commadore183

I can live with the 2 minutes to Neil, but Ovie should have gotten 5 minutes. There is no grey zone here. Spear with no contact is a double minor, spear with contact is a major.

The Wings have motivation problems, that's it. That's all it is. We didn't win in 2008 because Downey was on our roster, we won because every single player on the wings was desperate for a Stanley Cup. The old cliche is true, whatever team wants it more gets it. The Penguins weren't necessarily a better team than us (and the same goes the opposite), they just wanted it a little more.

i see things without the naive homer glasses.

Fistric just got suspended for a legal hit exactly in the manner in which these two players make hits.
All I can say is I told you so to the people so naive not to see this coming.

His 2 beyond awful games trump his one good game. I would bet he is somewhere in the middle which is still bad.

Brunnstrom is a very different story. First, he's young. He's not proven or disproven that he can play in the NHL. MacDonald has been in the league a long time, and he's a career third-stringer. Second, Brunnstrom is a fourth-line forward. If he has a bad game, it's no big deal. He'll just be given little ice time, and the whole affair will have little effect upon how the game plays out. If MacDonald has a bad game, the Wings will probably lose.
MacDonald played very well in some games and very poorly in others. He's not sufficiently consistent. He's got a more or less equal chance of doing alright or getting absolutely wrecked. In sum, he's simply not a reliable goaltender. He has proven that repeatedly at the NHL level.
In your time on these forums, you've done little more than prove your complete lack of hockey sense.

Rumors.
MacDonald is not a capable NHL backup, else he would be an NHL backup.

There's a reason MacDonald has only played 87 games in 5 seasons in the NHL. There's a reason he's spent more time in the AHL than the NHL. There's a reason the Wings signed Conklin instead of keeping/bringing MacDonald up. MacDonald is not an NHL calibre-goalie, not to the Detroit Red Wings standards. The most games he's started was 49 when he was with the NYI (2008-2009); outside of that, 15 was the most for him (2010-2011 DET season), then 8 (2006-2007 DET), 7 (06-07 BOS), 6 (09-10 TOR), and 2 (07-08 NYI). Other than the Islanders, all other teams he's played for have seen the same thing and came to the same conclusion: he's just not that good.
And as others have said, it's hard to get a good look at a new (or in Conks' case, returning) player when said player has only had 3 starts in 24 games this season. Kinda hard to get a groove going on that.
Conks' is here for the season. MacDonald (if I remember correctly) was lit up here at times for his play, and not in a good way. MacDonald has been, and will always be, a career AHL'er, with a few spot starts here if one of the Wings' goalies gets injured.

This.

You're right, because a veteran's whole career is defined by two bad games, too. What happens when MacDonald has a bad game? We're talking about a backup goalie FFS . . .
I don't even know why anyone reads your posts. You've spent more time bitching about one player than having anything positive or constructive to say.

How can anyone be given a chance after only 3 times? Babcock did the same thing Osgood 2 years ago. You can't use the excuse that they've seen him in practice and don't like what they see, I've heard Oz and other goalies say many times that practice is not the same as a game. Conklin has not been given a fair chance to prove whether or not he's worthy of the back up position. We need a back up goalie so that Jimmy can have a break every once in a while, this constant playing can't be good for him. I do not want to see him run down because Babcock doesn't trust Conklin or whatever his reasons are for not playing him.

Conklin's played 3 games.
I really like MacDonald, but you gotta give Conks a fair chance.

Agreed. Pavs is hilarious, in part due to how his humor comes across in his broken english. But the guy makes Homer look fluent.
As others have mentioned, the most talented guy on the team doesn't necessarily have to be the one wearing the C.

The "C" isn't just about the being the best player on the team, it's also about the most capable to lead and unfortunately for Pasha, the language barrier HAS to factor in there as well for communicating with refs, press events, team meetings, etc... when the unthinkable happens, the new captain will STILL be Z and if it's not, there's a better chance it would be Kronwall than Dats...

Just ask Henrik Eriksson:

Even though it was probably more of a smile of embarrassment, he still took it like a man.

I hope to cripes we start winning soon so these damn threads will stop popping up.

So the refs jobbing the Wings on a goal and a lucky deflection = better? Get real bro.

The OP should feel gratified at having made one of the dumbest posts ever on this forum. WOW.

Maybe to the hockey gods, Columbus was due for a win? We can't win 'em all, and Columbus can't lose 'em all.

Nobody is saying "Playing without effort is okay." People are simply saying "Whoa, don't freak out over the roster yet. It's been two games over an 82 game season. Let's see how they do for a bit before hitting the panic button."
It's sad that people can't understand the difference.

It's only two games--preceded by five games of very good hockey--and yours is a knee-jerk reaction of the worst sort. Get a grip.
On a minor note--and for your own future reference--it seems that you have a very flawed understanding of roster limits. The Wings are at the maximum roster size right now. They cannot simply make players healthy scratches and call up others to replace them. They may only exceed the roster limit via call-ups if the call-ups are replacing injured players. Please note that I find the entirety of your post ludicrous and only wrote this clarification for your own benefit.

We have one of the most capable rosters in the whole league that can deliver in each and every game and all we get is clear lack of effort. I'm getting tired of all these after game quotes "We though we were prepared", "We just got beat, 7-1, so to start like that tonight, to me, is lack of preparation," "It was a disappointing effort. The coaching staff didn't do a good enough job; the players didn't do a good enough job."
We've heard such things so many times during the last two/three years. Where are the consequences? I think the real reason is that everyone on the roster feel too safe. They known that no matter how bad they play they'll never be traded. Starting from 4th line plug Miller to "superstar" Zetterberg. When intensity of the game is rather low we often win on a pure skill, when it gets higher like in the last two games we simply give up. To me this is pure lack of effort. If Bertuzzi or Zetterberg don't like to compete in games like this scratch them and call up Nyquist or Tatar.
PS For those saying that it is only two games (there are always a plenty of such guys) I recommend to watch some other teams. No team in this league gives up games so easily.

Who knows? However, I'm sure there will be many jumping to that conclusion if he comes back and isn't playing that well right away....you know.....instead of simply chalking it up to him not playing a game for 10+ months.

I don't like Pronger like pretty much everybody else in here but I'm not wishing what happened to him on him or anybody. Hope it isn't too serious.
I respect those who loathe the guy with an extreme, I get it and it's perfectly legit given his past, but I can't go there with this. If that makes me too "nice" or not Wings fannish or whatever for not just fully loathing him or wanting him to rot in hell, well I'm sorry.

I have nothing against Pronger and I hope he can still see with both of his eyes.