Dabura

I think energy and jump is good, but if he's only playing five minutes, because he's a liability...

I was thinking. About the Weiss situation. The sense was that Weiss would've liked to have stayed in Florida, but Tallon basically told him, "No can do. Money's tight. We need to see where our youth is at. My hands are tied." Not that Tallon didn't want him back. Indeed, my whole point is that I think Tallon really did want Weiss back and that the loss is one of the things that pushed him to basically call out the owner. "You brought me in to build a Cup-winning team, but you're not giving me anything to work with, financially. And now our franchise player is gone. Maybe we'd be in the hunt for a playoff spot if we'd kept him. I'm not convinced our young forwards have the right leaders to learn from. Who better than Weiss? Who knows our system and what being a Panther is all about better than this guy?" Whatever Tallon told him, it seems to have worked, because now he has the green light to spend this summer. They want to be a cap team now. They want to win. They've brought back Luongo. Maybe they'd bring back Weiss? (And Bertuzzi?) Mind you, I haven't given up on Weiss. I still think he can be that second-line center we need.

I think you're reaching because you hate Smith. I don't like him as a defenseman. If he were a few years older and wiser and more mature, maybe. But, right now, I'd like to see what he can bring to the bottom six - which is why I've been calling for it all season long. He has good offensive instincts. He's an excellent skater. He likes to hit, isn't afraid to get his nose dirty. He's bigger than most of our forwards. He's been a weak link on the back end, a guy you know every opposing coach is telling his bench to exploit. And, finally, all forwards are morons (I played defense and forward, so I'm allowed to say this), so he's less likely to look like a fool as a forward. I'm not sold on Callahan. I think having Glendening, Ferraro, Emmerton, and Callahan is too much (i.e. too little). Maybe Callahan should've been called up instead of Ferraro, but whatever. Coin flip.

This is just how Franzen is. He thought there wasn't enough joy, and he said so. Now he feels there isn't enough trust and buy-in, and so he's saying so. He's not above criticism, but I really don't feel like he's one of our bigger issues. He's been great for us. But he and a clearly hurting Alfredsson are our only big guns, and they can only do so much. The team as a whole has to rise to the challenge. The team has to become a real team.

No one thought Z would be half as good as he's become. JUST SAIYAN

F****** right. Push it harder than you ever have before. I have no problem with us losing and missing the playoffs if every man on the team is giving his all at all times. Then it's just a matter of us simply not being talented enough and every other team being healthy and pushing, and that's not this current lineup's fault. But I really do feel like if there's maximum effort along with real heart and trust and all that good stuff, we've got a good chance. Anything less than that, though? Start booking tee times. That's what she said.

So you're saying all we have to do is take his freedom away? Doesn't Mr. I have mob connections or something?

No problem. It's why they pay me the big bucks. ...............

Can't remember if it was Roberts or not, but it probably was. He's known for his conditioning program. Hire him as a trainer or some sort of fitness adviser, why not. Or even put him on the coaching staff. Can't be any worse than what we've had this season.

He does have a point. Our blue line sucks and Howard's contract extension hurts pretty bad right now. And it's not exactly a secret that Bertuzzi has too many stars.

You do have to wonder how much an 8th seed is really gonna be worth. We'd be facing the Bruins or Penguins with a lineup which, even if healthy, would probably suck. Certainly we're not winning the Cup.

I think he was referring more to the fact that the brass isn't giving Callahan a chance.

What an embarrassing season. Heads should roll. We need goals. That's probably what it comes down to.

Well, at least we finally get to see Smith as a forward.

I like this deal better now that we're struggling. The logic being, Holland might've turned Jarnkrok into several seasons of service from David Legwand (who we'd probably appreciate much more with a fully healthy forward corps) and a really good first-round draft pick who might be better than Jarnkrok (provided we miss the playoffs, of course).

I hate our team.

A win tonight could put some serious wind in our sails.

I'm just not sold on him as a significant step forward for our blue line and team. He's putting up good numbers, but, again, he's a power play weapon playing on the Penguins. Do we expect him to put up similar numbers as a Wing, under Mike Babcock? It's possible, but...I'm not sold. What if he's Quincey all over again? I think we could do better, maybe. If not, and he's available, and he's willing to sign at a little below market value and for a couple fewer seasons than he'd probably like...then sure, I'm down. There's also that, yes.

I guess I wouldn't mind him, at the right price. But I have my concerns. One, his body of work isn't very impressive. Two, as you said, he's on an expiring contract, so you have to assume he's bringing it harder than he otherwise would. Three, he plays for the Penguins, and on their power play. Stat Pad City. He may be a sleeper who's finally "awake." (27-28 is That Age for defensemen.) However, I think it's more likely that he gets his big pay day and immediately regresses. Unless he keeps playing for the Pens, or some other high-scoring contender. Bottom line, I don't see him helping us all that much.

Kronwall makes tons of mistakes, many of them boneheaded. But he makes up for it by being our best defenseman and one of the 20ish best defensemen in the league. You're getting a fair amount of bad, but you're also getting oceans of good. Smith, you're mostly just getting bad. Well, that's not fair. He plays the game well. But is it anything that your average third-pairing defenseman couldn't give us? Hopefully he grows into a good top-four defenseman who puts up enough points to make whatever mistakes he makes acceptable. He's got about a year to do that.

(Also - it's not opinion that trust is all-important to Mike Babcock. He's said as much. I'm not just pulling this stuff out of my butt.)

Like I said, I like Tootoo. I'm not trying to hate on him. But I don't think any number of stats is really going to invalidate anything I said. Babs wants a player he can trust (and one who's very good defensively and can be leaned on, if need be). That has always been an issue with Tootoo. Maybe it's less of an issue lately, but the very fact that it's even a consideration is not going to help his standing when we've got 40 solid bottom-sixers. Actually, if we want to talk stats, I vaguely remember reading something over at WIIM earlier this season that showed Tootoo was a surprisingly good possession-driver. Which is cool. But, again, 40 candidates for that #12 spot, all but maybe two of them are PK specialists and solid defensive players...and Tootoo is one of those two. Some people are talking like it makes no sense for Babs to not use him. My point is it absolutely makes sense. He's been called up because we could use a shot in the arm. And probably also to help him get NHL work this summer, after we buy him out. I, for one, am glad, but I'm trying to be realistic about it. I know that if he scores tonight someone's going to quote this post and say something snotty. But I'll be just as happy as anyone else here if he has a positive impact, does something to stick in the lineup. I'm rooting for the guy, 100%.

I suppose. And yet, I dunno. Think of how much they've struggled this season, with the injury woes, a new coach, a new system, a number of key players underachieving, an anemic offense, a wretched power player, the goalie situation, Kesler possibly asking for a trade, Gillis being arguably the worst GM in the league... and yet, they're only five points out of the playoff picture in the ultra-tough Western Conference.

Babs likes physical hockey. We're just not a physical team. We're not built for it, we don't have the stones for it. It's not our identity, not our system, not the way we'd like to play (ideally, we possess the puck a lot, which means we're not worried so much about hitting the opposition). Not that I'm totally down with that, but, truth is, one guy running around hitting people probably isn't gonna make much of a difference on any level. My impression is that Babs cares about three things: Trust, Defense, Utility. Babs probably doesn't feel he can trust Tootoo because Tootoo likes fighting, takes stupid penalties, and is generally not a very smart, responsible player. He's also weak defensively and can't play in key situations or on special teams or take faceoffs. If you look at the rest of our bottom-sixers, they're mostly good, reliable defensive players who can play on the PK, take tough shutdown shadow assignments, etc. More than anything, though? I think it comes down to the fact that we're just not a very good team and therefore can't afford to consistently use a high-risk low-reward player, especially given that Babs wants us winning games 2-1. I like Tootoo, as a person and a player. But he's just not a great fit here. The signing was probably a mistake in the first place (certainly he was overpaid), and stuffing him away in the minors when he could almost certainly find NHL work on another team (but, alas, overpaid) and then recalling kid after kid after kid is not the everyone-goes-home-happy management approach Holland is known for.

Malik just slayed it. http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/a-theoretical-conversation-between-a-red-wings-fan-and-a-blackhawks-fan