YoungGuns1340

Filppula has to pass the puck up the boards only for it to be intercepted at least a handful of times each game.

James Neal is EXACTLY the type of guy that the Wings need in their system.

Wow I am SO glad that Hakan Anderson took Datsyuk instead of Dmitri Kalinin. Jesus H. Christ.

One thing I've noticed the Wings doing a hell of a lot more than they did through the first 30 games is getting sticks in passing lanes.

Well, if you're talking about trading for Tavares, or the 1st round pick in general, then I'd probably be more sad about who we had to give up to get Tavares than how happy I'd be to get Tavares.

I honestly think that was our most energetic 1st period all season. I haven't come away from a 1st period of Red Wings hockey this season thinking we really couldn't have done any better until tonight.

Man that was a wicked pass by Hudler..

According to the NHL boxscore, we scored 2 goals in less than 1 second!

Hank looks ON tonight.

I dont think Hossa got an assist there, but that was awesome. Sneaky move there, Hossa.

f*** YEAH.

What? Suck? Yes. Yes he did.

Zetterberg looks good. Dan Cleary owes him a point. How did he miss that tip in to the open net? Man. By the way, Cleary getting a point means Detroit has 10 players with at least 20 points so far. I'm pretty sure Ken said last game that if Cleary gets 20, we lead the league with the most 20 pointers. Not bad.

To start with, players that make a substantial shift from 4th liners to 2nd liners at the age of 28 and essentially overnight are very rare. At the moment, I can't think of a more drastic transformation than Johan Franzen's, barring freak/fluke seasons where a player performs at a much higher level than they ever had, but were not able to sustain it (i.e. Drapers 24 goal year). Secondly, you're missing a key point in the development debate, and thats whether or not a player CAN perform adequately in the NHL at a young age, and whether or not they DO perform adequately at the NHL level. Therefore, this isn't the a ***-for-tat debate comparing potential to potential. We aren't measuring the immeasurables with Jordan Staal. We have the data from which to draw our conclusions. And those conclusions point to Staal being a capable 20+ goal scorer who is currently on pace for his 2nd year of 40+ points. At the age of 20. Judging from the scores of young talent around the league - not just the random fluke example - those players who exhibit adequate talent at the age of 18-20 often continue to build on that talent more often than not (barring injury). Obviously, theres always the chance that Staal could turn into a bust and be way overpaid, but its a calculated risk that is more heavily supported by precedents than it is weakened. And finally, to get at the core of what youre asking, is there really a difference between the potential of a 20 year old versus the potential of a 24 year old? And to that I definitely give a resounding yes. While the question of whether or not Jordan Staal is to be overpaid is going to linger, the question of WHY he is going to be deemd over or underpaid has everything to do with offensive statistics in his case, which is a favorable circumstance. He has already exhibited strong defense, grit, and a great work ethic as well as the ability to perform well in high-pressure circumstances. He is a very dynamic player, and those kinds of players typically get paid more on average across the NHL, offensive statistics aside. Should Jordan Staal reach the 55+ point plateau, by nature of the type of player he is, there are a number of GMs in this league who would welcome his 4M salary with open arms.

Did anyone see the WJC Canada-US game? I heard that McCollum looked terrible.

Its not that bad of a deal, considering hes only 20 years old. Flip has 4 years on him, and wasn't even NHL quality at that age. Neither Datsyuk, Zetterberg or Hudler. That being said, I don't think hes as great of a player as hes made out to be. At best I see him as the next Chris Drury. There has also been a lot of talk surrounding Jordan Staal being traded by the Pens. They're deep at center, as we all know, and could use some high-end defensive help or help at the wing. I wouldn't rule out the signing of this contract as a way to increase Staal's value. For a team that has the cap space, 4M isn't that daunting to spend on a young, fairly complete player like Staal. I could easily see this as the prelude to an off-season trade, given that the reluctance for teams surrounding a trade for Jordan Staal likely would've been his RFA status.

Thought it'd be interesting to see what people thought about the upcoming deadline this year, especially considering Holland usually keeps quiet about guys hes eyeing. Do the Wings bother to add anyone? Do they bother to trade anyone? If you do think they'll add someone, who is it and how do they fit them under the cap? Go for the predictions.

Don't feel bad. I wanted to see him go to, but he probably would've gotten hammered. He should start of with the little ones first - maybe have a go with Semin or Crosby.

1. Its the "Pens", not the "Penns" 2. Did the Wings dump Datsyuk? Thats what I thought.

How is he a better all around player than Ovechkin? Ovechkin is top 5 in the NHL in hits with 133. Malkin? A whopping 29. Hes no better than Ovechkin defensively, if not worse, and it would be tough to make an argument for Malkin being better offensively than Ovechkin. And hes definitely not the better goal scorer of the two. Not to mention in terms of the intangibles - grit, leadership, determination, etc, Ovechkin wins in a landslide.

Good job for Conks. He did a great job.

Haha Datsyuk with the skate assist.

I think he bruised his ego when he fell.

Come on Sammy, you can take Malhotra.

I want the Wings to get an even strength goal on Mason, or else all we'll hear is "Mason hasn't let an even strength goal in in X games."