past because he's done that for me in the American League (for half the 2012-13 season)." "lol"...

What are you talking about???... His defensive game has improved drastically, not in the sense that he will ever be a shut down defenseman, but he doesn't make nearly as many boneheaded plays as he once did when he first entered the league. It may seem like he does to some, especially if you read GDT's because it's the LGW thing to do, to point out every miniscule mistake the kid makes... I'm in no way advocating that he is a stellar defenseman in his own zone, which is exactly why I said that he should be given the green light to do what he does best, jump up in the rush and create offense, as well as be given a shot on the power-play. You can point at his point totals from the past two seasons and say "what offense?", but that's exactly my point, Babcock did everything he could to stymie Smith's offensive game. I'm hoping Blashill will do the opposite. Time will tell... Anyway, like I said, agree to disagree. I'm done with this...

Anyway 9, we'll have to agree to disagree on Smith... once again... I think he has improved his defensive game drastically over the course of the last season and a half. I'm aware that he isn't the most sound defensive player, which is why I'm excited that Blashill is coming in. I'm hoping he will give Smith the green light to do his thing and jump up and make plays in the defensive zone (aka play to his strengths), something Babcock never would have done. I'm hoping now that Quincey has ironed out his game since the last time they were paired together, they will complement each other a little better and develop some chemistry (assuming they stick together on the third pairing...).

I'd say "Verrier, fortunately, is not" is more accurate, for Helm anyway... If he had run into Nedomlel, chances are, Helm would be the one stretchered off the ice...

Tough break for Verrier, I hope he's okay. Poor kid hasn't been able to catch a break... Great news that Helm is okay though. It finally appears that he is out of the woods with all those injuries the past few seasons... *knocks on wood*

Yup, and just as DeKeyser is LGW's golden boy, Smith is LGW's whipping boy... I guess every fan and fan base needs one... Mine is Andersson. I've heard and seen people say that he has value to the team, and I don't get it at all. I've never seen it, even when he was our third line center a couple years ago in the playoffs against Anaheim. I think he's a borderline NHL player at best... Smith, I believe has shown steady improvement, and if you haven't seen that, I don't know what to say... I'd be shocked if Smith doesn't show vast improvement this season under Blashill, now that he has finally rid himself of Babcock. But at the same time, I will be even more shocked if when he improves, LGW doesn't still look for and b**** about every single mistake he makes, all while turning a blind eye to the mistakes of their "golden boy"...

number9, you bait and you troll. Everyone here knows it. Why would you even deny that? Can I say definitively that you are trying to troll when you talk about Smith? No, probably not, but it sure as hell seems like it at times... Yup, Smith looked great in his first few games as a call-up didn't he? Guess who else did? Pretty much every player that comes up from the minors... Remember Ericsson's first few games? Kid was unreal. Remember Ouellet's and Marchenko's first few games? Guys looked great, and fans were already anointing them better than Smith, Kindl, Quincey, Ericsson, etc. Wait until they get a full season under their belt and they get exposed for the players they are, steady 4-5 defensemen... Like every single player, I mentioned previously that they are so-called way better than... I never said anything about Smith being better than DeKeyser because he's definitely not close. I think DeKeyser is amazing, and will probably be our best defender by the end of this season. The point is, even when he does f*** up, he gets zero blame, but if he went on the ice wearing number 2 or 27 or 52 and made that same mistake, people would b**** and complain like they always do... I'm not "making this about Ericsson", I brought him up to prove a point...

Yup, Ericsson is garbage... How is he even in the NHL... Is he a top pairing defenseman? No, probably not. Is he a top 4 defenseman? Absolutely. Again, like every defenseman, Ericsson has his gaffes, but they get pointed out much more because of the rep he got 5 years ago... It's f***ing ridiculous... I still find it hilarious that to Red Wings fans, DeKeyser can do no wrong. He f**** up and no one gives a s***, or they yell at the TV because Quincey or Smith was on the ice... even if they played their man perfectly... it's still their fault... because they suck... amirite?...

Step up their game? Frank, you could make that argument for players that have been in the league a couple years like Nyquist or Tatar, if they were having subpar seasons, or even Smith or Kindl if they don't show they belong, but not two guys that have barely gotten a shot. There is no chance that either Jurco or Pulkkinen are given up on this early in their careers, unless they completely fall flat (which I doubt) or someone comes calling specifically about them and they make an offer Kenny can't refuse (which I doubt)...

You haven't seen improvement in Smith's play? Really? Okay, now I know you're either going on blind hate or trolling... You're no better than those that still hate on Quincey because he was awful a year and a half ago... Funny how you bolded those two parts but failed to acknowledge the part in between... The fact that he is only going in to his 3rd season... Remind me again, how long it took Ericsson to become a legitimate top 4 defenseman? Or is Big E still garbage too because he was a turnover machine 5 years ago, and still tends to have a gaffe here and there?... like every. single. defenseman in the league...

The kid is 22 years old, he needs more than one full season to fulfill that potential... Penguins? Overpaid? First rounder? Who exactly are you talking about here?...

How has Panik proven "way more" than Jurco? Panik has 39 points in 151 games (0.258 points per game) and Jurco has 33 points in 99 games (0.333 points per game). So other than Panik being older and more experienced, Jurco is by far the better player with much higher potential in my opinion. You realize that Panik was a Lightning cast off, and was claimed off waivers by one of the worst teams in the league...

... so basically it's a highlight of every goal against that Smith was on the ice for?... Great job... You could do the same for just about any defender in the league, and make them look like "complete garbage"... There were some clips in that video that had very little to do with Smith. No doubt there are some clips of some extremely boneheaded plays, and no one would deny that Smith has made his fair share in the past, but they are becoming less and less frequent. People seem to forget that he's only played two full seasons with the Wings... He has improved immensely since his first season, and he will continue to do so under Blashill.