Dabura

Probably sick of being a Red Wing.

GTFO JIMMY

And magically Holland doesn't have to do anything, again. Maybe it forces others to step up.

Did someone seriously just compare Subban to a racing horse?

What?

They're showing clips of Jimmy. It's pretty brutal.

This is on the NHL Network, right?

I like to think our commitment to defense will stifle Ovechkin. But he'll probably score, like, four goals. Also, there'll be some kid playing his first game, and he'll be eighteen years old and he literally won't have any eyes, but he'll score his first AND SECOND career NHL goals - the second one being an OT dagger. (Franzen will score five goals, then go eighteen games without a point.)

How many current Panthers are ex-Wings? There's Matthias (we drafted him in the second round, 2006), Fleischmann (second round, 2002), Kopecky (second round, 2000)...am I forgetting someone? I know Bert and Sammy had stints there....

Well, to be clear, I'm not using Versteeg as the measurement of Holland's current competence. I'm speaking generally. In general, Holland seems quite content to sit on his hands, and then, when he's questioned about it, say: "Sorry, can't do anything about it. Got no hands, y'see."

Flip was with the Wings for a very long time. He was a disappointment for almost his entire time here. He wasn't injured/coming off an injury the whole time. Weiss has been with us for less than twenty games. He's been coming off an injury and surgery. Carlo Colaiacovo is literally made out of glass. This is a scientific fact. He is the most injury-prone human being ever. Of all time. In history. Forever. Technically the Wings play grab-ass, but we all call it "puck-possession," because euphemisms are fun.

He's the Genius, not me. So he should 1) not have put us in this situation in the first place (wait, who was it who signed Tootoo, Sammy, and Cleary? Oh yeah, Brian Burke! nvm), 2) have a slam-dunk, rabbit-out-of-the-hat, deus-ex-machina that makes us say, "Oh. My. God. He's been planning this since he was seventeen years old! LEGEND!!!!!"

I consider myself a bit of a Panthers fan. Been casually following them on-and-off for awhile now. So I can say, with a bit of authority, that you...are absolutely correct. Following the Panthers really makes you appreciate things like "winning culture," "team pride," "shouldering expectations" - things that we as Red Wings fans take for granted but which really do mean something. No matter how good you are, if you're a Florida Panther...you'd probably be much better virtually anywhere else. (Imagine Zetterberg as fat and lazy.) Credit where it's due, though: they've got a great young core to build around.

I wouldn't be surprised if no one wants to make a (fair) trade with us. That's probably what comes with being generally regarded as THE BEST GM EVAR for 10+ years. I mean, think about it - how many GMs have probably had their fans screaming, "Why can't you be like Ken Holland?! It works for the Red Wings, so why not us?!" for God-knows-how-long? Maybe now they get to stick it to Mr. BEST GM EVAR and his oh-so-special Red Wings? Or maybe Holland is just lazy and complacent. Not that I could necessarily blame him... "Sooo, I can A) Do a lot of hard work and make several million dollars, or B) Not do a lot of hard work...and make several million dollars. Hmmm...."

Also, for what it's worth: I just remembered something an old coach of mine once said. He said, "A hockey player's wrists are not like a bicycle." I didn't understand what he meant at the time (I was really young and just thrilled as s*** to be playing AAA hockey), but I think I do now. Basically, you have to stay on top of that s***. You can't just, like, have surgery on your wrist and sit out for half a season and then come back firing on all cylinders. Doesn't work that way. Needs time. Point being, I'm still not ready to hate on Weiss. Though I guess it's a little moot, cuz he's injured.

This. Any and all of our players would probably put up more points on the Bolts. Except maybe Bert, because he wouldn't be playing with Z and D, and Cleary, because he wouldn't be playing, period. And yet, I also feel like half of our guys couldn't play the Bolts' game. Puck-possession is forgiving; you can be incredibly slow and terrible, as long as you're able to make crisp passes and guard the puck a little. Whereas the Bolts play a very fast, aggressive, up-tempo game. You can be old, but you'd better be smart - and fast (see: Marty St. Louis).

If it'd benefit the 'hawks, that's probably how it is.

I <3 Office Space

The Blackhawks continue to get better, we continue to get worse. And all in the name of "Youth! Homegrown talent! The tough business decisions you have to make in order to stay competitive in the cap era!" Shove it, Ken.

Does that really count for anything tangible, though? Or is it just one of those hollow moral victory things? This is, of course, an organization that basically expects its players to take it up the butt in return for (a chance at) Stanley Cup contention. Which looks like kind of a silly business model these days when you realize we haven't been past the second round in about 85 years (time being a relative thing in this case).

You know it's a bad call when even Crymson's on the hate train. Someone mentioned Blashill. I friggin' love that guy, and would probably take him over Babs at this point. He's the second coming of Mike Babcock (the good Mike Babcock who did good things, not the evil/stupid Mike Babcock who does bad things).

Hey, look at what Sean McIndoe is talking about.

They definitely have had that luxury, a luxury which does seem like almost a prerequisite to greatness these days. But, even so, I think those GMs and their teams have been pretty smart about shaping their respective rosters, identities, etc. Picking 1-5 in the draft gives you a phenomenal player, yes, but you still have to build around him and such. Team Holland has, I feel, not done an especially great job of building around our two franchise players, Datsyuk and Zetterberg.

Whoops, forgot about Andersson. And Nyquist. Gonna have to give this some thought now.

I was hoping no one would say these words. Because we said these same words last season, and even as recently as this past summer. And some of us even managed to convince ourselves that it was absolutely, positively going to happen. Because, how could it not?