Dabura

*sigh*

In a word, meh. Not great, not terrible.

Pretty good start. I've accepted that we're a train wreck in our zone and it's not gonna change any time soon.

Watched NHL Live earlier, watching the NBC pre-show dealy now. There's been a whole lot of love for the Wings. Keith Jones has been banging the I-would-not-want-to-face-this-Wings-team-in-the-first-round drum for a few weeks now, and he just gave them another big thumbs up just now. It was about as enthusiastic as he gets.

Let's rock this s***.

Beautiful.

That goal...oh man. lol. Then again...

If I have my facts straight, Weiss did play through his initial injury. That's how he ended up where he is. Pushed it when he should've rested it, exacerbating the problem. As for injections, I don't see that making much sense for Weiss right now. We don't really need him at present (knock on wood), so he should just take his time and do this the right way.

I bet the Leafs would be interested in him. They're pretty iffy down the middle, and Bolland may not be sticking around. (Not that I want to move him.)

The petulant child in me feels like two hours of conditioning being the difference between playing and not playing is lame. But I get it.

Could've worded it better, I guess. Point was, instead of definitely Alfie and quite possibly Datsyuk as well, we get neither. Because we can't have nice things this season.

I probably shouldn't say this, but I feel like if Alfie can play through fatigue and an injury for however long it's been, Datsyuk can at least play sheltered minutes tonight. Like, I'd totally get it if we didn't really have a timetable for his return, but we do, and it's a whopping two days from today. Is his knee ready to go or not? meh. We'll blow the Bruins out of the water tonight then get shut out on Friday. This season is evil.

Datsyuk and Alfie out? Awesome.

We've beaten them twice. Granted, they're a different team now. But then, so are we. Gotta use our speed.

What's so bad about the new system?

Against a team like us, Fleury doesn't necessarily need to be anything more than mediocre. Our starting goalie has struggled mightily, and our blue line makes children cry. Our goal differential is -11. The Pens have first-rate firepower and they've been surprisingly good defensively. I'm not claiming the earth is flat. I'm saying the Pens are one of the best teams in the league.

I guess I'm in the minority in kind of liking the new format.

I'd take anyone over the Bruins. Putting the Bruins to the side, I'd take anyone over the Pens. The Pens aren't as formidable as they've been in past seasons, but they're by far the second best team in the East. It woudn't take an act of divine intervention for them to beat the Bruins in a best-of-seven, and that, IMHO, makes them contenders.

Apparently Jurco blew out his back:

It's going to be extraordinarily difficult to land a top-end defenseman this summer. I think our best bet is Ehrhoff, as he's a solid #2 who wouldn't cost a thousand roster players. Also, I think we've sort of debunked this idea that his contract would be a tremendous burden. Also #2: Quincey, Lashoff, and Kindl are replaceable, so it's not like adding a defenseman or two would necessarily mean that there'll be no room for up-and-coming Griffins. Plus, Almqvist's future probably doesn't lie with the Wings (watch him become the next Lidstrom on another team), and one of Sproul/Ouellet/Marchenko would be going to Buffalo for Ehrhoff. Kronwall Ericsson Ehrhoff DeKeyser Smith Marchenko Something like that, maybe. I guess Marchenko could be Matt Greene or Derek Morris instead, if only because Smith should probably be paired with a steady vet.

I'm not expecting him back this week.

And it's not just what we see of him on the ice in games. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2013/12/red_wings_luke_glendening_is_e.html

Don't get me wrong, the Pens scare me way more than the Rangers or Flyers do. They've been sputtering a bit of late, but make no mistake: they're still very much a Cup contender. Our shutdown guys did a fantastic job of tracking, neutralizing, frustrating Stamkos.

That's awesome. The kid is a revelation. What he's doing is, to me, as impressive as what Nyquist is doing on the other end of the rink. The sort-of irony is that having a(n admittedly offensively-challenged) shutdown stud anchoring your fourth line should, in theory, open things up a bit for your other three lines, which can make all the difference in the world in a tight-checking best-of-seven. If, say, Zetterberg doesn't have to shadow the opposition's biggest gun on every shift, he can focus more on scoring, maybe get more o-zone starts, maybe get some favorable line matchups at home. IMHO, that's largely where postseason series are won. The matchups chess match.

Glendening is shutting down and pissing off the likes of Crosby and Stamkos in his rookie season - and he wasn't even suppposed to be on the roster. That's huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge. Goals will come. He's certainly had his chances.