RedWingsFanatic

Not quite yet, in my opinion. Give him a couple more games in the AHL. I would love to have him in the line-up on the 23rd against Vancouver and then the 26th against Edmonton, before making his home debut on the 29th against San Jose.

Please leave. And take your avatar and signature with you.

I know it's hard to have a really big game in the middle of February, but I think Sunday's game against Dallas is HUGE. It's the start of a five-game road trip, including three is western Canada, and this losing-streak has the potential to grow and grow if we don't come out with a much better effort against the Stars. Rafalski should be back on Sunday I think, which will be big. And, hey, maybe Jimmy Howard in net?

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Fedorov?!?!

The combination of Darren McCarty's hat trick and our effort tonight makes me absolutely positive that he will be with the team before the deadline. I am ******* excited about that. I'm not sure I agree with what Babcock has done with the lines tonight. When the team gets down a few goals, why not put ZDH back together? I really don't understand that. Instead, he throws out Zetterberg/Draper/Samuelsson? One of the hottest, most productive lines in the NHL is sitting on the bench, why not use it?

OMFGZ HOWARDDDD SUCKZ. we need a new goalieee.

Howard for Vezina. Seriously, the kid has been really good. Really nice to see.

For the record, the Western Conference is by NO MEANS sewn up. We still have a comfortable 12 point lead, but Dallas is playing incredibly well and they get a shot at us on Sunday. A couple more weeks of each team playing the way they have been and we have an interesting race.

In all honesty, I let McCarty play a couple of more games and I call him up. Let him play his first few games on the road (Western Canada) to get the nerves out, and then bring him home on the 29th against San Jose.

Seriously, can you stop?

Look at all this Detroit pressure! The Blue Jackets have been forced to use a time-out! Things are turning around! COMEBACK!

Look at all this Detroit pressure! The Blue Jackets have been forced to use a time-out! Things are turning around! COMEBACK!

This made me laugh so hard. There is some TERRIBLE officiating going on right now.

What in the HELL are we doing? Nick Lidstrom was completely out of position on that. The entire team is out of position. God, this is frustrating.

For the record, I hate Mikael Samuelsson.

It's obvious that the Wings don't really know what to do when they get down a few goals and the opposition tightens things up. It's almost as if, because it rarely happens, we don't worry about it. But when it does, as it has tonight, it's like watching a team play together for the first time. They are just skating around making bad passes and getting stopped at the blue line. And, folks, that is our luck. We finally get a power play, and Samuelsson takes a penalty. Good Lord.

Why wouldn't Babcock stick Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom back together in a time like this?

Yeah, absolutely. That's what I keep telling myself. Let's not forget, though, that this is shaping up to be ANOTHER loss against the Central Division. Crazy.

Well, yeah, I would blame him for being frazzled. He's an NHL goaltender. He has to be able to face adversity like this. Again, I really don't want to turn this into a big goalie debate where everybody takes sides and we throw things at each other, because I love Chris Osgood and he's a fantastic goalie. But he just isn't playing well right now. That's the end of the story. The Red Wings miss Dan Cleary more than I ever thought they would. As crazy as it is, he's probably gaining more traction in his contract discusssions by being out of the line-up than he would be if he was playing.

That might have been, in all honesty, the worst period of Red Wings hockey I have ever seen. What happened to our defensemen? Do we really miss Niklas Kronwall this much? All of a sudden, every defenseman on the team has fallen into a lazy, sloppy rut. I have never seen opposition players getting behind the Wings' defense like I have during this past week, and it's continued tonight. Brett Lebda had just about as bad a period as a hockey player can have. The lapse in effort and determination from the entire team is startling. And, man, I love Chris Osgood, but the guy is really struggling since the All-Star break. Say all you want about him not having any chance on the goals, which is certainly true some of the time, but he looks frazzled. I really thought we were going to come out with a nice effort tonight, so I'm surprised by what I just witnessed. There are still 40 minutes to play, and we all know what the team is capable of, but I'm not sure how likely a comeback is tonight. If we do in fact lose, our upcoming five-game road trip is daunting and this losing streak has the potential to grow into a much bigger problem than it already is. The team needs to be really careful.

Cory Cross ftw.

Mike Babcock has confirmed that, despite giving up 3 goals on 4 shots on Tuesday night against Nashville, Chris Osgood will start in net on Friday against Columbus. Jimmy Howard will serve as back-up.

Yeah, I agree with all of that. Adding Hossa to a second line with, say, Filppula and a returning Dan Cleary is a really attractive option. So, in short, I'm willing to give up Hudler, but I do NOT want to part with Filppula. As far as what else with give up along Hudler to get Hossa, that can be debated. But, I agree, signing Hossa to a multi-year deal is exciting and I think he does provide exactly what we need.

I really don't want to give into your demands and start a petty fight about goaltending, but if you think our biggest need at the trade deadline is a goaltender, you are delusional.

I think this is a joke?