krsmith17

It was clearly a made up stat by Rich, seems how hits weren't tracked until after the 2004 lockout... EDIT: The NHL did not start tracking hits until Shanahan was 36 years old. In his last season with the Wings in '05-'06 he had 74 hits in 82 games. Then he went on to play with the Rangers for 2 seasons from '06-'08 where he had 113 hits in 140 games. Then he played his final year with the Devils in '08-'09 where he had 18 hits in 34 games. So in his final 4 seasons when his body was breaking down he averaged under a hit per game... What about when he was in his prime? One of the best power forwards in the league?...

Rich, I disagree. Tatar has been on fire as of late with 12 points (8 goals, 4 assists) in the past 12 games, which is great, but he has been the only one "on fire". Nyquist only has 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist) in his past 11 games, in which 2 of those points came in one game against Tampa, and the other came last night against Ottawa. I'm not saying he is in a massive slump, but definitely not on fire. Franzen has been extremely consistent so far this season, but doesn't have a point in his past two games, his longest stretch all season. Zetterberg has been in a bit of a slump, with just 3 assists in his past 9 games. I'm sure once Tatar cools off a little, which he inevitably will, Zetterberg will be out of his slump. Sheahan really seems to be heating up lately with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in the past 5 games, and hopefully with Nyquist finding the back of the net again last night, he will heat up again. Anyway, my point is, that while some players are on fire or heating up, some other players are slumping right now. That's just the way it is in any sport. Also, Datsyuk has been injured and Smith is out now, so you can't really say there haven't been any significant injuries...

The point was that you originally compared Mantha to Shanahan because of his fighting ability, now you're just comparing them offensively, stating that "Shanny was much more willing to drop the gloves than Mantha ever has been"... My point is that he will not be dropping the gloves very often, if at all at the pro level, and if he does, I'm sure management will have a chat with him. They're not going to want their top prospect in 20 years, risk injury in fighting. Red Wings management say a lot of things, regarding prospects but everyone knows how they like to develop their players - overripe. And while I do think Mantha will be somewhat of an exception to their rule, I don't think they're in any huge rush to get him in the NHL. Management also said that one of our top defense prospects would be making the team out of camp this year. That never happened. Because they're not ready? Nope. Ouellet is clearly ready and has already passed Kindl and Lashoff on the depth chart. Players have to put their time in with the Red Wings, nothing is ever handed to them, and that philosophy seems to have been working quite well for them. I'm not necessarily saying that Pulkkinen will be called up before Mantha, because I could see it going either way, especially depending on who they're being called up to replace, but I don't think it's as clear cut as you're trying to make it out to be...

Although I would never compare him to a Shanahan type, I think he is a lot more aggressive than he gets credit for. He is a big body and he does use it to his advantage. He does like to hit and mix it up a little from time to time, I just think he needs to stay away from the fighting. I totally agree with your assessment jimmy, he does have a knack for quietly finding the open ice and putting the puck in the net.

While I do agree with you that Mantha isn't as clear cut to be the first recall that Rich is claiming, I wouldn't be surprised either way. If Pulkkinen gets called up, it is well deserved because he has been working his ass off and has been producing down in the minors for nearly 2 years now. If Mantha gets called up, it is because he has a much better chance in filling in a top 6 role. I love Pulkkinen but as of right now, he is nothing more than a third line NHL winger in Detroit's system, whether he reaches his 2nd line potential is entire up to himself. Mantha on the other hand, although I'd love to see him finish the year in Grand Rapids, is probably going to have the easier transition into a top 6 NHL role because of his size and skill set. Also, last Saturday was the first Griffins game I missed in a while and the only one I missed that Mantha played in. I seen the highlights but never bothered to watch the full game. But every other game I watched that Mantha played, he flat out dominated when he wanted to. And I don't mean when he wanted to in a lazy way, he seemed to take over the play and did not seem to be lazy or floating at all in the games I seen. So maybe it was just an off game... I may watch that last game tonight before the Wings game if I have the time...

Weiss on playing wing tonight - "It's completely different. I played center the last two games (in Grand Rapids) and I got wing tonight, so I'll have to be on my toes"... It really doesn't make sense to throw Weiss in the lineup in a position that he has never really played, especially when Helm has been playing quite a bit of wing this year...

I couldn't agree more on Sproul. I would love for him to become a Doughty, Subban, Karlsson lite, but the key part in my above post was "especially if Babcock is still the coach by then"... We know damn well how Babcock treats his offensive minded (gifted) defensemen... Well every game I've watched those are the pairings I've seen, so who knows... lol

Our record has been better without Datsyuk in the lineup this season, but I think it would be foolish to think we're a better team without Datsyuk (and I'm not saying that's what you're saying..) For whatever reason guys seem to step up big time when Datsyuk is out of the lineup and sit back and assume he is going to carry the team to victory each and every night. That isn't the case any more unfortunately... Guys need to step up the same way as when he isn't playing even when he is...

I guess it depends on which site you get your bio from, and I'm assuming you're using the Griffins website which may be the most accurate, but several others list them as 6'1" and 6'2". Either way, I don't see that as a huge difference in deciding who is the better option. They both play big and that's what matters. Sproul definitely needs someone defensively responsible to play with, I agree with that, but Ouellet isn't a terrible option there in my opinion. He is a good offensive defenseman but is also very defensively aware as well. I hope Sproul can clean up on the defensive end of the puck as well or he will get eaten alive in the NHL, especially if Babcock is still the coach by then... I'm not 100% sure but I don't think Backman and Sproul have seen significant time together this year. I've watched the majority of the Griffins games so far this season and from what I could tell the pairings have been Ouellet - Marchenko, Paetsch - Sproul, and Backman - Jensen...

Yeah Kip, I don't get why Babcock hasn't done everything he possibly could to get Callahan up here like he has with Glendening to be honest. He's basically Glendening with more scoring potential in my opinion. Maybe that's the problem lol... But seriously, he would be a great 4th liner for this team along with Glendening and Miller. Defensively responsible, great penalty killer, agitating as f*ck, can chip in a little offensively, has a knack at scoring big time goals, and could even potentially be used as a net front guy on the power-play... What's not to like right?...

I see where you're coming from with Marchenko, but to be fair, there isn't a huge size difference between the two, they both like to hit when they can, their both righties, I think Jensen is the better passer, while Marchenko is slightly better defensively. I think DeKeyser and Jensen would complement each other quite well as well. I agree completely on the center situation.

Really? Who would have thunk it?... Now that you mention it though I'm pretty sure his birth certificate actually says "John Mitchell NetFrontPickingUpTrashGoals Callahan"...

I agree that people are oftentimes too quick to want to trade away these young guys, and I will admit that I was one of the one's that wanted to trade Tatar, but not because he's too much like Nyquist. I wanted to trade him because he would have garnered the highest return out of our assets at the time. I admit that it probably would have been a bad trade in hindsight. However, I'm still not completely against trading Tatar if the return is big enough. I love Tatar and I never wanted to give him away, but the more he plays the more I'm loving the way he plays. Jurco is definitely an untouchable in my books and it drives me insance hearing all the people saying we should trade him. I agree with your untouchable list for the most part, but I would probably replace Marchenko with Jensen on my list. I have not been impressed much with Marchenko so far this season, and Jenson impressed a lot in preseason and is doing much of the same down in Grand Rapids. He is a great puck mover with a high hockey IQ, loves to use his body and also has a pretty underrated shot from the blueline. I would also add Athanasiou to my untouchable list. I think he's going to be a beast in the NHL one day...

I'm pretty sure NetFrontPickingUpTrashGoals is Mitch Callahan's middle name...

According to Khan, Weiss is in and Datsyuk remains out. Hopes to be back in sometime this week. I hope Weiss is setup to succeed tonight, with a couple decent line mates and can get something going... Also, Kindl is back in... Not sure who is out? I'm hoping (assuming) it's Lashoff, not Ouellet. Weiss is on Helm's wing, along with Jurco and is also on the 2nd PP unit. Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Tatar - Sheahan - Franzen Weiss - Helm - Jurco Miller - Glendening - Andersson

I hope you're right derblaue. He needs to get in some games with the Wings as soon as possible.

As for comparing Mantha to Shanahan, 2 words: different era. There is no way management are going to want Mantha dropping his gloves, so those of you that are looking forward to the next Shanahan type of player, you're going to be sadly disappointed in that regard.

It's really going to be interesting to see what happens once everyone is healthy. I hope the best players play, but there's going to be some real tough decisions for management in the coming week or so, once Datsyuk, Weiss and Smith are healthy. It's clear that Ouellet deserves a spot in the lineup, but do they decide to send him down once again, over losing another player to waivers? Unfortunately for Ouellet, I think they would. Is there a trade (involving Kindl) in the works? I hope so, but have my doubts. Also who sits with an entire healthy group of forwards? Andersson would be my number one choice to sit, and then it would be between sitting Cleary and sending Jurco down for me. As much as I still believe Jurco would benefit from more time down in Grand Rapids, I think he is here to stay. So Cleary and Andersson would be my 13th and 14th forwards. There's also Pulkkinen and Mantha that will be looking for a shot soon. Who is the first injury recall, assuming they both keep up their level of play? I think it should be Pulkkinen but wouldn't be surprised to see Mantha jump him either. A lot to be excited about in the near future, let's hope everything pans out the way us fans hope...

No we don't but what's your point? Do you want our top prospect fighting? I sure as hell don't and I'm pretty confident that no one in Red Wings management want him to either, and that would include Blashill and Babcock as well.

Smith isn't eligible to come off short term injured reserve until Wednesday if I'm not mistaken, so he won't be in tonight. Datsyuk is a game time decision as far as I know. I doubt Weiss gets into the game tonight but he is eligible. I think he will possibly play on Wednesday against Philadelphia...

Great fight, now never do it again... the last thing, he, the Griffins, or the Wings need is him missing a couple months with a broken hand... I'm all for a good fight, but let the jobbers that are not relied on heavily, to handle that sort of business, not our most highly touted prospect since Jesus...

People still complaining about Cleary is absolutely hilarious. How about you actually go watch a Wings game, or if you do really watch the games, turn off your blind hate just for a couple hours and "really" watch the game. Cleary has been great, and when I say great I'm obviously not talking about "all-star" calibre great, I'm saying he has been a great bottom six guy. His skating has improved 100%, he is giving 110% effort like he always has, and he's actually having a positive impact on the games. Cleary > Nestrasil every day of the week for me... for Babcock... for Holland... and for every other player in that locker room...

Exactly, no one wants to bad talk the other team leaders but Franzen has become the LGW whipping boy for some time now and it is "the thing to do"... Franzen was just as much a part of carrying the team into the playoffs as any of the kids were, including Nyquist in my opinion, as well as Alfie. Franzen was in beast mode for the better part of the home stretch last season but he still gets s*** because people think he should be doing more. Why? He is what he is and it's time people realize that he's a streaky player like most goal scorers in the league. He is well worth his cap hit and is off to another fantastic start this season. He seems like a much better skater out there and seems to becoming a little more consistent, let's hope it continues instead of hoping he fails...

No big surprise there. Before the season started I kind of wanted him back, but I'm okay with him hanging them up. No shame Alfie, great career and a lock for the HOF.

<mod edit> I am looking forward to the future, and I think some of the kids in Grand Rapids are going to be big time players one day. I do look forward to Grand Rapids games, but not any more than any other season. I never miss a Wings game, haven't in years, and I've watched the majority of Griffins games for the past 3 years. But what we have going on right now in Detroit is pretty damn special if you ask me, and it's only going to get better. Still in a bit of a transition period, waiting for some of our young guys to get acclimated to the NHL, waiting for some of our AHL guys to prove they deserve a shot, and we are still playing quite well. As of today we sit in 10th in the league, 4th in the conference and 3rd in the division, just three points behind 2nd (Tampa) with two games in hand. We could even be higher than we currently stand if we were able to win a few shootouts. I was just looking at some of our team stats and we are looking pretty good nearly through 1/4 of the season... GF/GP - 2.84 (9th) GA/GP - 2.21 (7th) PP% - 19.5 (15th) PK% - 89.6 (2nd) (0.1 behind 1st Chicago) S/GP - 30.3 (13th) SA/GP - 26.6 (3rd) FO% - 53.2 (2nd) Those are some respectable numbers. Also, I'm a firm believer that in order to have success your special teams need to equal upwards of 110% when you add together your PP% and PK%. Right now we are at 109.1% which is very respectable. That is also good for 2nd place if I'm not mistaken, behind only Pittsburgh (122.2%). There PP has been unreal, but I think that will come down to earth a little more as the season goes on...