Dabura

Wouldn't want to uproot his family again, IMHO. Plus, he's a really good fit.

There was one play, I think it was during the last game against the Lightning. Datsyuk and Kindl were close to each other just inside our blue line. Datsyuk had just about closed in on the coasting puck, Kindl was readying himself for the simple pass. Datsyuk slapped it with a backhand and it went sideways towards the boards, sort of still within Kindl's reach, but, really, not at all where you want to put the puck in that situation (it meant we couldn't run a clean regroup, a D-to-D mirror). I don't know if it was frustration. I don't know if it was carelessness. I just know it was extremely unlike Datsyuk and looked kind of like an eff-you to Kindl and maybe the team and maybe life in general. He's been really off since coming back. It's probably a combination of lingering effects, all-around frustration, and "Sochi nerves." Also, I get the sense that he doesn't like the HBO dealy. You wonder if a part of him is thinking, "I could have gone back home. I re-signed for this?"

I mean this summer and 2015's trade deadline (duh).

We did well after Datsyuk went down, but, on the whole, we've been a fairly bumbling team (shootout losses, blown leads, not winning games we should win, lack of any secondary scoring for a stretch, general lack of scoring, godawful play in our own zone). I'm not saying the Bolts haven't been struggling, and I'm not honestly saying that an injured Bolts team is better than a healthy Wings team. I just give the Bolts a lot of credit. Few thought they'd even be competitive, let alone doing what they're doing and now managing to stay afloat without Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.

I could see Alfie taking a hometown discount, the implicit understanding being that the money left on the table would be earmarked for a big acquisition in the summer or at the trade deadline (2015).

We are all masochists now.

I want to be super-realistic about this. Really, I do. But it's just too damn depressing. Because Ken Holland has spoiled me too damn much. If our only addition is Landon Ferraro, I might literally drown in my own tears. (No offense, Landon.) Another guy I think we'll be interested in: Sami Salo. I know, he's ancient. I know, he's been injured 8,437 times. But Holland did try to snag him a year or two ago. And, let's be honest: we could use a wily old veteran on the back end. Also, he's right-handed! Hurray! What if we added Salo and Anton Stralman to the blue line? I might be down with that, if a higher-end guy isn't available. (Dan Girardi.) As for the forwards...I think I've settled on Wayne Simmonds as my current trade deadline pipe dream. Did you know he grew up a fan primarily of the Detroit Red Wings? I bet you didn't know that. Also, I really like Steve Ott, though I dunno if there's really a place for him. And Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Westgarth is going to happen. Do you guys think we move Kindl? Not sure there's a place for him past this season, which kinda saddens me, because I do like him.

I think it's pretty clear the Big Bad East is actually the West. (Plot twist!) The East is more reckless and careless and stupid. But I wouldn't call it bigger, tougher, rougher, etc. It's like the West's annoying kid brother. I think it's also pretty clear that none of our forwards are actually into this whole being a Red Wing thing. DATSYUK: Todd, hit me in face, with hand. BERTUZZI: Why would I do that?! DATSYUK: So I go to LTIR. BERTUZZI: Oh, why didn't you say so!

So, for future reference, the way to get Dano's offense going is to injure the entire forward corps. I hate you. Because you're right.

I was gonna call it the cherry on the cake of s***. Good call.

I consider it a negative. Now The Hockey Gods are just plain f****** with us.

The Wings should wear a special patch on their jerseys, and/or a sticker on their helmets. It wold be three letters "F.M.L."

They said the Titanic was unsinkable. And they said more or less the same about roughly half a dozen Red Wings teams. (Hello 1996!) But, honestly, the Chicago Blackhawks probably repeat. They are just a ludicrously good hockey team. I mean, I could see one of the other top teams taking them down. (Hell, we almost did it.) But they're the clear favorites right now, no question.

Kinda weird that they'd cite some big guys with speed and not mention Blake Wheeler. Good read overall. Thanks for that.

Probably not. (OH YES I DID)

Srsly tho... I'm actually really happy about this. It means we can't realistically expect our guys to score a single goal, let alone win a game. The lineup is that bad. So it takes all that coulda shoulda woulda hand-wringing hope/disappointment messiness out of the fan equation. We are rooting for the Detroit Griffins, and they are going to lose. Period.

Remember when we dumped Carlo Colaiacovo because he's so injury-prone?

If we win this game, does that mean we officially own the Ducks?

I can dig it. I'm not a big Phaneuf fan, and my impression is that Toronto is where he and The Cuthbert truly want to be. But I do feel he'd do well in a situation where he's not the #1 or #2 guy on the back end. I'd much rather have Girardi, but everyone knows that. Vanek is a no-brainer, in terms of sheer desirability, though he can be a lot like Franzen (in a bad sense), and I don't know how he'd handle being part of an ensemble cast. And he's going to cost a fortune. I really do like both Orr and Westgarth, though I'd only want, at most, one enforcer. Westgarth is set to be a UFA, which is the main reason why I keep naming him and not, say, Orr. And, again, I just think (or want to believe) Westgarth could be an awesome fit with the Euro Twins. All that third guy really has to do is retrieve pucks out of the corner, dish them to Z or D, and park his ass in front of the goalie. I can respect that last bit (toughness being doable). Because it's true. And I'm absolutely 100% in favor of this team getting tougher overall. I'd just want them to be smart about it. I'd want it to be something that makes a lot of sense for the team, that would be done to make us more competitive and help us win more games and ultimately another Cup. Something, um, "organic"? As for the first part - I'd say that, in general, adding a #1 defender is definitely the more daunting, difficult task. We should feel very fortunate to have a guy as good as Kronwall is. If there's an issue with him, it's that he's forced to be The Undisputed Guy on our blue line. It's him, two guys who are solid but not as good as him, and a whole lot of nothing beyond that. It's a pretty good top three, that's it. Which might be ok if we could score 3-4 goals a game, but, as we all know, today's Red Wings suck at scoring. There is so much riding on DeKeyser continuing to amaze (and not continuing to get injured) and Smith making very big strides in a short span of time, and Ericsson being as good as he can be without any kind of relapse. And so the other three guys really have to pull their weight. The situation worries me, even with the likes of XO and Sproul coming up. Y'know, I've been saying we need a high-end defenseman, but, given what I just said (that great defensemen are, generally, very hard to come by, and an average top four might be good enough if offense isn't an issue), maybe it would make more sense to "front load" the roster, i.e. load up on offensive weapons. Maybe that would complement the more intense and aggressive style of hockey that Babs would be preaching in my fantasy version of things. Just a thought.

Sorry, frank, I guess that was maybe a little overly negative. I think we're both on pretty much the same page. I just think tough guys should be "the final touch" on top of a roster that really has its act together. And I don't think a roster that really has its act together is necessarily unattainable, even if we keep striking out in free agency. I'll add more in a little bit.

See, I don't really buy that there's absolutely nothing we can do aside from adding tough guys. There seems to be this weird notion spreading in hockey forums that a lack of obvious possibilities means nothing can happen. There's always a deal to be made. Theoretically, any player can be had at any time, for the right price. Just because Darren Dreger isn't saying, "Certainly this is a possibility," doesn't mean there's nothing there. It just means Holland might have to get creative and maybe step out of his ultra-plush comfort zone and bend or break a golden, sacred rule of his to get the job done. I mean, had we not traded for Shanahan, people today would look back and say, "So, you think we should've traded for a premier power-forward? Give me a list of premier power-forwards who were available at the time and could've been had for a reasonable price. Shanahan? Are you serious?" As for fun...I'd rather be winning with slightly soft hockey than losing with extra-tough hockey. My big thing - and I realize I'm really beating a dead horse here - is that we only have so much time left with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and "so much" isn't so much. We've already wasted how many years of their careers, and now we're going to bring back the '80s? I want to see us go all in (within reason) for one more run at the Cup. Easier said than done, I know. But I just feel like adding tough guys for the fun factor is sort of throwing in the towel on the quest for that one last Cup. Add those guys with whatever spare change and parts we have left over after having snagged a big-name player or two. Unless there really is absolutely nothing else we can do, and adding tough guys (over, say, a Griffin, or two, or three) is something that's really going to help us.

This is very true. I think he's actually a tiny bit underrated as a fighter. It's not just that he's massive and mean. He knows what he's doing. Generally, you have to be a special kind of stupid and/or profoundly intoxicated to think that starting s*** with Milan Lucic is a good idea. And that actually applies to most NHLers, never mind "ordinary people."

Didn't he play that card in that domestic disturbance a few years ago? "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" *throws cell phone on the ground* Something to that effect. Anyway, what is it with Vancouver and hockey and dumbassery?

He'll be back next season as a "power play specialist." You know it's gonna happen. Don't even try to deny it.

I give the Pens and Bolts credit. The former aren't exactly known for their defense, yet they're getting it done without almost their entire top four, and then some. And Stamkos basically is the Lightning; it's impressive that they're doing as well as they are without him. One could argue they're better now than we were when we were mostly healthy.