gcom007

Of course. Why wouldn't we lose to the 2nd worst team in the league? We let the 2nd worst team beat us and score 5 goals. Pathetic.

Bleh. I thought for a second today that this game would go down easy. Then I thought, "Who am I kidding? It's a terrible team, we'll find a way to make it ugly…" When is Datsyuk back? There is a Datsyuk-shaped hole in this team's heart right now. We're not a perfect team with him, but I feel infinitely better going into every game when Dats is in the lineup.

I forgot he was on the team for a minute. Ugh. If Cleary goes in over Weiss, I might lose my s***. They absolutely have to move him this summer. This situation is ridiculous. What a waste for Weiss and the team. Clever girl...

Weiss might actually crack the lineup the way things are going...

Now would pretty much be the worst time for this generally healthy team to start having injury problems. Hopefully Cole is alright...

So Weiss is still out???

Lousy. At least Howard looked good. He needs to string a few more starts like this together now and get some momentum going. And the way we're scoring lately, goaltending is going to have to be top notch if we're going to get some wins. Please come back next game, Datsyuk

Nice tribute for Matthew Wuest. Glad they gave him that moment.

I hate Game Center Live. I swear, half these games are blacked out. I have to have a second subscription to a proxy server to get the feed going on my MacBook, just so I can AirPlay it to an Apple TV. Half of the games is definitely extreme, but I wouldn't be shocked if a quarter of the games were blacked out. Ridiculous.

I don't want to assume too much about why things are the way they are with Weiss, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that he's been relegated to the 3rd and even 4th line, he's making a lot of money, and he's now worthy of being a healthy scratch even when Datsyuk goes out of the lineup. It doesn't matter if Babcock and management hates him or loves him, or whether Babcock and management are justified or not in the decisions they're making; it's a total waste to keep Weiss around if he's going to be used in this manner. It's not fair to him or the team. Unless something drastic happens between now and then, he needs to be moved this summer.

Unless Weiss really finds a way to turn it around in his tenure as a Red Wing, which is looking increasingly less likely to happen, I think you've got to find a way to move him this summer. I don't know if it's right that he's been given the role he has, but clearly something isn't working out the way it needs to be. It's too much money to be throwing at a guy you're unwilling to put in the top-6, who's now even a healthy scratch after Datsyuk goes out of the lineup. I've got nothing against Weiss, and if anything, I tend to think he's not getting a fair shot here. But something's gotta give at this point: he's either gotta get back into an important role and start producing or he should be moved. I'd go so far as to say I don't even know if it's fair to keep him here the way things are going. It makes no sense to me that we've got a player of his caliber at that cap hit that we're willing to keep out of the lineup when healthy, even when our best player gets injured and is out of the lineup. Something is seriously not right with that situation.

I still just think it's weird that Weiss got benched for this game. That's my takeaway.

Seriously, seems like a quite the statement. I just don't get how things give gone so awry with Weiss. Sometimes it's hard to know if he's really that lousy at this point or if he just got in a doghouse and can't find a way out. The way we've used him just seems like such a waste of cap space, let alone when he's a healthy scratch...

On center ice, I've got the FSD feed going. The very very drinking game is in full swing.

While I tend to think Howard likely will get the start as well, I wouldn't be shocked to see Mrazek around for the playoffs this season given how fragile Gus has been this year. The guy just hasn't played much at all and if something happens to Howard, I don't think they're going to want to rely on Gus at this point if he's even available then.

Way too early to leave Howard hanging heading into the playoffs. He needs more chances to get something going. As much as anyone likes Mrazek, it's tough to say that it's ideal going into the playoffs with a rookie goalie. If we have to, we have to, and I do think Mrazek is a hell of a rookie goalie to be "stuck" with, but we've got a few weeks to see how things play out with Howard before we get too crazy.

If there is one thing I'll completely agree with you on, it's that Mrazek always looks a lot more confident out there than a whole lot of starting NHL goalies. Whether he should be at this point might be up for debate, but the kid is no doubt spirited. I absolutely love his fight; it'll serve him well as he continues to develop.

While I think Mrazek can and will take the starting job in the next 1-2 years, I really think Howard's play right now goes back to the injury and him not being at 100%, either physically, mentally, or both. You've got to give him the chance down the stretch, but given that he's coming back from a pretty intense injury for a goalie, you've got to be prepared to go with Mrazek if he's looking solid and Howard can't pull it together. It's simple as that. Howard may have his shortcomings, but Mrazek wouldn't be a serious option this year if not for Howard's injury. Mrazek still has his fair share of shortcomings as well. I love the way he plays the puck, but rookies are rookies and he's still got a bit to learn. That said, if we end up rolling with him in the playoffs, I'll still feel pretty good about our chances. He may struggle with rebounds still and have his weak goaltending moments, but as you said, he does so many things right with the puck that helps our offense that I think it ultimately is a wash right now at worst. At best, he's looking more and more like the goalie of the future.

That's where I'm at with it. You've got to give the guy a chance, but I'm not convinced he's 100% right now. It might just be in his mind, but that's a big part of the game, and a big part of coming back from injury. It would also explain some of the inconsistency we've seen from him. The next month is big for him, because if he doesn't get back to where he was and Mrazek keeps getting us wins (even if some are ugly), Howard is going to have a short leash or not get the nod at all come playoff time. It's not a matter of who's the better goalie to me, it's who's the healthier goalie right now, and Howard thus far just doesn't seem like he's at 100%.

I love everything about this game so far. Sweet, sweet, sweet sound of a pissed off Pittsburgh crowd and a bunch of Penguins utterly and completely losing their composure. ******* beautiful.

I get what you're saying all over this thread, and I think much of the fan-speculation is silly too. But in this day and age, given how sensitive the entire sports world is becoming to concussions for very good reason, I'd say it's a good deal less outlandish to be concerned about Franzen's 10th concussion than any given person's disc issues in their back. Back issues are serious, no doubt, but they are not at the center of numerous lawsuits and major studies in the sports world like concussions currently are, again, for very good reason. People may very well have an anti-Franzen bias around here that colors their thoughts, and earlier in the thread you might see that I asked if there was anything said officially on the matter of Franzen potentially being done, and when there was none, I completely dismissed it and left the thread. I popped in now and again just to see if there were any real updates and eventually did learn that this is his 10th concussion, which I was unaware of beforehand. I personally have found Franzen to be a frustrating player as time's gone on, I'll fully admit that. I don't really miss him, but I don't really wish that he was gone either. I more or less stopped caring much one way or the other, because Franzen is who he is, an occasionally brilliant and occasionally lackluster forward. At least his cap hit is pretty cheap relative to today's market, so it's tough to complain too much. That's what I think. That said, I read that this is his 10th concussion and I have to say I immediately started worrying about the guy. The reality of the matter is concussions are quite serious, and while he likely will be able to come back from this, there's going to be a part of me that's concerned for the guy's long term health. As frustrating as he can be as a player to some, and as underrated as he is considered to others, he's still a person who's had a lot of concussions, and that's just not a good thing to put it simply. It's silly to be arguing about whether he should or shouldn't come back, let alone whether he will or won't. It's a waste of energy. If people want to waste energy, a better way to do it would be to simply express hope that whatever Franzen decides to do, he won't have any long-term issues from all of these concussions. At the end of the day, that's what really matters, and the rest is out of our hands anyways.

I had a feeling they'd lose this game after beating the Preds and the Rangers. Was hoping to be wrong when we went up early, but alas...

Having lived in Michigan until a year ago when I headed down south, I can't help but laugh at how people get so worked up about a little snow. But at this point, I'm terrified of the roads down here now too. It's not the snow though, it's the idiots who have no idea how to drive in it and assume they can tear through traffic as usual because they're in a pickup truck. Ridiculousness all around. I miss the north...

I think this is a more accurate description of most LGW poster's thoughts on the matter... I still think he's a decent option if the price is right and they eat $2 million in salary. I don't think Phaneuf is as bad as some think, and I could see him doing well in a different role than he's been asked to play in Toronto. He could be terrible as well though, sure, but it's tough to say with a player like that. As has been said time and again, Toronto has a way of warping everyone's perceptions on any given hockey-related matter.

Checking in a bit late. Nice start. Anyone know why Gus is playing?