Richdg

Talking about some serious revisionist history. the RW didn't win ANY Cups until they learn to push back. Remember the night of the turtle? or McCarty vs Pepe? The whole-Wings didn't fight and won a lot is a bunch of BS. The Wings did a ton of fighting in the late 90's. McCarty, Shanahan, Pushor, lapointe, Kocur, ward, etc.... The key was our tough guys were not just goons. They also could play the game. those guys could all skate, hit and score. In fact that group was far more successful than the never fight at all group that has replaced them 3 SC's to 1. yes there are other factors that have come into play like the cap. But that really wasn't our advantage until after we won the first 2 cups. The 97 and 98 teams were not teams made up with a bunch of high priced UFA's. Most of the guys were home grown and a couple of key trades. But the wings were a tough team and one of the best teams in the game. Now we are neither. A .500 team that lacks toughness. Mantha. he is that type of player. Better skater than Shanny was.

You can make the point for the entire sport of hockey. Does it feed the poor? educate our children? House the homeless? defend us from terrorists? Nope, none of that. Hockey and every sport is there to entertain. Thus it really is theatrics. All of it.

LOL, some thought it was selfish for guys to want to play for their countries in the Olympics. How about the AS game? Charity game? is it selfish for a hockey player to go hunting where he could get shot? Ride a motorcycle? get out of the tub? There is risk in everything that everyone does everyday. Lets give it a rest already.

Yup. But that is the case with every team in every season. if this happens, if that don't happen, if we this or that...... That is also what makes things fun. The unknown.

Could be. or he just isn't good enough. We don't know. Not every prospect works out. he may never get there or maybe he just needs time. But sitting on the bench at GR isn't going to help him. let him play in Toledo. maybe he can start to dominate there-hasn't yet and build some confidence.

Frk needs as much game time as he can get to work on his skating. has a good shot but is very average moving around. Getting 20 mins per game with Toledo will help him if his attitude is right. Never know how a guy will react to a demotion.

ERR the Griffs schedule and my work schedule are not lining up right for at least a month. Have to get there before the 1st. he will be up soon after that.

LW, none of those guys have much value in a trade. That is part of the issue. To get value you have to give value. For us to pick up some of the pieces we need, we will have to move a kid or two. Which is fine-in the right deal.

Smith hurt his hand in a fight. Had to leave the penalty box early to go to the locker room. Not sure if he broke something or just cut it badly. His first punch was to the visor and then he switched hands after that.

Not a big deal with nesty. The bigger question is, can Weiss stay healthy? last time in GR he didn't even last a game IIRC.

Noticed this pair on the Knights roster. Are they Petr's boys? Both from Bloom Hills and he still lives/works in Detroit.... So? Anyone know for sure?

Grezs and Mario might be 1A and 1B for the all time list of who you start a team with.

Is Datsyuk going to play? Groin issues ongoing.......

Yes. Our offensive struggles are not new nor is it surprising. Several guys are soph and are having struggles. Sheahan, Jurco and tatar. This shouldn't have surprised anyone. The real shock is how good of a start Nyquist has had. Hell even Franzen is in one of his famous hot streaks and we are still struggling. A lot of our troubles come from 2 oft talked about issues that have not been addressed: lack of RHer and lack of front of net players. We have lots of guys that skate well, handle the puck well and even have good shots. But we still lack guys that can go play in front of the other teams G and block the view and bang home the rebounds. This has been an issue since Homer retired. As for being RHed, yes they are naturally quicker with the pass playing on the right side. Firmer passes and more accurate as well.

2 games, 1 goal and about 10 shots already. had 6 last night. very clear what he wants to do. Nice to see the size he is listed at by the griffs. Last year Val'dor had him at 6-5/205. The griffs list him at 6-4/214. When we drafted him most scouting services had him at 6-4/190. So he has already gained 20+ pounds. Everything you read about him-haven't seen him live yet...... talks about his size, his speed, his great shooting ability, and yes his edge. I hope to be down at the VA in December to watch him. January might be to late......

I know he has a great shot. But so do others. He is a F, move him closer to the net in a shooting position. Offensively he is like Shanny. A big strong kid with a great shot. Get him in a good shooting position and feed him the puck. Put Oullett and Sproul on the BL, with Mantha and Pulk as shooters then Callahan or bigger in front of the net. That should be lethal. But then again, it is only game 1 and he has to prove himself. Which he will in time.

Game 1. No he didn't score. He did stand up to the Stars a couple of times-he will drop the gloves if/when needed. But this is fine. All we want is for him to play and get used to pro hockey. Let's see how he is doing in about 20 games. I listened to the game on the way home from work. They did have him on the point of the PP. Not sure that is the best way to use him....

There were 2 undrafted UFA's that I was hoping we would have signed last summer. Trevor Van Reimsdyk and Barcley Goodrow. TVR signed with the B hawks and has played every game for them this year. Goodrow signed with the SJS and has been on their roster all season, playing in 4 games. Both were misses on our part. of course them being UFA's means its a crap shoot. But both would have made us a better team/system. Oh well.....

Goodrow is a good sized young front of the net guy that put in 25 or so goals per season in Junior. No he is not a great skater-neither was Homer. But he does do things that no one else on our roster does-stand in front of the net and scores. Does he need a couple years to develop? Yes. He should have been signed and be playing in GR right. Both the RW's and Griffs are struggling to score. He could have helped. TVR is JVR's younger brother. Good sized smooth skater RHed Dman. Was the best NCAA dman prior to getting hurt. But they were UFA's and we can't land everyone....

McKee, all 6-5/250 of him is playing F full time for WMU this year. Even changed his number to 22 after wearing 2 all year last year. Has played in all of WMU's games this season. Hasn't scored yet in the regular season. Will be interesting to watch how he develops as a fulltime F this year.

Off to a great start for the Attack. 19 points in 18 games with 10 goals. Looks like he gained about 10 more pounds as well. He is listed as 6-2/205 on their site.

Yes! The Mantha Era begins Friday night! Regardless of how well he starts he needs a good 25+ games at the AHL level to even think about moving him up. Big step from junior to the pros. Give him some time.

Based on todays roster..... Dekeyser, Smith, and Nyquist.

2 pages and no one has mentioned our best defender yet: Howard. He is back to his steady solid self. Being healthy helps a lot. DD continues to develop. he was already our best defensive Dman and you see the signs of development on O. Smith is also continuing to grow. These 2 should be paired together and by the end of the year they will be a legit top pair in the NHL. Cheap too!

These were good moves by the Isles. Could be bad news for us. We are barely a PO team last year and now 2 teams that finished behind us are clearly improved: Isles and Caps. Puts more pressure on us.