betterREDthandead

No it didn't. I can't think of a single reason why any one of our division rivals would make good trading partners. All of them are in a heated race for a couple bottom playoff seeds and would be unlikely besides to want to make a midseason trade with a division rival. Therefore I imagine that the scouts at the game were scouting the teams for matchup purposes, not the players for trade possibilities.

Go BLUE! ---<=

As promised, I won't be watching due to the judged shootout. Hate it.

Til there's definite word from Favre himself that he'll retire, and by definite I mean it's opening day and somebody in a different number is under center, I assume he'll be back.

EXACTLY.

If you have to ask the question, the answer is NO! The only numbers that should be retired are the ones where it's blatantly blindingly mindblowingly obvious it should happen. Right now the only number that fits is #5. If you have to "make the case", no matter how strong the case, then no. If it's not a foregone conclusion, then no. Had Sergei stayed in Detroit and continued playing the way he always did, I think we'd have that foregone conclusion. But none of this "well if he finishes up here then maybe." No. Too late for that. #91 may be associated with Fedorov for quite a while - the same as #33 will be associated with Draper - but he does not deserve the ultimate honor of being immortalized in the rafters.

Which is crap. Nobody ever looked at Ozzie Smith's stats and said, "jeez, he'd be the HoFer with the worst offensive stats across the board, I wonder if he's really worthy." Nope. They said "ZOMG BACKFLIPS!" and voted his ass in, pronto. And Jack Morris should be a f'ing lock. Of the 10 "most similar" per baseballreference, 6 are HoFers.

Ah, good point. But I still did not root for the Packers.

Why do I hate the 'Canes? Thugginest college football team in the country is why. Miami has strutted around trash talking and thumping their chest and getting in trouble for 20 years now. Showing up in fatigues to the Fiesta Bowl. Major scandals in the 90s. 7th Floor Crew. FIU brawl. And plenty of "characters" like Kellen Winslow, Jeremy Shockey, Sean Taylor, Michael Irvin.

For one thing, because a Giants-Chargers Super Bowl would be hilarious to watch Eli get his ass beat in. For another, I can only root for the Packers in two situations: If they're playing the Cowboys in Dallas. (When two teams I completely despise meet up, such as Packers-Cowboys or Florida State-Miami, my usual thing is to root for the home team to be mercilessly stomped into the ground, because then I at least can watch all the sad faces in the crowd.) The other is if a Packers win helps the Lions, such as the hypothetical and highly unlikely scenario of the Lions needing the Packers to beat, say, the Vikings in order to win the division.

As usual, I'll be rooting against whatever team is playing the Packers. Giants fan for the week. But if Favre promises to retire upon winning the Super Bowl, I'll switch up allegiances.

I lost interest in tennis a long time ago. But if more matches were like Hewitt-Baghdatis that I just watched the end of, I'd be back in a heartbeat. Plus Hewitt's sister and her friend: YOW!!!!

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

Nothing fancy. I'm no aflac. I'll just toss in this little gem of an article to start this off: Ross McKeon: Wings-Sens best schedule has to offer

No. Having your number retired is a greater honor than even the Hall of Fame. There's only one criterion for having your number retired, and that is that it should be blindingly obvious to everyone that your number belongs in the rafters. If you have to debate it, or even ask, the answer is no. Lidstrom is the only Wing that currently fits that. If we have to debate Ozzie's HoF credentials, the number is out of the question.

The NHL rulebook actually has the word "spin-o-rama" in it: I found that while poking through the rulebook on this question. Anyway, what the rulebook specifically says is that goalies may not "participate in the play" past the red line. Shootouts are governed by the same rules as penalty shots, and since penalty shots take place during a stoppage in play without the clock running, I disagree that that makes the goalie ineligible.

Would he really be a "massive" improvement over Lilja? Blake was always a bit overrated defensively. Even when the Kings were decent, Blake was always a minus player. Offensively, he isn't bringing any more to the tables these days than Kronwall. This isn't like Sundin where his playing style has kept his skills intact at 37. Blake's 38, and it's showing. I dunno. I don't see a real need to trade for defense. I wouldn't like to see the Wings give up a regular or a top prospect. Draft picks and second-tier prospects only.

Well, penalty kill time wouldn't affect the plus/minus. I don't see Griffins games either. But when the stats are as bad as they are, I think they transcend any issues like who he's paired with or anything. The only explanation I can see is that he's having a pretty rough time adjusting to the professional game.

I like how people think we'd be "going back to team history" by wearing these candy cane throwbacks, as if they're somehow a huge part of the history of the Wings. History lesson: Those jerseys were worn for exactly ONE year: 1927-1928. The only reason people think they're any kind of big part of tradition is because they were chosen as the throwback to be worn in the '91-'92 season when all O6 teams wore a throwback of some kind during the games against each other to celebrate the league's 75th anniversary. The uniform Sleight is referring to is the '28-'29 jersey and is as big a part of "tradition" as any other. (And no, I don't know where you can buy it.) I can just picture a game between the candy-cane striped Red Wings and the bumblebee-striped Bruins (who wore brown and yellow, not black, back then.) It would be a little like watching a football game on bright yellow turf. It would probably cause epileptic seizures. Probably the only throw-wayyyy-back the Wings could wear that wouldn't cause my eyes to pop out of my skull and hide would be maybe that cougar-head one (but that had stripes on the arms) or, more likely, the one they wore their very first year with one simple stripe and an Old English D. Otherwise leave the throwback-wearing to the teams that have forgotten their history.

IMO, the game was actually pretty even. I don't even think the Wings looked bad, it's just we are so used to watching the Wings dispatch inferior competition this year that we forgot what it looks like when a team plays on the same level as the Wings. Ottawa is a formidable opponent.

We're used to seeing the Wings play teams that are markedly inferior. This is the sort of game that happens when you play on your own level of competition.

I hate that jersey. It would make the Wings look like skating candy-canes. The Wings already wear a throwback. Every night.

Yes, went to high school and played his first junior hockey there.

Wow, how was there no penalty called on that takedown behind the net?

Nice classy display by the Sens organization there. And can we get this guy to do our national anthem when Karen Newman retires? Maybe in honor of this game being in Canada, I should post in both English and French. Peut-etre parce que ce match est en Canada, je devrais parler en anglais et aussi en francais.