Dabura

DeKeyser leads the Wings in total ice team this season. Trade?

The thing that really kills me about our lack of Nyquist is that we could really, really, really use his assets, mostly his speed, quickness, jump. We are, generally, brutally slow. Cleary needs to be on the fourth line or not in the lineup at all.

Pretty even opening period. We gave up too many quality chances. Building sounds quiet. Lots and lots of empty seats. I like Lashoff a lot.

I have no problem giving credit where I think it's due. I believe Holland is a great GM, and arguably the best in the league. We're hugely spoiled brats who don't appreciate how good we really have it with Holland at the helm. But, at the same time, I feel it's becoming increasingly hard to say, "Ken Holland. Nuff said." Jordin Tootoo @ 1.9?

Not that I don't agree with you (I am the king of personal issues), but why wouldn't they just say it's personal? It worked for Gionta earlier this season. He said it was a personal family matter, and that was that.

Also, Nill knows all our secrets, weaknesses, secret weaknesses, weakness secrets. Ugh. That this is a home game and one that we should win - those two things alone have me worrying enough, without even considering any of the other things. I want a win tonight. Badly.

I guess for me, living in the "Metro" area, it's a bigger deal than it maybe should be. There is, for example, an incredible level of negativity in the truly Metro area regarding the failures of all the major NY sports franchises. And the failings of the Metro Division just sort of feed that fire and lead some people to ask what's in the water. It's all cyclical, I know. But, bottom line, I guess: it's pretty amazing just how bad this division has been thus far. In McIndoe's words, it's "historically bad." (And it is.) I thought it was worth trying to get a discussion out of it, but I guess there's not a whole lot to discuss. My bad. Also: I like saying, "I guess."

Maybe he's claiming to be injured for immunity, as in, like, protection against being bought out. Players can be bought out during the season, right?

Helm is the anti-Samuelsson. In theory, the two should cancel each other out.

Announcer Hasek FTW.

You guys are no fun.

What? No. I just know The League is all about "engineering equality" and trying to sex things up. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I see the Metro as kind of a black eye for The League. But then, I guess you could say there's a lot of "parity" within the Metro's ranks, which is...a plus? I dunno. The Leafs and Lightning are top teams now. Nothing makes sense any more. *rocks back and forth in a corner*

Um, not to be a jerk, but how closely have you been following things? Because it's accepted as fact that the Metro is an abomination. (Read the piece I linked to, it's eye-opening.) In addition to the Flyers and Rangers, The Devils have been wretched. The Blue Jackets have regressed. The Islanders have looked average at best. The Hurricanes and Capitals - I'm not seeing how you can compare the Metro to the Atlantic. The latter has its weak teams, but it also boasts the Bruins, Leafs, Wings, Habs, and the newly respectable Bolts. All of those teams are doing very well, which is the opposite of very poorly, which is how the Metro is generally performing. And sooner or later the Sens are going to turn things around, which should leave just the Sabres and Panthers as division cellar-dwellers. The Atlantic is arguably the toughest division. The Metro is without question the worst. I mean, it's still early in the season, I guess. And anything can happen in The Age of Parity. But things aren't looking good for the Metro. Not good at all.

Wanted to directly quote this: http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/franzen-may-be-ready-by-tuesday Probably not as fishy as it might seem. Could be the flu, or maybe he hurt his boobs like Sammy.

I've never really understood the whole injuries-must-be-kept-under-wraps-whenever-possible thing. Why the iron curtain? I mean, I get the logic (protection against "targeted attacks"), but I feel like it's kind of a phantom issue. Clubs should be forced to disclose the details regarding any and all inuries, IMHO.

I definitely acknowledge all of that, I just don't really see a need to talk it up, because everyone and his mom has already done that for me. If you ask 945 NHL "insiders" about Ken Holland and the Detroit Red Wings, 944 of them will make the point you're making - that those who are Red Wings want to stay Red Wings, and those who aren't Red Wings want to be Red Wings. Because it's a "family system," and because of the "winning ways." Holland is always having praise lavished on him. It's not like everyone (in real life, outside LGW) beats up on him and I'm just salting his gaping wounds, all while his good deeds go unnoticed, unappreciated. And, indeed, I think our move to the East is going to make us more attractive to this epic upcoming UFA class - and I'm sure that's where Holland is planning to do some damage (the good kind, of course).

Fail 4 Nail

Babs and Holland seem to feel Cleary is a serviceable top-sixer at this point in his career. Point being, in their eyes he's not even at the washed-up-fourth-liner-who-can-just-barely-hack-it-and-should-be-scratched-most-nights stage yet. So I'm expecting him to re-sign for another couple of seasons.

I'm hoping Jurco can be that guy for us. Also, did you know Maltby was a 50-goal scorer in juniors?

Good riddance!

The Tootoo signing was stupid. The Sammy signing was stupid. The Cleary signing was stupid. The Colaiacovo signing was stupid. The Weiss signing looks like it might be a bust. Alfredsson was a one-year slam dunk, and he basically came to Holland and said, "Sell me on the Wings and I'm yours" (not so different from Hossa, Holland's other "recent" slam dunk). Also, he seems ok with losing pieces for nothing, as opposed to something (I guess I'm mostly referring to Filppula here). Without Datsyuk and Zetterberg, this would be a terrible, terrible team. I'm not asking for perfection, but you would expect the ZOMG BEST GM EVER to not fall flat on his face all over the place like he's been doing lately. Just getting Gustav Nyquist on this roster is proving to be a monumental challenge for him, or something he's simply not very interested in doing. (Which is fine. I mean, it's not like Nyquist is one of our best forwards or anything, and it's not like we need any help up front.) Where's the creativity? Where's the urgency? Where's the rabbit from the hat? I feel like our ZOMG BEST GM EVER has been sitting on his hands for seven seasons. And for what purpose? To what end? The rise of our young prospects? The singular importance of building and promoting from within? That song and dance? ZOMG BEST GM EVER though he may be, Holland seems awfully content to "just be," saying, "ZOMG SALARY CAP. MY HANDS ARE TIED," at every opportunity. Yes, Ken, your hands are tied. By your butt. /weekly rant

Just because we all want it to happen, and it probably should happen, doesn't necessarily mean it will. (Truism, I know.) And I'm not talking about him being picked up off waivers - I'm talking about him being placed on waivers in the first place. I mean, Sammy is still with us, we brought back Cleary, and I'll use Bertuzzi now to suit my argument. Holland is ultra-loyal, and I've gotta think he's got some extra motivation to keep Franzen around, because, ZOMG HOLLAND DRAFTED A PREMIER POWER FORWARD, and #Could'veBeenHossa.

Cleary and Samuelsson, yes. Bertuzzi, no.

[insert joke about breaking down barriers, reaching out to the fans, etc.]

Red Wings defensemen turn attention to transition game