Dabura

Shocking!

What I'm really looking forward to is the Wings dominating in the second half and then adding a Sundin or a Foote at the deadline as if it say, "And I did your mom last night." Edit: And I'd like to agree with the comments about the record. It is a bit..."inflated."

Truth. Tell you what, though: the Wings DO NOT want to face the Blues or Hawks in the first round.

Franzenstein's fake made me lol. I don't think the puck was even on his stick when he deked, but it was a great move nonetheless.

I never said they're not going to contribute; I implied they're not going to contribute enough. Adquate secondary scoring is -- for this team as it currently stands -- a proven, bona fide goal-scorer who can anchor the second line. Flip and Hudler are red-hot right now, no doubt. But it won't be nearly as easy in the postseason. Of course, that's assuming all of those guys are healthy throughout the playoffs. What happens if we lose Flip or Hudler? Or what about Hank or Dats? How about Flip/Hudler and Hank/Dats? What happens is we're screwed. My wet dream is Sundin for cheap and a guaranteed two years.

Sure -- in the regular season. The only way to adequately address the problem is to bring in help from outside.

Haha, I know. I basically just used your comment as an excuse to keep talking.

That's a big part of my overall point, which is that the regular season can be -- and usually is with the Wings -- deceiving. I don't mean to bash Flip; he's already a world-class player and in about two or three seasons he's going to be a monster. But right now, neither he nor Hudler should be viewed as legitimate answers to this roster's lack of scoring depth. They'll continue to do well in the regular season, but like you said, they have room and some flexibility -- things they absolutely won't have in the playoffs. Especially against the Ducks. This isn't about getting down on them; this is about being realistic. Realistically, this roster, as it stands right now, could easily be pounded in the playoffs. If the Wings lose Hank or Dats for an extended period of time, they're screwed. If they lose a top-4 defenseman, they're screwed. If the opposition decides to take physical liberties...well, they may not be screwed, but they're still far from being a team that thrives in the face of physicality. Hell, what happens if we lose Hank or Dats and Flip or Huds to injury? Sure would be nice to have a little more top-6 scoring punch in that case, eh? The D may be in slightly better shape, but even it has obvious problems -- namely a lack of size and a top-4 defensive defenseman. People point to Rafalski and Kronwall as proof that the D is fine, perhaps even better than last year's D. While I have no beef with either of them, they're both smallish, o-minded guys. The only truly big hangbacker we have is Lilja, and frankly, he's not going to cut it. To the person who said it wouldn't be worth giving up Meech if it meant getting Foote: you're OUT. OF. YOUR. MIND. Adam Foote at age 36 is more valuable than Derek Meech will ever be and is about as good a practical solution to the D dilemma as the Wings are likely to find this season. Adding him would be phenomenal, though it most likely won't happen.

Then you'll never see the Wings make a trade ever again -- let alone one of importance.

Just curious: How did your boy Jackman fare against that clean hit from Franzen? Oh wait, that's right, he turned to the boards like a ***** and has a concussion to show for it.

Truism. Guys, the Wings should and will make at least one deal before the postseason. Deal with it.

I hope you're not implying Boston isn't a hockey town.

I'd also like Mr. Kocur to sit right behind the Blues' bench.

If you've been a Wings fan for more than one season, you know the regular season means nothing. Or, more specifically, that dominating the league in the regular season doesn't necessarily translate to dominating in the postseason. The 62-win team is the perfect example. There's always room for improvement. There certainly is with this team, which remains short on scoring depth, a top-4 stay-at-home defenseman, size, muscle, and snarl. Besides, like Matt said, there's no reason not to take advantage of that space.

If Murray plans on starting something on Monday in the Wings' building...well, Downey had better be ready.

I'm not sure what your beef is with Franzen and I don't really care. He's shown he can do what he was brought in to do -- bring energy, good wheels, decent point production, defensive awareness -- and I'd be perfectly content to see him keep doing what he's doing. Because it works. As for Downey -- come again? He hasn't fought in a bit. That's it. I certainly wouldn't say he's underperforming. You talk about our fourth line being a weakness -- if anything, I think it's one of this team's great strengths. Ponder this: if the Wings were to bring in a goal-scorer for the second line, Flip or Hudler might very well find himself on the fourth line. Considering how well they've been playing, that's got to be an unsettling thought for the opposition. Now, what the opposition likes about this team (though, admittedly, there aren't many things to like) is its lack of pure goal-scorers and size. Shut down Hank and Datsyuk in the postseason and you take away the Wings' only legitimate goal-scoring threats, forcing them to grind out their goals. Flip, Hudler and Sammy are not good enough to score in bunches under such circumstances. There are several potential solutions. One: Add another goal-scorer to spread the opposition's shutdown effort thin. Two: Add muscle to make the shutdown effort tougher. Three: Tighten the D to ensure that the team can hold its own in a low-scoring, trap-happy best-of-seven series. In a perfect world, all three would be addressed by the beginning of the postseason. But that's not happening, so management has to prioritize. Personally, I hope the solution is a guy like Sundin or Foote. But we'll just have to wait and see.

I suppose it's kind of a moot point, but I really don't see boarding on that play. It may look a little questionable from the camera angle on the screen caps I provided, but if you imagine yourself looking at Jackman from Franzen's perspective in the first shot, you'd see Jackman head-on. That he was pushed into the boards in a "dangerous" way (boarding) is 100% Jackman's fault. For being such a "tough" player, he made the classic pansy move of turning away from a shoulder-to-shoulder hit along the boards and showing the checker the number on the back of his jersey. He was probably hoping he could spin to the right and dodge the hit altogether...which is OK. But he should man-up and admit that, not let his coach cry intent to injure.

The thing is, the hit was only from "behind" because, like you said, Jackman turned towards the boards. The hit itself -- at least as Franzen was planning it about 0.4 seconds before impact -- wasn't questionable; Jackman knew it was coming. He just put himself in a bad position. Certainly not the classic blindside "hit from behind" that Murray apparently saw. Had Franzen really wanted to hurt Jackman, he would have taken out his left leg. As it is, Jackman's lucky he only has a concussion.

Not by choice, though; with the way the Wings have been playing, he's pretty much had to. It's fun watching him praise them. You can tell he doesn't believe a word he's saying. Lots of grunty "Um"s.

If it's between those two, the former. Right now, the D is much too o-minded. What we really need is a big, smart, nasty stay-at-home presence who can play top-4 minutes without being a liability. I agree and disagree; we need scoring, but we could also use some muscle. Scoring is the big concern right now, IMO. Hudler and Flip are performing well right now, but it's going to be much, much tougher for them come the postseason, especially against a stifling Ducks D. There's a definite need for a proven legitimate goal-scoring threat on the second line. Guys like Cleary, Franzen and Downey can take care of the grinding.

He should be more for frustrated over his team getting its collective ass handed to it 5-0. Clean hit, Andy. Suck it up and move on.

Sammy's a good player, and he's shown he can consistently put up respectable numbers. However, I've never liked him on the second line. It feels like an act of charity, or a "better than nothing" option. Bottom line: if Sammy represents a second-line slot on the roster, the Wings can do much better. Maybe not for the same price tag, but there's definitely some wiggle room.

The Detroit Red Wings haven't faced many tests this season on their way to the NHL's best record. That could come to an end Thursday night when they face a bitter rival for the first time in 2007-08. LOL, USA Today's such a bunch of hacks.

I have no sympathy for that guy.