Hatcher#2

Downey isn't the best tough guy in the world but he sure isn't the worst either, he can throw down and is very willing. Its just nice to see that the Wings camp has a few fighters in it this year with Adam Keefe, David Jarram, Brad Ference, Neil Clark and now Aaron Downey. The camp should be pretty entertaining if nothing else. Lets hope a few of them get into a couple of pre season games too and get to throw their weight around a bit.

Welcome aboard, let the games begin.

Yeah 5 Nhl fights but he has fought in the SEL and the Ahl aswell, Jovonovski dropped him.

He has fought Godard, shane corson and Jovo. He has had 8 fights to be exact. In my opinion with Lilja playing on a team of Detroit's caliber where he is fighting for a spot in the regular roster he should be fighting alot more, Lilja really could/should be a 10-12 fights a year guy especially playing on Detroit.

Bootland will have Hordi chasing him all over the ice and taking penalties, thats where Bootland is at his best, he is a s*** disturber who backs it up. Don't be surprised if he does go after Hordi, he definately has the heart and the balls, i just hope he has a hard enough head if he does. Here is an interesting fact for everyone, Bootland and Ellis played on the same line together in Junior, they then went onto play with Toledo where again they played on the same line, next stop was the Griffins where they have also played on the same line. Tomorrow night they will probably play on the same line again in the Nhl. Does anyone know of any other players that have played for the same team since junior all the way up to the Nhl?

Yeah i knew what you were saying Lou but i thought the others should know that they have already fought with Bootland getting the Win. I can't wait to see this, i know for a fact that Bootland has improved alot aswell so bring it on TooToo. I will predict that Bootland gets the Win, remember you heard it here first, you fancy a little side bet Lou.

Well it's about damn time. Just for the record, Bootland actually fought Tootoo in the Ahl 2 seasons ago and Booter laid the beat down, he hit Tootoo with 5-7 lefts and Tootoo turtled. Bootland tried the rest of the season to finish it but Tootoo wouldn't fight him. This is going to be the most entertaining game of the season with these two going head to head.

Keefe does have offensive potential, he had 21 points in 28 games last season in the Echl, he just needs the ice time to produce.

It is looking more and more like Bootland is finished as a Wing so maybe the Wings played a big part in getting the Griffs to aquire Keefe so that they can get a better look at what he has on a nightly basis. Keefe is 2 years younger than Bootland, he is a better skater than Bootland, he is far tougher and a better fighter, he doesn't have the same skill and offence as Bootland but we see where that got Booter. So maybe Keefe is getting ready to take Booters spot in the Org. The new breed of enforcer is coming into the Nhl in the form of Cam Janssen types and i think Keefe would fit right in on the Wings 3rd or 4th line. Here's another clip of him from the Ohl against Robin Big Snake: http://www.robinbigsnake.com/videovault/05...Snake_Keefe.wmv

I have been following Keefe's career since i first saw him in the Ohl and i can safely say that he is another Cam Janssen Lou, he is only 5'11 195 pounds but he plays like he is 6' 3" 225 and he will fight anyone and he very seldom loses fights. He is definately my kind of player. The kid is fearless, he tucks his chin in and just throws bombs, he has equal power in both hands. Labelle of Syracuse last night fancied his chances against Keefe but he found out the hard way, Keefe hit him with five unanswered rights with the last punch buckling labelle's knees and sending him to the ice, Labelle tok a few seconds to get up but when he did he was bleeding from the nose and mouth. I know he was Canucks property last season but i don't know if they still hold his rights. If they don't the Wings better be all over this kid, he is only 22.

Major props to Kenny Holland on this one, it took some balls to make this move. Now that thats out of the way just let me say welcome to Detroit Todd Bertuzzi. It still hasn't really sunk in yet. For the first time, Holland has aquired the guy that was at the top of my list. Kyle Calder is a great aquisition aswell, i loved him with Chicago and i think i will love him even more as a Wing. TODD BERTUZZI is a Wing. Before the deadline i was actually pretty scared about the playoffs, now i am confident that the Wings can go up against any team in the league. We now have so much more balance to the top six, we now have more size and we now have an edge to the top six. When Bertuzzi gets fit he will be a major force for us, bring on the playoffs. I honestly believe that the playoffs this year have the potential to be the best of this era, the talent in the west is incredible and anyone in the playoffs right now has the ability to win it.

I am pretty happy with this, i have one question though, is Calder fast?

The prices that the GM's are asking are too steep, but there is no reason why Holland can't add grit to this lineup. There are plenty of guys in the Nhl that will help the Wings that aren't the big guys that have been mentioned. If Holland can't aquire a top six winger because the prices are too steep then thats fine, but if he doesn't do anything at all to address this teams lack of grit by bringing in guys like Chris Gratton, Jamal Mayers players of this ilk. I refuse to believe that Holland can't bring in these types of players.

Yeah i remember, i can remember him saying that he could still play and that he wanted to play for the leafs again but they wouldn't sign him, instead they spent $5 million on Kubina, he sounded pretty bitter about it.

http://stats.theahl.com/hm/transactions.php

Bootland and Ellis had to clear waivers after camp in order for them to go to the Griffins. I think Holland knew that Hudler and Kopecky all ready had a spot locked up and thats why he gave them one way contracts.

Great hit, no elbows were involved there at all. We need to see more of this from Kronwall and Markov.

He has pretty much retired.

The 2 way contract doesn't come into it i don't think, that just means that the money they make in the Nhl is different from the money they will make in the Ahl. Like just now, Ellis will make $450,000 when he is up with the Wings but he will only make $75,000 when he is in the Ahl. If Ellis was on a 1 way contract his salary would stay at $450,000 no matter what league he is in and that salary would count towards the Wings cap.

All of these guys had to clear waivers after training camp, so because of this they don't have to clear waivers for the rest of the season, i think thats how it works.

He will always be one of my favourites aswell.

Bootland is a better skater than Ellis, so thats not the reason why he isn't given a shot. If Bootland is given a shot, he will be on the 4th line, he has 9 points in his last 5 games in the Ahl so he deserves a shot. Whats the harm. We keep on bringing up the same guys that play the same boring role, Bootland brings something different, something more entertaining.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=196732&hubname=nhl

excellent