Wingsfan31

As bad as the Nashville and Detroit broadcasts are, nothing tops the blatant homerism of the Avs announcers. The play-by-play guy actually says, "Thank you thank you thank you insert Avs goal scorer here. They are the NHL version of those two jackasses that took over for Ernie Harwell and George Kell on the Tiger broadcasts.

I guess if you're a newer fan you find Mickey entertaining, but after 20 years of the same "Mickey-isms", recycled complaints about how much easier "today's players" have it, and his incessant defending of certain players (every goal on Osgood was tipped, according to Mickey), I've grown tired of his schtick. Add in Daniels and his over-excitement at any play involving a Red Wing, not to mention being a Red Wings slappy not matter how poorly the team is playing and I think they are one of the worst tandems in hockey. If any of you were around when the Wings were on PASS and Dave Strader was doing the play-by-play and Mickey was kind of a novelty, then I think you know what I'm talking about. I'd love to see the Wings get ahold of Chris Cuthbert for play-by-play and have Beeker do the color.

I think both teams faced similar difficulties last night. Both teams still had some potent offensive weapons in their line ups (Datsyuk, Lang, Lidstrom for Detroit; Arnott, Dumont, Kariya for Nashville), had the majority of their D healthy, had a lot of younger faces in the line up and yet they still battled hard. I was really impressed with the pace and intensity of the game, and the fact it never got too chippy; to me that's a sign these two teams respect each other too much to take garbage penalties trying to make "statements". Even Maltby and Tootoo behaved themselves last night.

Dom's gotta knock the rust off this weekend, he can't go into Nashville not having played in over a week. I'd prefer he play the Kings, they are out of the playoff race, which means the game shouldn't be as intense, a good game inwhich to get your timing back. The Wings are terrible in early games and I can see them looking past the Bruins to the Tuesday game, so start Osgood then, since the Wings likely won't put forth the effort to see it wasted on cheapie goals against.

It's a common mistake a lot of goaltenders who butterfly make. They are in a constant deep croutch, which doesn't lend itself to being flush to the post. Add in that he got caught cheating towards the far post and Datsyuk really had the entire short side to pick. both goaltenders were shaky last night -- the Wings missed three open nets and Osgood gave up a two for-sure softies, and I'd include the Arnott goal as a weak one too. Osgood certainly sacked up in the shoot-out. I don't know what Vokoun was thinking on the Datsyuk S.O. goal -- he showed poke when Datsyuk as at the hashmarks, basically begging him to shoot. I think Franzen surprised him with the leverage he got, you could see by Vokoun's reaction he was really unhappy with himself on that one.

I had some beers with Draper and Barry Smith at Andrew's about 8 years ago. Drapes was a very cool guy, he chatted with me for about 20 minutes, he had two very fine women with him, excused himself to dinner and that was that. Barry Smith is every bit the wild man off the ice as he is on it. He was buying rounds at the bar for everyone and whooping it up. I did run into a very intoxicated Jeremy Roenick at a bar in Chicago in 1991 after a Wings/Hawks game. He was bombed, I didn't really talk to him aside from hello and I don't think he could have carried on a conversation if I tried. We also stayed at the same hotel as the Wings in Columbus last year, it was very surreal, mulling around in the lobby with all the Wings players before they left for Nationwide with about 100 Wings fans roped off from the lobby area pining for autographs. I kind of felt like a VIP, although all the Wings players were listening to their MP3 players so I didn't get to talk to them, I did run into Mickey getting off the elevator and when I said "Hi", he offered a dismissive "Hey gang!" to me and scurried off, LOL.

The Wings have already started negotiating with Maltby's agent to re-up with him, so I'd count him back in the fold. You can bet Schneider is going to command more than $3 million per season. He's close to setting a career high in assists after seeting career highs in everything last year. Veteran, puck-moving d-men aren't a dime a dozen and I doubt there's any "hometown discount" for the Wings. There is no way Calder signs for less than $2 million. His arbitration award for last season was based upon his numbers with Chicago last season and he can easily argue that the situation in Philly caused his decline in numbers this season. He already has 5 points in 4 games with the Wings and has shown an ability to forecheck effectively, so the Wings likely won't be the only suitor for him in free agency. Lang is gone, probably of his own accord, but you can take his salary and give it to Datsyuk right now, that will cover any contract Pavel signs here. The Wings will not go with Howard and Osgood next year, they will get a more consistent guy to split the duties with Howard; Babcock can't stand Osgood's inconsistent play as it is with Dom as the starter. For the umpteenth time, DRAPER HAS A NO-TRADE CLAUSE. He is not going anywhere. Don't be surprised if Hank starts looking for a renegotiation of his current deal if the Wings give Pavel $5 million-plus. I think the Wings can re-sign Markov for around $2 million as he really hasn't earned the additional $0.5 million he's currently getting. You can probably pencil Flip and Hudler in at $1 million-plus, there is no way either of those guys will take a token raise after being roster players all season. I think the real wildcard is Bert. If he regains his form, the Wings go deep and he's an integral part of the offense, he may price himself out of Detroit. He has no reason to give the Wings a discount. The Wings may be better suited to go after a guy like Hartnell to play the 2nd line wing with Calder and use the extra money to pick up a bruising forward and a goaltender. If Scheider leaves, my guess is the WIngs promote either Kindl or Quincey to the parent club and expand Kronwall's role on the special teams. Basically, IMO, it comes down to Datsyuk and Bert. If the Wings can get them for below-market value, they will have some room to play with in the cap. Otherwise, they will be in a situation similar to this season -- a few million dollars under the cap going into the season with some room to address needs at the trade deadline. Edit -- The NHL recently said since there is no transfer agreement in place with the Russian Hockey Federation, NHL teams can leave their prospects in Russia indefinitely. Don't be surprised to see Grigorenko in RSL one more season as the Wings can't offer him anywhere close to the money he's making now and he hasn't proven he's 100% healthy.

It's "Red Wings, my Red Wings c'mon Wings, let's fly". It was the WJR radio spot back in the 80s at least, maybe the 70s, I don't recall. I don't know if you can find it anywhere, I do know that both WDFN and WXYT have it as drops, maybe if you e-mail them, they'd be kind enough to shoot you a copy. I think the irony of them playing it after the Wings win is it harkens back to the days when the Wings were absolutely brutal.

The Wings have been propping up franchises in the West for better than 10 years now. Hell, the Wings games are about the only time Nashville sells out. There is no way the Wings move East aside from Ilitch threatening to dissolve the team or some other drastic move. The NHL won't allow it, they'll move C-bus East and either go back to the two-division format with KC, Minny and Dallas in the "Norris" for lack of a better description. Or, they'll keep things they way they are and move Minny into the Central and try to make it so K.C. plays in the N.W. division, or whatever they call it this week, so Sid the Kid can get home to Canada four times a year in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

He's another Daigle, a shoulda woulda player. He plays soft for his size and has absolutely no sense for the puck on the ice.

Meh, Osgood was caught flat-footed on the game winner. He shouldn't have had to dive across with his glove, and then he didn't have pressure on the puck, which allowed the Avs player to stick it underneath him. Schneider's giveaway was brutal, but goaltenders are expected to make big saves and bail their team out, which has been a knock against Osgood since he started in Detroit.

Yeah, since it's so common for teams to win 3 Cups in a 10-year period, especially after going 42 years without. I think Wings fans have earned the right to crow about the team's success, especially when people make idiotic statements like "Red Wings Suck" and the like.

May as well rest him, the Wings are doing the same with their guys. Why take a chance that someone like Booter will take a run at him, a la Hartnell? There are 3 more match ups after tonight and plenty of time for statement-making on both sides.

I'm sure there are a lot of bandwagoners who know nothing about hockey and who are interested because a) the NFL season is over, b) they are the only other major professional sport in town, c) the Preds just made a ton of high-profile trades that have increased interest in the team and d) the NASCAR season has just started so there isn't much to talk about there. This is how it used to be on the Ducks and Avs forums too, but you can carry on an intellegent conversation there now.

I was at the game when Fischer was injured and they didn't tell us jack. I had to get updated by my wife via cell phone, who was getting all her info from the broadcast. For the longest time, everyone thought it was Osgood that went down, that perhaps something struck him on the bench. The Wings completely mishandled that situation. There was some booing when the game was cancelled, but there was no annoucement if they were going to make up the game, etc. They did let us know Fischer was stable and responsive on his way to the ambulance, and everyone cheered for that, obviously.

Resting the big guns before the post season and keeping them from being run in the physical games with Nashville. When the Wings win in the post season, they have traditionally been healthy. That and Nashville has a history of cheap-shotting the Wings top players.

"Communicating with Referees Tactfully" by Jim Schoenfeld "Helmet Hair and You" by Kerry Fraiser "101 Styles For The Man With Full Hair" by Curtis Joseph "Power Skating 101" by Ray Sheppard "Getting the Most Out of Your Potential" by Pat Falloon, foreword by Alexander Daigle "Honoring Your Contracts" by Alexei Yashin "How To Retain Franchise Players" by Kevin Lowe, foreword by Glen Sather "How to Maintain a Successful Franchise" by Mike Keenan

If you watch the video, you can see what I and others have perceived as Bert trying to shield Moore's head from the crush of Avs players coming for him. I don't think that you can assert the Avs players are what caused the neck injury, but it certainly didn't help. I doesn't change the fact that if bert hadn't rabbit punched Moore in the head, none if it would have happened in the first place but it, IMO, it does refute the image of Bert as a bloodthirsty goon hell-bent on breaking Moore in two.

The problem is violence is encouraged in hockey and football, not neccesarily fighting but certainly hitting, with the goal to eliminate a player from the play or intimidate him. This is the reason prosecutors have been leery of pressing charges for incidents that occur in a sporting venue, within the confines of the action on the ice. Obviously the Pacers-Pistons brawl was different because the players decided to enter the stands, thereby changing the circumstances. I think the same would eb doen if an NHLer went into the stands after a fan. I for one encourage fighting in the NHL as a deterrent. The stickwork and cheapshots have grown in the league as fighting has been reduced. Players no longer have to own up for their cheapshots. The Bertuzzi thing was obviously different as Moore did fight and ante up for his cheapshot of Naslund. Bert clearly lost it and was punished within the rules of the league. The NHL got an easy out as the next season was a wash due to the lockout and they counted that season as a suspensed season for Bert as well. However, one has to wonder if the Bert punch didn't lead to Moore breaking his neck if we would even be having this conversation right now. I've always been an advocate of punishing the intent, not the result. To go off on a minor tangent, I believe attempted murder and murder are the same thing, you just didn't succeed in your goal, but you sure as hell tried. So, if Bert is guilty of assault, then every guy who hits someone from behind, late or in the head needs to be prosecuted for assault as well. Or, perhaps the criminal courts should stay out of the sports realm and let the league and/or the civil courts handle incidents that occur on the ice.

Hmmm, Foppa out with the ol' "upper body injury". I'd love to know more but the Preds would be fools to disclose particulars. Interesting that all these top players from both teams are developing these mystery injuries right before these two teams get set to see each other four times in a short period of time. I almost think Babcock and Trotz are ensuring their top guys don't get injured in these emotional and physical games heading into the post season. As deep as the West is this year, finishing 1st or 4th really won't change the fact you'll be facing a top opponent in the 1st round, so positioning in the Central is not as important as it has been in past years.

I believe NHLers aren't allowed to wear cages or ITECHs for non-injury-related reasons. I think the laceration took 20-plus stiches to close, that's a pretty serious injury that can probably be aggravated pretty easily, especially when you're a hard-hitting defenseman.

This is not as serious as one would think. If this were the playoffs, a cortisone shot would be all he would need to bring the swelling down. The docs want him to rest it so the swelling will come down naturally. That and the fact the Wings have all but sewn up 4th at this point makes this decision the smart one. Lang looked reinvigorated with Calder on his wing, so the Wings can still throw out two lines with 30-plus capable goal scorers on it. As deep as the West is this year, I don't see much of a difference between finishing 1st or 4th; either way you're going to play some tough competition so you might as well have all your horses healthy and saddled for the post season.

I'll eat some crow. Holland completely rebuild the 2nd line for basically a conditional pick and a prospect who may or may-not pan out. Calder is clearly an upgrade over Williams and to compare to two is silly. In reality, Calder is more akin to a better-established Cleary; a guy who had a ton of expectations and never really panned out as expected. Bertuzzi is the steal of the day, bar none. If he can regain his form and re-sign here long term, no one will remember Shawn Matthias' name.

I'd almost prefer to play a team that has secured their position before the last few games. The six through eight seeds have to fight and claw the last 20 games to make the post season and they seem to carry that over into the playoffs. They are likely teams that have been up and down all season, so they are more likely to buy into a team-oriented system that is boring, ugly and effective. If you look at the last few post seasons, even including the Vancouver series in '02, all those teams hit game one with all cylinders running. The Wings took a game or two to get going and if they drop one at home, the pressure increases and the underdog gets to go home feeling good and in front of a raucous crowd. Let's face it, the Vancouver series could have been completely different if Lidstrom doesn't score from center ice and completely destroy Cloutier's confidence.

Juts a thought, but you may not want to post "NO TRADE COMING" as your thread title, as if there is breaking news, only to offer your own personal analysis. I'm not saying it to be a jerk, just that with the deadline closing in, the title is a bit misleading.