Learn2LuvIt

Gotcha. Thanks! Around my house we call that the case of the "Robert Langs"

Number9 - what is your scouting report on him from watching him so much? I'd be interested to hear your assessment.

What???!!!! Can you give me step-by-step, very detailed instructions on how he pulls this off? Just out of ....curiosity

Two items that stick out in my mind. 1. Babs may be just getting this out of his system. Some people love to have their ego stroked. So maybe gallivanting across the globe to have a bunch of teams tell you how great you are, how much money they'll pay you, and how much power they'll give to you is exactly what is happening. May be a bad comparison, but my nephew applied to 5 of the top schools in the country (Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Yale, and Michigan). He was accepted by them all, but knew all along he was going to go to Stanford. I asked him why he applied to so many schools (I could understand one or two schools as back-up plan)...he told me "just for the peace of mind that I could get into any college I wanted". 2. I was a little put off by some of the comments Babs made at the end of the playoff presser. He basically said that no one thought they could make the playoffs this year, and the guys took a top team in the Bolts to the brink. Lame! We were top two teams in the league mid way through the season. Now we're looking for kudos cause we took Tampa to seven games?? That struck me as weak.

Per Ken Kal's Tweat: Babs comment, "there's a deli in MTL that he's dying to have a sandwich from" prompted me to make a dinner reservation there tomorrow night. I love the swagger in the face of huge adversity.

My head says we've blown too many opportunities and not closing out last night on home ice was the death nail. My heart says Wings win 11 - 1. Gotta go with my heart on this one.

And we strong coaching advantage. That will be big.

Agreed, or as Babs would put it "I think we've gut a good opp-or-tunity here in front of us" However, glass-half-empty....if they grind through these injuries and play well without these guys, that could be a disaster for their opposition in the playoffs. A team playing well and then getting some key guys back can mean "ohtttt ohhh" time.

Being in the rafters is very, very rarefied air. And I would hope to keep it that way. I wouldn't have any considerations of anyone as of right now. The only possibilities are with Dats and Z depending how long and how prosperous their careers carry on-and it looks doubtful right now. IMO...it's a slippery slope to start making stretches on players being in the rafters if it's not a dead on LOCK. The criteria, the numbers, the intangibles, fan perception, etc.. then become relevant arguments. If it's not a "no brainer", then the answers NO. If you put Fedorov up there, then you'll have people asking why Shanny isn't up there, or Ozzy...and on-and-on it will go. btw...I have hopes that this organization will be around in 50-100 years from now, so is there a rush to start filling the rafters??

I believe we absolutely are, and we are going to be a hard team to beat in 7. There are obvious factors why I like this years team A LOT (the usual...Dats, Z, Helmer, Jimmy, etc...), but I think the combination of skilled youth, speed, depth (including goal tending depth), and attention to details (corner play, cycling down low, blocking shots, etc...) gives us a really strong look at the cup this year. However, i will say that in the last month I've been disappointed that we haven't performed well against the elite teams in the league. We beat Nashville in mid-Jan which was great...but I really would have liked to see better performances against TB and Pitt...two teams in our conference who we'll likely face if we have aspirations of winning the cup. I honestly would have taken losses to the Panthers or Sabres in lieu of a better effort/wins against our conference heavyweights.

Easy. We get pissed off when people take shots at the city of Detroit in a non-hockey manner....however minor or not, lets stay classy and not do the same with Edmonton.

Heard about this last night. Can someone please help me understand something; when it's stated that a player was acquired for "future considerations" as part of the acquisition, what does future considerations actually mean? Is this just a nice way of getting rid of a player and pretending that the trading team got something in return? Is there an official process or piece put in place, so down the road that team has to officially consider a trade offer? I am unclear to what this actually means?? Thanks in advance for any insight.

Great article. Thanks for sharing. As I read the paragraph regarding "rats", a question came up in my mind and wanted to get opinions. Is Franzen a rat? I often see Franzen (when he DOES play) chirping after the whistle, glove washing guys, the low cross-check while in close, etc....seems like he always has a LOT to say, and stirs it up...but never fights. Just curious how others weigh in on this.

It's plenty of fun without battling. I've been a part of this LGW community for 10 years and the fun has never been about battling for me.

Cool. Again, not looking to battle, just my opinion. I've never have seen a goalie chase a player with possession of the puck behind the net in the NHL though.

Your opinion. I've watched 10 times now and see no evidence of "Mrazek is overly aggressive and chases Raymond beyond his own post". He chased Raymond? If anything it looks like a half hearted attempt to get back in net. By that time Raymond is in celebration mode. Absurd a goalie gives up on a play??? Umm, that was the huge knock on Bryzgalov from multiple GM's. He'd give up on plays. "Absurd", not really considering we've seen goalies do this. Unusual, or not typical, yeah...you'd like to think since it's the NHL. Done analyzing one play. Differing opinions on the play which is cool. The defensiveness of some of the responses on here was a bit surprising, but hey...whatevs. I just stand by the fact that It's was an extremely weak effort (effort may be a stretch). It bugs me as I want to win the Stanley Cup this year, and whatever that play was....won't cut it.

No, my point is that Scotty had plenty of issues with players. Did Scotty know Darren had a crack problem? Maybe he did, I don't know. I do know that Shanny got benched for a game cause Scotty thought he "dogged" it on just one shift. He stated this in an interview with Pierre Mcguire a few years back on Sirius/NHL channel. An entire game for one perceived lazy shift....one of the best players on the team. I know right?

Job??? What job?? I was so good at my job that I quit trying and I still get paid. They refuse to criticize or discipline me. I don't even show up anymore!! They know I'm a "new school" type of employee who wouldn't take well to criticism, reprimands, or disciplinary action, so they just let me keep doing what I do. They may need me for a big client presentation in April, but they're not worried a bit. They know I'm tough on myself so it might go okay if they do need me. This is awesome!!

Okay, you can be fine and accept giving up on a play. I won't. It's actually embarrassing as this is something I hear bantam coaches "ranting" about consistently.

He's not trash, giving up on the play was trash. My issue is not with the mistake, it's with him giving up on the play. I'm not looking for the Wings to do anything in regards to trading him (I don't think I stated that....), but it's irritating hearing people state "he wants that one back". It wasn't the run of the mill bad goal that was let in, he gave up on the play, that's the point. Should he be benched/passed on his next scheduled start?...yeah, maybe. Maybe a lesson like that would help him get better prepared for games, and send a message about quitting on a play. You can't let giving up slide. Mistakes, yes; giving up...no. This is the freakin NHL!! Btw...if you question that he gave up on the play, you need to watch the play again. He had no intention of fighting back to the crease to attempt to get the stick down to prevent wrap-around. You got me thinking about a hypothetical question though...I wonder what Scotty would have done to a goalie that gave up on a play?? Interesting thought. Not looking to battle, we won. That's the important thing.

I'm not giving Mrazek a pass on the first goal. I've watched the replay a few times last night, then again this morning...he gave up on the play. Once he realized Raymond had so much speed and was not being covered behind the net, he gave up. In most instances, on the second half of a back-to-back road game, those early mistakes will kill you. I heard Osgood and others say "he wanted that one back", which is short for that was horrible goal tending. It's an easy way to give a goalie a pass, especially after we secure a win. Fortunately, he recovered and played very well the rest of the game and so did the Wings, and we won. So all is good with the outcome. But that first goal should not be given a pass. Horrible. Giving up on the play is even worse. That wasn't even AHL caliber...that was beer league. Hey, if that happened when Osgood or anyone else was the back-up during one of our Stanley Cup/President Trophy winning years...we'd have a LOT to say. So let's not be complacent now. We want the best team in the league and win a Stanley Cup, then we need to pay attention to every detail and things like this and not let them pass without accountability.

I've held off on promoting this in the past, but I think it's now viable to discuss replacing Franzen. Why is viable now...because he is not in our top 3 offensive group anymore. Yes, he has 19 points thus far and an assist machine. However, at a cap hit of $4M...I think his offensive numbers actually make him trade-able at this cap hit. 1. I'd replace him with someone younger who can produce for us for the next five years. 2. He's 34, and a big boy, father time and father injury are not in his favor. 3. The assists are great, but we need goal scorers.

Someone needs to get this to the CIA immediately. Waterboarding just got retired.

I've always thought that top coaches are well worth the big money. They don't count against the salary cap. So why wouldn't a team pay a extra for an advantage that doesn't go against the cap?? Coaches salaries are a drop in the overall budget when your looking at 70 Million $ player payrolls annually.

Franzen's jealous