YoungGuns1340

Quincey was never given a chance? Cry me a river. He had every chance to prove what he was all about. He played himself off the team by being invisible all pre-season long. I know. I was advocating to keep the guy during the off-season, then I started watching the pre-season games and wondering what the hell was wrong with the kid. Who knows. Maybe the pressure got to him. Maybe hes the type of guy that falls to pieces when everyones looking. God knows theres little expected from a guy who was picked off waivers and headed to one of the worst teams in the league. Quincey is playing well - better than Meech or Lebda. Yes, thats a fact. But the Red Wings made an informed decision about the product on the ice. And frankly, having Quincey over anyone on this roster right now isnt going to make a damn bit of difference.

I'm gonna disagree with Babs a little bit. Franzen scores quite a few goals through his own efforts.

First of all, where were you educated? Just so you know, excessive grammar mistakes distract readers from your argument. Not that you have much of one. Now, Helm's mistake tonight was rare from what we've seen of him. Filppula has made his fair share of mistakes this season - defensive mistakes and especially ill-timed penalties. Second of all, we're talking about Helm (who makes less than 700k) vs. Filppula. Not any other rookie. Finally, in Filppula's 22 playoff games last year, he had 1 giveaway. In Helm's 18 playoffs last year, he had 1 giveaway. Even if you adjust TOI, history says your "Helm will have a much higher giveaway %" argument doesn't hold much water. And a few extra mistakes is nothing that time with the big leagues won't fix. The fact that Flip is in the midst of his third full season while Helm has yet to have that chance, and there still isnt that big of a gap between the two in terms of play says a lot. And Filppula being a great PKer or defensive forward is nothing that warrants 3M per season when we have 7 other forwards who can do his job just as good, if not better. And 5 of those guys make less than 3M doing it. Also, do you watch the games without your blinders on? Everybody thats been watching this team throughout all the games this season knows Hudler was kicked off the 2nd line in the middle of the 2nd game. Since then, Filppula has probably seen about as many even strength shifts with Hank as Hudler got in that 1.5 game stint.. As for Crawford, theres a reason why hes an unemployed coach right now. And I've probably seen more Red Wings games this year than he has, and since Filppula has joined the team. Oh yeah, and just so you know, Filppula has more giveaways than Hudler does so far this year. So does Franzen. And Maltby. And Draper. And Kopecky. And Cleary. And I'm sure we'd never get along without him on the PK, given that his currently 5th in PKing among forwards.

Because Kopecky is a mentor for him? Thats laughable. DALLAS DRAKE was a mentor for Kopecky. Hossa can't teach talent. And I don't know where you've been, but its been all over Detroit made that Kopecky being a good friend of Hossas had an affect on Hossas interest in Detroit. When it was rumored that Hossa was interested in Detroit, Kopecky called Marian up and sold him on the deal. They also live together. They also grew up together. They've been friends for years.

I could care less how many points he has. What concerns me is his play in our own zone.

How come some people can't grasp the concept of aging?

And the day Kopecky starts playing on the first line you'll know hes a competent 30 goal scorer! Oh wait....

With the way Meech played up front tonight, he might actually be a comparable commodity simply because of his versatility.

Never said he wasn't. Hes just not the elite of the elite anymore. Just out of curiosity, what big saves did Price make? I cant think of a single one. I can think of a lot of missed shots, or shots into his chest and pads, but not much else. He wont be waived because hes Hossa BFF. That may be the only good thing about Hossa leaving after this season - he can take Kopecky with him.

Do you understand how many players we have that can play a defensive game and supplement our PK? We also see this thing called money - of which Filppula makes a hell of a lot for what he brings to this team. Tonight was a prime example. Not much difference between the play of Helm and Flip - despite the $2,500,000 difference in payroll. Also, at even strength, Hudler plays 10:16. At even strength, Filppula plays 13:42 At even strength, Filppula has 8 points. At even strength, Hudler has 8 points. So in short, Hudler is STILL more productive offensively than Filppula at even strength. And just so you know, thats 73 more even strength minutes overall that Filppula has had to score just one, little point more than Hudler. Yet he hasnt.

However, once some roster decisions have to be made, talent is gonna get cut. If Hossa and Sammy are gone, Hudler by proxy will get more time. Oh wait. Never mind. Kopecky will just be promoted to a top 6 spot full time and we'll have a parade down woodward when he hits the 20 point mark in the middle of April.

Theres something outside of offensive stats. Its called defense. At any rate, yeah. Its Nick Lidstrom. Who also happens to be halfway through the year towards the big 39. People get old. Believe it or not, it happens to hockey players too. Maybe you've forgotten, but Chelios' play went downhill pretty fast too after being nominating for the Norris for the last time.

Hm. That says a lot. You come here once or twice a year, because thats about the occurrence with which the Habs actually do something thats more significant than what the Wings do.

And Lidstrom shouldnt have more than 14 points on a team thats dominating on the offensive side of things. Just stop trying to stretch reality. Lidstrom is getting older. Chelios went downhill fast. Things arent getting better for Lidstrom.

Brush up on your global economics, bud. You're looking pretty ignorant right now. But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Quebec would like to be given the title of its own planet by now, so you likely don't care.

Huh? What has Kopay been doing thats so great? He has 3 points in 21 games. 1 point in his last 5 games. Filppula has 2 points in his last 5 games, and 3x what Kopecky has on the season. Also, if players are rewarded for play, how come Hudler can get 3 points in one game and still only see 8 minutes of 30 seconds of playing time? Bulls***. There are about 9 players up front playing better hockey than Kopecky and yet hes playing ahead of 9.

Those are the only Dmen you know of? You're right about Niedermayer - but then again, Niedermayer was going down hill last season when Schneids was outplaying him. But Weber has been awesome, so have Keith and Markov, and Boyle has fit in ridiculously well with the Sharks. You really have to have the blinders on to call Lidstrom a Norris worthy candidate right now.

Huh? When did I say they arent trying? They are trying, but not as hard as they have been. Zetterberg has been giving out so much effort lately, but we're talking about over the course of 21 games. You expect the guys with the As on their chest to lead your team in terms of effort.

Go tell that to all the Detroiters having to move, losing their homes, etc. PS. The fact that you use pre-season games in your argument is embarassing. Any time you have to revert to pre-season games to show your teams dominance, well thats just sad.

Lidstrom isnt playing Norris caliber defense. You should orient yourself with a few more defenseman in the league. Theres a changing of the guard going on out there, and there are some good younger Dmen that are just hitting their stride. Lidstrom isnt even top 5 right now. He might not even be top 10 with the way hes playing.

You're a Nucks fans. Your standards of being impressive are much lower than ours as Wings fans.

I wouldnt mind an opportunity for a young guy to step up due to a few injuries. Itd be nice to see a stud like Ericsson actually get some time.

I was gonna make the same post, pretty much. Franzen played well for about 1 minute out of however many minutes he played tonight. Otherwise he only stood out for being overly terrible. And last time I checked, the first 5 and last 5 games of the season count, and Hossa has been rough in those games. Nothing special. Datsyuk has looked incredibly unremarkable as well. Zetterberg looks good, but hes still not up to his standards. So I basically agree. We're winning on talent alone, without the effort.

Considering this just looks like a matter of age, if it werent for sentimentality, Id trade him for Ohlund. 21 games is enough for me to know that age has caught up to Lidstrom. Especially when he was outplayed by Kronwall throughout half the games in the playoffs last year.

I'm SO sick of excuses. As the Ole chant plays in the background.