achildr1

It sounded like we scored when they got that one. Im disappointed to say the least.

Here's my Haterade... Osgood would very simply never have had his rediculously inflated numbers on another team. 1. Osgood was never a top-3 goaltender in his prime or other wise. (listed below are better goaltenders ) -90's: Roy, Hasek, Brodeur, Belfour, Vernon, Richter, Joseph, Vanbiesbrouck...then Osgood -Early 00's: Roy, Hasek, Brodeur, Belfour, Joseph...then maybe Osgood. It's widely considered a truth that Chris Osgood can be the goaltender that will be good enough to not screw up a Cup run, however he won't be one to steal many games along the way. I have been watching Chris Osgood for the majority of his career and would say that is absolutely true. In that 15 plus years I can count the number of games he has won essentially by himself on one hand. During that time his play was much more likely to be more closely related to why we lost a game rather than why we won. I have been more confidant with Hasek, Howard, Vernon, and even Legace in net, than I have been with Osgood in a big game. Etup me, a HOF goaltender, should have been "great". And that player should have had some extended representation of that greatness for more than what could reasonably be called a fluke or 1 great year (Jose Theodore). Chris Osgood's best statiscal season came in a year that he only played half the games. His best playoff came when we iced the most effective defense and two-way play ive ever witnessed from the Wings or any other team. While I give him credit for being better than Dom that year and being very good, "great" is still a word I hesistate to use. That was the closest Ozzy ever came to "greatness". Hasek was great, Roy was unbelievably great, Vanbiesbrouck made the Finals with the Panthers and won a cup with the Rangers, Richter had several glimpses of big game greatness. Osgood...was the goalie the Wings won the Cup with. So were Hasek and Vernon and both were better goalies. They just weren't here as long. Chris has played behind argueably the best defences and offences of the last 15 years. The perenial Norris recipient has always been there for him. As well as Murphy, Fetisov, Konstantinov, Rafalski, and Chelios. If he's voted in for sustained win totals and his rings, so be it. He would most likely end up in the Hall anyway in a bad year, maybe right next to Lindros and Gilmour. Btw, in Osgood's "prime", we wanted and traded for a better goalie. Not only that, we didn't get anything for him at all. The Islanders claimed him on waivers I believe. We got more for Leino.

Dude, I mean, dude really....jk Yea, my bad, I started writing after reading your first comment.

Dude, lay off whatever your sippin on cause Nick is about as certain as the sunrise to be in the rafters. Were talking the best Wings d-man ever and a career Wing here. "No doubt, no doubt in my mind"

I'm pretty sure that had more to do with the "Dead Things" era. There werent any players that were good enough or stuck around like the players from the 50's dynasty.

http://redwingscentral.com/stories/2010_12/08_PreliminaryRanking.php Smith takes top spot, not surprising. Enjoy!

Forwards Abdelkader: A. Physical and productive, loving it. Bertuzzi: A. More production that imagined. Cleary: A. Beast. Datsyuk: A. Above a ppg and everything else he always does. Eaves: C-. Barely notice him. Filppula: B. On and off. Franzen: (see Filppulla) Helm: B-. Love Darren, but I expect more from him. Holmstrom: B-. The end is within sight now for Homer. Hudler: A+++. Phenominal, dare I say, extravagant! (D..he's bad) Miller: B-. Modano: C+. Zetterberg: B+. Meeting expectations. Defensemen Ericsson: B+. Impressed. Janik: D. That fight is burned into my memory. Kindl: C. Blah. Kronwall: B-. Sometimes I wonder why people are high on him. Lidstrom: A. Norris Nick strikes again. Rafalski: A. Gotta love this Guy. Salei: B. The first time he touched the puck I knew he was an upgrade over Lilja. Really like him back there. Stuart: B+. Producing. Goaltenders Howard: A. No sophomore slump and reliable. Osgood: C-. I can't wait till he's replaced. Watching Howard spoils me so much. He's in position, confidant, and at times, spectacular. Osgood is not.

Agreed. I'm always astounded by how fast he is for a huge guy.

This is gettting a little rediculous now. #1. Who cares? Honestly. #2. If you could play in a city where there was actually something to do other than go to sports games, wouldn't you? #3. Leino, like Hudler now, is a third line talent on the Wings. He means a lot more to the Flyers. It's a much better opportunity for him as a hockey player. I don't think that was a bad comment at all or out of line. Good for Leino, he didn't fit here anyway.

For what? We should have at least figured that this would happen to Cleary before the end of the season. Dan Cleary plays 65 game seasons. Not his fault, just the way it is. Taking that into consideration, Abby has 7 pts in 10 games. Might mean some more powerplay time for him. Someone will most likely step in and contribute. That someone might even be LGW's favorite whipping boy, Jiri Hudler. And when he pulls a Modano and turns it around I'm sure most of the haters will fall in Lilja love with him and the hotseat will be someone else's to sit in. Get well soon though, Danny

That was satisfying. Just lovely...

I'm not Canadian. I can't say I know what being Canadian is like. I can, however, voice that I have never seen such pure, blind, arrogant, discriminatory, and unrelenting passion and dedication to a sport as the vast majority of Canadians have toward hockey. American's love for football pales in comparison. Europe's love of Soccer is closer but I can't fathom that the percentage of futbol loving Europians is as high as hockey mad Canadians. The Canadian media (TSN, CBC) acts as if the NHL still has only six teams (the Canadian ones) and that only Canadian players and the Sedin twins fill out thier rosters. I'm not suprised that Vancouver is the favorite to win the Cup, even though the Wings look as dominant. Montreal goes ballistic after winning two rounds. Toronto goes ballistic after winning two games. My point is, because if you you've watched hockey for more than five minutes you should know the above, being born and raised in that culture seems to instill a different type of passion in Canadian players. Call it National pride, almost like military service for the country. This isn't some Cherry-esque rant, it's just an observation from someone who's been engrossed in the game and it's culture for most of his life. The older I get the more I see it. I think the Europians are starting to play a more physical, passionate brand of hockey (see the Wings). American college hockey is pumping out more players than ever, the game is spreading across our country, and we produce great players. But hockey is Canada's,game and they do it a great service and honor in thier culture and it shows in a high percentage of thier homegrown stars. That said, the line between pride and arrogance gets blurred sometimes in the process. See Don Cherry.

Don't ditch it yet. That's what Dan Cleary is. Dan Cleary is a 2 1/2 line player. He can hang on the second line but is really a third line type guy. He doesn't do anything exceptional, except work hard (which is his best trait). Players like that get hurt though, which he does...and often. He plays like Holmstrom to get his goals but isn't nearly as good at it as Homer. He hits, but not great. His point streaks are usually due to fortunate bounces (watch some of his recent goals), not necessarily because of his skill level. Dan Cleary's "upside", of 55 points or so, is probably only achievable because he plays on the Wings. I don't have a problem with Danny, other than what we are paying him and for how long.

Yep. Pretty much the same as, do Lions fans deserve better? I believe so.

I didn't notice...we've only played Pheonix and Edmonton all year, right?

Boyd Devereaux.

Thank you. I'm thrilled Sammy walked, seriously. Thought he was way overvalued. At his skill level and likely other options, he was most likely entitled to that statement.

I follow the Isle's news maybe more than any team that isn't the Wings. They are the proverbial underdog and apart from my love of Wings dominance, i'm rooting for the Isle's to surprise. I thought this year was gonna be a big step but Streit was out for like 3 months before the season started, Johnny T was concussed right out of the gate, and I believe Okposo is out for awhile. They needed all those guys to really get going. DiPietro might be done forever as a decent goaltending option. Rolosen is probably retiring soon. They need a new arena super bad and if not for thier nutcase owner, who has been more than generous financially and patiently, they'd probably be gone already. Garth "former back-up goaltender/linebacker" Snow has actually done a very good job. If they were able to sign more veterans, so it wasn't always on the kids, they'd do better. That said, Snow usually does well on the free agent front. His drafting record is pretty good; they has quite the stable of youngsters.

Thanks

I've done my homework. 1. It stands to make sense that Holland & Co took Jarnkrok before Pulkkinen for a reason or reasons that might just include more than Pulkkinen's injury history. He did drop to the fourth round and we took LM Aubry (wth?!?) before him as well. 2. Pulkkinen is built like a man already and Jarnkrok (unless he put on weight over the summer) is listed at 156. 20 bucks says if Jarnkrok had Pulkkinen's build, his current production would be even higher. 3. SM-Liiga vs. Elitserian. I think I'm in the clear by saying that difference is pretty much slim and the Elite league may, depending on who you talk to, be the better league. 4. They are both playing in the highest men's league's in their respective countries. Both stats have rose considerably, while Pulkkinen's are a little better. At very least, it's closer than you'd like to believe. From reading, it seems that Jarnkrok is the more rounded player, while Pulkkinen is primarily a goal scorer. If Teemu over comes his injury history, isn't held back by his skating ability, and plays defense than he may well be the better prospect. Regardless comaparisons are saying Pulkkinen-Kurri and Jarnkrok-Zetterberg. So either way, we don't have much to worry about.

BTW....about HTD... "He's still young enough yet. He's gotta mature and want to become an NHL player. He's got the skill to do it. If he doesn't want to change his ways, then he won't play." — Nill (May 2010). He's 23 years old has already came over here and left to go back home. If I changed his name to Grigorenko, the stories would be pretty similar. Minus the horrific car wreck. Outlook is bleak to say the least.

Well said. At the time it seemed we barely had any prospects at all, let alone good ones. Trading our first round picks all the time, at the time, depleted our system. Also, check our drafts from basically '91-'98, and it won't be any surprise why it was a barren system. Our prospects now are the best i've ever seen in the Wings organization. Also, with our penchant for developing guys who weren't even pegged to be stars, there are more wild cards than usual. My list looks a bit like this: Top line potential- Tater Nyquist Jarnkrok Second line- Nestrasil Ferraro Pulkkinen Third and under- Mursak Sheahan Emmerton

Well said. I don't think Hudler is a bad player but Filppula is the better all-around player. I think he looks better than ever this year. I really like his hustle, it's like Dan Cleary-esque hustle but with more skill. To me, it looks like he watches Datsyuk alot. Fil looks much more capable of consistant 2nd line minutes than he ever has. He looks stronger and more confidant.

Skip Cheli's and Hockeytown Cafe. The food, at HC, is terrible. Cheli's is just another bar. Do go to Mosaic though, great food and atmosphere, even the appetizers are very good. It's kind of a retreat as well, makes you kind of forget that your right in downtown. The Old Shalleigh probably has a shuttle to the game and it's close to Mosaic. I've never taken the people mover so I'm not exactly sure where that is in relation. Ps: Even though it's out of the way, if you want the best food I know about in Detroit, go to Iridescense in MC Casino (get a reservation).

Hudler is a good hockey player, period. It's been 11 games, he just came back from a year in another country, and playing in totally different rinks (dimensions). After tonight, I hope the drubbing dies down a bit. This is a guy that put up 57 points, before the KHL, in about 13 minutes of ice time. 13 minutes, seriously, thats like 1 minute more than Darren Helm sees a game. He dominated in the AHL, easily held his own in the NHL, and destroyed the KHL (what some would call the next best pro league). Babcock and Holland know what they are doing. Hudler is not Leino 2.0, not even close. With that said, look what Leino can do with the right guys. I wouldn't be suprised if Hudler finished with 50+ points (in third line minutes) and had a plus rating. I'd also be willing to bet other GM's don't think he's lazy and he sucks. I bet you'd have quite a few GM's with their hands out if he went on the market. Unlike Leino, when he was traded, Hudler has shown he can produce in this league.