dicksmack

He just looks sub-par to me. He's having a slow start. No lame excuses please...

It's a shame to have someone like him on D with the Detroit Red Wings.

Yes yes...and the current financial crisis has been caused by OVERregulation, not, UNDERregulation...

Nice play Ozzie! With D like we got, you can just be cavalier... Oh well, I called that the Leafs would score first after we watched the banner go up... Wakey time!

GO CHAMPS! Take it to 'em! 4-1 Wings.

Obviously, i'm saying that the Wings aren't best suited to repeat without some of the dimension of physical presence we had in Downey and Drake. So they likely won't pass on Downey. Kronwall's our only true banger in that case. And this year we might not have the benefit of Dallas taking out the big boys in Ana and SJ and then caving against us. We might have a much rougher road in the post season this year. I don't think the Wings brass will want to get caught without having addressed the toughness issue. They will be accused of overlooking it--I don't think they will. Leino and Helm can fill for injuries all year assuming there's no risk of waivers or anything.

I appreciate what you're saying but I want our best guys to be protected by more than the power play. If you think a hot shot, skilled team like the Wings won't be cheap-shotted, you're nuts. How about this one: No Zetterberg = No cup. You can't prevent everything but you want to have an answer. I'm not talking just about gritty play in the corners but bald-faced attempts to injure like knee on knees, hits from behind and the head shots that are coming our way. When we run the score up on teams, they are gonna send out their goon: let 'em dance with Downsey (sic)... I think last year, we kept 'em guessing with our forecheck. It might have been Pavel scaring them into coughing up the puck before he stole it, or it may have been Drake coming in with a bomb of a check. I know Pavel did his best and made some good checks but come on... I'm drooling over the thought of all skill all the time but balanced teams win cups.

As much as I'd like to see Leino or Helm on the roster, fact is, we'd be totally skilled but soft. We had Downey and Drake last year and we were a balanced machine. But, no grit=no cup. As the defending champs, the Wings are going to be targeted and cheap-shotted all season long. We will need to have more than a bitchin' pp to answer it. We will see Leino and Helm filling in and maybe in the playoffs as well...

leino

lol same behavior, different idiots...

franzen will get 50

Yes very, esp. the "dancing". I sit down there in section 105 and 106 a lot and it's the same thing every time.

I phoned yesterday and got my Center Ice up and running! And I get to see Pav too...

Datsyuk is my favorite NHL player but I'd have to say Zetterberg is the best player in the world right now and I'd have lots of company...

Well then that settles it...

n't Fischer was more like a millstone... He wouldn't have been much beyond a scarier version of Lilja, let's face facts. He didn't have the innate ability to anticipate plays--AKA hockey sense. It's easier to romanticize him after the really unfair thing happened to him.

If the wings think that they can beat the leafs with Mats back, they are dreaming...

Good one.

Leino looks NHL ready. Woohoo!

How sad... and funny.

He'll put up over a 100 pts. this year will be right at the top with the cherry pickers while playing solid D.

I don't think Hossa really said that he felt one was better than the other but said they go about things a bit differently--Sid's approach uses his skating ability and Pavel is the set up man. Hossa then added that he thought Pavel was harder to read than Sid. That makes sense because players know that Sid will most often try to beat you with speed. Datsyuk will beat you by making his pass, shot or move move the instant you've committed yourself in any situation. From my point of view, Crosby and Datsyuk are blessed more or less equally with playmaking vision. Hossa saying they have different approaches rings true. Pavel is the better stickhandler, Crosby is faster. I don't think there's really one pre-eminent player among the NHL's elite forwards that is on "another level" than the rest of the pack the way Gretzky or Lemieux were. Crosby may turn out to be that type of player eventually but I don't think that right now. Datysuk and Zetterberg's two-way game does set them apart from the other top scorers though.

From the video I've watched, Leino definitely has a high level of skill. If he can pull the defensive side together, he's gonna be an nhl'er. I doubt that it's going to be this year though. Is the fact that he skipped the prospects game due to being a good shot to make the team? Is he head and shoulders above those guys? Emmerton looked good. But you also have total duds like Kindl playing there.

Glad to see some folks sticking up for sammy boy. He earned some respect playing well in the SCF.

I happened to catch game 4 of the WCF vs Anaheim. Filppula blew by Scott Niedermayer twice... The announers said "You'll be hearing that name a lot in the future." He did more of that in SCF vs Pit... that kind of play from a kid against world-class players deep into the playoffs gets noticed (by conscious folks anyways, ahem).