LeftWinger

Well, maybe its time to sit him and let AA stay up for a bit.

It was Hemsky that leaped into him. Probably will be suspended, but still doesn't help. That's ok, we can hang with this team, they ain't so bad ass.

Oh what could've been if only they would've called the 5 minute boarding call. Ref's should be fined in those cases, although it won't help in the standings...

I here you Bill, but they aren't going to cut nor trade Miller. I like Jurco and wish there was room for him, but if he had a future here in Detroit he'd have been in instead of calling up AA. Also, if he had the edge on Miller, Miller would be a scratch. Decisions need to be made soon.

Boys are looking good and fast in that period. They can definitley hang with this team. AA on the fourth brings another dimension. Again, it looks like Jurco's days are numbered here. IMO, they can keep AA up and trade Jurco and one of Andy/Ferraro. Then the other when Datsyuk comes back. I like Jurco, but if they aren't going to play him, and AA looks this good in his debut, useless to keep Jurco here.

Thats it then, when he does something good, he's Pulkkamania....when he screws up, Nice goin' Melvin! (cue up the old Detroit Zoo Society Commercial) I'll say it again, them bringing AA up instead of just inserting Jurco really has to be some sort of writing on the wall for poor Tomas....

#11 maybe? Please do not wear a high number!

Well, I guess this tells us what the future holds for Jurco....I thought for sure with Ferraro getting hurt that Jurco would get his spot. redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=786892 AA has been recalled, I wouldn't think it would be to sit in the pressbox. He must be in.

how serious is Ferraro's injury? That'd be a good indicator of where to start when it comes to scratching players.

too funny! Just replace that goalie with our former coach... "I put him on the 4th line...couldn't stop him! Called Scotty Bowman, couldn't stop him! Traded him to Columbus...couldn't stop him! Now he's in the HOF still banging hot blondes and I'M STUCK IN TORONTO!!!"

Ya, Helm has another gear in the playoffs just like Franzen does. I think we're tired of waiting for player X to shift into his playoff mode, when after awhile it just does not exist anymore.

I noticed this live during the pre-game and mentioned it in the GDT. It was a pianfully obvious dis on Feds. He congratualted the guy in front of him (Housley?) and then the guy behind him (Lidstrom?) and looked right past Feds. Sergei kind of stood there for a moment in that akward way like when you are in the mariage reception line of your wifes 3rd cousin and you barely know her and even less the groom and you just kind of look at them waiting to see if they make a move towards you and you just stand there with that look of, "hey, nice ceremony." I am officially on the f*** Babcock team now, as a matter of fact he will no longer be mentioned by me, just referred to as our former coach. That's ok, Feds had the better career. He also got to spend his twentys having sex with a teenage Kournikova, also was banging Tara Reid amongst other Hollywood beach babes and starlets. Feds was a rock star and our form coach is a cock star. #91 will go up in the rafter and Team Russia will destroy his Canadian team in the World Cup of Hockey.

Well, Helm would get a lot of shots on goal with Z and Dats, he still wouldn't score... IMO, Abby should get $3.5M, Danny D should get $4.5M...BUT, market dictates it differently...the ONLY thing we have going for us is they truly ARE hometown kids that just might take a smidge less here in Detroit. Besides, I don't think they'd even think about playing anywhere else... Just as long as they aren't offended by any lower offer. The opening line in that convo should be, "What is your bottom line?"

Holland magic, its true, but if you recall I have been saying this for a while now. As much as I am a Mrazek fan, and would love to trade Jimmy while he is still valuable, I often stated that it would be better from a business standpoint if Jimmy were to keep the starting job AND start the playoffs this season in order to keep Mrazek's salary a bit lower. He is still going to get a HUGE raise, but if he takes over the starting job outright AND starts the playoffs and gets us into the 2nd round (or further) his HUGE raise is going to be astronomic. I prefer to re-sign him for 2 years on a modest $3M contract and then after Jimmy is traded (if it plays out that way) his next deal will be the $6M+ one. Of course this is all assuming he does indeed play great enough to make Jimmy expendable and warrants Jimmy being dealt.

Sum1 - Sometimes goalies steal games, but its not like they were outployed thoroughly. I think each team had their moments and Toronto just had a few more that Mrazek stole from them. To say they only won because of a garbage goal is wrong. Toronto's goal was actaully more "luck" than Z's. Also you say they won't be able to play against the better "real" teams in the league, yet, they are 2-0 against a very high powered Tampa team. Sometimes in pro sports, teams just struggle against certain other teams, like Carolina. Was this their best effort tonight? No, they still need work in certain area's, but they were not dominated by far. Big test is Sunday afternoon. Dallas is riding high and scoring lots of goals. Then comes Washington, going to be another high flying event! I am excited for the Fedorov honoring that night. This could be yet one more step in the direction of #91 in the rafters. (That was NOT an invitation to debate, at least not in this thread.)

Helm, Helm, Helm...you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, but you miss 95% of the ones you do.

lol, Helm shooting the puck again...silly boy.

yes, FSD.

so did anyone else see Babcock ignore Fedorov as he walked by him on the bench? Feds turned toward him as he was congratulating the guy in front of him, then skipped right to the next guy and ignored Sergei. What a prick. Now tell us that he didn't nix the idea of Feds coming back...

Well, they're all suiting up for the Alum game against Colorado, right? None of them look bad at the Winter Classic, not full season NHL shape, but not bad. Does Fedorov still play in Russia?

Here's a question: Babcock is great because of his winning in Detroit, but why isn't Osgood "great" then? They both were fortunate to have the Red Wings playing in front of them, so why is it that Babcock gets the credit and Osgood gets the average label? Bottom line is, this franchise makes them great. Credit Jimmy D, Ken Holland and Mr. I. Without Osgood, Babcock still doesn't have a Cup. So Babs is the genius who put Ozzie in instead of Hasek? I think Osgood along with others won Babcock that Cup, not that Babcock coached them to the Cup. Babcock was a good coach, did a good job here, but to give him all the credit for coaching this team to its success is a farce. He misused players all the time, benched players for personal reason's and refused to allow the influx of youth until injuries forced him to do so. Remember this is the guy who delegated Modano, Weiss and Legwand to 4th line minutes. He chose to play Samuelsson, Cleary and Bertuzzi over more deserving Sheahan, Tatar and Jurco or Nyquist. He misused Tootoo and Commodore even though they came in and did what they were signed to do each time they got a chance to play. I don't see the allure of Babcock. I appreciate his time and respect his knowledge, but when more than one player in the NHL says he won't play for Detroit because of him, something is wrong. A lot of players hated Bowman, but rarely no one ever gave up a chance to play for him.

I'd like to see Fedorov play one more game for us, just so he can officially play his last game at "home." Would've been nice if our former coach wasn't such an idiot when it came to Sergei, we could've possibly had him for that "one last season." Nice words on Lidstrom, but can anyone, anywhere write a story that isn't "nice" when it comes to Nick? I find it offensive though that ESPN is sticking their damn dirty hands on him or anything to do with the NHL since they turned their back on them before. I know there are some "hockey guys" at heart that work there, but I just cannot stand ESPN/ABC's "entitlement" attitude just because they are so big in America and the world. I'd listen to a janitor from TSN before I would someone from ESPN. But that is my opinion...

I agree somewhat KRSMITH, if that is the concern, how about 3 years $8M? Then see what goes from there? That could be advantageuous for both parties, if his play declines, then you could let him walk or re-sign him for much less, if he continues to be dominant then he could seek even more $$$ after the 3 years. JOESUFF, I understand also the scoring winger concern, but honestly we have the potential for multiple 30 goal scorer already playing for us. It is not out of the realm to think that each one of Tatar, Nyquist, Pulkkinen and Larkin can all be scoring 30-40 goals a year soon. AA seems to be ready and add to that Bertuzzi, Mantha and I am sure I am forgetting someone and we could be set for scoring for a long time. I think acquiring someone like Byf can address a couple issues. Like I said, picture him in front of the net on the PP, Boston does it with Lurch, Byf can be a dominant force there. He also could play an offensive role in the 3-3 OT format. Not saying he is the missing link to our Cup, but if you are throwing a huge amout of eggs in one basket, Byf is a great choice. Plus, the fact remains that we have an overage of players that need to be re-signed and/or are out of exemptions and we need to move these players for assets before they get exposed to waivers. With the news of Abby's eminent contract, there may not be much room to re-sign Helm, Andersson or Miller. I would think Richards is not going to be anyhow, heck, if Larkin continues his stellar play, Richards may end up being a deadline trade asset to someone looking to solidify a Cup run. I'd overpay a bit now to acquire Byf and then overpay him to hang around for a few years. It's time to do so. Having Green and Byf around for the next 2-3 years after this will help develope our younger D and also help us rid ourselves of less usefull ones: E, K, Smith, Q.

Ya, but, you know AS SOON as Holland acquires him, BAM! Upper/Lower body injury. It happens ALL the time....it's the Gambino Curse or better yet the KGB Curse. All kiddign aside, Byf is the way to go if you want to seriously upgrade your D. Like I said before in this thread, put in on the top pair and then in front of the net on the top PP. Problem is you HAVE to re-sign him. Kenny needs to have that already mapped out, trade for him and have his $8M package ready to offer him. 6 years. That'll allow you to dump Erection and whicheve one of Kindl/Smith is left over after this trade. I'd up my ante right now to WPG and offer Helm, Smith, Sproul and a 1st. Maybe even another prospect along the lines of Holmstrom, Turgeon, or Nastasiak. It's time to get serious. Next years D COULD resemble something like this: Kronner - Byf Danny D - Green XO - Marchy Jensen You let Q go, dump E and K for a pick(s)

Moves are going to have to be made! If Abby is projecting north of $4M, Danny D is projecting north of $4M, guarantee Mrazek gets at least $4M...that doesn't even include having to try and better our team via trade or UFA, or the players that are out of options next season. This is why you have to get rid of Erection, one of Smith/Kindl and don't even think about re-signing KFQ. Helm can be traded, Andersson can as well. These are UFA's that are redundant on this team and will waste cap space if re-signed. Hell, most of us knew Helm was tradable with the emergence of Glen and Sheahan. Speaking of Sheahan, he will get in the $2M's on his next deal too. We need to make this team better, and right now, we need to add by subtracting so we can do so. If we want to even sniff Byf, we need to clear tons of capspace, especially if we are going to overpay 30 point players.