Richdg

Several things. Counting on guys that have yet to play a single game of pro hockey is folly. NHL history is filled will guys that were stars at the JUNIOR level that never pan out. If you get 1 out of 10 prospects to turn out, you re doing pretty good. The only guy left at GR that I would like to see come up is Riley-love me some beer-Sheahan. But, if any of the stories around here (I live in GR) are correct about his issues, he may not be up anytime soon. Evens could come up and play for a few games if/when needed on the BL, but he isn't really a NHL prospect. He is a career AHL guy.

A goal!....

We need an 1983 draft again. Yzerman, kocur, and Probert first 3 picks. Kocur and Probert might be more important now........ Big guys that can get 15-25 goals and create some open ice......

White now hurt??????

Either Dat is hurt, or he doesn't care anymore. Whie not a big guy, he never used to get knocked off of his skates. Now he is and is shying away from contact.

Sorry, Lashoff.

That one wasn't on Q. It was on Smith and Miller.

Not true. In every league, you need your big name teams to be good, to be successful. We are one of those teams. Where would the NBA be without the Lakers? MLB w/o the Yankees? NFL w/o the Cowboys..... you get the point.

If Z and Dat had been sitting around, you could understand. But both were playing in europe. Dat isnt even skating well. Wonder if he is 100%?

Another positive this year.... Abby on the PK. Has done a great job.

Q with the trip. One thing to keep in mind about him this year, he is being forced to play his off side. With all the LH shooters on the blueline, Q and E have both been moved over....

The guy most in need of finding the fountain of youth is Cleary. he looks really really slow.......... On the plus side Emmerton has looked good while out there.

To quote Cpt. renault..... "I am shocked to find out gambling is happeneing here!"........... "here are your winnings sir'.......

IMHO Gus will never be more than that. 15 G and 25 Assists is his ceiling in the NHL. Part of a 3rd line yes, but no more than that. He lacks the top end speed and isn't much of a shooter.

Think about it..... 25-Mccarty, 24-Probert, 26-Kocur.....

Ditto...... Same when someone wears 26 or 24...... There are certain standards for those numbers......

At 41, not sure how much he has left in the tank. But with injuries mounting, if he has anything, he will be in detroit soon......

sammy should have never been signed, water under the bridge. gus needs to play, to see if he can play. IMHO Gus will be lucky to be a 40 point per season guy. He is very small and not very fast. yes he can handle the puck, but that is hard to do while you are laying on your backside.

don't put jimmy d in that group. examples: Probert and Kocur. Both were drafted by him, fought to be kept around by him (ref Proberts drug issues), Mccarty another one of his guys, lapointe, grimson, etc...

expansion? hell no! if anything, the NHL needs to contract. To many teams and not enough talent to support them. It is all a matter of population. Compare MLB-30 teams and the NHL. What is the population of the baseball playing world? US, mexico, venuzula, DR, Japan, Korea, Tiawan, etc...... est 700 million+. How about the hockey playing world? Canada, Swedan, Finland, the former USSR, etc... There might be a total of 300 million. The NHL should reduce back down to 24 teams and build those teams up and have a better overall product.

Yes, there is real hockey! But maybethe Wings didn't get the message? LOL... As bad as saturdays game was, you can't judge a season by one game. That being said, every weakness and fear that many of us have had was on full display sat. night. too old, too small, too weak, too scared etc.... As much as I love Micky on TV, I laugh my butt off everytime that "Franzen needs to address-pick another teams tough guy" like he did sat. night ref. backus. has franzen ever addressed anyone? If he ever tried too, he would just get another concussion anyway...... Ok enough with the negatives. the 48 game season should help the wings. fewer games means less wear and tear on our old bodies. Last year we were the best team after 50 games or so. But even if we do ok during the regular season, we will not make a deep playoff run. STL and LA are head and shoulders better than we are right now. Either way, it is good to have hockey back! Even ifit means fighting for a top 10 draft pick!

With and older, smaller team filled with softer players, playing a 50 game schedule will be to our benefit. Where would we have been last year if the season was 60 games long? #1 seed or close to it. But this isn't the same team. If I am going to be 100% honest, we are fighting for the 8th seed. 85 to 90 points and fighting through the last game of the season. Then another 1st round exit.

No, but it does take Philly out of the circus on some other guys. The Flyers have been often mentioned when it comes to Nash and Ryan. No way they can go after those 2 now. Granted neither are D men, but both are available, both want to move, and the pool of teams that can get them/want them just got smaller. There were some rumors that Philly was the fav in the Ryan contest. That is the move we need to be making.

Ok, last time I looked he is still unsigned. he has decent size, RH shot, 33 and plays a good all around game. Would be a good fill in for a year or so, at the right price of course.

Care to revise this? we are not yet a bigger and more physical team. yes sammy is bigger than Hudler. But he dooesn't play physical at all. Nor do most ofour forwards. Those that do are old and hurt a lot: Burt and Cleary, or still learning to play young guys like Abby. Helm is not a physical player. he has great speed yes and he checks. but he is so small he is not a player than other teams worry about in terms of physical play. they worry about his speed. On d it is the same thing. E, Kindl and Q all can and need to do more. Will they? who knows....