Barrie

With everything we know about concussions, and an ex NFL lawsuit filed, I can't believe the NHL still allows head shots. Yes those 5 on 3's were bad, but my thing is the non head shot calls. I guess someone has to end up in a wheelchair, killed, or an ex NHL Players lawsuit has to be file before they take head shots serious. I can't stand how the refs make calls based on the score. A penalty is a penalty, it doesn't matter what part of the game it's in. That's why an NHL game turns into the UFC at the end, because the players know things won't get called at that point in the game. I keep hearing people say MLB is old fashioned, the NHL is worse.

CBC is worse, it's a government funded station, so they have huge man love for anything Canadian. After CBC's Wings-Oilers embarrassing coverage a month ago, I'm refusing to watch the Wings on CBC ever again. I'm not interested in hearing Canadian Government Propaganda during hockey games.

Getting Gagne would have been a huge waste! Who's spot would he have taken in the lineup?

Boston is very interesting. I like the Dempster and Napoli signings, and adding them to Ellsbury, Ortiz, Pedroia, Saltalamacchia, Lester, and Buchholz, they'll be tough. And I think Ferrell is a good fit for that team. You mentioned Tampa, Longoria is back. Going back to the Jays, they're in tough because Boston and Tamps are better, the Yankees can still win, and I like Baltimore's young pitching. That AL East will be great, there's isn't a weak team in the division. But the Tigers, 100 wins maybe? Sanchez and Infante are here all year, VMart is back, Hunter was added, and no more Velverde

Doesn't having 7 and 8 team divisons sound like a step backwards? This is like the 1950's when Baseball had 8 team American and National Leagues. Just wait for the outcry when there's teams that miss the playoffs in one division with better records over teams with worse records in weaker divisions. I still don't understand what's wrong with the current set up. I'm not a fan of 16 teams making the playoffs, but at least with 3 division in each conference you get the 8 best teams in each conference making the playoffs. The only downside is the 3rd seed may have less points then teams seeded 4-8, but it's not that big of a deal.

It's been looking good lately, and with guys coming back from injuries, it'll get better.

Yeah these games are more must wins, when the last number of years, must win games didn't come until April, May, and June. I'm sure a couple years of this I'll want the Wings to dominate again, but for now, I'm enjoying these games.

I'm wondering if the AL Wild Cards are going to come out of the Central and West? Toronto, Baltimore, TB, and Boston could finish 10 games within each other (I still think the Yankees will win the division), meaning Chicago, Oakland, and Texas may battle for the two Wild Cards. Chicago has all those games against Cleveland, Minnesota, and KC, while Oakland and Texas play against Seattle and Houston. There's no easy games in the East.

Is it just me, or is this season more interesting and exciting to watch then the years when we'd steamroll the West? With the way the League is set up and 8 teams making the playoffs, our season was usually done by December. This year regular season games mean more. I'm not being ungrateful, I've appreciated everything I've watched the last 21 years with this team, but I find myself watching more regular season games this year.

Look at the standings, 2 wins and we're back in 5th.

Can you believe I got a couple comments from Blue Jays fans about the Jays beating the Tigers yesterday? Morons! Toronto is so starved for a winning team that they celebrate practice games. If you ask me, the bad teams win Spring Training games because there is more roster spots for players to compete for. The good teams like the Tigers, Angels, and Yankees, all the roster spots are taken, so all the players need to do is just get in shape. The Jays have 4 of the 9 starting line up spots up for grabs, LF, CF, 2B, and DH. The only guys they can guarante spots for are Bautista RF, Lawrie 3B, Reyes SS, Arencibia C, and Encarnacion 1B. Cabrera, Lind, Bonifacio, and Rasmus can be beaten out for the starting 9. When it comes to Toronto fans and media, just watch, the Blue Jays are going to win about 86-88 games, which after last year's 73 win performance is an excellent turn around. However, Jays fans will be disappointed and as the season goes on, attendance will decrease because the local media has already given the Jays a 2013 World Championship. Expectations are way to high! The guys the Jays got are good, but are not superstars. Yes Dickey won the Cy Young award last year, but come on, he's 38! The Mets were probably thrilled they were able to "sell high". Buehrle needs run support to be an over .500 pitcher, Johnson is injury prone, Reyes is overrated, and Cabrera's PED history is going to be a huge distraction. Add to that all the players the Jays got are switching Leagues, and as we saw from Pujols and Fielder last year, it take time to adjust. The Jays will probably play .500 Baseball for the first couple of months. I don't think the Jays have enough hitting, and their bullpen is weak without a closer. It'll be a struggle for them to finish 3rd in the East. If Tampa continues their unexplained winning ways, the Jays will be in 4th again. Edit: I rant, because I live in the Toronto area, and I've had to hear this crap since the trades with Miami and NY Mets.

Still, more "Priority Games" that owners can jack up the price for.

No thanks, I don't like those 7 and 8 team divisions. Plus I don't like how you only play the teams outside your division only once. All it means is more priority games, and the owners can charge even more for tickets. I still don't understand what's wrong with the 6 divisions. Just move Winnipeg West and Columbus East.

Are those the moves you made in NHL13? Yeah 4 of those guys are injured, and Sammy can't be traded because he's in the 1st year of a contract. Edit: and Carlo can't be traded either for the same reason.

Right, what can Bab's really do? Also I don't see anything wrong with missing the playoffs this year for a better 1st round pick in the draft. Long term it'll be better for the team to add young talent instead of trying to sign over priced UFA's. A Gus-Dats-Tatar line is way to small, those guys would get pushed around like crazy! This is a young team, young players make mistakes.

So if the new rules are making guys hit each other this way, then why doesn't the NHL tweek their rules like the NFL does? The NFL is tweeking rules all the time in order to make their game better and safer. I'm not sure if the NHL is to dense, or to stubborn to make small changes to their game. The sad thing is someone's going to be put in a wheelchair for life or even killed before the NHL makes some safety changes

I agree, it's suppy and demand.

Yeah ok, with 2 defenseman injured, let's sit White.

here we go again... Yes Babcock is the right guy for this group. If we replaced Holland and Babcock, the rest of the League would think we are insane! There would be a bidding war for their services, and they could name their price. Plain and simple with this team (if people are disappointed and stressing out) the bottom 6 forwards need to score more. All have the ability to light the lamp 10 times in a 82 game schedule. With Helm, Bert, and Smith injured and the 3rd and 4th lines not producing, we're still 7-4-2. No one is going to catch Chicago, so we'll finish 4th, 5th, or 6th in the Conference. With everyone healthy and reaching their potential, there's no question we're one of the front runners to win the Cup. To respond to the Holland comments, I don't know how many times I need to say this! The way to build is through the draft. Free Agents and trades are way overpriced, and with a cap, can handcuff a franchise for 10 years. Let the Minnesota's kill their chances for the next 13 years paying only 2 guys.

I don't understand what's wrong with the current setup.

I'll add, for a team that's won 4 Championships since 1997, and 6 Cup appearances since 1995 (By far the best in the League), it's tough to nit pick on mistakes. Right, there's NO WAY we would have won 3 Cups from 1997-2002 without Fedorov.

I've heard that argument before about not getting Roy cost us extra Cups. Remember Roy only won 2 cups with Colorado, on a team that was very similar to the Wings, and on paper had better goaltending. I highly doubt we would have won anymore than 3 with Roy. As great as Roy was, his big ego and taking things to personal, cost the Avs extra championships. In certain situations, Roy couldn't handle the pressure. He had some big loses, three from us (1995, 1997, and 2002). Add to that, I don't think he could handle being the Red Wings goalie, as we're historically tough on our goalies. He's a big baby, just imagine how he'd react if he started booing him. Ozzie with his level head and mental toughness was a perfect goalie for this market. If the original offer for Roy would have cost us Osgood and Fedorov, maybe we only would have won 2 Cups with Roy, or only 1. Imagine our run from 1997-2002 without Fedorov? Fedorov was excellent for us in the playoffs.

Another reason for a new arena I guess.

Nice one rickdog!

I agree, there isn't to many big game goalies now. Good ones, but not ones you can call big game or elite. Maybe it has to do with the Cap. With the talent spread around it probably effects the quality of goaltending. This year's team can stand up for him.