clutchngrab

OK - I read the Selanne article on ESPN. He had a kid and was a free agent so he's not a ******-bag like Niedermaier

No, the problem is not with Burke or the players, but a league which allows this crap. Can anyone imagine Gordie, the Rocket - or pretty much any player up til the Bettman era pulling this crap or a league which would allows it? Maybe if the players were paid realistic salaries, they wouldn't have the luxury of f-ing off for the better part of a season.

More like Lacrosse instead - at least in my neck of the woods. Its amazing how Lacrosse is more popular than hockey with kids.

Wow, this game was playoff intensity for the majority of the game. Everyone finishing there checks and the wings more than holding there own without Z. Kopecky was awesome tonight as was Kronner. Lets just hope Clears is not significantly injured. Great team game across the board.

Well Lids has not been mr. wonderful lately either. I'll still take Rafalski over snyder any day of the week. 6 mil? Well thats investment is still to be determined.

No doubt - drop both and you have 3+ mil and can keep your future.

Les all dial our time machines back to 2008 now. 1997 was a good year, but we have a pretty good team this year too.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but the Draper Maltby line was pretty brutal. Basically, I thought this game was crap. Basic execution didn't happen - like getting the puck deep.

Yawn. Maybe Stuart on D... maybe. And of course Sundin (which will never happen). Otherwise fagetaboutit.

Duh, hey - Z is younger than Dats and prices have risen: 8.x minimum.

Just FYI - Holland has already approached Flip's agent and he wants to wait until the end of the year to negotiote. Obviously he is banking on Flip market value continuing to rise. Depending on how well the wings do it will be hard to keep everyone since most of you have your Homer goggles on when it comes to prices and relative value. I'm banking that most if not all of our young forwards are going to be worth some bucks and they know it too. (Or at least there agents do.)

Sammie is Brett Hull without the shot or passing ability. That means he spends way too much time floating and absolutely refuses to use is body. I'm disappointed, because he had a great start and was skating well. Lets think of some of the top forwards on the wings and consider whether they have heart or not: Hank: yes Pavs: yes Clears: yes Homer: yes huds: mostly yes Flip: mostly yes Franzen: mostly yes: Sammie: No My definition of heart is wiilingness to work and pay the price. The reason the wings are great is because Babcock gives no quarter to skil alone if you refuse to sacrifice. You must work first and be skilled second. Thats why this team is winning. Dats in STL is all you need to see to understand what I am talking about. Sammie apparently didn't get the memo.

Wonderful job on the GDT - one small request though: Please post prominantly whether it is on NHL Centre Ice. The problem is those of us in s***ty COMCAST markets can't see the game if it is on the NHL Network. I live in Portland OR - so if anyone knows how I can see the game it would be appreciated.

Wikipedia sheds some light into why us comcast center ice subscribers cannot get the NHL network and why we can't get certain Wings games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL_Network_(United_States) I never got the memo or else I would not have re-upped for the 3rd year in a row. Thank you NHL for continuing to drive this game into oblivion or the toilet (whichever comes first...) I'm done with the NHL if I can't spend my bucks to watch the wings. ... Sorry, the NHL game doesn't do it for me without the wings.

Well you, Gary and DirectTV can all have a big coke party in bed - cause there are big chunks of the US on comcast that are screwed since apparently comcast did not get the memo.

I don't pay NHLCI for the NHL - I pay it because I love the wings, grew up in Detroit and live in Portland, OR. I'm sure others have their reasons for being fans and all are valid. Sure I like to watch the PST games when nothing else is on and I have tv time to burn. But if I'm not guaranteed wings games as promised, then I'm outta here for good. I'll follow LaCrosse or ******* tidley winks if thats what the NHL thinks of me as a dedicated fan.

Gang-raped in Portland too. I don't think Comcast even has Bettmans channel.

Bad calls, bad defense and mediocre goaltending combined with a flat bunch of forwards. Hudler and Flip have done nothing this year, and Sammie is inconsistent. But the big problems are on D. Lebda, Kronwall and especially Lilja have been pretty brutal so far. Rafalski is no stantion in his own end either. Essentially, the D is crap and its not the forwards fault for the most part. f- that its Howard time!

You guys can talk numbers all you want and talk about the viability of this franchise in that market, blah, blah, blah. The simple fact of the matter is that the NHL still does not offer an exciting enough product - even compared to what they used to. Sure it is nice to see more skating, but there is still no scoring and not enough fighting. As a long-time hockey fan, I don't necessarily need to see fighting, but Bettman made a wrong turn (of many) when he decided that fighting was one of the impediments to legitimizing hockey in the mainstream. Now, given the increasing appetite for violence in sports, he seems to have misread. Imagine if hockey could "guarantee" a dozen goals a night and a half-dozen fights. Every arena would be packed.

My main concern is that Kronwall stop playing like a dumbass. He has the physical skills, but he just makes stupid mental errors more than he should. As far as Sammie goes, I think he looks like one of the most improved Red Wings this year. Definitely quicker and handling the puck better. Lilja - well, popeye said it best: "I ams what I ams"

All this "I just don't know whether to retire" crap is bulls***. This is just a way to play less meaningless regular season games and be "fresh" for the playoffs. Neidermayer needs to be *****-slapped.

I like your ideas.... But, Keep 4 lines, but play 4 on 4 - especially if goalies are going to be over-padded and the nets stay the same size. Also, no touch icing and consider eliminating off-sides if playing 4 on 4. Fighting should be like it used to be and dirty penalties like boarding, cross-checking should be 4 or at least a 2 and 4 minute version. Go to 48 minutes and quarters and halfs like basketball to keep the games moving. Excuse me, I must go huff a little more glue.

Concerned after one game? no... But there is a drop-off in talent after Dats and Z at forward. On the other hand, I really like the idea of building core chemistry with this team by bringing up Flip, Huds, Franzen and maybe Grigs. The more ice time these guys get the better for the Wings for this year, next and the year after. I believe good teams are built over years w/ good drafting and keeping core players. So I am good with the way things are for now, but I do believe this team needs and will get a good top 6 forward in order to go deep in the playoffs. I suspect Holland knows that too.

All right, I know I'm showing my age here, but I can say this after watching hockey on and off for a while: Never, ever, ever did guys run at guys in the manner that Downie did in the pre-Bettman days. And I'm talking about some of the nastiest hockey you can imagine with the the "Broad Street Bullies" and "Big Bad Bruins". Hockey had this marvelous purging quality about it. If some punk, no matter how talented, did stuff like this, then he was expected to back it up, and if he didn't he was out of the league pretty quick. Hockey used to mean that cheap-shot guys got their due - much to the satisafaction of the paying fans and all was kept in order - more or less. It was a little like watching a great western movie: No good guys shot other guys in the back and young gunslingers had to prove themselves directly. Anyhow, Downie deserves a royal ass-kicking everytime he steps on the ice, but since that is no longer an acceptable way to police the game (thanks to Gary), then a significant suspension will have to suffice.

I can't think of a time in the last 10 years of RW history when a young, highly touted player of this nature had such an open door to cracking the top 9 (let alone top 6) forward spots of the wings. Along with others, I am very disappointed in his preparation for this opportunity. It will be very interesting to see whether he heads back to Russia where he can make 2mil or so (tax free) or stays in GR for 70K. I suspect that decision has already been negotiated by the wings and grig's agent. It should be very interesting to see what transpires for Grigorenko in the next month.