Stu in Israel

So far I'm "batting" 1.000 on my predictions, so here goes: Men on the ice will score, and one of the two teams will win the game.

My prediction is uh, um, goals will be scored by players,and oh, one of the two teams will win.

Well, of all the overenthusiastic predictions that appear, and will probably keep appearing all through the season (as they do every year), mine was the only CORRECT prediction. Here's what I said: "I predict that hockey players will score goals and one of the two teams will win." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My prediction for this game is that hockey players will score goals and one of the two teams will win.

English speakers and particularly Americans always Anglicize or Americanize foreign names and words. Detroit was settled by the French and the original name of the city was "de troit," (with a French pronunciation of the "r") meaning (city) "of the straits" because the Detroit River narrows at the point where Detroit is opposite Windsor, Canada. The island in the river was called "bois blanc," meaning "white wood" because of the birch trees on that island. However, Americans "simplified" that name of "bois blanc" to Bob-lo island!. To Americans, Secretary General of the U.N., 1953-1961 (from Sweden), Dag Hammarskjold (Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjold, with the "j" pronounced as a "y") became "Hamershield," and the greatest Arab hero of all-time became "Saladin" whereas his real name is Salah-e-din," etc. and yes, some names become tongue-twisters and in the speed of announcing sometimes become humorous.

I don't think my one short comment about Meech rates an entire topic, but here it is: Seeing as Meech can't be sent down without clearing waivers, and the feeling is that he'll be claimed off waivers, here's what I think should be done. Play Meech to "showcase" him for other teams, then when the time is ripe, offer him as trade bait (maybe with someone else) for either a player or a draft pick, because I think Kindl, Quincey, and Ericksson are all more talented and should be pushed up the chart.

Who's going to have the first hat trick? Who's going to get the first penalty? Who's going to be in the first fight? Who's going to have the first injury? or, as they debated in the Middle Ages: How many angels can stand on the head of a pin? I can't wait until the season starts so that these sophomoric summer inanities will end and maybe we'll get some substantive topics! However, the season will bring forth the usual slew of what the score will be and who will score the goals, none of which ever come true! Give me some substance folks not drivel!

"Whats your true opinion about Kronwall aside the hype and what the RW ORganization thinks." So, in other words, "Aside from the professional, insider, knowledgable opinions, what's your personal, uninformed, and amateur opinion of Kronwall?" Most of the postings are intelligent and well-stated; it's just the stating of the topic itself that seems a little absurd!

In 2002, Jiri Hudler was the Wings' 1st choice (altho in round 2); 2nd choice (also in the 2nd round) was Tomas Fleischmann, who has since been traded; and Valtteri Filppula was the Wings' 3rd choice (in round 3). At the time that the Wings' drafted Hudler someone at the draft said that the Wings' may have gotten "the steal of the draft." Based on that assessment, I've had high hopes for Hudler and still do. Hudler is the same height and weight as Martin St. Louis, who has already won a scoring trophy. St. Louis's average for the last 8 years is 22+ goals a year; compare his playing time with Hudler's, and Hudler's 15 goals. Babcock just has something against Hudler, whether it's personality or performance, I don't know, but I think that fact is obvious. I never get to see Red Wing games, but I read somewhere that Hudler had gotten pushed off the puck in the erarly stages of the playoffs and that's why Babcock wasn't playing him (the size issue). Nevertheless. I hope Hudler stays, and disproves his critics.

Correction to my previous post: Jimmy Howard was NOT a 1st round pick. The Wings didn't have a 1st round pick in 2003 (in the trade for Mathieu Schneider, the L.A. Kings got Sean Avery, Maxim Kuznetsov, a 1st round pick in 2003, and a 2nd round pick in 2004!). However, Howard was the 1st Wings' pick of 2003, in the 2nd round.

Bullocks, I salute your knowledge, scholarship, and hard work. This from Kp-Wings: "When was the last time you can remember the Wings actually taking a Canadian in the first round?" Answer: Cory Emmerton, 2006; Jimmy Howard, (American, but at least not a European as people generalize) 2003! My next comment is not meant to be critical, it is just a point of interest for me. Quite a few posters have mentioned various names over the years, players that you thought the Wings should draft, yet I don't think the Wings have ever, or at least rarely used your suggestions. I guess, and once again this is not a criticism, professional scouts know better. Bullocks, since you worked so hard to compile your list I'm going to copy it and see how you do.

If Hasek comes back then the answer is NO. Why? Because the Wings seem to feel that Howard is the goalie of the future and that would delay his promotion, or make him so depressed at the wait that as soon as he was a free agent he'd go elsewhere; furthermore, at the start of his career Howard would cost a lot less than Giguere. Also, Giguere's salary would probably inhibit the acquisition of a good, power forward. However, there is always this to think about: If Hasek leaves and Giguere is acquired, could Giguere then be trade bait for a first-line power forward and another player when Howard is ready? As good a "horse trader" as Ken Holland is, I'm sure that could be a possibility. Interesting that everyone talks about Howard, when two years ago everyone was saying "bring Liv over."

I'm a non-smoker and think smoking is the stupidest habit in the world - it only does physical damage to the body and any perceived benefits are purely psychological. However there's an old story, perhaps apocryphal, about President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant that may be germane here. In the Civil War, the Northern army had been having a bad time of it for three years until Grant was put in charge of the Northern forces, and the story goes like this (as taken from one of Grant's on-line biographies): When a group of officials came to see Lincoln about the rumors of Grant's drinking, Lincoln is supposed to have said, "If it [drink] makes fighting men like Grant, then find out what he drinks, and send my other commanders a case!". In the end, almost none of the gossip and rumors of Grant's supposed alcoholism were true. First hand accounts by his closest associates, as well as numerous visitors to his headquarters, and accounts of those that saw him throughout the War, speak to Grant's complete sobriety, polite manner, and intense concentration. Grant suffered from intense migraine headaches due to stress, and he was often nearly disabled by them. It is thought that much of the rumor of Grant's drinking stem from the misunderstanding of his headaches as signs of "hangover". No one is going to be able "to cure" Markov from that stupid habit, but I (as a confirmed non-smoker) say, re-sign him and put free cigarets in his contract! (This last comment is "tongue in cheek")

I admit to not having read all of the previous postings, I just jumped on this one from "Opie:" How do we really know that Howard isn't ready, unless the person who says that is some how in the know. Is this guy in the know? "According to Grand Rapids Griffins general manager Bob McNamara, the 23-year-old goaltender could use another year of seasoning in the American Hockey League before making the jump to the big club." "At this time last year, McNamara correctly tabbed Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler as ready to step into the NHL. He also identified Tomas Kopecky as another who could make the jump." (both quotes from Red Wings Central) Do some of you actually follow the Wings or do you just do blah-blah; or, is it that rah, rah college spirit that's at work here?!

While crowd support and all that it entails may be significant in home games, the most important thing is the line choices and the fact that the home team gets the last choice. The home team's best offensive line can be pitted against the opposition's weakest line, and that IS important. Hey "bullocks," the expression is "I COULDN'T care less," not: i could careless if the cup stays in the east if the wings arnt in the finals Think of the difference in meaning! However, I do agree with your idea.

Grigorenko makes $1 million tax-free in Russia and signed for less to play for the Wings next season; however his contract has a clause that if he doesn't make the team he can return to the Russian league. He figures that the roughly $850,000 he signed for can be parlayed into a few million in the next year or two, but he's not going to settle for that sum (taxed of course) to play in the AHL, and forego the money he could make in Russia. I hope he makes the team because everything I've read about him indicates that he has one of the qualities that we've all been hoping for, "grit." Additionally, he's one of those "building blocks" for the "new Red Wings." Whether or not he'd get the Calder pales into insignificance considering his possible future impact on the team. Grigorenko makes $1 million tax-free in Russia and signed for less to play for the Wings next season; however his contract has a clause that if he doesn't make the team he can return to the Russian league. He figures that the roughly $850,000 he signed for can be parlayed into a few million in the next year or two, but he's not going to settle for that sum (taxed of course) to play in the AHL, and forego the money he could make in Russia. I hope he makes the team because everything I've read about him indicates that he has one of the qualities that we've all been hoping for, "grit." Additionally, he's one of those "building blocks" for the "new Red Wings." Whether or not he'd get the Calder pales into insignificance considering his possible future impact on the team.

How many times have you heard of a player in college or in the junior ranks suffering facial injuries?! I say mandatory visors AND cage masks below the visor (peripheral vision will not be affected if the visor curves around the temple!) - cheeks and jaws have to be protected also! Not having extra physical protection and having players "police themselves" is a utopian idea which works in theory, but during the "heat of battle" players can't take the time to use reasoning as to be more careful with their sticks, etc.

Unless I'm mistaken the Anaheim Ducks will be the Wings' opponent in the Second Round, and if so, they will have to face an even better goalie than Kiprusoff, meaning: Jean-Sebastien Giguere (look at his playoff figures)! Yes, "the Dominator" has the name, and the aura, and the mystique, but look at the number of shots that Kiprusoff faced and the number that Hasek faced, then at the number of goals scored; the offense and the defense are what's carried this team along so far. I do not mean to demean Hasek's worth as a goalie, I merely mean to look at the statistics, "Just the facts ma'am," as Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) used to say in the TV series "Dragnet."

Many thanks to the posters who clued me in on the reseeding process, my mistake! To KevinD, thanks for your kind words. To all: Living so far away, with absolutely no chance to see Hasek or any other Red Wing in action, I have to rely on your analyses, or what I read in the various sport sites I surf; so, I noticed that there was a great disparity between the number of shots and goals that Hasek saw, and the number of shots and goals that Kiprusoff saw, and that was my only basis of comparison for the two goalies. From what I've read from all of you, I guess my statistical comparison didn't fully reflect what Hasek had been doing, and what you were able to observe. In any case I'm sure we've all been heartened by the Wings' performance in the first round after the early season hope for them was to merely reach the playoffs, and now we can see them as a very serious Stanley Cup contender!

Turner Sports Network had a quote from Coach Playfair after Calgary won their first home game in the series, it went something like this: "Everything I said to motivate them at The Joe was wrong, everything I said to motivate them at the Saddledome was right!" Let's hope that Coach Babcock has figured out how to counteract that!

Sadly, I don't think Babcock has ever really been fair to Hudler. Let's hope Babcock has learned his lesson, and if true, let's hope for a good game from Hudler. There's a picture of Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier in todays' NHL' story about the Rangers sweep of the Thrashers which I couldn't figure out how to paste herein. If somebody can, it's a great visual of height difference. In any case St. Louis and Hudler both wear number 26! If number 19 (Yzerman's number) has now become the number of outstanding centers (Joe Thornton, et.al.), is 26 now the number of "diminutives?" GO HUDLER! Yes, I knew that Yzerman asked for number 19 because Bryan Trottier was his "role model."

I've read all the previous postings, found them interesting, but prefer not to get into moot speculations. However, I do have a specific question regarding the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. "The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season." Does the sports writers association automatically "give" this award to the player with the lowest amount of penalties (Pierre Marc-Bouchard, 82 games, 14 minutes of penalties; Pavel Datsyuk, 79 games, 20 minutes of penalties)? Or does the "high standard of playing ability" factor-in heavily? Additionally, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy could just be a "Red Wings possession" for the next ten years, as Filppula usually has even less penalties than Datsyuk! Finally, to the person who began this topic, you did not give your "picks," as "picks" would be ONE player; you gave suggestions or nominations!

I would have liked the Wings to win the Presidents Trophy also, but people never mention how many "trophies" a team won, they only point with pride to how many "cups" they won. Furthermore, the Presidents Trophy is perhaps "tainted" with the charge of beating-up on weaker teams whereas the Stanley Cup is a playoff of the best teams.

I guess I misunderstood the exactitude of Detroitrockcity13's post, but he should really do something about his "touchiness." Case in point: And turn off Caps Lock. It's obnoxious.

"Also, I know the Presidents' Trophy isn't the most important thing to get this season, and the fact that we clinched the Western Conference is huge in itself, but I'd love for us to be the first team to win the PT three seasons in a row." SORRY "DETROITROCKCITY13" BUT THE MONTREAL CANADIENS DID IT 1976-1978! (HOWEVER, TO BE HONEST, THEY WERE NHL CHAMPIONS BECAUSE THERE WASN'T A PRESIDENTS TROPHY AT THAT TIME). BETWEEN 1949 TO 1955 THE RED WINGS WON THE NHL CHAMPIONSHIP SEVEN STRAIGHT YEARS! "Jedi" said, "Honestly, if we never see that trophy in Hockeytown again, it'll be too soon," and about a week ago one of our great statisticians posted numbers to show that Presidents Trophy winners who go on to win the Stanley Cup are (if I remember correctly), less than 25%. On the subject of this topic: No way will we win the Presidents Trophy this year!