Dabura

End of 1st. 1-1. I'll take it.

It boggles my mind that our power play isn't the worst in the league.

PP

PK Isles tie it up. Helm has to get that puck deep.

No, they're just really tiny people. You have to squint to see them. Trust me.

Athanasiou (25) from DeKeyser (12) - NYI 0, DET 1 Wings have silenced the crowd.

Best ad campaign ever. AA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm feeling good about this one! The sun is out (over here in PA and out there in MI), tomorrow is International Drink Your Ass Off Day, the Kuffner fam is in the house, New Captain is back. LET'S GO!!!

Hughes, Caufield set NTDP records heading toward NHL Draft [NHL.com]

Notes: Larkin set to return versus Islanders [DetroitRedWings.com]

Tank Watch: https://www.nhl.com/standings/2018/league Ducks won! Devils beat the Canucks in a shootout!

I don't see why not.

I mean, I'm pulling for all the young guns. But ain't no way Mantha's finishing the season with 30 goals.

Less likely, but I'm pulling for him.

Because your odds of getting really great players improve when you're stockpiling picks and finishing low in the standings. (Finishing low in the standings means you pick early in each round, not just the 1st round.) For the record, I'm not even hardcore pro-tanking. And neither is Ken Holland. (Wings won't 'sit back' in attempt to rebuild) In fact, I was firmly against even flirting with the idea of "acceptable sucking"...right up until it became pretty clear that Parity had won and that it was probably in the Wings' best interests to "embrace the suck" for a little while and see what a few tank drafts could do for this organization's talent pool. Do you need your home? Do you need the internet? Do you need to eat as much as you do? We need elite talent. Hughes and Kakko are the best of the best, but any one of Byram, Cozens, Dach, et al. would immediately become our top prospect and arguably the best prospect we've had in ages. I'm not saying it's not possible. I'm saying the two years or so that Holland will allow the team to suck (before he'd consider doing something drastic) are a chance to get lots and lots of very promising young players and hopefully a franchise player or two, and I'm saying "We shouldn't be doing this. We can assemble a championship-caliber core without being bad" rings hollow. Rasmussen. Zadina. Veleno. Berggren. McIsaac. That's five 1st-round caliber players in the span of two seasons. And four of those five players were drafted last year. Under "Keep the playoff streak alive at all costs" circumstances, it might take us 3-5 years to assemble that group of players. I'd like to see the Wings win another Cup before I die. I think embracing the suck for a couple of years will help the cause.

There are two contracts that make me cringe: Nielsen's and Abdelkader's.

There isn't an owner in the league who would fire Ken Holland right now. (Well, ok, maybe Melnyk.)