jroc86

The issue isnt that this Wings team is much worse than the 08' or 09' teams ... the issue is 4 years of new blood coming into the league, and guys who were post lockout newbies are marquee players now, and many guys who were superstars still are - so deeper, well rounded, more talented rosters have provided both conferences with a half dozen teams capable of winning the cup - as opposed to there only being 2-3 heavy favorites in each conference as there used to be.

Beating the Preds will be the 2nd best thing to winning the cup this year for me. Even if it means limping an injured rosters into the 2nd round and getting smoked - Weber, Suter, and Radulovs impending free agent statuses and any chance we have to play big brother and cradle rob for this pathetic hockey market will evaporate with a loss to them. If we can beat the Preds and derail this redneck bandwagon that only likes Nashville bcause their relevant (not because they know/play the game themselves) we can set this organization back half a decade in development if we can rape and pillage for their franchise players.

Wings in 6. Split in Nashville, win 2 at home, lose game 5, then smash then out at JLA in game 6. We take Suter this summer, Weber next. boom!

Pump Chicago on Saturday and hope for the best ... all we can do. Regardless of next game outcome I hope we land in either 4th or 6th. Didnt see much of this game - but Im glad I missed it.

It would appear that with the first week of April drawing to a close Franzen has began to initiate the transformation from "Orvil the morbidly obese Donkey" into "T2008 Cyborg-Mule". The goals were nice, as was choke-slamming Backes, but what was really encouraging was seeing him carry the puck through the neutral zone and successfully attack the offensive zone carrying the puck and moving his feet. The coast/dish/dump-in weve seen from most guys not named Zetterberg lately has become pretty tiresome - it was nice to see Pavel getting up to speed as well.

I am Canadian and have been a fan and/or had high respect for every allstar/marquee Canadian player that has come around over the years regardless of how badly they have punished the Red Wings at different times throughout history. I can honestly say as early as his first World Juniors appearance I haven't been able to stomach Crosby and my dislike has grown with time. 2008 and 2009 certainly put some salt in the wounds especially because it seems every brain-dead fan up here has the Pens as their 2nd favorite team because of that little weasel. Even when he scored the Olympic goal in 2010 the first thing I said (after jumping up and celebrating) was "uggghhh, I wish it was ANYONE but him". Because he was a complete ghost 95% of that tournament and got all the credit - just like in 2009 when he was a minus player almost every game, couldnt win faceoffs, and put up no numbers in the finals but because of who he is its viewed as HIS victory. With Briere now injured I hope at some point in the coming weeks that Rinaldo or Sestito can line Crosby up and devastate him. Milbury is an idiot but hes an entertaining idiot who is a tough oldschool guy that calls it like he sees it - I agree wholeheartedly with him here.

Kopecky return and finished the game so I dont think itll be too severe - I think that hit was more of a reflex/counter hit than anything. Cleary Kopecky wasnt pressuring Quincey thinking hit, but it looks like Quincey saw him out of his periphery and thought a hit was coming right after he dished the puck off. Poor judgement call - but not malicious IMO.

I a heartbeat. Schenn has massive upside and is a young, mobile, physical force. He has been stuck in the land of misfit toys for his career thusfar - but this is a player than can excel in a better market/team. Hes a functional player thats willing to stand up for his teammates - which is more than can be said for this entire roster 95% of the time. If a move makes sense Id be very happy to see this kid in Detroit.

Id love a deep run and a Cup - obviously. But beating Nashville (should we meet in round 1) is huge because if we lose to them I can almost gurantee that any chance of nabbing Suter or Weber in free agency goes out the window if we cant beat them. I have it on good authority that Weber genuinely wants to be a Red Wing. After all these deadline moves and the acquisition of Radulov get set golfing a week into the playoffs it will be a huge disappointment to an excited fanbase and a GM/owner who are desperately trying to change their nickel and dime reputation to entice their stud free agents to stick around. If Stuart heads west and Holland can sack up and sign Suter this summer that would be a huge first step towards getting Weber when he becomes a UFA summer 2013 (unless Nashville trades him beforehand). Whether Lids stays or goes (hopefully stays!!!) if we can beat the Preds in fairly swift fashion without creating a Vancouver-Chicago type hatefest in the process I think we have a good shot at getting Suter. So in summary: 1) Perfect world we go all the way and win the cup. Beat Nashville in the first round, avenge San Jose in the second round, take out Vancouver in the third round, then win the rubber-match against Pittsburgh in the finals.

The way the Wings have played these last 6 weeks I wouldnt be confident in a playoff series vs the Oilers if we didnt starton home ice - so yeah, the Blues are more than capable of beating the Wings if both teams keep heading in their respective directions. The big thing allot of people question with the Blues is how they will handle adversity - aside from being swept by Vancouver a few years ago the young core of this team has very little post-season experience. If a stingy team with a hot goalie in the first round (ala Pheonix or LA) manages to steal a game or two right off the bat how will the Blues respond? Its tough to tell. Theyve has an amazing year and bounced back from loses very quickly - but most wont have faith in this team as a serious threat until they can show that they can grind their way through a few playoff series and bear the burden of high expectations a top seed brings with it.

This way this team performing right now the Wings are looking like the Avs in 2008 ... a once great team with an aging core that just doesn't have the depth and spark to make much noise in the post-season. Yeah, with some bounces and a great effort getting out of the first round wouldn't be mind blowing - but odds are a younger, hungrier, deeper team will be waiting for us and have home ice advantage. I certainly dont expect a cup every year - if we can beat the Preds in the first round Ill be very pumped and will b e able to take some consellation in that. If the Wings fall to the Preds it will meanmore than a short season after having such high hopes through the first 60+ games of the year - it will ensure Weber or Suter will NOT sign here for greener pastures and a better chance to win. If the Wings can win they remain "big brother" and this will really help in trying to land either of them if they hit free agency.

Dan Cleary is a one legged lame horse - that 2nd goal was all him. That puck needed to be out and that slug had 2 steps on the dman. We dominated that period and came up 0-2 ... it should be a one goal game. When Helmers back lets make a 3rd line of Helm - Nquist - Miller and the 4th line of Abdelkader - Mursak - Holmer. The old balls 45 year old captain on my beer league team skates better than this wreck. Send him to Tampa for a 6th rounder this summer to clear space for Parise.

Tough call here ... theres the fear of reinjury but also the fear of throwing in a goalie whos timing is off and having him get lit up by a playoff foe barely over a week before the post-season begins. I hope Jimmys healthy. I dont care of they have to get Barry Bonds old trainer to shoot some local growth factors into his adductor - I just hope that sucker is ready to stay in one piece and let Howie play his game without being gunshy of certain movements.

I live in Vancouver and am the furthest thing from a Canucks fan ... that said, Schneider is an awesome goalie. He better than Lou in my oppinion and seems to have a great personality as well. Flame away - but I dont hold Jimmy in much higher regard than Schneider. Hes certainly better than anything we have for backups - thats for sure.

Nyquist needs to stay with Datsyuk for the immediate future ... his skillset is complete and he doesnt have a 40 year contract so his compete level is still high. Whether its Bert or Franzen who has to see the 3rd line doesnt matter - Nyquist gives Pavel someone to play with. As opposed to a couple of big slow guys with soft hands he has to set up on the doorstep.

Disgusting game. Wings are getting banged, pushed, hit, and pursued ... basically being attacked by AHL team that isnt giving them any respect, and theyve wilted thusfar. This game is showing just how much we could use a bottom 6 guy that could go out and beat the s*** out of a rat like Dorsett or Stoll. What a joke. I cant turn this game off though - its like driving by a car wreck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzi3fHUEB1A&feature=BFa&list=PL517B1E83393BC281&lf=mh_lolz Here we go boys - right the ship against these scrubs tonight. I hope captain Lids is back tonight ... but we should be able to win regardless (unless Ward 06' wakes up)

I live in Vancouver - and hate the Canucks. That said, that was an utterly gutless hit on Sedin from Keith and I can see why the team/fanbase would be outraged that their best player could possibly have a concussion and be out from anywhere from a week to the rest of the season. That said, the bitching about officiating is ridiculous - things happen so fast out there you cant ALWAYS expect a ref to instantly differentiate between a penalty and a major penalty/suspendable offence. The Canucks are ******* - their play tough/scrappy hockey when it suits them and their playing against a roster they can do it to - but they have no heart in the face of adversity (physical or on the socreboard). Edler stood beside Keith and talked to him during the ensuing scrum - just like Erhoff did when Eager crushed Daniel from behind last year. Gutless that nobody at least tried to knock Keiths remaining 4 teeth down his throat. Burrows tackled him with gloves on them kneed him in the balls ... even more hate ammo for the droves of "Canucks are *******" posters out there. As much as I try to not despise this team its almost impossible. Even the local media was disappointed with the lack of fight back from this group. They have the #2 seed locked up, drop the mitts, tag him a few times, and Keith will oblige - take the instagator call and be done with it. Bieksa will happily speedbag Stalberg in his first ever NHL fight or dust up Patrick Marleau for his first fight in 7 years - but wont even make eye contact with a tough guy in a scrum. And yeah, the reffing for the Canucks might not always be favorable ... the team is hated by players and fans league wide because of the actions of a few players. Kesler tries to make calls for refs a handful of times a period and verbally berates them everytime he doesnt get a call. Burrows isnt much better - and the Sedins past history of flop/dropping to get calls might have made the ref under-estimate the severity of the elbow Keith landed on him. Nothing has changed - the world and the NHL are against the Canucks. Apparently everyone hates them because their the new "powerhouse on the block" ... funny, I dont recall the Pens or Hawks generating this much league wide hate when they rose from the ashes a few years and ago an eventually became Cup Champions. Quinvelle should mail Mike Gillis a violin and some blood pressure medication - he looks like he could use both.

Lidstrom has skated hard 3 days in a row this week and will be back on Saturday as will Kindl - Howards possible as well. Ericsson will be back on Wednesday and Franzen could be anytime as well. The roster that made it to 84 points faster than anyone in the NHL will be back on the ice in no time.

Great game by Conklin - better solid effort all around. Must say, thats the worst game Ive ever seen Pavel Datsyuk play. Mishandling pucks, losing races, errant passes - and missing assignments on the backcheck (most notably the GWG). Ah well, its to be expected - even of a superfreak like Pav, a month off with put some rust on ya. 2 or 3 games Im sure hell be flying again. Bert looked absolutley awful tonight too - just no chemistry on that line at all. That said, Zetterberg looked absolutely great and Nyquist performed well also.

A scorer, stud dman, and a few physical depth players with some size ... Not that this pertains to this summer - but a juicy tidbit nonethless: A buddy of mine (whom I still train with in the offseason) who plays in the AHL and played on the Kelowna Rockets with Shea in his WHL days told me that Weber said last summer that if he hits free agency the team he would most like to go to would be Detroit. ...of course, summer 2013 is a long way off - and remaining a contender going forward will be a key part of making this team attractive for UFA's because the weather and the stereotypes surrounding the city certainly wont be the selling points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4JrT_rq3dY Not hockey - but a fitting video for the way things are going for the guys right now. What better place to get back on the winning track than arguably the top team in the league.

It appears that Conks has gotten back into a bit of a groove ... Hopefully the Bert/Nyquist/Datsyuk line buries a few tonight. Huge win to head home with if the boys can come back - especially with Lids/Franz/Howie all likely coming back before the end of the weekend. 9 games left - lets take 6 or 7 of them and finish this sucker strong boys!

Lets hope Conks is sharp and back to the form Kenny thought he was getting when he signed him. Hes played 12 games in the past 3 weeks and has posted a save% with a .9 as the first number as a GAA with 2 as the first number - thats a big improvement already. If Conks can play like he did against Chicago tonight and steal one for the boys I say ride him right through the weekend. With Lids likely back Saturday these 3 games coming up after NYR are more than winnable.

I hope Matt Cooke knocks his brain matter into 2014.