betterREDthandead

I thought it was the other way around, actually. Helm did interfere (the one I was really pissed off about was the Filppula interference right at the beginning of the power play) but the Franzen "cross-check" was the weakest thing. It was a hell of a lot less penalty-worthy than the cross-check he received in retaliation. That was the s***ty call to begin with.

Those polls are worth watching. Whenever the question pits something Detroit-related against other cities, Michigan always supports its own better than the other states do. P.S. Minnesota = State of Hockey.....my ass

Gotta stay active. Sitting on his butt for three weeks won't help anyone when he gets back.

That was nice of the referees to increase the degree of difficulty for us. It's nice to know we can win a game 5-on-7 when we have to. I mean, I'm not normally a ref-hater but damn. I thought maybe when Doan got off scot-free it meant they'd taken boarding out of the rule book and not told anyone, but Helm seems to have discovered the new penalty to replace it: two minutes for nudging.

This is probably the truest thing spoken all week, but the subject of Gary Bettman has never delivered a lot of rational conversation.

Can't wait for the first knee-on-knee hit the first game back. You know someone's gonna try it. Hope Bertuzzi is ready to cause trouble if they do.

Whatever keeps Michigan and Ohio State playing on the last weekend of the season. Unfortunately I think the TV people are going to screw that up because they're afraid of a rematch. The ACC already proved what a disaster it is to base your new setup entirely on the assumption that two specific teams will face off in the championship game: they put the ACCCG in Florida for years hoping Miami and FSU would be there and their chickens came home to roost when Boston College kept crashing the party and not bringing anyone with them.

It has everything to do with the games broadcast nationally. TV execs aren't going to pony up the cash for a league that has all the appearances of failing, as it would if teams are allowed to fold. And the more markets the broadcast can appeal to, the more money they'll pay for it. Granted, the flipside is that fewer teams means fewer mouths to feed when it comes to splitting the cash. But if there's no team in Phoenix, there aren't any hockey fans in Phoenix, and thus a huge media market goes by the wayside when it comes to marketing the Crosbys and Ovechkins of the world. The smartypants answer is that there aren't any hockey fans in Phoenix anyway, but that's not how the people who write the checks think.

Maybe a little scuffling is just what the team needs to fire them up and claw back into the race.

All you people in favor of contraction don't seem to grasp what the cost of contraction would be. Prohibitive. The only way it wouldn't be is if a team is liquidated through bankruptcy, and while that sounds attractive to those of us who can speak from the ivory tower of having a team comfortably in place, I'm not sure the cost to the league in terms of image is worth it. TV exec: "Why should we pay your league millions of dollars to broadcast it when your teams are folding? What assurance can you give us that more teams won't fold and the value of your product won't continue to nosedive?" League: "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....."

Flip the Michigan game, naturally, and you've got it....except that I really don't know what to make of Notre Dame this year and I have a hard time picking either State's or U-M's game against them. I'll hold off on Michigan predictions til I see what the defense looks like against UConn. Simply having the same DC for two years in a row should be a huge step in the right direction, but Lord, the secondary. As for UVA, it's never too early to break out the "wait til next year" mantras.

Which is part of the reason I don't see 8-9 wins on Sparty's schedule. Road games at Michigan, at Penn State, at Iowa. Most of the tough ones on the road, most of the easy ones at home....I don't think it's a favorable schedule except for the absences of Ohio State and Central. To get to nine you'll have to beat two of Wisky, U-M, PSU, Iowa, or Brian Kelly's Notre Dame, and avoid the annual faceplant. On the plus side, Dantonio's figured out that Keith Nichol isn't a good quarterback, so that's a step in the right direction. Nichol lost you a game or two last year.

I lived in Washington for a little while.....I don't think it's quite the hockey market you describe. I didn't see the fanaticism. It probably wouldn't be too bad, certainly an improvement over a few existing markets, but "insane" wouldn't describe it.

I really hate the idea of no icing while shorthanded. A typical full two minute power play has about a 20% chance of being successful. Is a 1-in-5 chance of being scored on not punishment enough? I really think power play success rates would at least double with that rule, and there's no need to change hockey into a game where 6-4 scores are typical.

Add me to the '01 list. And the best part is most of those moves were complete surprises.

Screw Gretzky, have him wear #99.

Are you kidding? It's lasted since 2003, at least. It's like that bigass mushroom thing in the UP that mostly lives underground but has 30 acres worth of mushrooms sticking up above ground. Deleting this thread would be like plucking one of those mushrooms.

The throwback thing is now officially out of hand. I know they're supposed to hearken back to some Calgary team from the '20s but that's dumb. The Flames never wore those.

Western swings are always brutal, so I'm OK with 5-6 out there, especially since we got two of three from Minnesota. Willis was awesome yesterday. Just keep beating the Twinkies and things will take care of themselves.

Gotta say, I'm not entirely unhappy with the result last night. I only worry in a playoff series when we can't get anything past the goalie. Tired from Game 7 and late travel, battling s***ty calls, and yet the Sharks basically escaped with a one-goal win. Give Setoguchi the six minutes of penalties he deserved and the outcome could have been entirely different.

At least they threw us a bone this time by starting the game at 6 PM Pacific. Crazy to think that if we get past San Jose we could end up facing three West Coast teams....I can't remember that ever happening.

Think we found our starter for the next ten years.

No. Just no. And normally I'm one of the first ones to roll my eyes when fellow Wings fans get all hot and bothered about a perceived slight against the Wings because often it's just paranoid smoke-blowing. Not this time - that was as obvious a dick move as can be and I hope the Wings send the tape in to the league.

Barry Sanders wasn't that long ago.

If it was against the Wings everyone would say it was a kicking motion. I think it was.