Son of a Wing

Oh Americans...always think people are copying you...lol
First Canadian Thanksgiving - 1578.
First American Thanksgiving - 1621.
It did become a national holiday in the US first though. They also have slightly different meanings.
The more you know...

And yes I would love to have poutine, real Canadian beer, timbits and back bacon. lol
We even call back bacon "Canadian Bacon" lol

If it brings closure for the family than I guess it serves a purpose.
I will withhold my opinion of "psychics".

It's fair. He's become one of the best players in the league. I think I heard only three players have more goals than him over the past three seasons (Stamkos, Perry, Ovechkin).
He's bought into Carlyle's challenge for him to play in his own zone. Obviously, he won't win any Selke's, but he's back there doing his part. He put up big numbers now that he has started collecting assists, so you have to pay the guy in that elite category.

What? Ken Holland said Tatar will be on the team in spite of what all the doomsday prophets around here said was going to happen? Anybody willing to eat a little crow publicly or no?

You could make an argument that Tatar has the most intriguing offensive game in the Wings organization right now. At least from the standpoint that he's much closer to NHL-ready than some of the newer draft picks, and I believe he has more scoring upside than Nyquist and Andersson. Maybe considerably more.
I'm just not really that receptive to these "bad attitude" complaints about guys in their very early 20's. If Sean Avery can play two half-seasons for the Wings, surely Tomas Tatar deserves a chance to become a professional while actually playing at the highest professional level. These are just kids that come over from Europe chasing a dream to play in the NHL. He's 22 now, and I'm sure he watches highlights around the league of 18 and 19 year olds already that he may be better than. And no offense to the City of Grand Rapids, but living and playing there and in other small U.S. cities probably isn't what he had in mind. Especially now that he's achieved (in his mind) the highest prize the AHL has to offer.
Maybe he is a bad dude, cancer, "coach killer", whatever. Or maybe he's just an immature, talented kid who is frustrated because he wants to prove he's better. Either way, he's an asset, and I'd prefer to know more about him before we move him. And I'd certainly prefer to see him getting ice time over Dan Cleary.

I must have missed the memo stating Tatar is getting traded/waived/screwed.
How everyone has made this about Tatar is dumbfounding.
Now if you're complaining about bringing back Cleary over Brunner, that's understandable. Cause you know....THAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
Quit jumping the gun and getting all enraged over things that haven't even occurred.

As I stated before...Send him to the minors if he declines a trade. That relief (I know its not his full salary) and the relief from Helm being on IR puts us under the cap. by close to a million with just one more roster spot to clear.
People are making this situation a lot more dramatic than it needs to be. Depth is a good thing people. Weeds out whoever is at the bottom whether that be Emmerton, Eaves, Tootoo, Sammy or anyone else.
We don't even need a trading partner to make it work.

I still don't see the situation as being that complicated.
Helm - Will start on IR and probably be on there till the new year.
Emmerton - Waived if not traded. (Dats, Zetts, Weiss, Andy, Franz, Abby can all play center so don't give me that we need to keep him because Helm is injured)
Sammy, Eaves, Tootoo - battle out the last couple spots. Trade/Demote who doesn't cut it.
Leaves us with a 23 man roster and over 1 million in cap space.

Explain to me why it has to be one of those two options and not an Eaves trade, or a Tootoo trade, or some package of trades? We're 2.3 million over the cap. Trade Tootoo (1.9 million) and Lashoff (725,000) and we're cap compliant. Trade Eaves and put Helm on LTIR and we're cap compliant. Trade Eaves, put Helm on LTIR, and waive Sammy and Tootoo and we're cap AND roster compliant.
There are a bunch of different scenarios to be played out, so why is it you're so sure that this will effect Nyquist or Tatar and nobody else?

I still don't see the situation as being that complicated.
Helm - Will start on IR and probably be on there till the new year.
Emmerton - Waived if not traded. (Dats, Zetts, Weiss, Andy, Franz, Abby can all play center so don't give me that we need to keep him because Helm is injured)
Sammy, Eaves, Tootoo - battle out the last couple spots. Trade/Demote who doesn't cut it.
Leaves us with a 23 man roster and over 1 million in cap space.

I still don't see the situation as being that complicated.
Helm - Will start on IR and probably be on there till the new year.
Emmerton - Waived if not traded. (Dats, Zetts, Weiss, Andy, Franz, Abby can all play center so don't give me that we need to keep him because Helm is injured)
Sammy, Eaves, Tootoo - battle out the last couple spots. Trade/Demote who doesn't cut it.
Leaves us with a 23 man roster and over 1 million in cap space.

I wish I could fly to Traverse City and shake Dan Cleary's hand.
In this day and age of pro athletes chasing the Big $ at all costs, the guy walked away from millions of dollars, put his ego aside, crawled back to the negotiation table to eat some major crow, all so he could stay with friends, teammates, and an organisation and town that he loves.
Cleary went toe to toe with one of Detroit's all time biggest nemesis, Chris Pronger, he went after Dion Phaneuf, knocking him silly, then getting an assist on the goal. He's scored numerous playoff game winning goals. Even when he's basically duck taped together, he's still finishing checks and jumping into scrums. He is a winner, he is the epitome of a team heart and soul guy, he has hands, grit, and smarts. He is a major contributor at all costs.
$1.75m! Talk about a Hometown Discount!
Totally glad he's back. And frankly, I can't see him really giving a s*** what number is on his jersey, as long as the logo is the Winged Wheel.

Championship Game
Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

And here's the Detroit vs St Louis game...
1st Period

2nd Period

3rd Period

Here's the Detroit vs Dallas game.
1st Period

2nd Period


3rd Period

Here's the Detroit vs Dallas game.
1st Period

2nd Period


3rd Period

A few points.
1. I'd like to see 3 strong scoring lines with 1 shut down line.
2. Sammy is probably going to play whether people like it or not.
3. Strongest players should play center if available. Just because you center the 3rd line doesn't mean you're getting third line minutes.
4. How can you not start out with some kind of form of a Swedish 5 with Olympics upcoming?
Nyquist Zetterberg Alfredsson

Franzen Datsyuk Bertuzzi

Tatar Weiss Samuelsson

Abdelkader Helm/Andersson Tootoo/Miller



Kronwall Ericsson

Kindl Dekeyser

Smith Quincey

Here's the Detroit vs Dallas game.
1st Period

2nd Period


3rd Period