LeftWinger

I am not beyond giving jimmy his due. He made some big stops when needed. Hopefully this is a sign of a better season from him.

Franzen...finding ways to hurt his team every game.

E's mistake, but Howie needs to make the big save in order to turn the corner from last season. He couldn't make the big save last year, and 0 for 1 today.

all Jimmy. Way to step up Howard.

WTF happened in the Weiss house? He was supposed to be our savior as the 2nd line center...Too bad he has the NMC/NTC, maybe he can be convinced to waive it. We could probably get a pick for him. Package Weiss/Kindl/Andersson for something.... Anyhow, Let's start out in a winning fashion! I hope Jimmy steps up this season. I still don't like him, but he is our guy for now. Besides, its not like Monster is any good either...

Let's go Wings! I hate that Cleary is even on the Wings, but at least he is a scratch. Going back to the 1998 video, awesome, thanks! I was at March 26th, 97. I miss having a defender like Bob Rouse on this team also having a gritty forward like Lapointe. Imagine If you could, if Probie was part of that rivalry and how many heads would have gotten bashed on that Avs team...

...a long time ago, before I was a member here, I was a contributing member of the old Detroit News chat forum, and I remember like it was yesterday I went ape s*** when they drafted Kindl... you say, what, you Lefty, going ape s***? No way! Yes, believe it! Anyhow I hated it when it happened, hated it when he started making appearances, but like most of us, warmed up to him a bit in the lockout season because he finally seemed to making a turn for the better. Boy we were ALL fooled! I am mad at myself for getting on his bandwagon for a bit, I usually do not do that (ie. Hudler, Franzen.) But I quickly fell out of favor with him again last season, as did many. I am not saying "I am right" "I told you so" but I am just remembering the day he was drafted (at that point the highest picked we have had in a long time.) Drafts are a crap shoot, and yes, he was scouted as a top defender at the time, but something just didn't sit right with me drafting yet another soft European. I have since come off that stance on Europeans, but even when he was here for the first time all season, he just never impressed me. Even though his junior days were played in the OHL (Kitchener) and he learned (or seemed to be learning) the North American game. Now fast forward to this off season, and who was the guy we were pursuing hard to make our D better? Niskanen...who just happened to be drafted after Kindl. Again, crap shoot...and lately it seems that Holland has been doing awesome at his draft table, so I am not blaming Holland for Kindl, but as with a lot of drafts, damn what could've been... Rask Oshie Niskanen Neal Stastny Letang Quick Boll Yandle Hjalmarsson ...even Stralman went way after Kindl. Not saying we were the only ones who picked a dud, there are always duds. Have a great career Kindl, just not here anymore...

"I'm still Kindl on the Block..." Greg Brady is Carol and Marsha's lover...duh!

cool! Thanks for this! Now I get it! Son of a Wing! Awesome, had to be a great experience! Were you born when he played?

Exactly! What would a package of Weiss and Kindl bring us? If not just some picks. Didn't know Semin was a righty...I still think he would be lights out on Dats wing. Although $7M is a lot to swallow for Semin..... (what? I surely did not mean it that way!)

if Dats is out, Cleary will be in. Just watch.

Euro, I can agree with you about what you said. Not that Callahan is the next great one, I am probably still just irked over the retention of Cleary. To me, Ericsson is just too injury prone, but of the 3 defenders I mentioned, he would definitely be the last to go, but then again, he would fetch us a far better return than Q and K, plus as I mentioned, we really wouldn't miss him that much, especially if we got a RH top guy in return. But in all honesty, if we dumped Q and K and just promoted a couple more kids, I think we would be in great shape. Kronner - Smith Dekeyser - Ouellet Ericsson - Jensen (or Marchenko) Lashoff I could roll with that for sure. Just like I said, we couldn't be any worse and probably much better than last season's D. I agree, the very least we need to dump Q and K....ASAP.

It showed me much of what I already formed an opinion on....we would be just fine and probably even better without Franzen, Ericsson, Kindl, Quincey, Cleary, Gustavsson, Helm or Andersson. A trade package of a couple of those players would get us a great RH top 4 defenseman... It also showed me that the tie goes to the veteran still, despite what Babcock says....hence the reason Cleary is still here and Callahan is on waivers, same goes with Sproul and Marchenko while Kindl and Quincey are still here. Thank goodness Nesty and X-Man are still up, but when Datsyuk gets back and when Alfie decides he wants to leech some money off of the Wings, the tie will go to the Swede. Goodbye Jurco and Nestrasil...

Hopefully with Ouellet still being here, Kindl is out... Now we just make a deal that involves trading Q and I will be happy with our D. Wouldn't mind trading Big E either...but he is Swedish so that gives him the tie breaker.

well, we knew some hard cuts were coming. Hope they clear waivers. on a positive note, nesty, Jensen and X-man are still here. Here's to hoping they all stay somehow!

what's all the hub-bub about...we have Quincey for two more years.

Ya, I wonder if Weiss would be ok playing wing? I am pretty sure he has done it in some capacity before...one would think. I will be watching the D very close. I am willing to bet a ton that the kids that played last game will look twice as good as Q and K look tonight. To mention the other thread about Holland hinting at a trade, I sure hope one of those two guys are involved...along with Franzen and Helm and Andersson....LOL, I kid. Go Wings

Well, all I am saying is what I seen from the kids the other night just re-enforces my stand on we would not miss Franzen, Helm, Andersson, Q or K or E one bit if they were not on this team. And my point was with that roster if you read the entire thing, IF ALL WERE HEALTHY, I would very happy with a roster that looked like that come opening night.

I am VERY guilty pf being too critical when it comes to the Wings and Ken Holland especially...but that being said, after watching the last exhibition game, I am VERY encouraged by our kids. Not only the ones that are here now, but to name a few, and forgive me if I leave a name or two out, Jensen, Sproul, Oullett, Mrazek, Nestrasil, Marchenko all looked like they belong in the NHL. Sure they would make the rookie mistakes, but from what I seen of them against TO, they looked like they were ready to make the step. With what I saw, I firmly believe that this team can easily survive without (and no, this is not a bash-fest) Franzen, Ericsson, Quincey, Kindl to name a few. Cleary actually looked like a good grinder out there (blah, I will wash my mouth out after saying that!) and would, along with Abby and Miller, make a pretty good 4th line shutdown group. I would perfectly happy with a opening night lineup that looked like this: (healthy of course) Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Mantha Nestrasil - Weiss - Nyquist Jurco - Sheahan - Tatar Miller - Glenny - Abby (Cleary, Callahan) Kronwall - Dekeyser Smith - Sproul Oulette - Marchenko Jensen ( I know you don't want a good prospect sitting, so put Lashoff here and let Jensen get even better in GR) Mrazek Howard Gone via trade or waiver or GR are: Franzen, Helm, Andersson, Kindl, Quincey, Ericsson, Gustavsson and Ferraro. Reality this is not going to happen, but I would be happy with that starting lineup come opening night (if they were all healthy enough to start that is.) But, I do think the Wings are a bit underrated compared to other years. Hopefully that plays in their favor.

this is hilarious....its like the Hockey Gods are telling Holland, "You don't want to improve your team and just re-sign the same scrubs? Well chew on this!" On a positive side, we are going to see to start the season how we really don't need these injured players (except Dats) and how our kids are the way of the future...and the future is now! Kronwall (before he gets injured) - Danny D Quincey (Wish he would get injured) - Oulette Kindl (Ditto) - Marchenko Lashoff I am not sure if Sproul is still injured or not...but if he is healthy, scratch Kindl and lets go!

...short answer....Franzen, Howard, Zetterberg and Kronwall. In no particular order... I only wish I was kidding, and hope it doesn't happen, but this is what I am expecting and will not be surprised at all. Looks like Andersson, Ferraro, Callahan and Jurco all have a job come October...

What most of us are forgetting is that if not for injuries to Sammy, Cleary and Bertuzzi last season, we'd wouldnt have seen what Tatar, Sheahan and Jurco could do because of the type of coach Babcock is...imagine this, playing all last season with those three instead of the kids...ugh...now lets go with the same defenseman this year? You got to go with the best and waive the rest...

Mike Babcock - "Even though Kindl is the worst player in the NHL, and we couldn't even trade him for a used tampon, he is going to get his minutes, there is no prospect going to come in and take his job. He's not just a plug..." ok, so I paraphrased...

regarding Helm....you guys all laughed at me when I stated last season that a trainer in the staff behind the scenes had told a guy I work with that he plays pick up hockey with(ya ya, I know how that sounds) that he is a wuss and will sit with a hang nail. We are seeing it again. This guy is made of balsa wood and he should have been traded over the summer...of course teams also probably knows he is a wuss...

yep...moved there last year.