Dabura

I undestand that concern. And I guess there's a part of me that does share it, based on recent history. But, honestly, I'm not getting that vibe from the piece I linked to or from comments players and coaches have made. I think they realize the Wings have been playing inconsistent, sometimes-soft, sometimes-lazy, sometimes-disinterested, often-plodding hockey and I think they feel that few (zero?) teams really dislike playing them. I suspect they're going to take a cue or two from an aggressive-forecheck team like the Knights or the Panthers under Gallant. Hopefully that doesn't mean looking to our grinders to win us games.

You: "Yeah, I can't wait to watch a team try and grind out enough 2-1 wins to screw themselves out of a top 10 pick when getting more elite skill (through the top of the draft) should be the only thing they are focused on." Personally, I've no interest in following a team that's only focused on not "screwing themselves out of a top 10 pick." But you do you.

Yeah, the motto should've been "SUCK FOR 60." Playing hard and demanding more of yourself is overrated anyway.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2018/09/17/jeff-blashill-wants-60-minutes-hell-detroit-red-wings-opponents/1335759002/ I'm down with this.

Zd

Ah, ok. I misunderstood.

FWIW, Abby was originally slotted in Zadina's spot. Abby's been absent because of the birth of his son, so they put Zadina there. So I wouldn't get too attached to that line quite yet. The exhibition games will settle things. Pretty good game overall. I think the big takeaway is HELM'S TRADE VALUE WILL NEVER BE HIGHER.

Understandable. Personally, I really don't think Bettman pokes this hornets nest at this time, for a number of reasons. I'm guessing LTIRement will be addressed in the upcoming lockout. I guess I'm just not sure why you seem to think we -- a few dozen fans on a non-corporate forum -- need to be careful about the wording. I'd like to think LGW.com has the power to shape NHL policy, but we ain't exactly 4chan.

Wait, I'm confused. What's concerning? Are we concerned about the title of this thread being incorrect/misleading? Because I think that's splitting hairs. Or are we concerned about the league being unhappy with the situation? If we're concerned about the league being unhappy...they can pound sand. They've never tried to bring the hammer down on an LTIRement case before and I can't imagine they'd break tradition for this one. Or are we concerned that Zetterberg is actually straight-up retiring, rather than going into LTIRement? As far as I'm aware, he's going the LITRement path and no one in the organization or in the media has said otherwise.

So is it just me or is Malik the only blogger type who's actually reporting on training camp?

LGW.com ROAD TRIP

I was poking fun at you. I think everyone here knows what's up, so, to me, "retirement" versus "LTIR" is kinda splitting hairs. *shrug*

"He's not retiring. He's just unable to play hockey anymore."

https://www.nhl.com/news/maple-leafs-react-to-henrik-zetterberg-leaving-hockey/c-300135754?tid=277548856 Zetterberg's influence on Matthews came from Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock, who coached Zetterberg in Detroit from 2005-15. Matthews spent hours during his rookie season of 2016-17 with Babcock watching videos of the Red Wings center.

I remember.

Watched Holland's presser. He made it clear that this became a real possibility last season and everyone had been trying to keep the whole thing as quiet as possible. It's a good reminder that we as fans don't know half of what's really going on behind the scenes at any given time. "WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU SIGN VANEK?!" soon gives way to "Oh, Z's probably done and Vanek would provide some veteran leadership and could help fill the scoring void Z would leave behind. That makes sense."

Thank you for the awesomeness, Mr. Zetterberg. Much love and respect.

Does feel like he's destined for free agency. Lest we forget... “When I go to market, I’m going to get what I’m worth, and it’s going to be no less, no matter where I’m going,” Karlsson told the Ottawa Sun Thursday in Brooklyn. https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/erik-karlsson-talks-free-agency-im-going-get-im-worth/

I mean, for a team in win-now mode, this is pretty much the best "This isn't even my final form!" move you could ever hope to pull off. They give up a whole lot of nothing (picks shmicks) and in return they get Erik Freaking Karlsson. Their top three on the back-end is now Karlsson, Burns, Vlasic. That's really, really good.

I feel like...that's...not good enough.

I'm starting to suspect Pierre Dorion is a Sharks plant.

Based on that underwhelming return, I'm assuming Karlsson didn't agree to sign with the Sharks.

Karlsson to the Sharks.

Speaking of CRL, where he at?