betterREDthandead

Predictions in the GDT are fine. They're about the game after all. It's the pages and pages full of one-word fluff posts that derail the discussion. I'd rather not have a separate thread every day for predictions. I'm going to merge this with the GDT since this is basically a branch of it.

No, they wouldn't. And imagine if they did. Imagine if every fan at every game in every city brought a Fire Bettman sign to the game and spent the whole game chanting Fire Bettman....oh what a wonderful world...... It still wouldn't happen.

Um, they're the defending Stanley Cup champs, so I think maybe that could be a sign that they're a pretty good team. Getting outshot by the Wings in two regular season games doesn't outweigh that minor little feat. And no, I don't hate them as much as you do....I can't stand Brian Burke, and I think "distaste" is the best word for how I feel about Pronger, but no, I don't have a lot of animosity toward the Ducks as a whole. The Wings will need to run into them a couple more times in the playoffs for a real rivalry to develop like with the Avs.

They're a good team. Good teams will beat you now and then. Don't think it needs to be analyzed any more than that.

I expected the Lions to pull this one off. They'd better have, they have half the Bucs' coaching staff. Only six more to go and Jon Kitna is a prophet. By the way, how cool is this? This guy lost an eye in Iraq (and his legs too.) Check out the glass eye. Now that is a fan!

Define mid-range. Maltby's career season in points was 37 (14 G, 23 A) and I think that's going to be the upper ceiling of what Ellis can accomplish too.

Movin' up! UVA is now 15th in the BCS standings. The computers have us - get this - sixth. Wow. I'm not sure that's quite deserved, but the computers don't care if you win by 1 or 40.

What would be the point of having a forum then?

No. Williams was doing nothing for us and would have continued to do so. Sometimes a player can't produce for one team but thrives on another. If there's a mistake, it might have been trading him to a division rival - there's a reason teams are reluctant to do that. But we all loved the trade when it happened, so it'd be hypocritical of us to turn around and bash it later, seeing as how we'd all have been just as wrong as anyone.

Michigan took advantage tho. I wouldn't say Illinois had them on the ropes at the time of the roughing penalty, because it was only 14-10. Anybody's game. And after the penalty, Michigan still had to march 72 yards. Michigan didn't make mistakes, Illinois did, and Michigan took advantage. So no, I definitely don't feel like "Michigan didn't win, Illinois lost." Nice! I shamelessly jumped on the Grand Valley bandwagon beginning of last year when my brother started class there. This year they've just been absolutely dominating the opposition. I don't think any of their games have even been close.

MSU will roll Iowa. Iowa doesn't have anyone on offense, so they can't expose MSU's weakness. What an awesome night of football! Didn't look good early, both UM and UVA, on the road, went down 14-3 to start, but came back with gutsy performances. Chris Long is a BEAST. Best D-lineman in the country. First UVA game I get to watch this year turns into (I think) the first win at Maryland since I've been a fan. That 18-17 score is a bit deceiving....the offense was moving the ball only to stall at the 35 yard line damn near every time. And the defense was stout after the first quarter. Next time UVA's on national TV, maybe the announcers will stop butchering the pronunciation of everyone's name. That's really annoying. First national TV game of the year for UVA and they insist on getting all the names wrong.

Is MSU the worst-tackling team in the country or what? Seems like every time I looked, a Spartan defender was alligator-arming a Buckeye ball carrier. Mike Hart's main talent is breaking tackles, if he's healthy and if MSU doesn't make some quick improvement, chalk him up for 300 yards.

Easy. Jake Christensen is an absolutely terrible quarterback. I just now watched him underthrow his receiver by a good four or five yards resulting in a pick, and right by the goal line too. Worst QB in the Big Ten by far.

Well, that's kind of like saying we don't need a second-line scorer, we have Filppula and Hudler. Who might evolve into that role, and we're all hoping they do, but there's no guarantee.

So, they should use chipped blades because they can't afford new skates, a jersey that's nine years old, and an old dented wooden stick? C'mon man....NHLers already use better equipment than the pick-up game player simply by having the resources to get new stuff all the time. When I go watch an NHL game, it damn well better be the best hockey the world has to offer.

1 - Again: Shanny wouldn't have stayed for any amount of money. He decided it was time to move on and that was that. NOTHING Holland could have done would have kept him here. 2 - Trading Avery was a no-brainer. He has the PIM of a heavyweight fighter but he doesn't step up to the plate for his teammates, he just hurts his team with dumb penalties. Getting Schneider out of that deal was one of Holland's best moves, not his worst. 3 - What has McCarty done since he left that makes you want him back? Trading Kozlov brought us Hasek and a Cup - 'nuff said. Holland didn't trade Lapointe, he left as a free agent for way too much money. Outbidding the Bruins to get him back - THAT would have been dumb. So basically the only move on your worst list that I even remotely agree with is Hatcher.

You said it. Man does it bug me when people rag on Holland for the trades he doesn't make. Usually that's because people have it in their imaginations that "player might be available" + "Wings have a need" = sure thing. Only thing standing in the way is that Holland is a dope. That said, I think the #1 thing the Wings need is a dependable second-line scoring threat. That doesn't mean picking up some crappy re-tread like Anson Carter or taking a chance that Eric Lindros' head won't completely implode next time he gets knocked over. I think the best course of action is for the Wings to muddle along as best they can 'til the deadline, then make their move. Right now everyone still thinks they ought to be in the race, and that'll change by February.

Only two mentions of Uwe Krupp? He and Hatcher have to go down as the Wings' biggest FA busts yet. Letting Igor walk was dumb too, but they recognized it and made a great trade to get him back. Trading for Lang does NOT belong on the list. Lang provided reliable second-line scoring, which now that he's gone, ranks #1 on the list of things we need, IMO. And all that Holland gave up was a nondescript prospect and some draft picks. And no mention of Larry Murphy on the "best" lists?

When it comes to retiring numbers, only one standard need apply: It should be blatantly obvious that the player in question deserves it. If there's debate, as in the case of Shanny or Fedorov, the answer is no. If the best you can say is that it should be strongly considered, the answer is no....you shouldn't have to consider. Retiring a number is an even greater honor than the Hall of Fame. I think even Vladdy's #16 should return to circulation eventually - IMO the proper tribute is to leave his number out of circulation until the last player who was a teammate of his retires. Then return it to the locker room.

Friday Columbus @ Buffalo Carolina @ Pittsburgh Colorado @ Chicago Los Angeles @ Vancouver Saturday NY Rangers @ Boston Chicago @ Toronto Buffalo @ Montreal Florida @ Ottawa New Jersey @ NY Islanders Carolina @ Philadelphia Pittsburgh @ Washington Atlanta @ Tampa Bay Anaheim @ Dallas Minnesota @ St Louis Detroit @ Phoenix Edmonton @ Calgary Nashville @ San Jose Sunday Vancouver @ Columbus Colorado @ Minnesota

Do you think South Florida fans in their wildest dreams thought another school would ever rush the field after beating them?

Everyone - please see the note added to the bottom of aflac's initial post. aflac does a magnificent job of providing us a GDT and we are trying to keep the clutter out that has become the norm. We're trying to bring the GDT back towards its intended purpose - a place where people can discuss the game at hand - and we need to cut down big-time on the clutter, extraneous posting, and thread derailing that seems to happen every night.

Sorry, the notion that a playoff would settle any controversy is 100% misguided. As mannysbetter said, no matter how big the playoff, the last couple teams left out would feel shafted. In fact, a playoff would only expand the controversy and make it worse. If sometimes there are a couple teams that could lay a claim to #2, there will always be several teams that can lay claim to #4, and many more that could lay claim to #8. Even the 65-team field of the basketball tournament always has teams bitching about being left out. I think the idea that a playoff would settle controversy is the single weakest argument in favor, frankly. The problem with a four-team playoff is that it would still diminish the value of the regular season, and I'm not in favor of anything that does that. I could maybe stomach it, at least much better than an eight-team deal. But if people get the silly notion in their heads that it would settle controversy - well, take this year. Right now, who would go? OSU, USF and then? BC, LSU, USC, OU? UK? ASU? Oregon? Obviously the regular season still needs to be played out, but I don't think we'd get four clearcut candidates out of it.

Yes, blame the officiating. Never mind the glaringly obvious: This team isn't going to win consistently if ZDH isn't clicking, thanks to the lack of a consistent second line scoring threat. We all knew that going into the season, and it's playing out right now, so...yeah....let's all of a sudden whine about the refs.