Dabura

Wait, is this the same Toews who completely lost his marbles against us? And I feel like we're always saying, "Ha! Such and such a GM is really in trouble now! No WAY can they afford to keep such and such a superstar AND such and such a superstar!" but the GM in question usually gets it done. Or maybe I'm off on this one.

I realize "Give the kids a chance!" refers not just to the kids in the pipeline but also the ones that've already made their way to the big club. But my point still stands. We need a top-4 defenseman. We have a ton of young talent in the pipeline, and some key young pieces on the team already. Maybe we have to part with a juicy prospect to get that top-4 defenseman. Maybe - *gasp* - we have to cut ties with two young guns to get that top-4 defenseman. But that's how trading works. You give some to get some. And I think, given our situation, giving some (potentially potentially-great-young-talent) to get a much-needed (in the here and now, i.e. while Datsyuk and Zetterberg are still with us) high-end defenseman makes a lot of sense. (For the record, I think a guy like DeKeyser is pretty much untouchable.)

What is all this pitter-patter about giving the kids time? Are wanting a top defenseman now (because I want to win now and I think that, with the addition of a solid top-4 piece, we might actually have a shot) and "giving the kids a fair chance" somehow necessarily mutually exclusive? Like GMR said - now is the thing. Now is the time is now. Which isn't to say I don't want, or don't think, we can't dominate in the nearish future, with Sproul, XO, et al. on the horizon, and with Nyquist and Anderson and DeKeyser and Tatar and others starting to make some noise. It's just...we're talking a few years down the road away. Like, at least half a decade. And winning now (which, again, is the thing), doesn't necessarily mean selling the farm (especially since, y'know, our GM is supposedly a god among men). Maybe we lose a future blue-line piece, but it's not like we're talking about throwing our future away. I mean, how would that work? Sather wold ask for all of our future talent in exchange for Dan Girardi?

Improvement, yet somehow still evil. Oh, wait, no, that's just The Parise Effect. For the record, I really, really like their green special jerseys. Why not just make this their road and the green one their home? That'd be cool. Yes.

Scotty Bowman would have eaten him alive. For breakfast.

Totally agree. Assorted thoughts, because my brain is mush: - This past run was great. But, if you think about it...1) we were probably overachieving like crazy, and 2) it was only the second round. (Granted, we got the eventual SCC in the second round. Which sucks. But still.) - If it's Cup or bust (and it should be), we need a solid, high-endish, big-nameish, veteranish, shut-downish defensman. If it's second round or oh well, we're set on the back-end. - I have no reason to believe Holland won't snag a top-4 guy who fits the above profile. Because, seriously, the thought of losing Kronwall for any amount of time is absolutely terrifying, not good for the heart, etc. And that's not what you want for a serious Cup-contending team. - Dan Girardi.

We shouldn't fear anybody because we are awesome and the East is cheese.

So. Much. Fail.

“They play that skating style, that puck possession style, that’s demanding and makes things happen." (Alfredsson.) http://www.foxsportsdetroit.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/story/Alfredsson-skates-as-Red-Wing?blockID=934583&feedID=3569 (Re: Do we still play a puck-possession system?)

We all wear masks, metaphorically speaking.

Fixed.

Well, I'm American, so I have to root for all of them. *ambivalent face* (Secretly, I'm rooting for Sweden.) Also, all these people saying that the people responsible for the U.S. jerseys are going to be fired into oblivion - you know that's not going to happen. You know they're getting promotions and raises and sublimated stars.

So that's also pretty much an official no to Cleary coming back, right?

And they should have goalies. And they should be the robots from Pacific Rim.

Can you imagine how the young guys on our team must feel about this? I mean in the positive sense. Like, suddenly, Hey, Daniel Alfredsson's on your team! O RLY?

China in a bull shop.

A little bird tells me that when we check - with our shoulders - the stars will actually explode on impact.

"Encouraging": Is it encouraging?

Still awful. I lurve Russia's, even if they're the same thing as ours or whatever. Actually, I'm not overly keen on the red. But the white is very nice.

So, wait, pipe dreams are allowed? Dustin Brown Ryan Callahan Dan Girardi Milan Lucic Wayne Simmonds et al.

I know this was directed at Crymson and stuff, but, I just want to say, I'm really not sure why there's this great big battle over Cleary. Like, I get that people think other people went, like, way overboard in trashing him. But...so what? What's the angle? "HE HAS HEART. AND WILLINGNESS." OK, got it. Thing is, he's also over-the-hill. His knees don't work. The season's 82+ games long. And even Ken Holland - Ken Holland! - seems to have jumped off the Cleary ship, so to speak. I dunno. I guess I feel like, if we've got a problem with our net-font game (and we do), and Dan Cleary is, like, the only guy keeping it afloat...that's a serious, serious problem. And the solution, I think, isn't to just hold Cleary until he's 65 years old. Maybe we get exposed, and, in turn, pounded. I'd be ok with that, because (you'd think) it would force Holland's hand (i.e. he'd have to pick someone up. Maybe, I dunno, a legitimate power-forward. Or, hey, maybe one of the 8 billion "grinder-type" guys we have could step up to the proverbial plate.) I think Bertuzzi will be counted on to take that beating in front of the net, to a reasonable extent. I think Tatar likes playing in that area. I think Franzen has shown a willingness.... I think Weiss could be Cleary 2.0, in a good way. I think Alfredsson is gonna battle like the badass-old-geezer-who-just-pissed-off-an-entire-city that he is. I don't see much of a need for Cleary, and I think on this much, at least, we can all agree.

One more contract? Sammy? Are you crazy? Eight more contracts, at least. And then, when he finally does retire, his #37 gets raised @ "The Mike" (Mikael Samuelsson Arena). Legend.

Callahan would be fantastic.

I guess I'll be re-upping with the good ole NHL Network. (Where the NHL gets hockey.)

One player to rule them all. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) (Oh, don't act like you weren't thinking it.)