skacore

"Who is this douchebag guy with the hot girl?" That's a dumbs*** thing to say so yeah I'm going to call you out on it. He mumbled a few words but 1500 NHL games might do that to you, did you make fun of Konstantinov when he had trouble speaking? Next time don't ask like a dick.

Kirk Muller you dumbs***

I can't believe people want to trade Filppula he was one of our most consistent players in the playoffs both this year and last year. He really is a great two-way player and plays a lot like Zetterberg, he'll be a bargin @ 3 mill cap hit in a year or 2 if he isn't already that.

I don't think it will be Crosby just yet because once they give it to him it will probably stay for him for the next 15 years, no rush. I think it will be Niedermayer, Pronger, or maybe Iginla.

I'm pretty sure it's just someone trying to get people to join, they joined the forums 2 days ago...

Komisarek is my ideal D man for the Wings to play along side Lidstrom but I just don't see us making room for him... too bad

I hope that backup goalie doesn't end up sucking lol

I would loved to... but here's the difference in the 2, in my opinion anyways... Chelios is still playing and is a liability, when he does call it quits I'll be sure to wish him a happy life and all in all, he had an amazing career, but he's still playing so it's not unfair to assess his game as you see fit.... Hatcher however is done playing, and he too had a great career minus a couple years.

I just don't like to see quality players get disrespected because of the tail end of their career, it happens way too often... he's retired, he had a great career

no he means Derian Hatcher, who before the lock out was one of the most intimidating and physical defensemen in the league... a true stay at home D they don't really make them anymore like Hatch, maybe that was before you started to watch hockey though great career for a great player, too bad it never worked out in Detroit

...cupless without an enforcer in the line up! OK that was partially a joke but not entirely. In the offseason we added a world class player in Marian Hossa and lost Dallas Drake. Our biggest hurdle this year in the finals was fatigue and just being beaten up and not having the energy to go 7 games against a young Pittsburgh squad, can we agree on that? Last year we had guys like Dallas Drake, Darren McCarty, and Andreas Lilja on our squad, physical guys who can take the body and stick up for their teammates. This year we didn't have any of those 3, we had Ericsson who was a nice addition I can admit that much. Could the fact that our players were beaten up and exhausted have anything to do with the fact that our star players were all literally beaten up? I'd imagine playing every other night for a month+ is hard enough on the body, I don't think another man pounding away at your body would help the cause. What kind of incidents were there in last year's playoff run? McCarty answered the bell to McCormick when the Avs tried to get something going, that's as far as that went. There was that nice scrum in the finals where we had Lilja go after Sykora(?) for knocking over Ozzy, we stood our ground there. This year? From the top of my head: -Beachaumin wrecking Kopecky's face (big body outta playoffs...not complaining, just saying) -Niedermayer 360 elbow to Datsyuk's head then feeding him uppercuts -Perry filling in Rafalski and leaving plenty of visible damage to our 6 million dollar D man -Malkin throwing a couple of punches at Z, but admittidly that wasn't all that much except a message -Kunitz teeing off on Helm with a few uppercuts in a blow out game (may have gone unnoticed to some) this is ******* HOCKEY show some backbone, well, first we have to acquire some backbone which I'm hoping can be done in the offseason this year, there are certainly enough tough quality players available there was a big change in our team from last year to this year, maybe not skillwise but the attitude and how the team carried themselves, at least that's how I saw it, I'd have said the same thing if we won too (believe it or not) Chris Neil... Ian Laperriere... '09

It may matter, it may not. There's a better chance it may. Who's looking for a guy just to have a few scraps? Re-read previous posts and you'll realize the general consensus is that we could use a tough, gritty, hungry, depth player who can bring another element to our line up BESIDES being able to take a regular shift every night.

I don't know anymore, I know why they do it, it's because tough players rub off on the rest of the team. Having a guy like Godard on your team goes beyond the regular season. I don't know what kind of answer I expect though because a lot of people are still afraid to admit that championship teams welcome these types of players...

well first of all I want a player who can do it all, not a goon but... if we are getting it wrong I guess so did '09 Pittsburgh - Godard '08 Detroit - Downey '07 Ducks - Parros I know it's just the regular season but why do Stanley Cup champions insist on singing players like that?? It's been like this forever.....

Ask yourself this: Why was Godard even part of a Stanley Cup champion team? He's a pure goon, a throwback enforcer. Why would Pittsburgh acquire a player like this to play the entire regular season with their team? Why did he hoist the cup before core players like Letang (one of the few I remember)? No coincidence at all I'm sure, but has Crosby not played much tougher recently than he used to? Their entire team was tougher.

Moen would be a good addition and maybe the best for long term since he's still young, the only thing I'm skeptical about is that he has a Cup with the Ducks, not a bad things by any means but we need guys who are going to remain hungry

It's about attitude and how you present yourself on the ice... you need a tough mentality... having a tough player currently in your line up effects the team... No point really going on and on about it, you either get it or you don't... I am able to see the difference, some aren't... it's all opinions and what people want to believe but let me just say there is a reason that tough guys have been around and valued sooooooo long in this league

Cooke was all over Helm in the 2nd half of the series and with Kunitz there was just the one incident when he landed a couple uppercuts on Helm's face ok then yeah you were wrong before, a player can keep peace with their presence on the ice and contribute more than a sideshow for the fans clearly you're still in denial, but don't worry I bring video proof, close your eyes hunny! why did Holland acquire Downey and McCarty on a Cup winning team? why did Downey play all year? why did McCarty play in the playoffs? were there no better options? Drake was effective yet he also brought an element of toughness, i'm glad we can agree on that Drake 477 career pts in 1009 games Lappy 316 career pts in 1001 games..... Lappy is 5 years younger and a little bigger both can hit, both can fight, Drake's a bit better hitter, Lappy's a bit better fighter yet Drake's effective and Lappy's a goon? you're such a red wings homer that it's impossible to have a meaningful discussion with you.... lol... makes the boards dull but anyways i'm done explaining this to you, you have your opinions i have mine, i prefer our '08 make up a bit more than our '09 one, hey, it won us a cup, you prefer the '09 make up..... it's all good man

off topic from the thread but no doubt about that, I live in T.O. and the Leafs are always my "other" team, it's been tough to watch them for a while now but I can't wait for next year to start... Burke is capable of putting a team together that will make the playoffs and be incredibly exciting throughout the entire year... he sure loves his team toughness can't wait to see who the Leafs pick up

Maybe not? To me... '09 team and '08 team had many differences in the way they presented themselves.. if you think maybe not... ehh.... I guess we just saw different things out there this year It's Corey Perry, you almost have to go out of your way to lose a fight to him, and I'm not even asking Rafalski to go toe to toe here, just defend yourself, tackle him or something, mind you we had 6 players on the ice to Anaheim's 5 and we were still out of our league. I don't think it's too outrageous to compare Niedermayer, Pronger, Getzlaf, and Perry to Gonchar, Orpik, Roberts, and Sykora in terms of toughness, especially when we had a 6th skater on against Anaheim. Pronger wasn't even involved so I'm not sure why he is being mentioned, it was Niedermayer, Getzlaf (hardly) and friggen Corey Perry... Pronger and Franzen just stood with each other, 5 professional athletes couldn't handle 4 professional athletes, that's what it comes down to, they weren't willing to Helm was AMAZING all playoffs, Abdelkader was really good when he played, 2 goals in 3 games in the finals and he gets benched from their on out... I actually think that's a pretty good case for gritty, tough role players contributing to the team, no?

wrong, well, what's an enforcer to you? goon like Mitch Fritz? that I can agree with until he proves otherwise, or can Ryan Getzlaf he referred to as an enforcer at times? he has the ability to enforce behavior on the ice, see Hossa s*** his pants at the end of game 6? lol pitts has team toughness that gets them by, yeah they are hardly a "tough team" but they got it done this year, which makes it even worse that guys like Cooke and Kunitz are able to abuse a youngster like Helm with no response whatsoever, need I remind you this is hockey? hey, how many times has Crosby been in a fight he didn't want to be in? Malkin? it's team's attitude uhh yeah, they were, lol ATTITUDE..... TEAM TOUGHNESS... MENTALITY.... HOW CAN I STRESS THIS TO YOU? why did Holland pick up Drake, Downey, and McCarty last year? now what good are those players to a STANLEY CUP CHAMPION TEAM?

There's no facts no prove this is right or wrong, but like I've said before, if he's not playing on an almighty high confidence boost, who knows what happens? A guy like Talbot feeling like he's god out there can't be a good thing, whether he scored or not (he did, twice), period.

The point I was making is that the difference between the '08 team and '09 team wasn't just 2 Red Wing goals, it was beyond that. Nature vs. nurture, you hang out and practice with tougher players who know how to stand up for themselves and it rubs off on you. We did OK in the big scrum last year in the finals when the Pens had some big boys out there like Roberts and Orpik. Corey... Perry... beat the s*** out of Rafalski... I could write a book on the many different ways to prevent that from happening. Is it crazy to think a tougher team might give our players a bit of a mental boost? You can show all the heart you want, but if you're body is not capable of doing something it's not going to happen regardless.

Please forget I ever mentioned the term "enforcer", I said that as a joke because that statement that we've never won the Cup without one has gone around and around on the boards for a while. I'm talking about a legit tough, gritty hockey player who can take a regular shift, no questions asked. A guy who will shut Talbot's yap in a blowout game yet still be a part of our PK, not a friggen' goon. Ian Laperriere, for example.