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So he's playing better now. Good for him. Get him off the team.

Leino is 8 months younger than Kopecky was last year. Does that make the fact Kopecky was a more effective player at both ends any less true? Leino has been given a far greater opportunity than Kopecky ever had, and Leino has done squat with it.

Numerous? Kopecky has played 13+ minutes exactly four times this season. Every time, he was 7th among Hawks forwards in ice time, serving as the third-line center. He has not once been given top-six ice time, and has rarely seen playing time with guys like Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, or Versteeg. He has not been given even a single chance to play as a top-six forward, let alone numerous times.

Abby will be a better scorer than Mac ever was, and he'll do it for longer. He's also a much better defensive player and more versatile. Very poor comparison.

I compared Abby to Drake when he was drafted. People didn't realize I meant the in-his-prime Drake who was a top defensive forward and a solid point producer. Maybe because they thought Drake was always a 3rd line grinder due to lack of memory.

Zetterberg, obviously. That's not even a question. He's amazing defensively, an excellent playmaker, great shooter, can handle the physical game, good skater, and great vision on the ice. He's the closest thing in the world to a perfect forward.

Most of Leino's offense (last season) came playing in a top-two lines role with an elite center. Kopecky was given a two-game stint on Zetterberg's line and scored a shorthanded goal and put up 3 assists, while being a +4. I have a hard time believing that Kopecky wouldn't be able to put up 15 goals and 30-40 points if he were given the role Leino has had. Hockeysfuture rates Leino as a 7.5B, meaning he'll probably be a good second-line forward in their opinion. Kopecky was rated a 7.5C, meaning he had the same kind of potential but was thought to be less likely to pan out. But remember something important; Leino is only 20 months younger than Kopecky, so his "upside" and "future" don't mean much compared to Kopecky's, given their level of play compared to the kind of players they were supposed to be. A 26-year old Kopecky last season was better than Leino, who is 26, has been this year. Take from that what you will.

As I stated in another post, the Wings' offense failed to show up when opportunities were present, and the Wings were completely decimated at the dot, especially in the offensive zone. Can't score if you don't have the puck. No goalie wins a game where his team scores 0 goals. Osgood was brilliant in the third period and the offense couldn't buy a decent scoring chance.

Leino has been playing offensively comparable, perhaps better players, but with excellent defensive players.

I hope he's not the next McCarty. He has the skill and potential to be much more than Mac was. EDIT: Mac was a 10-15 goal, 30 point player average over his career and a 15-20 goal, 40-point player at his best. Abby should be much better than that.

They've been fairly even offensively when you account for ice time and PP time. However, Leino has been on the ice for much more ES offense that he has not been involved in, due to playing quite a bit on a scoring line. Kopecky has played the whole year as a checking center, so offense has been hard to come by.

Have you ever watched Scott Gomez play hockey? Even in his best years he almost never went to the corners or in front of the net. Hudler did it all the time, even if much of the time he didn't come up with the puck or create a goal. Sure, a guy like Franzen is better at it. But would you rather a hard worker or a floater?

Most teams would grab him. Very few have two better goalies, even with Ozzie may not be playing among the league's elite this season. Teams like Columbus, or Ottawa could certainly use a great veteran presence in net to help their young guys, and he's easily the league's top money goalie over the past two years so a lot of playoff teams would pick him up as an insurance policy. Especially with his cap number.

Gomez is s*** defensively and his offense is just plain gone. Hudler brought more offense in a third line role than Gomez does in a top-six role. Hudler is better defensively and works harder in the corners and in front of the net, too. Gionta is probably more skilled, but has performed poorly for a while now. His defense is also much worse than Jiri's.

An injured Kopecky, on the ice or not, is better than Leino right now.

Leino has been a total floater who doesn't create his own offense, he simply expects it to come to him. Leino has played much more per game, in an offensive role much of the time, and receives PP time. Kopecky is and was a solid defensive player who at least brought some physical element to the team, and despite the ES and PP ice time Leino gets that Kopay didn't, Kopecky was more productive offensively last year than Leino is this year.

Osgood had some poor moments tonight. But he also made some brilliant saves, and stopped 32 of 35 shots while his offense only posted 20. Stopping 32 of 35 is a .914 save percentage; it's hard to argue a goalie played poorly when he posts that number despite allowing a bad goal or two. In fact, that would seem to suggest the opposite; especially considering how little Osgood has played recently. Aside from the shots though, even more telling is that the Wings, who are typically one of the top five faceoff teams in the league, won only 16 of 45 draws. Here's how the Wings' centers did tonight on faceoffs: Datsyuk 6 for 16 (38%) Helm 3 for 13 (23%) Abdelkader 3 for 5 (60%) Draper 3 for 3 (100%) All wingers 1 for 8 (13%) Overall 16 for 45 (36%) Furthermore, let's take a look at offensive zone faceoffs: Datsyuk 1 for 5 (20%) Helm 0 for 2 (0%) Abdelkader 2 for 2 (100%) Draper 0 for 0 (N/A) All wingers 0 for 3 (0%) Overall 3 for 12 (25%) Now compare that to defensive zone draws: Datsyuk 4 for 6 (67%) Helm 2 for 7 (0%) Abdelkader 1 for 2 (50%) Draper 3 for 3 (100%) All wingers 0 for 1 (0%) Overall 10 for 19 (53%) Those numbers are completely unacceptable. Draper and Dats winning the defensive zone faceoffs are the only numbers acceptable from that list. Abby winning both in the offensive zone is good, but doesn't have a ton of effectiveness offensively given the purpose of his line. If the Wings aren't winning draws and controlling the puck, getting shots on net and getting to the rebounds, then what do any of you expect? Osgood is a damn good goalie, but no goalie will win a game when his team is being outplayed to that degree at both ends and doesn't score a single goal.

The Wings should play Meech and Lebda as the first pairing next game, with May/Newbury/Maltby as the top line. I mean, why the hell not? If we're not going to try and win, at least let the players on the team who don't get time get time, as well as keep our stars off the ice for injury's sake.

If Osgood were emotionally weak, he'd have left Detroit long ago and stayed gone, given the attitude Wings fans have about goalies. As far as being a Hall of Famer, how many goalies of Osgood's era can claim the same accomplishments he has? Martin Brodeur? Dominik Hasek? Ed Belfour? Those guys are all HOFers or will be. I know Luongo is going to come up, so will someone tell me what Luongo has done that Osgood hasn't? Luongo's only accomplishment is a two Second-Team selections. Osgood has one of those, plus tons more. Osgood has a HOF resume. Luongo is 30 years old and his resume is not terribly strong. He has won a couple of international tournaments but has ultimately not earned the awards or stats to give him a Hall-worthy resume. Luongo has several years left, but at his age do you think he can win the awards or show the playoff ability that would tip him over? If you think of a Hall of Famer as the best guys from a certain era, Osgood is a lock. During Ozzie's career, few goalies can compare with his consistent winning ability and impressive playoff performances.

Hudler would play on the top line on many teams in the NHL. Top line talent is not defined by who would play on Detroit's top line; it's by who would be a top-line player on most teams in the league, or who would play on a top line if teams were all equal. Hudler is a top-line talent in the NHL. To prove it, let's look at the top 90 forwards in the NHL in ESTOI/GP, and see how they compare to Hudler. Some guys in that list Who Hudler is as good or better than: Gomez, Gionta, Langenbrunner, Legwand, Vermette, Antropov, Huselius, Sullivan, Justin Williams, Ray Whitney, Stajan, Grabovski, Hanzal, Joel Ward, Higgins, and Horcoff. I'm sure I could find more if I gave it a more detailed look. Now, I realize some guys may play less at ES than the top 90 and be better. But that's already a large number of players getting top-line ice time who Hudler is simply a better player than. He may not get that kind of time in Detroit, but he's that skilled of a player. You can ***** about his size, or say he's slow, or that he's not as strong defensively as he could be. But his overall game and effectiveness makes him a top-line forward.

What if they are collector's edition Playboys, and he's big ...into collecting porn?

Better nickname for Bertuzzi: Stalker

Leino is a talented player. But not only was he not going to be better than Hudler this season, he quite possibly will never reach the level Hudler was playing at last season. Leino is a year older, bigger, and stronger yet he is much weaker on the puck, doesn't work hard and go to the 'dirty' areas like Hudler does, and just doesn't seem to have the potential to ever be what Hudler is now. I laughed in the summer when people said Leino would replace Hudler, only better. Leino might make a solid second-liner with some experience. Hudler is a bona-fide top-line talent right now.

So what does it mean for Leino that Miller and Eaves are both outproducing him offensively by a fairly significant margin?

Anyone miss Hudler yet? Per LGW, Leino was supposed to be a bigger, stronger, faster version of Hudler who produced the same offense; it turns out he is slower, and much weaker on the puck. Not to mention that he simply isn't even close to Hudler's skill.