Never_Retire_Steve

It's funny how when he came into the league everyone was like "who the hell is this guy and why did we sign him?" Afterwards, everyone started to love him because he blew expectations out of the water...... now everyone hates him again. I think people need to look at his history. To me the guy just seems so useless.

Hmmm, interesting, I think ticket prices in all sports are ridiculous. Put it this way, I have seen ONE Red Wings game in my life and I consider myself a die-hard fan. However, I think post-lockout the product on the ice has gotten much better with the youth injection and the new rules that have increased the speed of the game. I can't comment on the NBA and the declining product but there is a guy named Lebron in the league that I know has a lot of star power and there are also a lot of Kobe fans out there as well. I can understand the "ganster" image theory though.

I think this illustrates a point about how expensive it is to go to a pro sporting event. NBA is definitely more popular than the NHL nationally in the USA yet the attendance is behind. Does anyone else look at this and ask themselves "Hey maybe ticket prices are too high?"

Newbies are also the reason these threads still pop up, but often they can offer good insight as to who is better and why.

Team seems to be regaining form nicely

Great way to start the month.

I need another goal to be scored for my over/under

Come on Wings, we need this one

Brutal that I can't watch this game anywhere.... I think this will be a high scoring affair.

I switched my cable package just to get NHL network and what do I find out? No Wings game!!! What the f***???

Go Wings!

As much as I love these debates, sometimes they get out of hand. We should just appreciate the fact that these two superstars will be around for a while, which is a great thing for hockey.

LOL, you think Fedorov would make us a worse team?

I was more referring to how much Lidstrom impacts the team as we were WAY ahead in all defensive categories before his injury, since he has been out, our shots against and goals against have definitely fallen back closer to the rest of the league. I am aware of how you could've been confused with regards to my point as I didn't make it clearly (although in the first paragraph you are well aware of this). You're absolutely right that when Crosby is injured the drop off isn't as severe and it is for this exact reason as to why I say that he is the best (or possibly more accurate "Most Valuable") in the league. This discussion was also on Drive this hardcore radio station and Lidstrom didn't even get mentioned. I think I will phone today and try to address my point. The question is it the best player in the league who wins MVP or the most valuable, because to me there are different winners to those awards.

What a piece of s***

Montreal vs. Toronto would be classic

I would love to see the Leafs make the playoffs but I hate having to listen to Cliff Fletcher's dog's analysis on every single regular season game from here on in.

Thing is that 6 points isn't that difficult to overcome, the biggest problem for the Leafs is the amount of teams that they have to leap frog in order to get into the playoffs.

Yet, we're still first in all defensive categories in the NHL, do you see what I am saying?

Fair enough, I think this goes to show how good Lidstrom is though because who can replace him? Crosby has shown that he can be replaced, no one has shown that Lidstrom can (at least on the Wings)

Offense: -2 Defense: +3 Goaltending: +1 Overall: +1 Offensively, I think that we miss a lot from the departure of Lang, he has the potential of a first liner and when he is on his game he can do some pretty amazing things. Also, I think that some of the younger guys (i.e. Sammy) overperformed to some extent that we aren't seeing this year and we just don't seem as deep up front as we did last year. Defensively, this team is about as good as it gets, Lidstrom doesn't seem to decline skill-wise, although I think Schneider is better than Rafalski offensively, I think that Rafalski has a lot better talent than Schneider in our own end. Kronwall has been leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last year, Stuart IMO will be a great addition and I really think that Lilja has improved as I thought he was possibly one of the worst defensemen in the league last year. In net, Osgood has really surprised me up until mid-February with his play. Overall, I like our team because we are grittier, have more playoff experience from last year and some of those guys got some monkeys off their backs in last year's post-season and hopefully we will be in the Finals come June.

No way man, he will easily average 3 points per game

I just want to see him back in a Wings jersey, emotion can play a large part in one's game, he had a career high 4 point night in his GR debut so don't discount what he can bring to the table.

I echo the sentiments of Ericsson being the odd man out..... yes he probably has been better than Lebda lately but he would be better off in GR with increased playing time.

Love it every time it happens, one of the traditions that makes you proud to be a Wings fan.