Dabura

Agreed. And even if none of that were true, how many times has Smith tried to con the officials? Maybe a little bit of "volitional karma" here?

Probably wouldn't need to know French to get the gist of it.

Professional or not, it was comedy gold. I bet it happens waaayyy more often than we think.

Mantha scored a hatty against Germany: http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/red-wings-prospect-news-mantha-scores-a-hat-trick-paterson-stops-22-of-24-a He could score 100 goals in a game and he wouldn't make the roster next season. But its always fun to think on what-ifs.

Life is like a box of Red Wings injuries. You never know what you're gonna get.

It reminds me of those time-lapse juxtaposition dealies. So, like, all three Sabres would be the same Sabre. I'm kinda surprised it wasn't #1. Because, seriously? Two Sharks alone with Miller in his kitchen? On top of the whole conga line thing? Mind. Blown.

Holy crap, that can't be real.

Yeah, there's no way it's happening. But then again, you never know. No one could've predicted Alfie's signing...and we all know how much Holland loves old, ineffective, and familiar.

It's cool that we might still get the real Stephen Weiss. Though probably not this season.

I'm pretty sure that's exactly how Babcock puts his lines together.

I actually very much agree with where you're coming from. I'm not really sure why I was disagreeing. I guess I just thought it's a bit much to say we have no chance in the playoffs. But I realize that, in saying that, I'm basically saying we should be happy to make the second round, maybe squeak into the Conference Finals. Which is lame. It should be a Cup-or-bust mentality, so: no disagreement here. We need to get much tougher if we want a real shot at the Cup. Definitely. If it has to be one guy, I'd like Wayne Simmonds. I'm really into the idea of trading Franzen (and maybe several other pieces) for a genuine power forward. Not that this would really make sense, but could you imagine Simmonds and Tootoo on the same line? Fireworks.

We haven't won a Cup since Lebda left. Mere coincidence? I think not.

Thanks for that. Pretty heavy stuff for a hockey logo.

And it's an unwritten rule that unless you're limbs are literally falling off, you suck it up and play through it in the playoffs. Because It's the Cup. Whereas no one really cares about the first third of the season. (The Wings certainly don't!)

Oh man, I hadn't even considered the possibility of a Feds return. An idea both terrible and awesome.

Kyle Quincey >>>>>>> Douglas Murray Murray is that bad.

I feel like HBO is in a good position to get to the bottom of this injury madness. Do some sleuthing, faceless camera crew!

Actually, this would explain everything.

This looks like a job for Dan Girardi.

Well said. I've never really understood that mentality. I get wanting to show pride and all that, but my impression - from watching and playing - is that it tends to make you look even more pathetic. You got thrashed, yo. Play hard to close it out, but don't throw a tantrum like the Anaheim Ducks are known to do (unless you're doing it on an internet forum after the fact!)

That's fewer than I'd thought. BUT, I think we'd have to go beyond just the number, not necessarily to suit my case against Quincey but because I'm actually genuinely interested. Like, How many of those 21 goals against were scored in very close losses? If the answer is not many, maybe Quincey really isn't all that bad for the team. Or maybe we just need higher quality statsification. Maybe I'll look into it tomorrow.

Cleary definitely should not be on the roster. But I don't feel like he's one of the main reasons why we've been losing the games that we've been losing. We expected him to be a borderline fourth-liner, and that's pretty much what he's been. Sort of like an enforcer who doesn't enforce or even intimidate. He's just...there. But Quincey, I believe he genuinely hurts this team with his all-around stupidity.

Agree really hard with the bolded part. And there are other issues that a team like this one shouldn't have, like not knowing how to play with and maintain a lead. Or, of course, incompetence in the shootout. (Aren't we supposed to be a "skill team"?) And, something else that bothers me: it used to be that we would get better as the game progressed, sometimes saving ten minutes of effort for the final frame and winning the game in the final few minutes. This season we are, thus far, a dumpster fire in the second and third periods. Or we outright blow the game in the first and then never really get it going at all (see: tonight), though I'm not sure if that's an actual trend this season or just something that feels like it's happened more than it has, because when it has happened, it's seared itself into my head. I want to chalk this and everything else up to the injuries we've had to deal with. And then throw in the Quincey-created goal or two per game (whether it's a boneheaded play or an equally boneheaded penalty), and maybe that covers everything. In which case we'd just have to be healthy and scratch Quincey. But I dunno. Maybe it's something simpler, maybe it's something more complex. Maybe it's one or two things, maybe it's a bit of everything. We'll just have to wait and see, and that, yes, stresses me out. But it also gives me hope, I guess. Even Quincey can't kill hope.

Not fully judging them yet. But I think we can form a pretty good idea of what kind of team this is. (One that's not significantly different from and better than the one that just barely made it into the playoffs last season, albeit in a better conference and with only about forty games to work with). Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do believe we'll keep the streak alive. I'm just concerned that we might not. Which feels new and weird, even after last season. You and I are on the same page, I think. I just want to see us win these games that we should be winning. And this whole sucking at home thing...the Joe used to be good for a whole bunch of guaranteed points. Maybe we've just flipped the script and it's the road where we dominate now, but, even so, it's concerning. I think it points to "mental issues." But, who knows, maybe January will be great for us, since we definitely tend to play better against better teams.

I hear you. And I don't really disagree. But I'm not sure we're all that great even when we're healthy (see earlier this season, shootout losses and such). What really worries me is that we don't win games we should win, which probably means we're going to have to take some games against some very good teams in the second half of the season (when the very good teams generally create definite separation in the standings). I hate that. I dunno, Babs doesn't seem to see much of a problem with him. Point taken, though.