RedBengals

keeping helmets on would lead to SO many hand injuries. when someone drops the gloves they know what they're getting into.

why? five minutes is a fine amount of time. tossing for a game is pointless. some fights deserve to happen and they only do if both guys want to go.

there's some stuff I can see them wanting to get rid of. They've shown they'll suspend players for leaving the bench to fight. I imagine cheap shots will now be suspensions or locking up with a guy who doesn't want to go. they'll never eliminate fighting, just like when they tried after the lockout its part of the game that is never going away. late hits in a fight will probably looked at, it's not mma players need to let up if the dude drops.

Brendan threw a good hit, he missed. The ref's calling on the hit was decent, I guess. Match penalty is a bit much I think, but without the slow motion it's a hard call to say it wasn't intentional. WITH the slomo, it's clearly a standard high check that he didn't perfectly sink into the guy's chest. A short suspension now is alright, I suppose, but repeat offender status isn't really fair. Beyond all that though: Ben PUT HIS HEAD DOWN on that toe drag. I played hockey from mini-mite through high school, and that is the one thing you're taught never to do. Especially on a 1v1 like that. If you put your head down you're asking to be crushed. Ben didn't see the hit because he was staring at the ice, and the way he was bent forward what would have been a clean hit was high. Shanny is dropping the hammer now to set up precedent for the season for when actually dirty stuff happens, the short suspension is just because he doesn't want to seem to favor the Wings. But still, it was clearly unintentional head contact and was due to Ben lowering his head on that toe-drag. He should have kept his head up just like every hockey player is supposed to. A head contact penalty should have been the end of it. Props to Shanny for doing his job, but only a flagrant hit should be a suspension. A penalty is enough for something like this.

It's a decently big deal if they're gonna have such ugly damn numbers on the front of dude's helmets. If they're decently normal numbers I might be able to get used to it, but it's gonna be so hard to watch with big, obnoxious numbers like the one's pictured. It should be the same font as the back of the jersey, and I still think the sides of the helmet would be better. It's just ugly on the front. It'd be like if hockey jerseys were soccer style and each had the team's name on the shoulders and their name below the number. Doesn't affect the game, but would be obnoxious to watch.

Awesome, I really wanna see what all the hype's about. That makes sense too, they know where they want him (Which is a good sign) so they should keep him there. I'll say 5-3 Wings.

Somebody is negging everyone apparently from what I've heard today. I'm so excited for the season to start, I sense good things. Detroit's sports are on the up and I believe the Wings are gonna ride the wave right with them. Hopefully tommorow we can stay injury free and try and get the lines all sorted out for the beginning of the season. Nice, clean, safe hockey.

Excited for this one. This'll be the first game I can watch live of the preseason. So glad hockey's back. Also, could be wrong on this: Emmerton got a spot on the line up over Brunnstorm? I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but I know Brunnstorm has tons of hype right now. Is it he already played and Emmerton is getting a chance to show off now? Never really followed the behind the scenes stuff (so to speak) before.

Beautiful punch. Even Winchester acknowledges it.

This is how he thinks you should hit players, not like this: [/size][/font] See, this hit is sorta in the grey area for me (There's no slowmo to observe contact, so I will admit now I could be very wrong on this). He wanted to bust some heads on that hit, but that's still a hit he has to take. He should have eased up or gone low. I don't want to ever see a player not take that shot. That's good play. I just agree that headshots are a big no and he should have not throw the shoulder like he did. The first hit is the same way, that was a monster of a check. But the big difference for me is he didn't target and throw the shoulder at his head. He jumped into it it looked like (penalty) but he wasn't intentionally aiming for the guy's head. If it's an unintentional head hit or bad angle it should be a penalty but not a fine. If it's with intent like any illegal hit it should be a suspension at least. Just like when they started cracking down on hits from behind, I think it'll take awhile for everyone to get on the same page. I never said it shouldn't have been a penalty because he toe-dragged and set himself up for it. I just think in that sort of situation if the player clearly did not throw the elbow intentionally, a suspension is uncalled for. If he had thrown an elbow and capped the dude, yeah suspension. But you can't ask a hockey player to know where every single body part is every second of the game. If it's unintentional stick with just a penalty. You should pause before suspending someone for an unintentional head contact. Old school hockey was really rough, and Howe did throw elbows at times. But I seriously doubt he intentionally dropped bombs on other players heads to try and knock them out of the game. And even if he and other old school players did, we don't need that in hockey. Shanahan wants the game rough but clean, and I think he needs to worry about being too black and white on the issue, but it's a decent start.

The numbers on the front? I've gone and looked back at the helmets, numbers on the sides would be a lot better than on the front. You don't see football helmets having numbers on the front.

... My bad on the typo. Spellcheck freaks out at Hockey player names so I missed that I spelled it wrong. I'm not overly green, it's an innate ability of mine to watch a team for years and never know the names of the players. I did it with the Bengals and Lions and the Wings are the same way. Oh, and I bolded something for you too though mine was bigger since my typo ended up meaning a whole different player. And I know most of the bigger names, it's just Brunnstrom and the other newer players I don't really know much about yet.

It really didn't seem that big of a deal. I was going into the video expecting a really dirty boarding, that one's a good penalty call by the ref but shouldn't be a suspension. He stepped in a bumped him over, if it had been a bit to the left there wouldn't have even been a call. Shanahan might drop the hammer as a warning to everyone else though, but I doubt it. Suspensions should be saved for the real dirty stuff. If anything gets suspensions just imagine what's gonna happen when Crosby starts diving again.

Visors stop enough injuries to the eyes that I think they're worthwhile for players to have. They shouldn't be mandatory, but I don't see how wearing one makes a player a *****. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqYtKekhPK8 That had caught him in the eye he'd be blind for life. Not saying a visor would stop all injuries, just saying they offer some protection to the eyes. Hit to the mouth you'll lose some teeth, which you can always get some fakes for. Lose an eye it's game over.

I don't see that card being pulled (obviously not counting fans who would say a lifetime ban was getting off lightly because the Wings player didn't get the death penalty). Shanahan has played for numerous teams (even if his Stanley Cups are with the Wings) so I think he can pretty safely be seen as impartial. I'm willing to believe he'll be fair until he isn't.

Hockey helmets are kinda funky on the front. And normally if you can see the side of the player you can see their back. I guess the helmet really is the only place you can put it you can see it from the front (the stick/etc covers up the front of the jersey) just I've never been listening to a radio broadcast of the game and had a announcer NOT know who was who. And if it's on TV then I don't really need to know. I can see why it's helpful to people they just need to be REALLY careful how they handle the numbers or it'll look stupid.

I know, it makes me sad. I don't think Shanahan is gonna try and completely clean up hockey though (Fingers crossed). All the suspensions so far have been pretty legit, I just don't want the line to be too strict. I think he's making a statement and will back off. Just like how they tried to clean up the game after the lockout. It's GOOD players are finally being shown they need to not be dirty scumbags. It'll be BAD if this becomes such a common occurance players don't want to hit. Head contact is watched closely in every game and I don't really mind that. But if a player throws a check and the other person's head is unintentionally hit due to reasons outside the checking players control (ie. the player with the puck being a idiot and lowering his head) the player shouldn't get fined. It's been grey area on that so far, but we'll see what happens.

This is why I have to google new knews instead of just reading the thread and assuming nothing new has happened *facepalm*. Oh well. Maybe next year

“Just before last shootout he wanted to do that but I don’t know, he chickened out last time so he did it this time," Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said. "It was fun that the puck went in.” I agree. Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20110928/SPORTS05/110928007/Todd-Bertuzzi-s-goal-beauty

I'm gonna be selfish on this one... I want Jagr on the team. I know he's old and probably past his prime. But it's Jagr. As a young Wings fan (In college) I don't have any memories of the good years, and despite being a Wings fan I've never really paid attention to the players up to recently and it saddens me I'm going to have only one or two seasons worth of memories of some of the current leaders of the Wings. So if I can get Jagr on the team for one year, it'd be cool. Heck, he might actually produce. If they can get him for a good price on a short contract, go for it.

While I think they mean it might take him six to eight weeks to play at 100%, I don't see anything wrong with him playing at 80-90% for a week or two. I'm sure the Wings won't put him in unless he's well enough to play at the level he needs to. I don't doubt for a moment if there's even a sliver of doubt they'll keep him sat. They aren't gonna put him out at 40% or anything silly. He's an asset, they want him on the ice producing. Honestly, he's probably too stubborn to hear a no. He plans on playing so the Wings are gonna let him if he is up to it.

I'm loving the idea of Shanahan as the head of safety. I'm loving the full video reviews of hits. I think the majority of the eightish suspensions before are pretty legit. HOWEVER, I think that there's a good chance of too many players getting suspensions with this new crack down. There's nothing wrong with wanting a more safe game and if it is clearly a bad hit or dirty then sure a suspension is in order. But I don't know if I like this "It wasn't intentional... It was careless" Asking a player to watch his elbows on an open ice hit 1 on 1 is asking alot. Especially if the opposing player tries to duck or deke around the hit. I think if it's clearly unintentional it shouldn't be a suspension. This goes for hits from behind when the player with the puck turns away from the check. It's stupid of him to put himself in danger by presenting his back to the player hitting him, and the player throwing the check may not be able to stop his check in time. I know that if it's shown the player with the puck did turn away it's not a penalty, but still. I think we'll just need to wait and see, but I really don't want NHL to turn into crybaby soccer. Violence is a part of the game, enforcers are just a reality the NHL needs to not try to change. Hockey isn't for sissies. As long as the video explanations keep coming and there's no "Come on now" moments (Which there will be) it'll be okay. I just don't wanna see players end up afraid to use some muscle.

And make them wear full cages? No way, the visor is a godsend. Nobody wants a career ended by a stray stick to the face or something. It's happened a few times and for players that show promise to get injured in such a serious way is terrible. The visors need to stay, If you just meant colored visors I see your point, I think they should keep them clear or at least only lightly tinted. But the visor is great for safety, I'm surprised they're not more common to be honest. I don't really care for the numbers of the front of the helmet. At least in those pictures, they stand out too much and I think it messes with the look. It is a good idea in theory, but it makes action shots and the like a joke, it's just silly looking. Smaller, less obnoxious font might be alright by me, but I'll hold judgement until I see it in game.