Coyote0106

We did almost the exact same play tonight. The D goes for an outlet pass just behind the goal line. He passes it right to Norfolk's stick, and the guy has all day to beat the goalie. Only this time, Larsson bailed him out. I'd love to hear that the D is going to get extra work at practice tomorrow. You know, every one I talk to about this team goes right to comparing it to the 05-06 group of guys that won all those games. The talent is amazing. In our starting line alone, we have 3 possibly 4 guys who could be in the NHL. (Ericsson, Helm, Leino and Haydar [on maybe a team like PHX, or LA]).

Mursak seems to be happy to just be in the AHL. I talked to him on Tuesday night, and he was just happy that he finally got to the Griffins, and is going to wait patiently for the big club. Gelech on the other hand was a big suprise to me. It seems, IMO, that his days are limited as a Griffin. Just the way he behaves at team functions, his play on the ice, it doesn't look good with everyone else on the team. I ran into him on the concourse tonight, and he seemed excited to be back though, so who knows?

So after having seen them play in 3 games, I'm worried about our D. They are just way to careless with the puck. We are letting in alot of goals based on the D man passing it right to the enemy's stick. Tape to tape passes are good, only when it's to your team. As of right now, it seems like the team philosophy is beat everyone 6-5. But my opinion on the game: This team is starting off quick. They are ready to play when the puck drops. We make nice decisions on offense. Our D made a couple of bad turnovers...but again, they might just need practice with each other. Downey is just a beast. Players will talk crap when they are on the bench, but when it is both of 'em on the ice, they will just back off. They are literally afraid of him. The competition between Larsson and Howard is going to make this team good. They are going to bring their A game as much as possible, because they know it's between the two of 'em. The team jumped off to an early lead, but again let the opponents back in it. The Coach walked up and down the bench, and talked to the players...something Stothers never did. Abdelkader is almost like a newer improved version of Maltby. He will agitate the crap outta the other team, then use his hands to score. He can deflect pucks into the net (last night), he can jam them through (ala Homer). He really does have tremendous potential. I was suprised to see Leino playing, I thought his call-up was immediate. He again showed great hands, and his offensive vision is really, really good. He seems to be 2 steps ahead of everyone mentally. The refs BLEW a call with 1:50 to go in the game. The Admirals had 6 guys on the ice, and their goalie ON THE BLUE LINE. They drop the puck, everyone is screaming and Ericsson gets a penalty. They dont make any effort to take a guy off. The goalie is still standing there, and the ref (and linesmen!) just ignore it. I mean they made no attempt to cover it up. So about 30 seconds later, they get a penalty. It's 4 on 4, except they decide to put 5 on the ice, AGAIN. The Ads atleast noticed before play started this time, but it was BS. The other thing that got me going was the icing they did. They dumped it, an obvious icing. So the coach calls for a change, and it takes a good 4 min. to get who was on the ice settled. So in essence he gave his team a time out to get their legs back.

First of all, the guy on here talking about how he dumped beer on Glumac, get a clue. Everyone is our section was loving the way you were riding him, hell, everyone was laughing at the things being yelled. You lost it with the beer, even though he did squirt the water bottle. The Van took to long to kick you out, crap should never get that far at a game. But dang, I loved how you rode Glumac. The first period really just left me stunned. I NEVER thought we'd be up 4-0 going in to the intermission. This team has some insane offensive fire power. They were making plays that were sure turnovers last year. The second started, and Hamilton just out played us. The team really must have thought that they were going to just half-ass it to the buzzer. Hamilton came out hitting everything, and playing solidly defensively. I'd definitely say we lost the 2nd and 3rd periods. Mursak has some wheels on him. He circled once in our end then just turned 'em on, and was still able to go coast to coast against Hamilton. Leino made some really smart passes, but I'd like to see him shoot more. He's without question an NHL player on an AHL team. Helm and Abdelkader worked their butts off, too. They would be leading the forecheck, win the battles along the boards for the puck, and then knock someone down because they could. Abdelkader is really gritty, he was sandpaper against some of their players all night. His fight wasn't much, but it was obviously coming. He boarded a guy in the corner, and Glumac was coming after him before the whistle even went. He saw it at the last second, and got his gloves off maybe a split-second before Glumac charged in. Glumac got his spun around, and on the ice, then started throwing punches. The refs stepped in, but if a different line was on the ice, it could easily have been much worse. Oulahen got into a scrap at the end of the game, which was the best fight. He just jumped off the bench, and the Hamilton player decided to hit him for no reason. So Oulahen pushed him, and then they dropped the gloves. Oulahen got a couple good shots in, otherwise it was alot of just positioning to get an arm free. Ritola had maybe his best game as a Griffin. He was all over the ice, making plays develop, and then finishing off on alot of others. Their goalie couldn't stop anything in the 1st, I think he finished at like 4G on 5 or 6 shots. Anyways, this is just one mans opinion on the game.

I can't wait. It's finally game-day. I will post up my opinions after the game...but it's about time! It's going to be the first big test this young season. Hamilton is good, so we will finally be able to know how good they really are. A quick side note, it really is a different team. The coach has gone on record several times now saying how energetic this team really is, and how the arena NEEDS to be full of cheering fans. Last year, all we heard was "Stothers is like a father to the players....blah blah blah". It's good to have a real coach, it might have taken the Wings two years, but they finally got their man.

It's killing me, too. We had a booster club meet 'n greet with the players, and it seems like everyone is just waiting until Saturday. It'll be a big test too, playing against Hamilton. They are definitely the best team we will have faced.

From a 'Yote fan's point of view..I dont think it is that bad. I was hoping for the paw print on the front, and the pointing coyote on the shoulders.

2 more quick goals, 1 for the Griffs 1 for the Marlies Pare, A by McGrath and Pyett.... This team is doing a good job of converting. I hope they keep scoring. Edit: Kindl, A by Galvin and Ritola. Nice. I love beating the Marlies. They use to just manhandle us. Edit2: Wow. It's now 6-1 in the second. We have got to be careful. It is going to be an ugly 3rd.

Listen via radio feed : http://woodradio.com/pages/streaming/page.html Watch (costs money): http://ahl.neulion.com/team/console.htm Nice quick goal by Wilson, A goes to Ericsson.

That's why I'm going to enjoy this club. We're carrying some many guys, people WILL sit. It's putting so much competition for those final spots. I think it's going to be a very good thing. Howard and Larsson are doing the same thing...it's all a good thing after last year.

I had some friends at the game. According to them, the fight was just throw off the gloves, then let Downey pick him up and throw him to the ice. 3 pts in 2 games is good enough for me. Let's see what they do in today's game.

Well, I just got back from the Cleveland trip, and that arena is crazy. They definitely get the fans involved in EVERY aspect of the game. As for the game, it was an interesting one. Downey was very vocal on the bench. When LE scored to tie it up at 3, he talked to EVERYONE on the bench. He stood up for a teammate after the 2nd period, chewing a guy out while on the bench for a hit. Downey talked to him later on in the 3rd when they were on the ice, and the guy looked like he was afraid to even acknowledge him. Leino had a great breakaway goal, then got alittle too fancy on his 2nd breakaway. He tried to pull the "forsberg" and it backfired. Abdelkader's goal looked really nice, but I think Bacashua (sp?) should have had that one. Larsson should have had the OT goal, it was a wrist shot that he was able to stop all night. The one guy that had a really rough night was Atherton. He took 2 really bad penalties, and turned the puck over a couple times to many. McGrath hit a guy, then seconds later Abdelkader just flipped a guy right over him. It was 2 really big hits. I think this team will do fine. We will win much more than we lose, which is a good thing from last year. It was just the first game, I think we'll do better next Saturday.

It seemed like last year everyone said the team looked good on paper. This team will be able to do much more than last year (but then again, just about any team could). The salary cap is REALLY going to help the Griffs, because we're going to get the likes of Helm and Leino. And as much as Howard did let in some bad goals, he saved our necks alot of times, too.

He had a rough start to the year..and couldn't dig his way out on the +/- column. He would have a couple good nights then have one horrible one and be back to where he was. He definitely has potential...I, too, expect him to improve greatly this year.

I'm just amazed the 'yotes are even being talked about this late in a season. It just shows you how much more improved they are which these young guys. Hopefully they don't take two steps back in the off season, like normal.

I thought he got the bad end of that scrap. This was the first game that he REALLY looked out of place. He was always one step behind. He looked slow, and well, 36. I don't know if it was because the opponent was tougher.... He just looked slow. I would definately say he doesn't deserve a Wings roster spot playing like he did last night.

If McCarty isn't there, getting those tickets the day of the game will be no problem. If he is there, you want to get them in advance. If you live in the area, just go up to the zone to get the tickets before game day. They have a $1 fee, so it's alot cheaper than online...again, if that is an option. The Griffs have almost doubled their attendance since Mac showed up. We were getting 3k, if we were lucky, on game nights...I know the AHL website says more, but I'm talking butts in the seats. Mac has really, really helped in just about every aspect.

I'd say that DMac fight was total BS. The Ad's goalie slashed Hartigan....Hartigan gets jumped....DMac steps in and helps him out, and Hartigan gets the slash call? How did that happen? Maybe you guys saw something I missed from my seat? In my eyes, the fight was a whole lot of hugging. The other guy didn't want to fight him, and just hugged his way through it. I'd say the Ericcson fight was much better than DMac's.... Dmac had a good first home game, but was a NON factor the second. He isn't going to do anything in Detroit with how he played the second game. So after seeing him for 2 games...I don't think he is NHL material at the moment...he's got a long ways to go before Feb. 26th or whatever the deadline is.

ahlstore.com? Being from GR, I just go down to the store inside the arena...and I don't know if they have a website. Sorry.

He really has been doing a great job here in GR. His work ethic is amazing. There are nights when he is one of the few that is actually working hard. I agree with the assesment he needs to bulk up, too. He gets pushed off the puck to easily, but with size he'll be much better. It's been fun watching him.

They're improving....and are almost to .500. This is just a signing because of Ference's injury.

I don't feel comfortable with Tardiff and Quincey as our tough boys. Until we get someone that can skate/score/whatever AND fight, I'm happy with Keefe. He does just what he needs to do. He is a physical player, and makes other players skate with their heads up. He defends our players.

They called up McKee from the Phoenix Roadrunners. Jimmy is back though, and played in the game Wednesday.

Ericsson is much closer to being ready for NHL experience than Kindl. I wouldn't even put Kindl at a top 4 d-man on the Griffs right now. He has potential, but he has to learn the pro game before we can risk him in the NHL. Even with the wings record.

You MUST mean send Chelios down to play with him. I can't believe you'd really think to send him UP to play with Chelios if you read that article. Why would we send him up if he is a liability in GR? You think he'd magically be better in Detroit because of Chelios?