Yzermania19

As much as I would like to see that, it just isn't going to happen. Stevie has said that he absolutely does not miss playing, so he wouldn't do it for that reason. Also, if there was any incentive for him to return for another season it would have been so he can get to 700 goals. That didn't happen. Frankly, if that wasn't enough for him to keep playing, there'd be no reason for him to come back for one game. Like others have said, Howe played one shift (if you even want to call it that - he just suited up, stayed on the ice for a face off and left) for the Vipers so he could "play" in six decades. I don't know about now but at least back then he was a bit of a glory hog. No, Steve Yzerman the player is in the past. Steve Yzerman the executive is the present and the future. And he seems very happy, satisfied and content with his situation. That makes this Yzerman fan a very happy camper. Plus he's still a Red Wing, which is a good thing.

Ken Daniels said during today's game that Ken Holland said he will retire when Nick Lidstrom does...of course it was supposed to be a joke, but who knows? It could have some truth to it. I could easily see Stevie taking over for Holland at some point. He has said in the past he would like to be the GM of a team someday and I don't think the Wings will let him go anywhere. They will find stuff for him to do until they feel he's ready and/or Ken Holland steps down. Meanwhile, he can continue getting his GM feet wet by heading Team Canada in the World Championships and the Olympics - after leading a rather ragtag team to the gold medal in last springs Worlds I would think he's in strong contention to do it again this spring, and for the Olympic job in 2010.

I like the red sweaters at home but I also like seeing the other team's colors, like Ken said during tonight's game. Otherwise it's just an endless parade of white sweaters on the opposite team. So, my vote goes for WHITE.

I hate to say it but I think his career is over. The last couple of years he's been injured more than he's played and it's clear that there isn't a team willing to sign him at this point in time. He just simply doesn't have the skills anymore. I mean, he always had marginal playing skills but what got him - and kept him - in the league was his physical play, and that's not there any longer He did some special things for the Wings, there is no denying that, but it's time to face the reality that Darren is probably not going to play in the NHL again, for Detroit or any other team. It's a sad way for his career to end BTW - on a related note, isn't there some cut off date for signing of unrestricted free agents? Like, if they're not signed by a certain date they cannot play in the NHL during the current season? I seem to remember something about that when we signed Jason Woolley a few years back.

There are a lot of ifs here - IF Fisch indeed has figured out the problem and has it under control... IF his doctors give him clearance to attempt a comeback... IF he is given further clearance to begin training like a professional hockey player... IF he can get his conditioning up to game-shape after being off for essentially two years... IF the Wings would be willing to give him a chance at a comeback... IF he has the support and blessings from his family... THEN I say go for it. However, I think I'd be cringing and holding my breath every time he was out on the ice and giving/taking hits, and I don't think I am the only Wings fan - or hockey fan in general - who would be doing that. The memory of that night is just too vivid, still, as it was truly one of the most frightening things I've ever seen, second only to watching my cousin's husband choke to death.

Well, unless Hockeytown Authentics made the hat, it is not their fault. The fault lies with the manufacturer who made the hat with the misspelling. The only thing the holographic sticker indicates is that the manufacturer of the hat is licensed to use the Red Wings logo, the NHL logo and the player's name. Even with the misspelling, that hat is an authentic NHL product as long as it has that holographic sticker on it. If HA is at fault here for anything, it is for allowing the hat to be sold to the public. Someone should have caught the wrong spelling of Zetterberg's name before they sold those hats, alerted the manufacturer to the problem and shipped them back for replacements. Take it back to HA and get your money back.

Your beef should be with the manufacturer of the hat, not Hockeytown Authentics. HA had nothing to do with the misspelling of Z's name on the hat or the quality of it. If it bugs you that much, take it back and point out the hat's faults when you do. Demand your money back or at the very least, a store credit (I don't know HA's return policy).

Yup...that was the last season Marty played here before he was an unrestricted free agent and later when he was asked about the kiss Stevie said he was just courting a free agent!

But the old fabirc doesn't stretch like the new fabric does...if they keep the same tight styling, isn't that going to make the jersey more restrictive?? Reebok needs to just do a huge mea culpa and go back to the old style with the old fabric. If the teams want to keep their new, "everything but the kitchen sink" designs, fine. But I still believe in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and there was nothing wrong with the CCM-style jerseys. And they didn't rip wide open like they were made of crepe paper during a fight. The Reebok Hockey Jersey - the 2000's version of the 1980's Cooperalls.

Oh, no no no!!! I hope that it's just a rumour - I EFFING HATE THE NUMBERS ON THE FRONT OF THE SWEATERS!!!!!!!

Yep...Mickey will do close-to-home regular season road games, like Chicago and Columbus, but in general will not do the longer road trips or west coast games, except in the playoffs. Part of the reason is he has celiac disease, which is, in rather simple terms, a severe allergy to wheat gluten that affects the intestines and bowels. It can make you very, very ill. It can cause you to have malabsorbtion of nutrients, not to mention severe bowel issues (use your imagination...) among other things. If left untreated, it could kill you. I have a cousin who has the same disease and it is a pain in the neck to deal with. The last season he went on the road he was bringing his own cooking utensils because if his food was cooked with utensils used in cooking food with wheat gluten it could make him sick. It just got to be too much of an inconvenience to travel with his own pots and pans and utensils...and food, in some cases. So Mickey opted out of the longer road trips. The good thing is, celiac disease is very manageable with a strict, specific diet and as long as you are rather strict with this diet and stay away from the things you should, like wheat gluten. Unfortunately, this diet is not conducive to a life on the road...my cousin makes all her own bread from oat and rice flour now and rarely goes out to eat. When she does, she gets a plain salad and brings her own dressing.

It doesn't bother me any...makes the jerseys look more "old school." I hardly notice it, really. Now, putting the numbers on the front? THAT would piss me off!! I am SO glad the Wings didn't do that!

You don't have the "crudentials" to be commissioner of a beer league, Mr. Buttfuc--err, Bettman. At least Chelios has more integrity and actually cares about the game of hockey - respect for its past, concern for its present and hope for its future. You, on the other hand, have no respect for the history of the game and are content to sit back and watch this great sport become a shell of its former self. You need to be gone. Now.

LOL!!! And last night, not a touch of strawberry blonde nor a gray hair in sight!! Maybe he was at Target buying a box of Miss Clairol!

Yeah, the new hair color is a bit strange...Murph was always like a strawberry blonde and now his hair is kind of a medium brown color. And it looks like there is more of it, too. Even my mom said, "didn't he used to be a blonde?" LOLOL

I feel bad for Darren that his career appears to have ended in the way it has, but I am more concerned that none of his former Wings teammates have heard from him in months. That is not like him, especially with Ozzie and Drapes. Those three have known each other forever - they all came into the league around the same time and were nearly inseparable as Red Wings. Hopefully Mac is just laying low and plotting his next move - and staying sober.

Sepster - I'm not the one who had the original problem but thanks for that wonderful response! I remember last year when talk of the new sweaters came out, there was mention of the replicas have screen-printed logos instead of embroidered logos and it caused a huge uproar. One of the things I personally liked about the quality of a CCM replica is that simply looking at them side by side you really couldn't notice a difference, even with the logos. To even think of losing that embroidered crest on the front made me sick. I was glad to hear Reebok changed their minds on that one. I would gladly pay $10 more for an embroidered crest, because without it I wouldn't even pay $50 for a replica. But they got us with that silly size tag on the front, which screams "REPLICA!" I had a feeling it had to be something with Reebok and not HA or the team itself. But, you have to wonder - Reebok doesn't make replica NBA or NFL jerseys with inaccurate lettering or number sizes, why would they do it for hockey sweaters? And one of the great things about hockey sweaters is that CCM did allow the sale of blanks for customizing any way the fans wanted, with whatever player name and number (or even their own name and number) they wanted. That's unique to the NHL. Why on earth would they try to stop that? As great as they are, not every Wings fan wants a Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom or Hasek sweater. Some of us might want a Filppula. Or Lebda. Or even Kopecky. I'm sure those wouldn't be among the 5-6 "standard" player sweaters from each team made available to the public. That's what I suggested and I am glad to see your shop is one that does the customizing to the standards of the NHL. Should I decide to get that Filppula sweater I've been wanting ( ) I'll be sure to keep you in mind.

Great...so we either get to walk around with this huge ugly rectangle of fabric that not only broadcasts to the world what size our sweaters are, but also that it's a replica and not the genuine article. And if we don't want the huge ugly rectangle we have to pay $200 more for an authentic sweater.

You are right...as I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread I have seen incorrectly customized sweaters for at least the last 10 years. Most were from Starter but I've also seen some from CCM/KOHO with bad lettering/numbers. BTW, if anyone has one of the Reebok replicas, can that size tag on the front be removed or is is ironed on or otherwise permanently affixed? I am just curious.

I found this in the customization rules for Red Wings' sweaters on shopNHL.com - WTF does that mean? We can't order an Yzerman Red Wings sweater but we could order an Yzerman Blackhawks sweater, if for some completely absurd reason we wanted to?? Or am i just completely interpreting that wrong??

I used to, but that was at least 10 years ago and therefore before Cheli was a Wing. So I am no help. Cheli just doesn't seem like an Aston Martin type of guy, but then who knows? And yes, he and Shanny were the classic car guys on the team. I know Cheli used to have a late 1960's Cadillac of some sort. LOL!!! No kidding...especially if he drives that Yugo...

Wow, I didn't notice any of the problems others are having. Maybe it's your TV's or maybe it's mine, I don't know. It looked fine to me...the ice wasn't blinding, the Wings sweaters were red without a hint of orange, the contrast was good, the picture was sharp and clear. In short, it was a good picture. I did notice the announcers slip up a couple of times on player names which although really inexcusable, could be attributed to being unfamiliar with the team (having said that, you'd never hear Ken and Mickey mess up the opponents names/numbers). I completely agree, though, with those who say CBC is the BEST station to watch hockey on!! They've got broadcasting a game down pat. Unfortunately the Wings aren't on CBC very much. I'm looking forward to watching Ken and Mickey tonight...I really missed them the other night, not to mention the player introductions Budd Lynch does prior to the first home game of the season. Instead we got to see a Puck Fronger interview.

I didn't have a problem with the Versus broadcast. I think they did a decent job last night...the only problem I had was with the ice-level camera angles in the shootout. WTF was up with that? You couldn't tell if the puck was in the net or not.

I don't know how true it is or not, but I read somewhere that many players felt the new sweaters were too restrictive and limited their movements too much during training camp so they ordered them one or two sizes larger than they normally would wear. From that picture of Nick and Pavel, it looks like that rumour may have been true. You can tell the new sweaters hold perspiration - I noticed they got darker as the game wore on.

I remember several years back when Starter was making replicas, many of their replicas had that funny rounded red border around the winged wheel logo on the front and the player names were on a tackle twill name plate sewn on to the back of the sweater, rather than the letters sewn right on to the sweater itself. And I have seen more than a few replicas from the likes of CCM, KOHO and Nike that had the wrong size/shape numbers and misplaced C's and A's on them. So this isn't a problem that is new or a Reebok problem. I think the best way to remedy the situation is to buy a blank replica - when they become available - and have it customized by a reputable shop, like Perani's or the Goalie's Den (I think they still customize). Places like that adhere to the NHL standards for size and style of numbers/lettering. They won't put a 3/4 size number on a jersey, unless you specify that's what you want. You might pay a little more, but nowhere near what you would for an authentic, and you will get a more authentic-looking replica.