JeeSpot82

BOOYAH! Cory Cross was the opposite of a noteworthy trade - and I'll even admit not playing him against the team he had just come from was a bit odd - but last year's team won the President's Trophy and was one of the hottest team's in the second half of the season (ring any bells?). Yes, I know, I know... the playoffs are a different game than the regular season and the President's Trophy means nothing if you can't muster up some wins against the 8th seeded Oilers... but you can't expect Ken Holland (or any other intelligent general manager) to fuss with team chemistry when the team is wins a hell of a lot more than it loses. Would I like to see some changes on the roster? Sure. But acquiring better pieces doesn't always make the puzzle fit together better - you need the RIGHT pieces to swap in and swap out. Far be it from me to know what the right pieces are, and I'm the first to admit that I'm no GM. Everyone who screams for "GRIT!" and "Shane Doan for a third rounder and Lilja!" needs to admit the same.

Thank you, Mr. Brutus. I was wondering if I was alone in wondering why the hell everyone supports Joey MacDonald - he's been nothing but a wasted roster spot all season. I said it in another thread - the idea of the third goalie on the roster was absolute GENIUS! in training camp - give Dom a break when he's not starting so that there's ZERO chance of him having to come in cold and snap that rubber-band groin of his. But since Osgood CANNOT stay healthy and Dominik Hasek has been playing back-to-back games anyway, what's the point? He DOES make great saves and only ocassionally drops out of position, but (ya heard it here first folks) he's a BAD goaltender in the NHL. He may have played well enough to earn a win before FEBRUARY, but guess what - he didn't. He's expected to give Dom a break (which hasn't been happening) and take advantage of his opportunities, specifically the ones against the FLYERS (worst team on Earth) and BLUES (pretty damn close to a sure-thing). The fact that he lost both of those games boggles the mind - and the meltdown he saw in the third period of the Flames game doesn't make me feel any better about him mentally. Don't bother saying trade him - he's a completely worthless comodity on the open market, and I'm all for dropping his ass before the playoffs and having another winger/defenseman slot on stand-by.

Osgood is under contract next season, and Hasek's stellar play this year has earned him another, I would think.

I sincerely hope that they keep Filppula. As much as I like Hudler, I'd chuck him under the bus to keep Flip - but I'd much rather have them both. From the prospect ranks, I'd hope to keep ahold of Kindl, Ericsson, Quincey on defense. Howard and Liv may both have a future in net. As for forwards, I'd like to keep an eye on Emmerton and Helm, but I'm not terribly attached to most of the ranks on offense in the system.

I actually would be more comfortable having Howard in net than MacDonald for reasons you've already brought up -- AHL experience. Howard has played most of the season (besides an injury here or there), as opposed to MacDonald who's sat on his keester the majority of the year. However, to second your motion -- let's hope we don't have to worry at all! Yay Hasek's groin! Boo Osgood's finger!

You're absoolutely right about taking it slow with the development of Howard. However, the time is going to come when he needs to play in the playoffs and if both Hasek and Osgood go down, I want the best player we have left. Howard IS, as you say, inexperienced. And no, I don't want an inexperienced goaltender in the nets in April and May. But he's hardly more inexperienced than MacDonald. Last night, Joey played in his 7th NHL game. Jimmy Howard has played in four.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=10460&hubname= It was just posted above me, but TSN is indeed calling it for Howard, as well. You would play Howard because he's youngER than MacDonald, and fits into the Red Wings future plans - MacDonald does not. I said this in the last Joey Mac thread: he's been on the roster all year long and it's February before he gets a win. Granted, he played well enough to earn a win or two along the way, but to say he's an NHL goalie is really stretching it. The Red Wings are putting their faith into Jimmy Howard, and while Joey MacDonald has earned a spot on the roster by sitting shotgun (or backseat) and not bitched, this is professional hockey, not your house pee-wee league. Don't mistake Joey MacDonald's presence on the roster as superiority in net over Jimmy Howard. Howard can benefit from a full season of playing in Grand Rapids. Joey MacDonald, already the Griffins' all-time leader in Wins, can not. Not to mention, I'm sure I'm not the only one who isn't sold on Jimmy Howard yet - he has flashes of brilliance, but he's no Brodeur, so any looks we can get at him is alright by me. Might as well start from the bottom - and by the bottom, I mean a game against the worst team on Earth - IN Philly where they've won 3 games all season. I disagree with you. I think that in an emergency situation in the playoffs - the Red Wings would turn to their BEST remaining goaltender. That is NOT Joey MacDonald. MacDonald has been on the roster all season but - like I said before - he's not the thrid best goalie we have - he's the most convenient piece we have to occupy the spot he's occupying. It's Stefan Liv's first season in North America, it doesn't need to be spent counting faceoffs. Jimmy Howard is the future of the Red Wings Net, so his time shouldn't be wasted sitting on a bench in the walkway to the ice. What IS up with Osgood? That dude cannot stay healthy to save his life, and a "day-to-day" injury becomes a life-threatening month somehow. That said, there's no way the Wings deal for a third NHL-calibre goaltender (excluding Joey MacDonald). With Osgood under contract next year, and the way Hasek has played this year (probably earning himself another year if he wants it), Joey MacDonald playing "that guy" behind the bench, Jimmy Howard probably inching closer to the NHL, what do we do with Biron's remaining tenure on his contract? Sorry to ramble (not that anyone reads my lengthy posts anyway haha) but I'm very opinionated about Joey MacDonald and his role on the Detroit Red Wings.

In order for Cal Ripken's streak to be kept alive, he/the game had to reach the fifth inning - that's the time at which the game become official. Consider it legit. It's amazing. However, back to the topic - I was just thinking the same thing. It may be a good thing. Toward the end of the game, I was worried about NOT ending that streak, but also NOT losing to the pitiful St. Louis Blues BY A SHUTOUT. It had to end at some point and now that it has, it'll be nice to play hockey and not struggle to score a single goal in the final minutes. Of course, now we get to hear "and that's 2 straight games the Wings have gone without being shutout!" perhaps sarcastically. But 1, 2, and 3 aren't as fun as 173, 174, and 175.

So should a game vs. the Blues. I was thinking this last night while watching the game. I'm conflicted watching him play. He is clearly a smart goaltender and plays angles well and gets side to side really well. But he straight up CANNOT win a hockey game to save his life. And not that the loss should be on him, because obviously the team played poorly in front of him, but it's February now and he's been on the roster all season long with a nice, fat, juicy zero in the wins column. You can accidently win a hockey game more than ZERO times (see: Manny Legace / Curtis Sanford). The point of having the third goaltender is that Hasek doesn't have to dress on nights that he doesn't start - a plan that was genius in training camp. Hasek is now occassionally playing back to back games and was dressed as a back-up last night anyway. To say that our backup netminding situation is unreliable would be an understatement - Chris Osgood couldn't stay healthy with Mayo Clinic doctors as his roommates and Joey MacDonald can't win a hockey game to save his life. Don't mistake my words as crowning Hasek the messiah of the crease. He's very obviously our best goaltender, but the team is like Dr. Jekyll when he's in net, and Mr. Hyde when anyone else is. It reminds me of last season, when the team played really well in front of Manny Legace, and really poorly in front of Chris Osgood. I feel terrible for MacDonald - his numbers are AWESOME - a 2.93 GAA and nearly 90% save percentage. He's a much better goalie than his record suggests, but the 24th place team in the league shouldn't be the one that ends a top-tier team's 175-game shutout-less streak. And no, a better performance from Joey MacDonald wouldn't have put pucks in the opponents' nets (although Pavel Datsyuk's inability to handle in the zone COUNTLESS times may have). I'm sure this will sound harsh, but I'm on a streak of being insensitive to people who don't deserve it -- sometimes you can play out of your mind and make 29 saves. But, sometimes you need to make 30 for your team to win. On the exact same side of that count, you can't expect him to do everything - including score goals. It's not his fault the Wings were shut out, and it's not even his fault he was scored on - that was a flukey ass goal. But when does it become time to give someone else a shot at being the third goalie? I'm fairly certain that either Stefan Liv or Jimmy Howard is capable of riding the pine, counting face-offs, and NOT winning when they get a chance to play.

Hey, So I turned on Pros vs. Joes last night a few minutes late, but while two of the Joes were introducing themselves to the Pros. From what I can tell, they were both Wings fans because one said he can't wait to face Lemieux for Kris Draper, and the second said something along the lines of "For Darren McCarty." It was nice to see that they weren't afraid to say something to Lemieux about being Wings fans and that they'd really like to run his face into the boards and watch him recieve 300 stitches.... HOWEVER, right after the 2nd Joe said he's out for revenge for Kris Draper, Claude said "You're just like Kris Draper...all talk." I waited a few hours before posting this today because I was wondering if anyone else caught it. THEM'S FIGHTIN WORDS, TURTLE! Also, during the actual competition, the Joes had to get to loose pucks and score on an empty net before being stripped of the puck by Claude. Seems pretty easy for us veteran hockey players, but the VERY FIRST puck that the Joe got to, Claude Lemieux high sticked him in the chin, there was blood, the dude was checking to see if all his teeth were still in his mouth. It was honestly probably completely accidental, but Claude was so proud and even bragged to his Pro Buds that "it's been awhile. It felt good" while the Joe was collecting his brain. Now, I work in TV so I understand how heavily things can be edited, especially when creating a "villain" type character (which, obviously, Claude Lemieux was put on this earth for) - but I just thought I'd drop that nugget of TV Villainy for anyone who didn't have a chance to catch it.

Beaten to it -- just saw the article on TSN. Does Elisha Cuthbert come with him?

I like reading Facing-Off. David Amber asks some good questions from time to time. Always a fun read. Matt Barnaby seems pretty diplomatic. He's a fan of the "Compliment Sandwich" made famous by Stewie on Family Guy -- something nice about someone...followed by somwhere they need improvement...and topping it off with a nice compliment again. See: the part about Sean Avery. I suggest going back and reading the past Facing-Offs also, there are some good hockey minds in those pages.

According to Code, the Wings are working on getting Kevin Weekes to Detroit. http://insidethecode.blogspot.com/ It's just a quick blurb, but he's generally more knowledgable than Eklund (who has Biron FOR SURE! going to the Wings and that Belfour has been rumored "for some time around here" to Florida.... I seem to remember him saying something about the Wings announcing it ANYYYYY minute now...)

Just passing along the info. And I don't think you'll argue that he is better than Eklund with the rumors.

http://insidethecode.blogspot.com/ According to Code, who hasn't really been too far off on most things this off-season, The Canadiens have offered Sheldon Souray to the Red Wings in exchange for Robert Lang and a prospect (supposedly Jiri Hudler, but that's not definitive). I'm happy to shed the salary belonging to Lang in exchange for that of Souray, especially since we have a surplus of centers at the moment. But Souray doesn't really fill the winger void we're experiencing at the moment. I know a lot of people around here are high on Souray, but I'm not positive we need another defenseman. But that's because I like Brett Lebda and want him to play a lot next season. And I don't see the Wings trading commodities for a 7th defenseman. Code goes on to say that other teams have also been in the running for Souray, so take it as you will. http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=2401 Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes in his blog on Eklund's site that the Flyers will be looking for a center to fill the slot left behind by Keith Primeau, if he is unable to return. He doesn't explicitely say anything about the Red Wings being players in that deal, but admist the trouble they're having re-signing Simon Gagne, I'd love to drop one of our centers off on the Flyers and take him off their hands. Again, I'll bring up the aforementioned Lang. Given that Gagne will probably command 5-5.5M, and they're becoming strapped, any cap relief will do, even if it is only a 1M because they're still filling a void that needs filling. And shedding another 4M will leave a nice huge cap gap for the Wings to sign Gagne to a longER-term deal. Again, this is just me talking, but if we can somehow fool the Flyers into thinking Lang uses his size the way that Primeau did/does, it may be a steal in the trade market. Not to mention, Lang isn't at all a bad hockey player - he can still put the puck in the net and any team would be lucky to have him. The only reason I feel he's expendable is because guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg (assuming one isn't moved to Wing) will eat up most of the ice-time on the dot, so it may be in our best interest to strike while the iron is hot and move a center when one is needed -- especially to the opposite conference. Is Gagne = Lang? Obviously not. However, given the reasons mentioned above (can't quite come to terms with Gagne, his higher price than Lang, the Flyers need for a C, the Wings need for wings, etc), do you think that it is a feasable plan for either or both teams?

I think that Hudler is on the team opening day. I know no one is gaga about him and his stature, but the team has no other option. I doubt he has much of a trade value due to his size, BUT someone WILL claim him off of waivers. I think that to increase him as a trade commodity (assuming the Wings want that), he'll have to get big club time and put up numbers to make other teams believe he can produce at that level. I personally don't mind Hudler - I know its a completely different world than the NHL, but I saw him play a few games with the Griffins and he looks really solid. He was always the best player on the ice. Kopecky is in the same boat. I know he's goes in waves where he's really good and other times he's invisible. That's not really the type of player the Red Wings need on the ice (because we already have one, his name is Robert Lang). He has no value on the trade market but will be snatched up by the Bostons and Washingtons of the world. He's on the roster, too, but probably jumping in and out of the lineup, something like a Mark Mowers type character. I also think that if Hudler (or Kopecky for that matter) are on the team that they need to get top 2 line time. What's the point of bringing in Hudler, Kopecky and Filppula if they play 4 minutes a game? That notion will be troubling for Wings fans, but you gotta jump right in to adapt. There's no training wheels in the NHL (except maybe call-ups, and Hudler's had his share of those already). Forwards: Z, Datsyuk, Homer, Lang, Willy, Hudler, Drapes, Maltby, Sammy, Franzen, Cleary, Filppula. Kopecky is 13th man. Defense: Lidstrom, Lilja, Kronner, Cheli, Lebda, Schneider. At the moment I wouldn't be utterly surprised to see Kyle Quincey get the 7th spot (or alternating for the 6th). There is a youth movement afoot in Motown, and why not shake it all up. That said, I love our defense. I know I'm in the minority there. Lidstrom is the best defenseman of this or the last few generations. Lilja (while an awful lot like a parking cone) isn't bad enough to be run out of town, especially when paired with Nick Lidstrom. But then again, I could look like a big time D-man with Nick. Schneider isn't worth the money he's getting, but that's why he'll be on the team because the rest of the league thinks that, too. And he's not a bad 2nd PP Unit Quarterback. Chelios, while older than most homes in the area's foundation, is still a very capable defenseman who WANTS to be here and made an effort to prove it. Kronwall is nothing short of amazing already. I love Brett Lebda already. He's not afraid to jump up into plays and rarely gets caught in bad positioning. And he was a rookie. You match him up with Lidstrom, Chelios OR Schneider and you have a mentor-protege combo that certainly can't hurt. I'd almost rather not see Jiri Fischer back, but don't take that the wrong way. I'd give almost anything for him to be able to come back healthy and there'd be a spot for him on my roster ANY DAY, however, since no one can seem to figure out what happened to him or guarantee it won't happen to him again, I'd rather see him alive and well in the press box cheering on his team than on the bench in danger of losing everything. And I swear to God, if someone else goes down due to injury and they sign Jason Woolley again, I'll throw my laptop across the room. Last season when Fischer went down I was hoping it would be the opportunity Brett Lebda had EARNED by playing his ass off early in the season. But no, they signed Woolley. And played Rivers. And traded for Cross. I see no possible way Brett Lebda ISN'T on our team this season, from start to finish. That's why I'm not psyched on someone like Markov.

I think the most likely candidates for trades (in general) are the Devils and Lightning thanks to their ever-so-generous offers. I find the Devils especially intriguing. They're already teetering on the verge of blowing the roof of the salary cap with three really important pieces of their puzzle left to sign, and they certainly won't be getting the league minimum. So someone's gotta go. I have a hard time believing it would be someone who was just re-signed, as that's kind of a shady thing to do unless it was understood they'd be on the way out. You can throw the five- and six-year deal folks (White, Elias, Langenbrunner) out the window because no one will acquire that length in this NHL. So, players who don't fall into the "JUST SIGNED" or "REDONKULOUSLY EXPENSIVE" categories are *John Madden (3.9M) *Dan McGillis (2.2M) *Sergei Brylin (1.5M -- he still plays?) *Richard Matvichuk (1.4M) *Jason Weimer (950k) But to afford their remaining RFA's, I can't see them NOT shopping some of the bigger guys on that list (read: MADDEN). However, Madden is obviously one of the best PK guys in the league, so perhaps they'd rather part with Gomez (Likely), Gionta, and Paul Martin. I wouldn't mind Gomez, especially for the right price. And I wouldn't mind Gionta (I can't wait to hear the fallout on these boards about his size...) because he finishes. I can't say I'd be too upset to see either in a Wings uni, but I don't know how likely either is. Oh and I'll take Madden, too.

I've got to take issue with your opinion on Turco. I think he's damn good. And I hate the U of M. I do, however, agree with you about Aebsicher. I remember thinking during his backup years in Denver how the hell he even got THAT job. He looked so clumsy back there. Admitedly, I haven't seen him play in a while and Montreal seemed to want him bad enough to trade former Mr. Big Stuff Jose Theodore. People around here seem to be goo goo ga ga about him, maybe that's because the alternative seems to be Mr. Belfour. And if the Wings part with Holmstrom for some garbage like the trade discussed in this forum, it'll be a crime. Mario Lemiuex he is not, but Homer is the best in the game at what he does...which, if I'm not mistaken, is clinically called "Stand there and piss that guy off." Not since Dino Ciccarelli has someone had the reputation that he's got for being that crease dwelling ******* the other 29 teams HATE but desperately wish they had. Oh and to agree with the poster above me... expecting a return of RYDER, Souray and a goalie is pretty much the lithmus test to whether or not you are actually on the crack-rock. His astronomical salary for what he does is going to make him difficult to move on its own. Not to mention his difficulty of moving adding to the difficulty of moving him. I can't remember anyone being as seemingly lazy on the ice as he is. He does, however, produce when it counts, somehow. I'd trade Lang for just about anyone (not because I hate him that much, but because of the new thing theyve got going on in the NHL called the salary cap...cursed fiscal responsibility!), but that doesn't mean there are takers.

Ok, first of all, saying Manny hasn't done anything in his career isn't the way to approach this. Has he won a Cup - No. Does that mean that every Cup winning goaltender is more valuable than Manny Legace - come on now. It's about who's better for this team right now. And whatever the reason may be, Chris Osgood ISN'T the guy. I'll agree that the team plays better in front of Legace, and even Howard, but for anyone to say Chris Osgood is the best goalie we have is mind-boggling. Chris Osgood is worth two things on the trade block - Jack and Sh*t. I imagine some teams would certainly take a chance on him, but he's not going to get us someone uber-valuable on the blueline in return. If we WERE to trade him, it wouldn't be immediately after a game that we lost with the kind of score that we did, it's hard to sell ANYONE on our defensive corp with 7 goals against. I'm all for him appearing on another team - but I don't think he's worth anything on the market.