Dabura

Is Redmond a little senile?

Oh hell yes.

Dats is falling a lot these days. What's up with that?

I've decided passing is our biggest issue. Especially in our zone.

Game 7. Never Forget.

Aw crud, is the Gamecenter feed behind? tmmlol

BERT

PP. We get one here. Maybe.

Liking Glendening so far.

Ken Daniels looks like Brendan Smith. I bet they're secretly father-son.

The Flyers are 1-19 in their last twenty visits to the Joe? That can't be right.

kip, you're being a partypooper. All Nyquist has done is destroy the AHL and play a key role in this past postseason run with the Wings (looking like far and away one of the best, most effective forwards on this team in the process). True, he hasn't "produced like Cleary," but he's also had a fraction of the time and opportunity Cleary's had. He's the future, and the future is now. And the future is...sitting in Grand Rapids. And that is ridiculous. No voodoo rhetoric here. No extremist agenda. Just logic, or common sense, or whatever you want to call it. A really good up-and-comer deserves a spot on a roster that's overloaded with scrubs and plugs, guys who overall aren't as good and effective as said youngster. And, I mean, aren't the Wings all about building from within? Hasn't that been Holland's Big Thing for a good long while now? Young talent! Prospects! Youth! Homegrown talent! Drafting! The future! WHILE MY GITTAH GENTLY WEEPS

The whole borderline-arrogance thing. That's been the one big knock against him. Well, besides his size and shoddy defense.

Judging from Babs' comment about Tatar not being in, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Tatar's "off-ice persona" has not endeared him to his head coach. And now that I think about it...is it perhaps a little interesting that Babs says - about a week ago, I think - that he likes Tatar as a player? (Unless memory doesn't serve and that's not in fact what he said. But I'm pretty sure it is.) Then you add Smith's idiocy to the equation, and you look at Glendening (hard-working, "blue-collar," etc.) getting the promotion....Maybe Babs is on a "Red Wings Way" kick. Maybe what's going on with the lines is about attitude and character more than anything else. (See also (?): Tootoo.)

Whoaaa, I didn't know Smith had said all this. YOU'RE KILLING ME, SMALLS

So I just read the juicy Babs comment everyone's talking about. Very interesting.

Personally, I've been incredibly unhappy with our defense in general (both the blue line and Team D), especially in our own zone. I'm happy that one of Smith and Quincey will be sitting, cuz GOOD LORD they have been a brutal pairing. (And that's not a new development, it's a continuation from last season.) But, again, all of our defensemen have to be better and our Team D needs to improve as well. Lashoff isn't really an upgrade over a struggling Smith, and I'm guessing Babs is well aware of that, but I think Babs is right that we need to play a much "heavier" game, and in that regard I like the Lashoff add. (And, as mentioned, I like the message being sent to Smith. I just hope it isn't lost on him.) Fun, fun, fun.

I was going to point out his comments (re: being scratched), because they did strike me as kind of facepalmy. http://www.freep.com/article/20131012/SPORTS05/310120065/1053/sports05 I remember hearing or reading an anecdote last year wherein Babcock tells Smith he's scratching him for the next game, Smith says ok, Babs says NO IT'S NOT OK, and Smith says he only said it was ok because he didn't want to cross Babs. Take from that what you will.

Hartnell and Lecavalier out with inuries, Emery possibly starting in net. Oh yeah, and it's the Flyers. If we don't win this game, the universe will implode.

Thing is, we need these two guys to be the next Euro Twins. Or, not necessarily be them, but at least sort of start to learn from them and eventually maybe kinda slightly take over for them, at least until we have lots of Euro Twin Replacement options (i.e. until the true "Next Generation" - e.g. Pulkkinen, Jarnkrok, Frk - graduates to the big league) and the depth of our prospect pool really shines through, pays off. I get the sense that that's not really going to start until next season, which puts things several seasons behind schedule, which sucks. And for what? For whom? I fear the answer is "A bunch of fourth-line plugs. (Because Holland can't control himself.)" And I guess that's my problem with all of this. That it's not really about over-ripening or strategic development or icing the best team possible - it's about the fact that you can't sit a guy who's making three million dollars. I will say this, though: I like our depth. I like that it's not "Oh s***, if Nyquist or Tatar get hurt...what do we do?" I just wish our "depth guys" were, well, better. I think if we had, like, an actual bottom six, people would generally be more ok with Nyquist and Tatar getting the shaft. Maybe. mehhh P.S. One reason Nyquist and Tatar aren't going to be the next Euro Twins (at least not right away): Babs won't use them the way they really ought to be used, i.e. as scorers, not checkers or energy guys or two-way PK specialists. I'm hoping that won't be the case when the "depth guys" are gone and/or if our "luck" with injuries becomes an issue once again.

I think it makes sense to have one thread where we can discuss all the non-Wings games, rather than make a new out-of-town GDT every night. GENIUS, I KNOW. So. The Panthers are beating the Pens right now. Awesome? Awesome.

Total Recalled. Sorry, that's all I've got.

I dunno. On the one hand, we really do keep the kids down too long. But on the other hand...do we really keep them down too long? Isn't it fair to say that, for the most part, it's worked pretty well for our prospects, the team, the organization as a whole? Look at, say, Jimmy. If memory serves, he took forever to really get a legitimate chance, right? Many outside the organization (fans, etc.) got to fearing he'd never make his way here. And now look at him. One of the best 'tenders in the world, no question. Which isn't to say he definitely wouldn't have become this good had he not been held down for so long. But I do feel it generally does more good than harm to the kids' development, this over-ripening approach. I think the real problem right now is that Holland made some poor decisions regarding a few non-prospects (Sammy et al.), and now we've got some unnecessary roster-locks gumming up the works, clogging the pipeline.

Panthers win! 6-3! Good times.

Cool, thanks for the tip! I didn't go to ND or WM, but I can dig it. Hey, it's what'shisname, who coached...the Kings? Wow, he - Murray? - just called a very early timeout and really tore into his guys.