Nightfall

I agree. Ask Vancouver how the presidents trophy treated them last year.

The cap really is going to be up in the air. The new CBA could reduce, grow, or make the cap irrelevant with a luxury tax system. Lets see how this summer plays out.

You are right, lets look at the last 20 years. Vancouver made it to the playoffs 13 times, and to the finals 2 times. Detroit made it to the playoffs all 20 times, made it to the finals 6 times, and won the cup 4 times. St. Louis made it to the playoffs 14 times, and made it to the conference finals only once. As you said, they are fun to watch, and they have been relevant in the last 20 years. Five of the last six seasons have been forgetful ones though. Its good to see them come back to relevancy though, but how far they will get remains a mystery. Can Hitchcock get this team to play playoff hockey when the playoffs come around? Stay tuned.....

This. We have too many negative Nancy's. The Wings are playing well despite losing their top players. Their great play in the first half of the season really had afforded them the luxury of hitting hard times now. I really think that people need to be a little more realistic on their expectations of the Wings. So I guess that you will always have more negative reputation points than posts in this forum because of your crappy attitude.

Just further proof that idiots are part of every group. Rush Limbaugh doesn't speak for all conservatives. Just like these idiots who assaulted the councilman do not represent Red Wings fans as a whole. Yet, some people will be happy to look at this story and say that Wings fans are classy. Hell, we have seen it on these very forums. Remember when Vancouver rioted after they lost the cup in game 7? Everyone here was pointing at Canuck fans and saying they were classy. The behavior of a select few idiots is not representative of the entire fan base. The sooner we all learn that, the better. No fanbase is without idiots, so we really shouldn't cast stones when we see stories of other idiots doing something and say their fanbase is crap because of it.

The big difference here is that Nabokov was worth signing. Turco is not. I like Marty Turco, don't get me wrong, but he hasn't had a meaningful season since 2007-2008 when he had a 2.32 GAA in the regular season and a 2.08 GAA in the playoffs. Hell, he was the primary reason the Stars were in the series against the Wings. Since then though, he hasn't been worth much. Especially last season when he sucked for the Hawks. Look at other goalies who were given chances in the past and failed, but played well later. Joey MacDonald is a guy who used to play in the NHL, but didn't do so hot. Now he is hot again. You never know if Turco is going to return to form or not. Boston apparently feels that he is worth the risk for 4-6 weeks while Rask heals up.

I believe another big problem is that people expect that every draft pick should be a top player for the Wings. The simple fact of the matter is that many of these players don't pan out. Less than 20% of all players picked actually have a career in the NHL over 200 games. List of Wings Draft Picks Look at all the players that were chosen that haven't played a single game in the NHL. I really think that people should have more realistic expectations. A lot of these players called in the draft will never see NHL action for one reason or another. Its not horrible picks, but just the name of the game.

Nice deflection! I will claim point on that one since you didn't have one to produce other than to try to pull spelling cop. Ericsson, Quincey, and Kindl are three players who could be considered to be at least 2nd pairing defense that came up through the system since Kronwall. Then of course you have Brendan Smith as well. That pretty much equates to about as many players get chosen at the NHL level on a regular basis. Of everyone playing in the AHL, only 2-3 guys actually make it up and stay with the big club. Hell, if you look at the Griffins Alumni since they started playing back in 1996, only 123 players have even played a single game at the NHL level. Less than 1/4 of those players actually had regular seasons with the NHL. Thats a lot of players that go through the farm system. Of course, the 2nd pairing of D in Detroit are widely considered to be 1st pairing of D in other cities. If Stuart and Kronwall were playing for any other team, they would be playing on the top line.

You do realize that Kronwall was developed by the Wings and came up through the AHL system? Erickson is a defenseman that would be a 2nd pairing on many other teams in the NHL. He is another player that has come up through the system. Then you have Smith, who IMHO, has the potential to be on the 1st pairing of defense. He is a lot like Rafalski, in that he is an offensive defenseman. The danger I see with Smith is that he could turn into a clone of Andy Delmore. Delmore was a great offensive threat, but he was a defensive liability. That is what they have been working on in the AHL with him this year. I have seen that change going to Griffins games and watching Smith. Last year, he was pushing to get points. Now he is more defensive minded. The farm system that the Wings have created with the Griffins has been good for the prospects. I believe that by allowing prospects to work their butts off in the minors for a few years has paid dividends. Look at all the players the Wings have today that went through that system. The results cannot be debated.

Which is what they have done. They sit tied for 3rd in the NHL right now, and only 2 points out of 1st in the league. I think thats pretty darn good.

Remember in 2008 when the Wings won 1 game out of 11 due to a depleted lineup? In an 82 game season, every team has ups and downs. The Wings will rebound from this stretch without their star players.

Hossa signed for about 7 million for the one season with Detroit. He then signed for 12 years and 62.8 with the hawks. I like Franzen's cap hit better to be honest.

Fixed it for you.... I don't see the issue with letting players over ripen at the AHL level. It has served us very well in the past. Great players like Kronwall, Abdelkader, and Flip played many games at the minor league level, and it bolstered their confidence. Plus, at the minor league level, they are getting top line minutes. Nyquist and Tatar would be lucky to break into the 3rd line for the Wings. Sending a young player up from the minors to play at the NHL level has certain risk factors attached to it. There are far more young players that find themselves out of the NHL fast because they are not used to the speed of the game or the NHL game as a whole. Young players really do need to start low, excel, and work their way up. By the time they do get to the NHL level, they are either ready to take it on, or withdraw from the league. I am in the camp that Smith is a good defenseman, but he could use a little more seasoning. Either that or stick him with a top pairing in Detroit where he can get some ice time. I really would not want Smith at this stage in his career when he can get top line minutes in the AHL, or get 7 minutes a night in the NHL. Just my .02 cents.

Conklin really has done well for the Griffins. If there is one thing the Griffins have been this season, its inconsistent. Maybe Conklin will help bring the Griffins out of mediocrity. These last 4 games have shown that the Griffins have the skill to compete. Now lets see if they can crawl back up into a playoff spot.

I have had season tickets to the Griffins for the last few years so I have seen Smith for a while. Last season, he did pretty well. Same with this season. I will say that he didn't standout like Kronwall did when he was a defenseman with the Griffins. I really feel that one of two things has to happen.... 1. Smith moves back down with the Griffins to get more seasoning at the AHL level. 2. Smith moves up to the Wings and learns under the tutelage of Lidstrom. I think in order for Smith to excel, he needs first or second line minutes. To have him playing 7 minutes a night at the NHL level is a waste when he can play 20-25 minutes. The Red Wings allow their prospects to over-ripen in the minors. I am ok with that as the track record is excellent when the Wings do this.

In order to win the Stanley Cup, your team has to be healthy, consistently good, and have some puck luck. In the new NHL, with the parity we have today, its easy to say that the special teams must improve or a team must pick it up defensively. I have always been a big believer in health, consistency, and a little luck. The Wings have the consistency down, which is why they are near the top of the NHL right now. Their health has to improve. Lids and Dats has to return and be 100% for the playoffs. Everything else falls into place with those starting points.

Just as Mickey said, the Wings are living right. That goal should have counted. Maybe the refs thought Homer changed jerseys.

It certainly looks like the Wild were replaced by my rec league hockey team.

The Wings have really benefitted from some fortunate puck luck today. Not saying all their goals were lucky, but sometimes, the puck just bounces for you. The Wings have deserved all the goals they have scored tonight. It also helps that Minnesota only has 10 shots on goal through almost 2 periods of play.

You are in for a very angry life then. No sense of getting angry if your pro team doesn't win a championship. Nothing you can do about it anyway, other than choose not to spend money on tickets or apparel.

I do agree. I have been reffing USA Hockey too long. Glad to hear there won't be a suspension.

Contact to the head and the body language of Nystrom as he has no intention to play the puck and hit Letang are both factors to making the hit illegal.

Tough call for me as well. I have the benefit of watching it multiple times. Nystrom was in position to play the puck, and instead did play the body. You can tell by his body language that he was uninterested in playing the puck and was going for the hit. If it is a suspension, it should only be for 1-2 games. If I was handing out the suspension, I would probably give him 1-2 games at the most. He made no attempt to play the puck, and yet made contact with the head. At the same time, he was crouched and Nystrom had no time to react.

I watched the game on the DVR this morning and I know that Columbus outhit the Wings, but I didn't think it was by that wide of a margin. IMHO, they can outhit us 100-2, and I would still be happy with a 5-2 win.

I am just glad that Joey is getting some starts. A goalie can get stale on the bench, and I was nervous that Jimmy was going to get all the starts again while Joey rode the pine. Not the case. Babcock has faith in this veteran. Joey has been impressive and deserved to get the backup spot. Also good to see the Wings PP do well, as well as the stars step up. Even if it was against Columbus, no team should be taken lightly.