Dabura

It certainly makes sense. But, like pretty much everyone, I'm hoping he's been battling a really bad injury and that that's why he's been a ghost of a hockey player lately. Maybe he was going to address this awhile ago but the injuries down the middle kinda forced him to suck it up and stick it out for as long as possible.

If a first-round pick was the issue...that's frustrating. I'm not saying we're a Bouwmeester away from Cup contention, but...we're a Bouwmeester away from Cup contention. There. I said it. Hang me. As for Pierre's take - it wouldn't turn my world upside-down if our offer was in fact better than St. Louis's. I get the fuzzy sense that no GM wants to be The Guy Who Gave the Red Wings a Ladder Out of Their Hole. And/Or if Bouwmeester vetoed the deal...well, I get the fuzzy sense that no top-four defenseman wants to be The Guy Who's Supposed to Fill in for Nicklas Lidstrom. FWIW, Pierre is very, very high on our prospect pool. FWIW #2, the Flames like them some big, mean, North American Hockey Players. Whereas we're kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum. So, who knows, maybe a Nyquist/Tatar/Pulkkinen/Jarnkrok/Almqvist would make them yawn.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks this is a cover for a healthy scratching.

Also, the Vanek-to-Minnesota thing is essentially a media invention. I'm not saying it definitely won't happen, but this is definitely a case of some guy saying, "Well this and that and that and this, so it's possible that [insert possibility]," and then the entire hockey world latching onto it as fact. There was, I think, a lot more substance to the Suter-and-Parise-to-Minny hype. Personally, I see him - Vanek - going to one of the top teams. My gut says the Penguins. I don't know if that'd be do-able, because I don't really know their cap situation, because I hate them. But my gut says it's black and gold for Vanek. He's had his fill of craptastic hockey. He's in his prime. He wants to win.

If there's one guy who wants Dan Girardi on the Wings, it's this guy. *points to himself* But it seems so exceedingly unlikely that I'm basically not even considering it an option. Same with Callahan. (Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Callahan would be the best line in hockey.) They'll both re-sign with the Rags, and Richards will almost certainly be bought out. Like I said earlier, I can see Holland kicking Richards' tires, especially if Weiss doesn't turn things around.

George's crazy theory: what the Wings really need is a #3 defenseman [Malik] We need a solid top-four defenseman very, very badly. If we're gonna land one, it's probably gonna have to be via trade. I like George's idea: Alex Edler. He's struggling badly right now, and there's a long history of us being interested in him (wanted to draft him, later almost traded for him). I think I've said this before, but I wonder if they'd take something like Quincey + Kindl + Pulkkinen + 1st. I realize that would take a bite out of our depth on the back end, but we've got several young studs who are very close to making the jump to the big league. And I realize we'd probably have to move some more salary to to be able to fit Edler in (haven't done the math), but I trust Holland would be able to work something out if it meant solidifying our top-four.

There's a lot I could say about this subject, as it's been an issue for a very long time. But one thing that's really struck me this year is our structure - and our lack thereof. When you play a team like the Bruins, you know what you're getting, even if you've only played them once or twice over the past three years. You're getting elite hockey. Strong fundamentals, execution, possession, decision-making - they do things the right way. If you're a lesser team (and the Bruins are better than us), you hopefully realize that the only way you're going to hang with this elite opposition is by playing smart, good hockey. Period. Take the names and faces and star power out of it, because you want a systems battle, not an all-star game. Now it's just a matter of executing. The team that executes its system better is gonna be the one that comes out on top. (I think this is a big reason why we did ok for ourselves in the brutal, systems-heavy Western Conference.) It's been a long time since we've been comfortable in the role of Elite Team. We'd rather have a team bring out the best in us than be the team bringing out the best in the other side. We don't want to be the measuring stick. We want to be the ones doing the measuring. We don't want to be the heavy favorites. We want to be the team that's expected to lose and therefore doesn't feel a whole lot of pressure. We want to be the underdog and the spoiler.

Which isn't to say the team is bad. It's actually very good. Or, is capable of being very good.

Totally agree. This is one of my assorted dead horses that I try not to beat too often. This current team is an end-of-the-line (RIP) team. I imagine all eyes in the organization are locked firmly on the future.

I feel the same way about two-goal leads. I had a running count, but I stopped because it became depressing, and also because I got to thinking I was jinxing the team. (Turns out I wasn't, we just suck.)

We're bad against bad teams and good against good teams. Doesn't make any sense, but that's the way it is and has been for some time now. I was fully expecting us to drop at least one of these two Panthers games, especially with the whole Weiss angle.

If we didn't have Kyle Quincey, we'd probably be undefeated.

The Panthers are our new Blue Jackets/Flames. They will spend the rest of forever at the bottom of the standings, but we will never beat them.

I hate to be That Guy, but how many two-goal leads have we blown this season? Something like 30? I hope The Hockey Gods aren't trolling us.

Midlife crisis.

The King are spanking the Habs. About time someone put them in their place. (Even if that place is currently four points ahead of us. Grrrrrr.)

Poor Helmer.

Didn't we establish that the penalty would never exceed $3 million? Or am I coming back into this conversation really cold? I just don't see much of an argument for buying him out. The penalty would be tiny, even more so with the cap going up - and he's still producing. Maybe his production dries up a year or two or three from now, but that knocks our cap down just a tiny bit (less than $3 million) for several seasons. I mean, I guess it'd be one thing if Holland liked spending to the cap. But this year is weird, definitely not standard Holland ("We've got all of this money saved up just in case an all-star falls into my lap at the trade deadline. Not that that's going to happen. But look, I filled a swimming pool with money! How cool is that!!!") And if our team is getting younger, our payroll will probably be more manageable than usual. Like someone said yesterday, Franzen still has that x-factor potential. That, plus 25 goals and some size (whether he's a true power-forward or not, we are ridiculously small up front and therefore need all the size we can get), and maybe a mentoring role for the kids, and the fact that we're "offensively challenged," makes him worth keeping. IMHO.

What I like about Tatar (and I'm not saying I prefer one over the other. I honestly don't) is that he's getting the job done with bottom-six minutes and line mates. Which I guess kinda goes both ways, i.e. he's also facing lesser opposition. But the guy really has a nose for the back of the net, which is great to see. Get him on a line with Datsyuk and there will be fireworks.

I think it's a coin flip at this point. Nyquist is the more rounded player, but I think his edge over Tatar has a lot to do with the time he spent with the Wings last season, specifically in the playoffs. Tatar hasn't had that experience yet. Personally, I see them becoming somewhat different kinds of players. Nyquist seems like more of a playmaker, Tatar seems like more of a goal-scorer. But everything's up in the air with kids, which is a big reason why they're so exciting.

The thing with Clarkson is, he is/was basically supposed to be their Shanny '97. Hugely important for their team. A guy who would pretty much singlehandedly transform them into a Cup contender. Weiss, on the other hand, just needs to be better than Filppula. Obviously it hasn't worked out for him so far, but I like his odds over Clarkson's in the long run.

That's even better than I'd thought. Like you said, definitely worth keeping. I feel like Franzen's streakiness is only a serious issue if he's being counted on to be our undisputed #3 scorer. If we can have an Alfredsson, two young studs in Nyquist and Tatar, an overperforming Helm, the Weiss we thought were getting when we signed him, and - pipe dream alert! - a Vanek or Gaborik, I'm not going to stress too much about Franzen.

This is definitely concerning. You'd almost think he was being bullied in the locker room or something. He looks so uncomfortable and tuned-out. I think it's pretty clear what must be done: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Weiss There is no other way. (Say that last line in a really dramatic voice.)

The Norris Division was a dangerous (and entertaining) freak show. Today's leaugue is, by comparison, a(n entertaining) petting zoo. Just saying.

I can get behind this. For me, this is one of those losses that stings like hell for 48 hours...and then disappears from my mind forever. Because it's really not a big deal. When dealing with craptastic performances from my Red Wings, I've found it really does help to keep things in perspective. I don't mean "Hockey is just a game. Get over it," because no one wants to hear that. I mean, e.g., How deep are we into the season? (Remember: it's an 82-game season. That's a very forgving number.) Or, How many players are out with injuries? Are we dealing with adversity? Have we seen the team fully healthy and playing the best hockey it can play? Etc. Ultimately, when I ask those big questions, I feel pretty good about where we are. We've had to deal with injuries to literally almost everyone on our roster. Right now we're missing our top three centers (two of them being the best players on the team) and our third-best defenseman. That leaves us with an incredibly iffy lineup that I honestly wouldn't trust to beat the Sabres or Panthers reliably, never mind win five out of seven (though I suppose this current version of the Broken Wings is only 1-2). If you'd told me that we'd be losing all of these key players but coming away with a pretty impressive winning record (and seeing guys like Franzen, Nyquist, and Tatar really elevate their play), I'd happily take that future. The big thing is that we haven't seen the real Red Wings this season. Maybe a game here or there, but, for the most part, it's been a banged-up and/or really out-of-sorts shell of the team we know this team can be. Considering that, the fact that we're challening for first in the division and conference is extremely encouraging. If we can get rolling and be the team we're capable of being (hell, just having our top three centers back would be nice enough), we're going to do some damage. If we can add a top-four defenseman or top-six winger on top of that, the Conference Finals = reachable.