YoungGuns1340

Haha that might be my favorite goal of all time.

I think I'm good luck. I turned on the game for about 10 seconds before Cleary scored to tie. Now (possibly) Franzen. God is rewarding me for running 4 miles in under 30 minutes.

Sweet. Well I'm going to the gym. Hopefully Datsyuk at least can get a few more points tonight to push off that f***wad Getzlaf.

Draper was the one that Getzlaf walked around like a pylon.

BENCH DRAPER!!!!!!

And the wheels on the bus go falling off, falling, falling off. The wheels on the bus go falling off.

Looks like a replay from the Dallas game, now. Shooting gallery for the Ducks, and free reign in front of the net. 3 minutes left in the period, and Anaheim already has 14 shots on net. Between the game against Dallas, and the first period of tonight, thats enough shots from more than 2 games. And we still have 3 periods to go.

JESUS ******* CHRIST!!! Well, back to square one. What a ******* joke. And Getzlaf with his s***-eating grin, too.

Have we just reversed our first half season trend? Looks like we play the FIRST 10 minutes now, instead of the last. Detroit is on their heels.

Jesus christ, how long does it take to blow the whistle?

What a cheap call for Anaheim. Somewhere, Mickey Redmond is pissed. The Wings really need to wake up in front of their own net. Standing around allowing a shooting gallery.

I'm aware of the cap issue. Doesn't explain why Draper can't be scratched in favor of Maltby. Its Malts' 2nd healthy scratch this season, yet Draper has seen none. And Kopecky can play center.

I'm a fan of Cleary, but hes gone cold. Might not be a bad idea to bump him off the 2nd line.

Wow, nice block there Sammy. Detroit looks pretty good.

Then why is Draper in the lineup? Less than 10 minutes in, and hes already given up the puck 10 feet in front of the net. Ouch. Kopecky actually had a good shift there.

And Hawks fans were happy to see him go. As were Wings fans And now Thrashers fans. Despite the fact that they got him for an AHLer and a 6th rounder.

Again, you're giving Kopecky too much credit. First of all, Kopecky is (no offense) but probably in much better shape than you are. Secondly, not all injuries are equal. Do you think he came back from injury so soon when he wasn't ready? Again, this is Kopecky. Hes not a face on this team nor is he an integral part of it. He could have taken all the time in the world - and the team probably advised him to do so - to recover from this. Obviously, he didnt need to. Also, youre COMPLETELY missing the point. First of all I said his injury would affect his offense and his skating. What I said was his injury does not make it OK for him to be a completely obsolete player, which he is. Hes on this team to be a physical presence, which is still a reasonable expectation from a guy who has been healthy enough to play hockey for 4 months. Look at Torres. Guy came back after his injury and did he waste time being a pansy about it? No. He was averaging 2 hits a game and the same physical force that he was pre-injury. There are other examples of guys who have come back from ACL tears and the like that don't revert to being non-factors. Its not like this guy is expected to be a point producer or a smooth skater. He has one role, and he can't fulfill it. Its pathetic, and there are no excuses for it. And for the record, no, I haven't blown out my knee, but I did have two other simultaneous injuries that affected my athletic career when I was younger (out for 6 months), yet I was still able to come back and be a good enough player at my position to be offered a scholarship to one of the biggest schools in Michigan. PM me about it if you want to know.

Datsyuk currently has 36 hits in 40 games. Last season, through 82 games, he was credited with 40 hits. Not only is he bound to blow that out of the water, here are some of the guys in the league who he currently has as many or more hits than: Pavel Datsyuk - 36 hits, 40 games Jarome Iginla - 36 hits, 41 games Jeff Carter - 35 hits, 41 games Sheldon Souray - 35 hits, 39 games Rob Niedermayer - 34 hits, 41 games Dave Bolland - 33 hits, 38 games Marian Hossa - 33 hits, 40 games Ryan Kesler - 33 hits, 43 games Shane O'Brien - 33 hits, 43 games Patrick Sharp - 31 hits, 38 games Patrick Berglund - 30 hits, 35 games Evgeni Malkin - 29 hits, 42 games Now, I know you can make the argument that Datsyuk plays a lot more than some of these guys do, but you could turn that argument around and say that Datsyuk's job is to be the puck carrier, and typically when you're in possession of the puck, youre the target of hits, not the initiator. Its also interesting to note that, of the 40 games that the Wings have played so far this year, 17 have been at home and 23 are on the round, so you cant make the argument that his hits through the first half are inflated by having played more home games, where hits are recorded more liberally. Now, I'm not saying that Datsyuk is a power forward by any stretch of the imagination, but whereas one of Datsyuk's downfalls earlier in his career was that he was prone to shying away from physical contact, thats no longer the case. Its also a tribute to how complete a player Datsyuk is. And while we're on the topic of hits, just wanted to point out that through 40 games, Stuart has 103 hits, which puts him on pace for over 200 hits in one season. That hasn't been done by a Red Wing at least since the 02-03 season, and possibly longer than that, but the statistics on hitting aren't around for seasons earlier than 02-03.

haha...for some reason that reminded me of awkward teen foreplay. Two kids taking off each others apparel before they bang the hell out of one another.

Draper scoring his 20th goal in his Selke-winning season was pretty cool.

They played 1 and a half games together! If Babs had waited one more period, they might've put up a pair of goals and we wouldn't be having this discussion. Babcock is kind of an idiot when it comes to Hudler. The reason he gave when he bumped Hudler off of Hank's line was that "Hudler wasn't shooting enough." Yet Hudler is ideally used setting up Hank. Like Eva said, its glaringly obvious that Hank is NOT best used as the primary playmaker on his line (which is the role hes playing with Hossa and Cleary right now) and Hudler is the 2nd best playmaker on this team. Its also the reason Datsyuk and Hank worked out so well together. Hank knows where to go to get the goal, but how can he do that when hes not playing with a guy who can get him the puck in the tough spots?

So hes only as good as Sammy and Filppula? Thats interesting. Scenario 1) Hudler on a top line. Pro? He has MUCH better linemates than Sammy and Filppula at even strength. Con? Hes facing tighter checking. Scenario 2) Hudler on a 3rd line. Pro? Hes not facing tight checking. Con? Hes playing with much leser linemates than 1st liners. The only difference here is that if Hudler were on the 1st line, he'd be getting MUCH more ice time than he does, probably by a good 3-4 minutes per game. In short, yes, Hudler isnt facing tight checking, but he isnt getting a ton of minutes nor is he playing with great even strength linemates. And the fact that hes on pace for 65-70 points alone is basically what you'd expect from a great 2nd liner, or 1st line forward on a shallow team. And hes still developing.

I feel like we've establish the distinciton between Datsyuk and Zetterberg defensively. Zetterberg is better positionally, while Datsyuk is flashy, and can compensate for (a team's) mistakes better than anyone in the league. Both players are equally worthy, but theres a reason Hank is the #1 forward to use on the 5 on 3 kill. His defensive positioning is near immaculate. If you ask me, Datsyuk winning the Selke over Hank was akin to Pronger winning the Norris over Lidstrom. Both were VERY worthy of the award that year, but the difference maker was the fact that one nominee was much flashier than the other.

Score, Zetterberg, score.

I think you're giving him too much credit. Being a blue chip prospect doesn't mean anything if nothing ever comes of it. Ultimately, there shouldn't be anything about Kopecky's injuries that should render him an entirely obsolete player. Offense, yeah, and same with skating. But where is this guys hitting game? Hits hits are weak and he never fights. Hes huge, hes the 12th forward, and hes not noteworthy in any other way than his size. Its not like Babcock is telling this kid "be careful out there...you're too value to be throwing your body around and throwing haymakers." Theres nothing that is keeping this guy from at least being a 4th line banger/part-time enforcer, except his willingness. The fact that he basically does NOTHING well is whats so pathetic about him. This is literally one instance where a player is a waste of size and space.