CloudConnected

Wings offseason? Lock up Zetterberg, Lock up Franzen. Resign Stuart. Resign Flip. (restricted) Drake, Cheli, Hasek retire. Let Lilja walk if he asks for over a million per. Make a decision on Mac and Downey. Helm, Quincey, Ericsson and Howard all move up to the big club full time. Leino gets his shot on the 2nd line. Perhaps resign Liv to compete with Howard or to split time in GR with Larsson. If we resign Lilja it might mean the end for Meech or Quincey. I don't think we're going to see any UFA's come in. We're going to spend our disposable income on Hank and Franzen's extensions. I think the only possibility is Sundin for a year or a depth forward.

Hatcher's best years happened when Zubov was his partner bailing him out. I would say Zubov is top ten dmen in his generation, top fifteen at least. He was coming off injuries this series and he is getting older. What you saw of him this series isn't indicative of his entire career.

Yeah, the hit was borderline, I'll give you that. But Upshall knew it and helped Staal up. If it were Ott or Tootoo who made that hit they would have crouched over top of Staal and started swinging, especially with fisticuffs breaking out around them. Upshall could have just skated away, but he leaned over and helped Staal up. Give him some props....jeez.

Lidstrom should be in there too right?

Did anyone else see Upshall there? He absolutely crunched Staal, then while Malone and Hatcher were fighting Upshall checked to make sure Staal was ok. He even helped him up. Any hockey coach/parent should show their kids that. Great sportsmanship there.

"That other guy from the Lidstrom era..." Priceless....

While I agree that Don doesn't hate Detroit and that he likes the 70s game more than today's game, I don't agree with your assessment on the empty seats at the Joe. And it's ok that you think that way, you live in the UK. You don't see what's going on around here. Businesses are closing or moving, eight of the top 20 unemployed cities in the US are in Michigan, there's a for sale sign on houses on every street block and the cost of living is skyrocketing while wages are staying stagnant. I'm sorry if I can't run out and grab a Ninety dollar seat just like that. And don't give me the crap about the Tigers attendance either, because I can buy 15 SRO seats at Comerica for the price of two at the Joe. Plus it's outside during the summer. Lions play eight games a year, scarcity of opportunity and a new facility brings people there. For the Pistons, there are 6 options for tickets that are cheaper than the cheapest Wings ticket, starting at $18 dollars. I'm not buying the fact that people don't love these Red Wings. Go to a bar to watch the game in Metro Detroit and you see more people cheering on the Wings than the Pistons and Tigers combined. Cheers and high fives for goals, the buzz created by a Kronwall or Drake hit, and laughter at Pavel deking his way through a crowd of defenders are all commonplace around town. It's not that people don't love the way the Wings play, because we do play tough. Everyone on our team hits, finishes checks. We are the toughest team to play against in the league. Mac created hype because he shored up that toughness that everyone was asking for. Downey is a fan favorite because the fighter always is if he's doing well at his job, but do you honestly think that anyone likes him more than Hank, Pavel, Homer, Franzen, Lidstrom or Rafalski? The skill guys are really our fan favorites, but we love Downey for how he handles himself in his aspect of the game. And Lilja became less of a scapegoat last year when he started throwing body checks last season, not when he was losing fights. Most people here made fun of him for losing. "The Pain Train" contains a little sarcasm.

So I just got done substitute teaching today, and I got home and opened up the free press. On the front page, Mitch is attempting to write up the game and give us his slant on the game. Nothing but high marks for the Wings, but then he starts a criticism of the Detroit Fan Base. Here's the article: Mitch Albom This article bugs me for a couple of reasons. One- it seems kind of lazy. He wrote a paragraph on the game, and then multiple about empty seats. It feels like he didn't want to analyze the game too much. Two- Who is he to tell Detroiters to spend their money? Seeing as how he's worth at least 6 Million, I don't think he really understands what most people are going through right now. Gas is almost $4 a gallon, people are losing their jobs, they can't find new jobs, losing their homes and Mitch chastizes Detroiters who can't shell out the $75 for one standing room ticket. I am a die hard, but what am I going to do, go to the game or buy groceries? Go to the game or pay my bills? I took offense to the article, I think Mitch has really lost touch with the struggles of Detroiters. Get off the pedestal and write up the game Mr. Albom.

Yeah, I don't understand the comment that "He was great when surrounded by greatness". He was the guy who put us over the top. He was the tough, consistent finisher that we needed, and he helped instill a ton of heart in this team. He went to battle for his teammates all of the time and perservered, and it was hardly because he played with people like Yzerman and Fedorov. Shanahan was the final ingredient in that mix, and if you don't think he made his teammates better by giving them space or crashing for them or having their back then you didn't watch what he did in his best days. That said, it is a little sad watching him now because he has slowed down quite a bit. Just remember what he did for us here and when he enters the Hall, cheer for him going in as a Wing.

Wait a minute, how exactly is Nashville the weakest first round matchup we've had all decade? They are big and physical, have a good young defensive corps, they can skate and they have some guys who can capitalize on scoring chances. I don't think thiy're getting enough credit on these boards. That being said, I would be surprised if we lost. The main reason Nashville is where they are is because of a few soft goals. The wings are the better team, and I stil think we'll take this series in 6.

You think the problem is Lidstrom's leadership? I'm not one to chastize someone else for his opinion, but this board may have hit an all-time low. Congratulations buddy.

We need size and toughness, and you want to sit Mac? Crazy pills... If anyone sits it has to be Hartigan for Abdelkader or Downey. I think we may need to counter with a little bit more toughness, and that's really the only logical spot for a tougher guy to go.

Actually, 2 or 3 of us mentioned that. All of us who were hoping Kenny would sign Sarich last offseason got a dose of what he brings to the table in that game.

Sarich's hit on Marleau turned everything around for Calgary. Great win when things looked bleak. I'm torn on who I want to win this series...

Sorry guys, but Downey really can't break this lineup right now. I don't think he would've put himself in position to score like McCarty did on that goal. Darren has better instincts, he's been getting in people's faces when he's on the ice and Babcock has been praising him even when he's on the bench and talking to the guys. Mac seems to have a spot. Downey's a winger, Hartigan plays center...so can't replace him there. Plus Hartigan has potential to chip in a few points on the fourth line, he finishes his checks and he has speed to cover the ice. Drake's played well, he can kill penalties and he has laid some nasty hits the first two games. I've liked his game so far. Sammy has looked good on the third line. He's responsible defensively, seems to get under the other team's skin for some reason, and he can contribute offensively in spurts. I do hate him on the point on the power play though. The only guy who looks like he shouldn't be out there is Hudler. He doesn't get open to use his shot, and he gets muscled off the puck too easily. But I would replace him with Abdelkader rather than Downey. While I like Downey, you have a much better chance to win in the playoffs if everyone can put the puck in the net if the opportunity is there. Downey, a great teammate, a physical guy who sticks up for his team, just doesn't fit in right now. Maybe if the Ducks make it through, or the Sharks, he'll get a chance. It just doesn't seem like it in this series though.

You mean 1994, first round loss at the hands of an expansion team? 2003? After the sweep? I think you're talking about when we lost to Anaheim in the first round. Yes, Fedorov was our leading scorer in that series with 3 points in 4 games. But he scored on a flukey ricochet. The year after the sweep, he bolted to Anaheim, the team that we lost to. (frontrunning are we?) And lo and behold, Anaheim missed the playoffs under his leadership. Fedorov- 65 points in 80 games. Anaheim-76 points on the season. Way to step it up there... He failed when our two leaders went down to injury against LA. He tried to bolt to Carolina, but the Wings wanted him around. When Holland tried to get him signed, Fedorov balked. Who's to say Sergei didn't shop himself around between the time Holland offered him the deal and the time he went to accept it? We don't know what goes on in negotiations, everything we read and hear is secondhand, and most of the time we're just hearing one side of the story. All I am judging by is his performance as a Wing over the years, and I would be a fool to say he wasn't one of the most talented Russians to ever play the game. He had all of the physical tools you could want in a hockey player. The problem I had with Fedorov is that he whined to the media about wanting more ice time when he lead all forwards on our team in ice time. Then there were the nights he would be invisible on the ice. Floating all over the place. We've remained an elite team without him, and the only time he made it back to the playoffs is when he was a deadline acquisition for a hot team. The Caps can have him. Good riddance.

Edit:sorry double post

I wasn't pointing at you specifically when I asked my question. It was a general statement pointed at the boards. There is a lot of love for him on these boards, this isn't the first thread that has glorified him. Bure was an electric talent. He could do a lot with the puck and had blazing speed. But if you watch his highlight videos, you notice him hanging out at the redline a lot and getting an outlet pass for a breakaway. He cherrypicked a lot, and he had a reputation for it. He put it in the net when he did that though, so he had that going for him. Bure also didn't have terrible talent around him (Linden, Mogilny, Courtnall, Gelinas, Larionov). Let's not deify him, he was damn good, but even then he was a one-dimensional sniper.

I have to say I'm surprised that there's so much love for Bure. When did he become a better player than Fedorov? He had a shorter career, wasn't much of a setup man and was widely seen as a cherry picker. He was a great talent, but he wasn't better than Fedorov. I'm not even that big of a Fedorov fan, but Sergei was phenomenal at all facets of the game. Bure could score. That's it.

I hit spectorshockey.net every day. Spector does a good job at weeding out bad trade rumors rather than Eklund reporting everything that someone says to him.

I say do it. If McCarty can be a Downey type of guy with a little bit better hands...then why the hell not? If he can't keep up to speed, then he doesn't play. It's that simple. We have tons of cap room and we could do a lot worse than to have a guy with his experience and heart waiting in the wings in case of injury or needing to beef up our lineup a little bit. Give him a shot, he'll play with tons of emotion if he gets back on the ice at the Joe.

A healthy Kronwall will go a long way to rectifying some of our problems. I'm sorry, but Lebda is just a smaller, less physical Mathieu Dandenault. He has great wheels, but he's a 6 defenseman at best. Putting him in a larger role is not fair to him or the team. He doesn't have a great shot, he has a adequate first pass, and is decent on positioning. His only plus attribute is his speed, and it's not great enough to make him a top 4 guy. Meech is not good enough for this team as well. He doesn't make bad plays, but he doesn't add anything. Get him out of here so we can get Quincey or Ericsson up here and have them actually contribute. And can somebody please take Sammy off the point of that powerplay!?!?!?!

I thought he looked a little deep in the crease, maybe just a little nervous. Once he gets a few games under his belt I think he'll do ok.

Good news for my fantasy team.

So is this another black eye on Russian hockey players in the NHL? Their numbers have been dwindling and it seems that teams are less likely to take major chances on them like they were ten years ago. Yeah, we have our Ovechkins and Kovalchuks and Datsyuks and Kaberles, but then we have guys like Grigorenko who aren't even making the jump. Do we think teams are getting leery of going after Russian players?