Hank

How old is that keyboard? LOL! I'm surprised he's even holding a microphone and not a tin-can with some string coming out of it.

NO, NO, NO. Glaciers are faster than Allison and he's proven to be a paycheck player. The only thing he'd be good for is the PP, but ours is fine. Allison is one of a very select, small group of players that were actually built better for the old clutch-and-grab NHL. With all the obstruction slowing players down, the game was slowed down to his level. But now that it's so much quicker, Allison would be better served as a water boy. He is no longer an NHL talent. His last season, with the Leafs, he recorded 60 points but over 40 of them came on the PP. He's completely useless at even strength - Paris Hilton kind of uselessness.

LOL! I guess chicks dig the long snap.

Truer words have never been spoken. Despite Illitch, Devellano and Holland all saying they're the first to move to the East, Bettman has all but said "no way". The Wings are far to valuable a draw in the West. What they should do is move the Leafs and another Eastern team to the West to make some travel easier on the Wings.

I think this could be good for the NHL but there could be a darkside. Bob McGowen had a former 'wise-guy' gangster on his show (forgive me, I can't remember his name). Anyway, this wise-guy said there should never be a pro sports team in Vegas because it's way too easy to get to these guys to fix games or shed point spreads. He said how they did it back in the day was, if a guy had a vice like woman or gambling, they'd purposley get them over a barrel. If the guy was really into the ladies, but was married, they'd set him up with a girl and take photos of it. Next thing you know, they have the guy on the payroll. Or maybe the guy was really into gambling so they get him in deep and then say "No problem. We'll wax your debt, but you have to miss a few jump shots", or "Swallow the whistle in the last 5 minutes". With the players living in Vegas he said it would only make it easier to get to some guys. This gangster now works with pro teams and their players, counselling them so they know how to stay out of these tight spots. But there's always a few weak apples that can't resist certain temptations. Who knows if this would happen to the NHL or if the mob would even care about the sport. But this guy seemed pretty adamant that no pro sports team, including the NHL, should have a team in Vegas. It was an interesting interview nonetheless. EDIT: I found his name - Michael Franzese. He wrote a book called Blood Covenant.

I know a couple of guys that have met him and actually played some hockey with him in the past couple of years. They said he's a nice guy. But they also said you could tell that he's still trying to get over how his career ended. A lot of people thought he had the talent to be a good scorer in the NHL. It's too bad how his career ended and only personifies the argument for automatic icing.

In that regard he's no different than any other winger the Wings have. They're all pretty streaky.

Very true. I think people hate Lang so much because he had a lot of talent but failed to show it consistantly. If Cleary didn't have Lang he wouldn't have scored 20 goals. But at the same time, Cleary has proven he can be a reliable scorer if given prime minutes with a good playmaker.

No, I agree that they didn't get dominated. But Babcock seperated them for a reason. While they did get points in some games, there were too many times where you didn't even notice them. And the 3 goals they generated in game 6 were all on the PP I believe. At even strength the Phalsson line was very effective in shutting them down. Especially when the Ducks had the last change at home. If the Wings had a 2nd line anchored by a 65 point centre and a 25-30 goal winger I'd have no issues with Z and D being on the same line all year. But we don't. With those guys at the top, we'd have Filpulla centering Hudler and Sammy. That gives me nightmares. Filpulla is going to be a very good hockey player but he's not there yet. He's best left on the 3rd line while getting some PP time and a few shifts on the wing with either Zetterberg or Datsyuk. EDIT: I might be wrong on this, but I've noticed that when Zetterberg plays centre he seems to play with a bit more edge and urgency. He also is unbelievable at carrying the puck through centre ice. It just seems to me that he's more 'in the game' at centre and generates more offense when playing as a pivot. Again, I might be off on that basis, but I thought that was the case when he lined up at centre during the season and playoffs.

I have Centre Ice through Bell Express Vu and I'd say there's at least 1-3 HD games shown a night. All of the Coyotes and Avs home games are HD and a great majority of Pens games are too. And if I'm not mistaken all Wings home games (or most) are in HD as well. I have to warn you though, once you watch hockey in HD (or any sport really) it's so hard to go back. I was so angry with the CBC because they didn't show all of the Wings games in HD in their series against the Flames. Of course they save that for the Sens games. Stupid CBC. They're always screwing over their Western brethern to appease the Ontario (and mostly Leaf) audience.

Exactly! It's not like Bab's is saying 'Zetts and Dats will never play together again'. If the team struggles, he'll use them on one line to get some goals. I'm sure that will happen a lot in 3rd periods where we're down a goal or two. But it makes no sense to keep them together so we can build 3 AHL lines. That's a bit harsh perhaps, but with Z and D on one line, essentially you have three 3rd lines trying to score goals. That's not going to help when you need offensive depth in the playoffs to be successful. I really do believe that this is the year that players like Hudler and Grigorenko show what they can do. I wouldn't be shocked in the least if either of them posted 20 goal seasons. Heck, even Franzen might be able to pop in 18 on the top 2 lines. It's all about depth. And with Z and D together we're as shallow as Paris Hilton.

I don't blame you. In Canada, the taxpayers MAKE money from their sports teams. The Habs pay more in property tax than all US teams combined.

Nobody can handle them eh? I seem to recall Babcock having to seperate them because the Ducks shut them down completely. And it wasn't until Babs seperated them that the Wings showed any offensive life. I'd much rather have 2 decent scoring lines than one dynamic one. It's way too easy to shut down one line than two. Besides, Zetts is a natural centre and he's better there. This is a perfect time for one of the young guys to show that they can play and produce on a top line - Hudler Grigs and even Filpulla, I'm looking at you!

Very true. Especially when the two teams would play back in the day. When Yzerman was one of the best players in the league (and certainly the best Wings player), Cole and Neale would constantly go out of their way to praise Yzerman or other players like Gallant, Probie or Snepts. But the series against the Flames this past year was comical. You would have thought Calgary was destroying Detroit for 58 minutes out of each game. It was only the few seconds that Detroit actually put the puck in the net that gave the Wings the win.

I like them. But I wish they could find a way to make all goalies look like that WITH their full equipment on. (sorry, I know that's another topic that's been beaten to death).

I heard that he wasn't picked up yet and I was wondering if he'd be a good fit for this team. Another right handed Dman who can shoot is never a bad thing. But I imagine he'd want $3M plus. That's what he was offered last season by a few clubs, but he turned them down thinking they were insulting offers. He really, really beleives he's worth around $3M per year. What a joke. My 10 month old son could outskate this clown.

Jason Allison is a piece of crap and it's not just because he sucks. This guy truly believes he deserves at least $3M a year and the fact that he's gonig to sit out another year waiting for it shows you he has no heart for the game. If he truly loved hockey and wanted to play he'd take a lower amount and show the NHL he's worth more. Selanne and Guerin, among others, have done this in the past 2 years so I don't see why Allison thinks he's above this. Good riddance to an overrated, slow peice of garbage. I hope he's happy living in obscurity and I hope he made enough money so we never have to endure watching his slow ass coast around the ice looking for cheap PP points.

FIRE BETTMAN! LANG IS LAZY AND HE SUCKS!

Yes, you will get every Wings game. The price is $149 I believe (I don't know exactly anymore as it comes on our phone bill).

I would choose FoxSports Net then. Depending on whether you get VS, you'll get a non-Wings game every now and then (especially in January when NBC starts showing games).

Exactly. McCauly's had some serious concussion issues in the day as well as other injuries. Besides, we don't need another 3rd line centre - we have plenty. I still think O'Neill might be a decent fit. But the most I'd offer him is a tryout.

This is true. I live in Ontario and have the Centre Ice Package and I would say that you'd get close to 30 Wings home-games in HD. Almost every home Avalance, Kings and Pens game was in HD too. IMHO, the C.I.P. is well worth the money and you'll get more than your share of HD games. In fact, from the first season after the lockout to last season, the amount of games broadcast in HD jumped considerably.

DANG-IT!!! I forgot about that move.

Yeah, the whole ice "looks" different when on D too. It's like the game slows down a bit more. Love playing there. But my Monday night league is so good I really suck at D when playing at that calibre.

Some teams prefer less players - more icetime. I play forward in my Monday night league but this past spring I played defense for a tournament. I loved it! Even though you don't get nearly as much offensive glory there's just something about shutting guys down, mucking in corners and making a nice first pass. I might switch to defense full time.