Dabura

I fear we suck.

I should make clear: I'm all for letting the kids play. I'm just saying, if Holland could've avoided bringing all these young guns up to the big club, he almost certainly would've. Smith, maybe Nyquist - they were pretty much guaranteed a spot no matter what. But beyond that? This was supposed to be a decidedly veteran lineup.

Pretty much.

I don't realize that, no. Holland is hardcore about his "over-ripe" philosophy. And Babs, for whatever reason, loves, loves, LOVES his veterans - quite often at some young guy's expense. And Holland was courting a number of free agents this past summer. My point was, Holland had no choice. Babs had no choice. Injuries + striking out re: UFAs = "Youth movement." Why do you think Sammy was brought back to the fold?

I'd rather have Clowe on Datsyuk's wing than Abdelkader. MINI-RANT TIME! The days of winning on skill alone are pretty much over. And we're moving to the EC. So: we need to get a little bigger, stronger, meaner. Holland believes we'll be fine if we just "play big" and our "big guys" put the hurt on. Well, that's great and all, except Helm can't stay healthy, Bertuzzi's like 90 years old, Sammy is Sammy, Franzen is Franzen...and our scoring corps includes Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Filppula, Brunner, Nyquist....

Not be That Guy, but...you all realize our "youth movement" is kind of a lie, right? If we aren't decimated by injuries, and if Holland lands Parise or Suter or Salo etc., we remain a heavily veteran team.

"We like our team." "We're gonna kick all the tires." "The price wasn't right." "[insert injured player] is our big deadline acquisition." We need some t-shirts! We could wear them to The Joe in groups - y'know, in honor of Ken's brilliant work and all.

Clowe is great. Wanted him in a Wings jersey - but, honestly, he's better suited to the blue shirts. (And yes, that is a knock against us.)

Say what you want - Shero has a pretty good head on his shoulders.

Oh, I don't deny that. Was just saying. (Who knows, though. Maybe Gaborik would catch fire as a Wing.)

I don't like the Wild, but, objectively, I love the Pommy pickup. They are a dangerous team right now. I can see them doing serious damage this postseason.

People hate on Franzen because of the way he plays the game. I'm not sure why this is difficult for people to understand.

Good for him. He seems like a great guy.

Why do something when you can do nothing?

SAMUELSSON BABY!!!!! WOO-HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And whose fault is that?

We've been essentially standing pat for how long now? At what point does this become laziness, or worse? What are the odds that we get to this summer...and stand pat? And then get to the next trade deadline...and stand pat? And then get to next summer...and stand pat? And then.... And for how long do we ride the 4 Cups? And how many of those were solidly, squarely, undeniably, unequivocally Holland's? Holland just doesn't seem hungry to win. He doesn't seem to want to do everything in his power to make this team as competitive as possible. It seems like it's more a "Well, if something falls in my lap, great. But it has to fall in my lap" M.O. Hurray for complacency!

I'm starting to think Holland is *more than ok* with not making the playoffs.

Compliance buyouts, here we come.

I'm with ya, Kip. I get that we're not really in a position to wheel and deal. What vexes me is that we're in this spot to begin with. It feels like we do nothing, and we say our hands are tied, and that goes back to us having said the same thing six months prior - but ***we don't talk about that***...., and we do some more of nothing, and things get worse, but what can we do? Our hands are tied. We have to see what this group can do! And on and on, nothing new under the sun, etc. etc. etc.

*yawn* @ Detroit Red Wings

With the team we have, I'd take Parise over Franzen just about any day of the week. Guy's a mad-dog puck-hound. Very intense forechecker, very responsible defensively. Great leader.

- AO is money in Washington. He puts butts in the seats. They'll part with him when he's 36 and his body is failing him. Not before then. And like kip said, he's back in beast mode right now. - Holland has no imgination, drive.

We're not winning the Cup this year. I'll be amazed if we even seriously challenge for it. (Prove me wrong, Wings.) So...if Flip wants 5, and we could get a 1st for him...trade him.

The NHLN is now TSN, aka Man, Toronto Sure Is Awesome. EDIT: To my knowledge, Holland hasn't said big splash. "If something falls into my lap and slaps me across the face, sure. But...." = No big splash, IMHO. I'd love, love, LOVE for him to make a big splash, even if it's just for the sake of making a big splash. (I'm bored, and greedy.) But I'll be incredibly surprised if it happens.