jpfalcon09

PHANEUF! 2-0!!!

The Flames score and the Sharks are immediately back on their heels. So much for that great character. PP Flames!

YELLE! 1-0 FLAMES!

Parrish took a nasty hit for the Wild, was down for a good 5 minutes, hope he's okay!

Sauer scored, 1-0 Avs.

Maybe everyone will start to jump off the Tigers bandwagon and hop on the Wings. I don't expect any sellouts for the playoffs, at least in the 1st Round. Prove me wrong, Detroit.

Word is Maltby has some sort of injury.

I agree. The thing that I can't comprehend is how, even with relatively solid minutes the last 2 months or so with all the injuries, he's been damn near invisible. He's been getting 2nd line minutes and PP time, and there's been a steady decline in his play. He got that awful hooking call tonight because he was lazy backchecking, just a liability right now all over the ice. The best I can see Huds getting in the playoffs are 4th line minutes, assuming everyone is healthy come Game 1. Very disappointing for him considering he had a good start to the season with the new contract.

Anyways, back to the meaningful chat on the thread. Hasek's back in tomorrow, hopefully the team washed off the suck tonight in the showers and is ready to move on. It's vital that Dom is able to be solid these last two games and be ready for Game 1. I hope the team recognizes this as well, I'm sure they do. Hopefully tonight's game can show guys like Hudler that they need to step it up when push comes to shove. The big boys can't be relied upon every night to bail out the offense. Tomorrow should be a game where the Wings tighten things down, focus on defensive coverage and get their secondary scoring in gear.

Come back when the Hawks actually win a Cup this Century, hell they've already gone 50 years without one, what's another 92 more!?

Burn the tape on this one.

All this game will do is give Babcock some ammo to work with for the next 6 days of practices. Been pretty embarrassing as a whole.

It is sad though, this game matters, the Hawks ar

Kevin Allen mentioned that some players didn't want Sergei back and that Babcock didn't want him because of his attitude in Anaheim.

When all is said and done, things will get better. The Wings are missing 90+ assists on the blueline. The offense is geared towards the defense jumping into the play and helping out, and right now it's showing with the players who are out. Keep this in mind...a trade for Hossa would not have solved anything if the Wings don't win the Cup and don't re-sign him. I think many of you are spoiled with how things have usually been done at the deadline, but it hasn't yielded results. The Wings got their defensive help without losing a roster player. If you wanna ***** and moan about not getting a top-6 guy, save it for July when free agency opens up. For now, support the team and hope that kids like Franzen and Filppula step up their game.

Who said Ozzie was gonna be traded? He made some good saves, but he was the benefactor of the Wings finally playing their game and playing with much more heart and passion seen in recent weeks. The loss of Lidstrom inspired the team to play it's heart out. Face it, Ozzie is a system goalie, and when the system goes bad, Ozzie goes bad. He may steal a game or two during the season, but he is what he is. He compliments the team very well, and when he tries not to do too much, he's a very solid goaltender. So, kudos to him for the SO but more kudos to the 5 defenseman who made his job pretty easy tonight.

How is what I said defensively negative? It's the truth. While I think this losing streak is good for the team on the sense that it brings them back down to earth a little and shows what holes they have to fill, it's asinine to compare this club to the 01-02 team. Is it wrong now to point out some weaknesses the Red Wings have in their lineup currently? I hope not. The reality is that some of the young kids are definitely not playing as well as they were earlier in the season, and it's showing right now. Flip has 2 goals in 22 games, Hudler doesn't want to shoot anymore and while Kopecky has played very well the past 2-3 weeks, his offensive skills still haven't come out. I'm very optimistic for the rest of the season, there are numerous injuries right now that have hamstrung the team and placed some kids in roles they're not ready for yet. They've shown this year how good they can be, and that's encouraging, but right now they're also showing how bad they can be with key injuries, and that is why for me the skepticism still exists. I hope Holland addresses the needs the team has right now, because some of the younger kids right now need some help producing.

We'll see...this team also doesn't have nearly close the talent level of the 01-02 team, and even that team was a fluke goal away from a 1st round exit. I think the young guys (Flip, Kopy, etc.) have hit a wall right now, and their progress has flat-lined. It would also be wise to get Homer off the Datsyuk line and put him with Hank. Franzen-Dats-Huds Flip-Hank-Homer Malts-Kopy-Sammy Downey-Drapes-Drake I think those lines would get a lot done, and right now it wouldn't hurt too much to change things up a bit.

It's January, it's the dog days and the Wings know right now it's pointless to work hard every night when they have a 10+ point cushion in the Western Conference. It's really not that big of a deal, every year this happens, everyone gets all in a tizzy and then the Wings come back to win 7 of 8. Take it for what it is, move on and look forward to Thursday.

Thanks, but no thanks. Darren was great back in the late 90s, but times have changed and so have the Wings. Bringing him back isn't going to accomplish anything, and is only going to put kids like Ellis and Hartigan even further back on the depth chart when they deserve a shot. It's great that he's working out and such, and I hope he can get back into shape and latch onto an NHL team, but I think the Wings are just fine with Drake and Downey (when he plays) in the lineup.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...ORTS03/80103038 Pretty amazing how the Pistons can lie about their attendance to mask their problems. But, of course it won't be talked about amongst the main media. It's good to know the Wings aren't the only one suffering from economic problems.

The game received a 2.4 overnight rating, the highest rating for a hockey game since the Fox games in the 90s.

Agreed, being 29-8-3 merits this team at least 4 or 5 free passes this year. Lets be real here people. They've got the #1 slot already locked up in the West. They've gone 5-1 on a west coast trip and 3-0 on the midwest/mountain trip. What more is there to ask for? I'm kind of ashamed that some of you feel that no matter what they should just show up every night. I'm sure not many of you could work a 60-hour week without feeling some sort of fatigue. Compare that to this. Hank's due back sometime this week and Homer's ahead of schedule. Be thankful that the team is in this position and not fighting for a playoff spot. It's not fair to the team and other fans to act bratty or disappointed when the team has an off night. Everyone does, the Wings just have them much less than every other team. So, take a chill pill. No one is to blame, no one's at fault. In the long run, the regular season won't mean a thing if the Wings don't go far in the playoffs. Keep that in mind. Hope everyone had a safe night.

I'm sure when push comes to shove in the playoffs, they'll be ready to play. It's a regular season game, and the way I see it, the more points the Blues can get, the better chance they can knock the Ducks out of the playoffs. Just go have fun tonight, all this will be water under the bridge when they play Dallas on Wednesday.

Come on, guys. 4 games in 6 nights, after a long west coast trip, you can give them a break. I'm sure they'll be ready Wednesday after everything settles back down. They can afford to hit some bumps in the road with their record.