LeftWinger

Hmmmm....seems to me Crosby has never had this issue of being fined. Is there a such of thing as "Subtle" Diving? Hey Firecaptain, in that .gif, look at the ref in the background, he puts his arm up for a penalty....wonder if he called it diving or fell for it? ....patiently waiting for the Thornton light sabre .gif.....

Actually Bill, Abby is a Norton Shores and Michigan State guy....but who's keeping track!

I actually thought the Wings were flying in the first, Sharks were having trouble keeping up with them. It's just unfortunate that when you have trouble scoring, line combos get mixed with to try to find a goal. The Tatar - Larkin - Nyquist line was lightning quick. I also loved the Sheahan - AA - Pulk line. Dats looked good, and his line was ok. I still don't thnk Abby is the top line guy we need, and I still believe his cotract was too much for too long. ($3.5M for 7 yrs, good. $4.25M for 4 yrs, good. What he got, too much, too long.) But, Dats and Z looked good together, would've liked to see Z - D - Larkin for a minute. As long as we were experimenting with combos. I said last night, I've had it with K and E. They just aren't good enough to lift this team. Do I think playing all the kids will help? No. It won't hurt, but I think its time to seriously start hunting for that top combo shutdown guy. A lot of you like to complain about Green, but he needs protection out there, in order for him to be our #1 O defenseman, he needs a #1 D defenseman. Krownall and Dekeyser would be a nice pair and then Ouellet - Marchenko. E, K and Smitty are ALL expendable and need to be moved. They don't make our team any better than it is. And right now that is very inconsistant. I am at the point right now that if you need to include a 1st, Mantha, Sproul and/or Pulk along with dumping K, E and Smith in a deal(s) to get you a Stanley Cup caliber defenseman and maybe some picks in return, it woud hurt to lose that much, but we need it. It's obvious. We have they highest payroll in the NHL and we are nowhere near where we need to be. Make the playoffs? Sure, but win a Cup within the next 2 seasons before Dats leaves? Hell no....and that's the goal.

Why do we always play down to lessor teams!?!?! I am officially done with Kindl and Erection...they made many boneheaded plays today. They're out!

was hoping to see my name at #9 in some capacity!

Ugh, the dreaded NTC....guess he's pretty much eliminated from any trade rumors. So, again, a little more than I would've liked, but it's especially longer than I like. Since he got $4.25M AAV, he should of gotten less years at the higher salary. If he was looking for the NTC and the 7 years he should've taken a bit less money. IMO, 7 years should've been $3.5M AAV, $4.25M AAV should've been no more than 4. We are quickly running out of cap room next season. Especially if we are looking to upgrade the top spot on D. We will need at minimum $7M available if we even want to start conversations with someone like Byf in July. Like I said, I am glad Abby is re-signed for it takes one task off the parking lot, but I sure wished it was more near $3.5M....but again, if Franzen is done, it's almost a wash. I sure hope Helm gets traded before he gets anywhere near $4M!

Meh, just a bit more than I was looking at, but heck, if Franzen stays LTIR, then it's almost a wash. I agree with you's though, Ericsson IS NOT a top 4 D-man and gets paid maybe not too much, but for too long. Good thing is, Q will be off the books next year, Richards (if not traded at the deadline) will also be off the books. You have to guess DD is going to cost you at least E's money and Mrazek is going to be at least $3.5M if not closer to $5M. It's going to get tight, very tight. Someone said it earlier, a few guys are well overpaid on this team for the results we get. Just look at any cap sight, they are the team with the highest cap on most days. The highest paid team and we are not Stanley Cup favorites outside of our own minds.

"its nice to see you" " so nice to see you"

Bill, that is not the point. Besides, even if you don't go after a #1/#2 guy, we have too many D up here when it comes to next summer. If you don't want to lose any of the 4 kids, you must get rid of 4 D up here. You can surely trade a young prospect in a package, but unless that package is for a forward, you'd still have too many D. Kronwall Ericsson Dekeyser (re-signed of course) Green Kindl Smith Marchenko Ouellet Jensen Sproul None of which can be sent to GR without clearing waivers. Out of that bunch, even if you traded ONE of your kids in a package for a FWD, out of the rest, Smith/Kindl/Ericsson, two are in the way of our kids and the kids are better. So lets say you send Sproul packing in a deal, you still have to dump two of Smith/Ericsson/Kindl in order to fit Ouellet/Marchenko/Jensen. I, for one, do not wish to lose any more than ONE of the kids in order to keep any of the three mentioned "vets." If you don't get a top guy, you then have: Kronner - Green Dekeyser - Marchenko Ouellet - Ericsson Jensen If you acquired a top D guy, you'd then have to dump someone else and I would choose E. Kronner - Byf Dekey - Green XO - Marchy Jen-Ho You cannot stunt the growth of our kids just to hang on to Smith or Kindl or E for that matter. The kids are better IMO. ...besides, just because they were 1st round picks doesn't mean anything...Kory Kocur was a first round pick and he was chosen before Recchi, Amonte and Rob Blake. The draft is a gamble, sometimes 1st rounders play to their expectation, most the time they don't. Smith and Kindl haven't and they are topped out with what they will bring to the NHL.

Kid needs to stay. Datsyuk is coming back, Franzen is still out, sit Andersson for AA. When Richards comes back, we have a decision to make, that is for sure. I have a feeling though that AA will be sent down and be back and forth all year. Once Dats and Richards is back, there are just too many forwards. That's not even including Jurco and Ferraro. There has to be a deal coming and coming soon...

It's a damn good thinig to have both goalies doing so well. Petr is proving each time he plays that he will take the reigns of this team sooner rather than later. (I only hope its AFTER he re-signs a lower contract! )

Bad news for Q's career in Detroit. I am full on board with finding a top guy (see Byf thread) and also keeping Marchy here. In order to do so, once you acquire (Byf for example) you need to cut ties with Kindl & Smith. (unless one is already included in the hypothetical Byf trade.) Kronwall - Byfuglien Dekeyser - Green Ericsson - Marchenko Jensen ( I ain't giving up! ) I think most, if not all, of us can see that this team will not miss a beat without Kindl or Smith. Anyhow, crappy luck for Q, but his time here was up soon anyhow, its time for the next wave of defenders.

in regards to the pics above, the red line is the same width as the red pole, which, BTW, is parallel with the red line....thus you can clearly see that the puck is well behind both the red post AND the red line. As a matter of fact you can see the color difference on the ice of the red line and the puck fully behind it. Fortunately this didn't change the outcome of the game for us, but I agree, something different has to be done. Whatever happened to the NHL putting the sensor chip in the puck? The chip would trip a colored light when it passed over the red line then another when it fully cleared the line into the net. If the puck hit the line and came back out, the light (or indicator) would simply just turn back off. Indicator on when it is crossing the line, goal indicator when it enters the net fully. Simple.

0vie for 15? Is this the real life?

very impressive win. We just need to avoid bottom dwellers and we're good to go!

...and there it is.

nice stick there by Nick Dekeyser. I can't believe how discipline Washington is! Man no penalties.

ok, which Cup favorite are we dealing Richards to at the deadline?

Shoot the Juck ******* Puck Nyquist! Dammit!

ok, time to stop posting pics and vids of the goal...it makes me want to throw my phone thru the TV.

by far it was a goal....also when and who for was Oshie traded to WAS for?

Maybe the words "Work Harder" and "Get Better" would be going through his head to start.

He only needs one to break the record, he is currently tied with Feds for goals.

We all know how conversations evolve, but let us remember that this is a thread about AA. Does anyone know if he is playing tonight? I am on my work computer and it blocks all pics, so I cannot see the GDT pic... I was really impressed with him last game, even though he was mostly on the 4th line. He had a few shifts where he had some nice shots on goal and he showed just how much he can be a part of this team. I am excited for him to be a part of Detroit full time.

Wow, this would be a steal for us. Not sure Shanny would do it. Our former coach hated Kindl, demoted Pulk to the 4th line and soured on Jimmy eventually. Not sure he would want any of them in Toronto. Plus, not sure if Jimmy would waive his NTC to go there either. Don't think I'd want Phaneuf now, I'd much rather pursue Byfuglien.