haroldsnepsts

For those of you who've been saying Smith should play at forward (which I think is a terrible idea), maybe you'll get your wish??

What's even more depressing is the most injury prone guy he got rid of, Colaicovo has been healthy since leaving the Wings.

Did the Wings make some deal with the devil to get The Perfect Human on their team for 20 years? Now a plague of injuries falls upon their house.

He's got a lot of great qualities and I wouldn't mind having him on the Wings in the same way I would've taken Pronger on the Wings. But he's also a dirty player who runs around cheapshotting guys, especially when his team is losing. As long as he's in another team's sweater, I'm not going to go out of the way to root for the guy.

That's a good point about the Blues. Honestly I'd probably like them more if Backes wasn't their captain.

Exactly. When I watch that fight, I see two marginal players high fiving because they think they justified their spot on the team for a little longer. I think fighting belongs in the game but could do without the staged fights. It's not that fights from tempers flaring are better, but as you point out it's that it comes from actually playing the game. Staged fights are the equivalent of riding around on ATV's between periods shooting t-shirts into the stands. It's stopping the hockey game for a pre-planned spectacle.

He wasn't a -3 defensively last night. The Wings goal was on the PP, so Kronwall doesn't get a +1 for that. Furthermore if you had actually watched the game you'd know that Kronwall wasn't a factor in any of the goals against. The first one he was on the ice for, Abby got confused out at the point and covered the wrong guy, leaving Keith wide open. Then Kronner's second -1 was a result of Mule screwing up at the point on the PP, leading to a shorthanded goal. There may be an argument for Kronwall not being a number one D man, but plus minus isn't it. Especially when you're incorrect about how it works.

It's fine to measure Howard against other goaltenders. It makes the most sense to compare him to current goaltenders in the league. Had you read the posts on this page before spouting off, you'd see that the debate was turning into one about retired goaltender Chris Osgood. That is not the thread topic, not very helpful in evaluating Howard's performance, and has a long history on this forum of derailing countless threads with flame wars. Not to speak for vladdy but her warning was basically stop arguing about Osgood and get back on topic.

I was a little surprised there was even a hearing, but honestly players keep being so stupid about these hits from behind. If sitting for a couple games is what it takes to get their attention, so be it.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 25m Columbus' Blake Comeau will have a phone hearing with NHL today for his check from behind on the Wings' Brendan Smith Tuesday.

Lashoff is 23 years old and has played less than 100 games in the NHL. He's got good size and is a decent puck mover. I wouldn't mind if they packaged him in a deal, but I think there's also hope he could still develop into a solid defensive d-man for the Wings.

You're definitely a bigger optimist than I am. Kindl is 27 years old with over 200 games under his belt in the NHL, and is on his way to being the next Brett Lebda.

In 2011 Lidstrom was 2nd in points by Dmen. He was 148th in +/- with a -2. He also won the Norris trophy. When plus minus is an argument for or against a player, it's not really much of an argument. At best it's an indication something is going on, like if a player's +/- is much better or worse than his teammates.

As hard as I am on Kindl I always forget about his contract, which actually makes it worse. $2.4 million through 2017 for a guy who can't crack the lineup half the time. I'm surprised he's not the subject of more buyout discussion.

If you'd like to guarantee that your post gets deleted, please be sure to include statements about people crying and complaining. If you'd like to actually discuss the trade, feel free and keep it within forum rules. On the other hand if you feel the topic has been beat to death, simply don't post in the thread.

Most of the my picks are from the Kings because they're my second favorite team and the one I see most often after Detroit. Wayne Simmonds. One of the scrawniest power forwards I've ever seen, but the guy hits, scores, isn't afraid to go to the hard areas of the ice, and will drop the gloves. Loved him in LA and would love for the Wings to sign him someday soon. Kopitar. Imagine if Zetteberg were 6'3" and 225 lbs (which come to think of it is about how big Z plays). He doesn't have Hank's production but otherwise plays a similar style. And seems to have icewater running through his veins if you've ever seen him on a breakaway. All around class act too. Stamkos. Scoring machine without any of the qualities I find irritating in Ovechkin.

Out of the two I'll take idiot. Every time I think Kindl has changed his game, he reverts to cowering from a hit and blindly getting rid of the puck. Which is especially frustrating given he is 6'3" and 216 lbs. Kindl is bigger than everyone on the Red Wings blueline except Ericsson. But the bad decision making is hopefully correctable. It's about learning to be consistent for a whole game and not making a terrible decision when you're tired or trying to do too much.

Retweeted by Ansar Khan Brendan Savage ‏@BrendanSavage 6m #RedWings lose another center; Andersson out for at least two weeks with a broken left foot Playing center for the Red Wings has become being the drummer for Spinal Tap.

I believe you, but out of curiosity why weren't they offering Legwand a contract? He's 33 and still probably has a few good years in him, is a career Predator (wasn't he their first ever draft pick?) and was their leading scorer at the time of the trade. Seems like the kind of player you'd want to offer at least a 2 or 3 year deal to.

He really only let him go for 20 games though. To get a prospect, a decent bottom sixer and potentially a 2nd round pick for those 20 games seems pretty good to me. Especially since I think Legwand had a NTC and could pick where he would go.

yup. He cleared.

I agree about Doughty. When paired with a more defensive guy he's able to jump into plays and is a more dynamic player. Often when his production dips it's because he's without someone like Willie Mitchell to be paired with, so he has to play more conservatively. All good points regarding Greene. I'm probably biased because I've always liked the way he plays. He's an old school "ram you facefirst into the glass over and over as you hold the puck along the boards" kind of player. The Wings could use more of that. Though Lashoff could potentially be a Matt Greene type player anyway. I keep forgetting he's only 23. A more consistent Quincey-like player would make a big difference. Kindl is a plug at this point who only warrants icetime if there's injuries. Unfortunately he's a plug they signed until 2017, but I wish they'd cut bait with the guy and give his icetime to players that still have some hope of developing (Smith, Lashoff, Almquist).

Please don't mention potential injuries for anyone else on the team.

Doughty is as good or better than Kronwall defensively. As for Dmen to bring in, I'd be interested in Matt Greene. Big physical defensive defenseman who's not afraid to drop the gloves when necessary, right handed, Michigan guy. His contract is up this season. He's been a healthy scratch a few times under Sutter so he may have soured on that relationship a bit. He had concussion problems in January though and I think an upper body injury, so I'm not totally sure where his health is at right now. He's also pretty slow, which will only get worse with age. But if he can be had for a decent price it could help bring some experience to the blueline.

I know NTC's are becoming a lot more common, but I think the Wings have the most players with NTC's of any team in the league, maybe tied with Boston. The backup goalie has a NTC for chrissakes. And I realize a couple big name players have waved them recently, but it still makes it more difficult to move them and weakens the GM's bargaining position. As for Weiss, he was a non-factor when he was healthy and now his injury situation has gotten ridiculous. He can still be a good player for the Wings eventually, but fans are understandably frustrated.