Mors

Seems excessive to me considering some of the legitimate, dangerous plays that have not been adequately punished in the past...indefinite suspension? Link: NHL suspends Avery indefinitely

Filppula hasn't done anything remarkable this season and last night was no exception, it's up to him to live up to his big contract or he'll be gone regardless of people's opinions. I'm FAR from being a Samuelsson fan, but he's stepping up his game when others are not.

Found this: http://www.detroithockey.net/history/vs_teams/ Not sure when it was updated though. Agains the Predators the Wings are 43 -22- 4 Win %.652

They should let him go to waivers then. The lines are Babcock's prerogative, but it's obvious they didn't work last night. Bump Franzen up, give Hudler some respect and bump him up, and play Helm.

So what is your brilliant take on why Kopecky earned a roster spot over Helm, Leino, Downey, etc? I guess it's his excellent skating ability, soft hands, tough as nails checks and unmatched fighting ability? Your contribution to this thread is remarkable.

I wasn't aware Filppula had been promoted to the first line. Filppula has also contributed 61 points in 172 games for the Wings, versus the AMAZING 16 points Kopecky has put up in 124 games. At this rate, Kopecky is on pace to match McCarty and Maltby points wise, yet can't kill penalties, can't fight, and barely hits or skates. I've yet to see a valid justification for Kopecky's permanent roster spot on this team.

Please, Kopecky has 3 points in 21 games. He has absolutely NO business playing on the first line, and honestly he shouldn't be on the team at all. If Hossa wasn't living in his house, I honestly believe he would not be playing for this team right now.

Explain to me again what business Kopecky has playing on this team, much less on the first line? I swear if Hossa wasn't living in this guy's house he'd be on a bus back to the AHL.

Comcast forced me to shell out and get the NHL Network in addition to Center Ice...cheesy business practices to say the least.

It's a Roy family tradition to be spineless and weak.

Oooooh Gary Roberts and Marty Lapointe? you certainly did an excellent job of naming sad, washed up "musclemen" that get passed around to new teams every season. Chelios is more valuable than either of those clowns.

If we can't have Downey called up, I'd rather have Helm. McCarty, as much as I love the man, is not an asset to this team. That fight the other night was really embarassing...

Yea that's awesome...just realized the game isn't on center ice. FAIL.

If Crosby shut his mouth and played hockey rather than bitching like a little girl with a constant expression of tears on the horizon than maybe he wouldn't garner so much dislike. The only person who has a worse reputation for whining is Gretzky as a coach. I consider Crosby one of the more repugnant faces of the "new" NHL, and they sure do love throwing him out there.

I agree, the editing on this video is pretty halfass...some of the hits weren't even replayed in slow mo. On a lighter note, awesome to see the Wings' recognized for some physical play.

I have a difficult time believing Cindy is interested in scantily clad girls

Rafalski has looked like s*** on defense this year, his offensive upside has been fine, but defensively he hasn't done anything to brag about this season. Unlikely that he's going anywhere in either case, even though we have several solid defensemen in the system and no future Hossa's up and coming.

I'm already tired of hearing "Well there's still X number of games left this season for them to figure it out"...is that supposed to be a justification? Yesterday's game was an absolute embarrassment. I don't expect the team to win every game every season...but you DO NOT lose a game 7-6 from a 5-2 lead in the third period! The wings have allowed 4+ goals in almost 50% of their games so far this season, are leading the league in 5 on 3 goals allowed, and have 47 goals against in 14 games. Horrible display last night to say the least.

EARN THAT SPOT ******!

If I realistically thought that they would actually dump Kopecky I'd include that as an available roster spot too, unfortunately he gets the Hossa friend/Loyalty credit in the same way McCarty does I guess.

Once Franzen is back in, neither one will be in the lineup. If for some reason a spot does open, Downey should clearly be filling the role that McCarty is in. They both make the same amount of money. EDIT: With Cleary out, McCarty gets to fight another day I guess.

If we're going to carry a guy who plays 5 minutes a game...it should be Downey, not McCarty.

Lebda has been an acceptable third line defenseman for this team in the past. Lidstrom has been outstanding. Regardless, while I understand what Babcock is saying and why he's saying it, that doesn't change the fact that Lebda is in a hole right now and I tend to doubt punishing him for 2 games is suddenly going to correct the problem. I hope he proves me wrong.

Babcock can keep his Lebda koolaid, I'm not having any.

This might be true if anyone on the current roster was capable of beating anyone up...unfortunately the closest we have is McCarty and his "fighting" simulation where he circles around and then snuggles for 30 seconds and falls down.