Hank

This is amazing to me. Tootoo looks like a bag of smashed a**holes and he had a superhot girlfriend. How is it this fug-midget gets TWO woman to sleep with him? And who brings the stepladder so he can kiss them? QFT! Only braindead slugs would even contemplate taking Tootoo over Lappy. Lapperierre is awesome and I'd LOVE to have him on the Wings.

LOL! I heard that on XM. I love Burke only because he's a great soap opera to follow when things get dull. However, what I can't stand about him is how he's getting a lot of credit for Bryan Murray's work. Murray basically built that team. It's true that Burke brought in Selanne and Neidermayer but Neids basically told him he's playing for the Ducks because he wanted to be with his bro. And will someone please tell Burke to move his mouth when he talks. It's like watching a damn mummy speak!

I don't think anyone's asking him to drop the helmet but his no warning cheap-shots are pure cowardice. It's one thing to do it on the street when your safety is genuinely in jeopardy, but on the rink, if a guy asks you to dance and you're going to oblige, be a man about it. Like someone mentioned, one of these days someone's really going to get ticked off. I'm sure Lappy isn't going to give Toto the benefit of the doubt the next time they play. He should just start swinging and send him back to Oz. Please read what HaroldSnepts wrote above you. The only difference between this incident and the Robidas one is that he missed Lappy. If he had connected it would have been no different. Tootoo's an idiot and I can't wait for the day when someone stomps this midget into the ice. And it will come sooner rather than later.

It's not just the commentators but some of their media to. Last year when Tootoo tried to punk Clowe and got an ass-beating for his trouble, some Nashville hockey writer (a term I use very loosely) wrote about the scrap and you would have thought Clowe was in the hospital. If you had actually seen the fight you would have known that Tootoo threw 2 or 3 cowardly punches before Clowe was even ready. But then Clowe unleashed on Webster and tossed him around like a mouthy step-child.

Tootoo is a little b***ch. He does this to every guy in the league. I'm waiting for the day that honourable fighters like Lapperierre just start throwing punches at this midget instead of following the code and asking him politely. In Probert's day, this half-pint would have been knocked back into Nunavut. Let's hope that this idiot and Perry collide one day and both are destroyed in a dishonorable fight that sees both injured with simultaneous sucker punches.

Calgary is not a good team. They'll be good enough to make the playoffs but they are undisciplined and they're only way of winning games is on the PP and at home.

I like Cajanek but I don't think this team needs any more soft Euro's.

I think fans, as a whole, don't care much for a grinding line unless it fights a lot. And 3rd lines would still be around. You'd still see lines like Moen-Phalsson-Neidermayer that provide what you described. And with no instigator and less players you'd still see players like Drake looking for justice at the end of a game if someone violated one of the stars. Plus, the one extra forward could be a goon.

Well said; both of you. That's why Gerard Gallant will always be my 2nd favourite Wing of all time. He could score, hit and fight. I'd love to have a guy like that on this team. But I guess every team would.

I'm of this opinion too. I have nothing against European players but you can see that the fans want to embrace a North American star. Somebody they can relate too. It would be no different if a Swedish Elite team had mostly N.A. players. I'm sure they'd prefer to have a few more Swedish stars on the club. But what can you do? I don't see this changing anytime soon. With the money Pavel, Lids and Zetts are going to be earning over the next 5 years, the only way we get a North American star is by drafting one. And those kinds of players don't slip to the bottom very often. Man would I love to have a kid like Kyle Turris or Sam Gagner in our system.

There's never going to be a 100% fair schedule. The Wings and Blue Jackets have been getting screwed for a while now. If making certain EST teams travel a bit more to make the league more balanced and exciting, I'll take that tradeoff. I think the divisions I cooked up are pretty entertaining with some quality teams/rivals in each division. Playoffs would be a hoot to watch.

I don't think anyone says they have no value to their team. I'm just one of the few that doesn't tie victories so closely to how many goons your team has.

As in, you have to get out of your division to get to the conference finals. Just like how it was about 10 years ago. Regarding TO, they were in the Norris for a lot longer than they've been in the Eastern Conference. That division will be fine. And the only reason that Ott and TO have a rivalry is because of a number of playoff tilts. I'm sure once Ottawa faces Buffalo or Montreal or Tampa Bay a number of times, a rivalry will be born there too. I don't like the 4th line because all it does is provide more rest for the top two lines. And most 4th lines are merely checking lines that bring nothing to the game, entertainment wise, other than to play sound defensive hockey and maintain a defensive system the coaches have in place. With 16 skaters, teams can choose to dress 6 dmen and 10 forwards. That 10th forward can be a goon for the fans of scrapping.

Thank you. I mispoke when I said he played 0 games. He did play 5 games out of 21. I still stand firm that goons don't win playoff games. Sure, they'll help keep players safe during the regular season but outside of Chris Neil there aren't too many goons that can contribute in the most important games in Spring. (eg. Andrew Peters 0 games out of 16 Sabres playoff games). At the same time, Kocur wasn't asked to be a goon for the Wings. At that stage in his career they needed a veteran presense to fill out their grind-line when injuries or changes arose. And because Kocur still had a good head for the game and decent wheels he filled in beautifully as a guy that would take a couple of shifts per period. The point is, if a goon is dressing for a playoff game it's not to fight or intimidate it'll be because they can actually contribute to the outcome of the game. For every '97 Kocur I can name a number of goons that won't suit up for a great majority of playoff games.

I'm not against fighting at all but I don't think it's essential to winning hockey games. If it was teams would be loading up with goons before the playoffs. And the Ducks wouldn't have sat George Parros for every single playoff game last year (and they still managed to win the Cup). I don't like the scripted fights between goons. If goons are going to go I want it to be because they're pissed or they're paying that team back for touching a superstar. I love tilts like Perry-Drake. Two guys that fight only when they're ticked off. I have to say though, I miss the days watching Probie patrolling the ice ready to kill anyone that sneezes in the same direction as Steve Yzerman. I still remember that fight where Yzerman got tangled up with Kevin Maguire. Probie was salivating trying to get at Macguire as the Sabre 'tough guy' started throwing punches at Stevie. Eventually Probie caught him with a beautiful uppercut that knocked him out cold. Awesome. Man do I miss the days when anyone that came over our blueline got a stick in the head for it. Gallant, Probie, Kocur, Snepts, Norwood. Even Dave Barr would throw 'em once in a while. That team was tough.

I agree with your post and NeverForgetMac's as well. It's a combination of things going on in the NHL and the fans being spoiled with a winner. The schedule is a big concern because it's so weighted towards divisional teams. And since we're in a horrible division there's no sense of the Wings ever not making the playoffs. How excited can you get facing 3 of the worst teams in hockey 24 times? But the product on the ice needs to improve as well. I think the hockey is lightyears better than it was pre-lockout. I hated the dead puck era. But they've got to find a way to get the game to resemble more of the 80's. There's more speed today but defensive systems and ginormous goalie equipment have killed any kind of creativity in the league. When you have 7-8 skaters on the ice at any time, who couldn't care less about the puck, it makes for boring hockey. There used to be a time when players wanted to score 50 goals or 100 points. Now those kinds of thoughts are dismissed as selfish. Ugh, maybe I'm just getting old and I hate admitting it. But I loved hockey in the 80's. There wasn't any neutral zone traps, teams actually sent in 3 forwards to forecheck and the kind of tactics Pronger gets away with were dealt with swift justice (usually a Prober or Tony Twist right-hand). I don't like to harp on the game that we see, but it feels so 'milk-toast'. Again, I have to reiterate that the last 2 seasons were much, much, much more enjoyable than during the dead-puck era. But the league needs to bring some character back to the game. Unfortunately, to do that, drastic changes need to be made and I don't think the league or fans are ready for them.

Love it or hate it, this man is speaking the truth. I have a very hard time believing that if "Hockeytown" was given the choice of replacing the 2007 Red Wings with the 1987 Red Wings, a lot of people would be welcoming Gerard Gallant, Joe Kocur, Bob Probert, Harold Snepts and a pre-prime Steve Yzerman back into their arms. Detroit is a blue-collar town and we like our blue-collar hockey. The Wings sacrificed 1st round draft picks to build Cup winning teams. I would never give that away. But what that did was force the braintrust to find steals in later rounds. And most of those steals are found in Europe. Since the lockout ended Jim Nill has done a good job with drafting more North American players. But it's going to be a few years before they come into the flock. If the Wings can't sellout with a Championship calibre team then maybe Illitch will be looking to take less talent and success for more crash-and-bang hockey.

QFT. I hate guys that fight with visors. Wade Redden went twice last night and he has a visor down to his chin. If you're going to go, lose the lid and shield.

I think Drew hit the nail on the head on all accounts; 1. Resentment over lockout 2. No North American faces for fans to connect with 3. Fans found other outlets during lockout 4. Schedule is horrendous.

I wasn't implying that Hasek lost us the cup last year. Far be it. But I think Luongo would have put us over the top. I'm very happy that we have Hasek back, but anyone would be insane to take him over Luongo.

Don't worry OsGod, I love A.O. as well. What I like most is how he looks like he's having a blast out there. Great player and a great ambassador to the game.

Good post. I still think Illitch should make the playes more accessible to the fans. The Tigers always have a meet-and-greet before the season starts. The Wings need to start doing that too. Get people connected to the team. I loved how the Tigers celebrated with the fans when they won the ALDS and ALCS. It made Tigers fans believe that they were apart of the team as well. When's the last time the Wings ever did anything like that (in regards to meeting the fans)? I guarentee you if Illitch had a 'meet the team' event where anyone can come to the joe and hang out with the players, taking pictures, getting autographs, more tickets will sell. I hate how snobby this team can appear to be at times. I know it's not the players fault, as I'm sure most of them would love something like this. It's time the brass let the shields down and the fans in.

Good points. There's a tonne of Wings fans in the area who simply cannot afford to go to games. Even at $22 that'll cost me $44 for the tix, $20 for parking and the I know I'll grab something to eat and drink. If I get any souvenirs we're looking at close to $100.00. That's not too bad but I can only do that once or twice a year.

The Redwings Corner blog had an excellent take on this too. I still think the Wings desperately need a North American offensive star to bring people back to the rink. Anyway, I saw an add for Wings tickets today on ESPN. I was floored. I can't remember the last time I saw the Wings actually advertising tickets. Part of me is upset that it's not a sellout tonight but more of me is smiling. I"m still miffed at Illitch for refusing to reduce ticket prices when the lockout ended. His payroll was cut in HALF and yet he kept the same overinflated prices. I think that was a major mistake. Having $9 tickets helps and I'm happy that I'll be able to get tickets this year to pretty much any game I want. But I really hope this sends a message, loud and clear, to brillo-top that he needs to reach out to the fans a lot more. Hey Illitch! How about you actually make your players more accessible to the fans??? Pittsburgh has the most exciting and gifted player since Gretzky hand-delivering season tickets to Pens fans. When's the last time you anyone saw Yzerman out signing autographs? It's been at least 15 years. I know Stevie's very private but he was able to be shielded because of the popularity of the team. It's time to get guys like Zetts, Dats and Lidstrom out to public signings or meet-and-greets like the Tigers have.

Heh, heh, heh, You said 'Cox'.