RedWingsFanatic

Nineteen: A Tribute to Steve Yzerman was really fantastic, so I'm looking forward to this. Gordie will be signing the book on the concourse at the game tonight.

Ted Kulfan is reporting that Ellis will get the open forward spot tonight. He will fill in for Filppula, who will move up to play with Datsyuk and Holmstrom. I am very excited to see the Holmstrom/Datsyuk/Filppula line.

Yeah, perhaps the most shocking thing to me in all of this is that a LOT of other teams didn't sell out for opening night (Edmonton, Colorado, etc.). I'm worried about the Wings' attendance figures, but it has sort of become a bit of a prevailing theme throughout the week. This isn't just a problem in Detroit, which is much more frightening.

I know there has been lots of talk about attendance, and the empty seats were surely disheartening, but last night was probably the loudest non-playoff game I've ever been to at The Joe. There was great energy and electricity, despite being a couple thousand fans short. Good stuff.

The thing that frustrates me the most about this is that is really reeks of beating a dead horse. I'm not rough on the media, as I am a Journalism major myself, but I really wish the focus would shift to the game itself. If we spent more time praising what a fantastic game it was, how entertaining it was to watch, perhaps more people would be interested in going. Instead, both the Free Press and the News continue to harp on the empty seats and lack of interest, which certainly isn't going to send people rushing out to buy tickets. The real story should be the game. Not the attendance.

Well, I'll be at the game tonight and couldn't be more excited. I'm just itching with anticipation to see the new line combos play in a real game, against a very good team. Should be a lot of fun. I'm also interested in seeing the crowd's reaction to Bertuzzi

Well, I'll be at the game tonight and couldn't be more excited. I'm just itching with anticipation to see the new line combos play in a real game, against a very good team. Should be a lot of fun. I'm also interested in seeing the crowd's reaction to Bertuzzi.

As far as I know, those $9 tickets are only available the day of the game. So maybe people are waiting?

I give kudos to Jack Johnson for sticking it to Parros.

Man, Bernier is constantly in the right position and he looks calm as can be. Kings fans have to be VERY excited about that.

I said earlier than Mowers was playing for the Kings. I should have said the Ducks. A fan yelling out, "You suck, Bertuzzi" in a thick English accent is my favorite moment of this game so far.

The Kings just look quicker and, frankly, much better than the Ducks to this point.

That's ten minor penalties already, less than halfway through the game.

And I had no idea the Kings picked up Mark Mowers.

That song is fantastic, though.

In three or four years, the Kings are going to be a heck of a team, especially if Bernier keeps playing like this.

Some thoughts on the first period: -The Ducks look mighty sloppy. They're having a hard time getting anything going, which isn't being helped by all the penalty calls, but they certainly don't look like Stanley Cup champions. -The Kings, on the other hand, look fast and feisty. They will be a pesky little team to play against this season. I don't expect them to make the playoffs, but they will give teams some fits. -It's been one period, and I'm already sick of the penalty calls. If this keeps up, it's going to be a long season...

What the hell are you talking about?

Changing the schedule format failed by one vote recently, so I fully expect that it will be altered the next time it is brought up to a vote.

See, I tend to disagree with you a bit. I think the Ducks beat the Wings because they were the better team, not necessarily because they were the more intimidating team. Maybe a team has a player like Brad May, but that player is not the reason the team succeeds. The Ducks would have, at least in my opinion, been just fine without him. I think we would all agree that Calgary and San Jose were both more physically formidable opponents than the Red Wings, but it was with skill, not toughness, that the Wings were able to win.

I loved the acquistion of Bertuzzi, thought he was exactly the type of player that would thrive in this city and become an instant fan favorite. It never really got the chance to happen, which is unfortunate, but I don't think letting him go spells any sort of doom for next season. Will he be better throughout the season with the Ducks than he was at the end of last season with the Wings? Probably. Will the Wings go on to sign a free agent that will produce more than Bertuzzi? Probably. I'm sick of all the talk of the loss of Bertuzzi signaling the loss of our toughness. First of all, I'll take more goals over more hits any day. Secondly, however sad it might be, being tough has sort of lost its place in this new, modern-day NHL. If you look at the last few teams to win the Stanley Cup (Ducks, Hurricanes, Lightning), I see absolutely none of this "toughness" that everybody keeps talking about. If a guy like Bob Probert wanted to break into the league today, it would never happen. Guys like Darren McCarty have floundered around for the past couple of seasons, because their identities have been lost. There is no more fighting, there is no more grit, there is no more "toughness." So, say what you want about the fact that Bertuzzi was big and intimidating, but intimidation doesn't quite work anymore unless you can put pucks in the net. Sign me a free agent who can.

Per TSN... http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211266&hubname=

I love how being 33 in the NHL makes you really young.

This would be a huge blow to the Ducks. Now they're sort of in an interesting spot. They certainly want him to come back and take his time in making that decision, but they also may be forced to go out and pick up a defensemen to take his spot if he decides to hang 'em up, which is probably something they had not anticipated having to do.

Yeah, kudos to everybody, especially Matt. It's a pretty thankless job to keep this place up and running, but I certainly appreciate it. Keep up the fantastic work. Can't wait for another run.