Donaldjr2448

Sam Gagner of the Edmonton Oilers scored 8 points tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. Gagne was named the First, Second, and Third Star tonight in Edmonton as well. I think he may be off the trading block. In the last two games in Edmonton, the Oilers have outscored the Hawks 17-6. OUCH!!! Gagner is now in the company with Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey with 8 points in a game! Amazing. Sorry Sam for spelling your name wrong in the topic sentence.

You know, you bring up something I hadn't thought of.... do you all think this team is tanking just to get Blash fired??? Maybe a reach on my part, but I have not witnessed the ass kickings we have received over the last few weeks since the late 80's.......

I actually agree with this post as well. Balance is indeed important. With certain injuries to key guys like Helm and Abby other players are tasked with filling roles they are not accustom to. Helm and Abby are huge on the Power Play for the Wings, Helm especially on the PK. Hopefully it won't be too late once Abby and Helm get back. I also agree with Blashill changing up the lines way too much. In a 3-2 game the other night Blash put Tatar on the 4th line to start the third period....... come on now!

I have to agree with the comment above. I think most of the struggles this team is having is from behind the bench. Most of the posts on here have stated that the offense begins in our defensive zone with the first pass, there is no question that is our bread and butter. The issue with our bread and butter is the rest of the NHL knows this now, look at all of the turnovers created with our "breakout" offense.... other teams are forcing the Wings to breakout up the boards (similar to what New Jersey did to the Wings in the 95 Cup Final) and taking away passing lanes up the middle of the ice. The Wings are forced to either dump and chase or short breakout passes that either get tipped/intercepted to lead to a turnover in our own zone. It would almost seem the key to beating the Wings is to play a full court press (to use a basketball term), that all falls on the coaching staff, the coaches need to make the changes. The Power Play has also been the worst I can ever remember! Again, teams playing that full court press on the Wings, only allowing a dump and chase, we do not have the bodies to dump and chase. The Kings and Blues do, why the coaching staff cannot see this is beyond me.

Tanking for Draft picks can sometimes be a gamble too. Look how long it took Edmonton to finally land some picks that actually worked out. There are only a few Dylan Larkin's. McDavids, and Tyler Halls that can come into the league as a rookie and contribute. With that, I am willing to miss the playoffs for a few years if I knew the organization was "Rebuilding". Like someone else mentioned, the talent is already in place, we just lack the elite talent. Perhaps a draft of an elite player isn't the answer, but maybe a trade for one might be a better option. Personally, I think the change needs to be made in the front office. If guys are playing in Grand Rapids for 4 to 5 years (mainly the defensemen) and cannot make their way into the league within that time frame and contribute, then perhaps the organization has an issue. Maybe I am wrong, but just my two cents.

Matt, The update is awesome. I truly love this page and follow it closely! Great work by your staff.

Judging by the Bruins fan (not the one who stated we need to keep things clean), I think we have their fan base a little worried. I mean bring up how they "owned" previous playoff games some 4 years ago and how it took...... what 40+ years to win between Cups for them, I guess we have a lot in common don't we Boston????? I like when we get under the fans skin, that's one thing we have been doing for 88 plus years and that's something Boston knows nothing about but will by mid next week. GO WINGS BABY!!!

By the end of next week (March 23) we will see if the Wings are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. If we are not in within 5 to 6 points of the 8th spot, I really think the remaining 3 weeks should look like preseason games. There is no reason to have guys like Datsyuk, Franzen, Howie, Alfie, Helm, Legwand and such out there for games that do not mean anything. This would however be a great time to get guys that we need to see for next year which will then help decide what positions we need to target in the off season. 1-13-2 is very UnWings like, but the NHL is changing ALOT and parity is the new word in the NHL these days. 1-13-2 is really not shocking when you see teams locking down in the third period when they have the lead. The major reason the Wings do not have a decent hold on a playoff spot is because they could not hold onto leads in third period. There was a stretch I believe in November and December where we lost 5 straight games in shootouts and had the leads in those games. Dallas was the only Western Conference team we could "afford" to give points too, otherwise teams we are fighting against were handed 2 critical points. The next 6 games will be huge for the Wings (12 possible points) I would say the Wings need 9 points of the 12 to still stay in the race. 2 Huge points against Toronto and Pittsburgh up for grabs mid week may just decide the playoff fate of the Wings. Good God I hope that I am wrong and we pull of a miracle, but I just don't see it.

My understanding is that NHL Network will broadcast the ceremony prior to the game. The NHL Network stated that they will start the broadcast at 6:30 tonight. With that being said, if you have gamecenter I am almost certain the game is blacked out on gamecenter. GO WINGS!!

I have to agree with Kipwinger on this one. I am not sure what Neil was attempting to prove??? Maybe that he can still take out the leading scorer for the night in a fight??? I always respected Neil until recently, his game has slipped over the last few years, and personally I believe if he would have played when Probie and Kocur played he would be the only one with lipstick and a purse. Lets face it, Probie and Kocur would have chewed this dude up. Just my opinion.

As a former broadcaster myself for Oakland University, If I could give Osgood any advice, I would tell him to listen to his broadcasts over and over again. It didn't make sense to me until I did it, once I listened to myself I then realized what everyone else was hearing. If it didn't make sense while listening to it, just imagine how the people understood it or lack thereof during the broadcast. Broadcasting is definitely an art, so I have some sympathy for Ozzie.

I will say, I am no lawyer, but I do own a business and from my understanding is that Moore could only sue for damages, he would then have to prove that there is 38 Million in damages caused. I am not sure if that is how lawsuits work in Canada, but I cannot imagine it being much different than the United States. I really hope this case will be sealed on the court date cause I would like to think we are getting close to a statue of limitations by now......

Toronto takes the game in Montreal 4-3. Decent game with a lot of grit involved. I hope the Wings are up for this challenge in the Atlantic Division, as it looks physical.

The Parros situation was unreal. He was spun around and as Colton Orr was falling to the ice, Orr had a hold of Parros jersey. Parros had no way to structure his fall to protect himself and hit the ice chin first. Just a freak accident all in all. I have never seen a player hit the ice like Parros did. Sorry I do not have a link, but I am certain there will be plenty of exposure of the incident on the NHL Network. UPDATE: Parros now has just left in an ambulance to the hospital...... so we will see what happens from there.

I was just thinking about this exact thing this morning, I could also see Jimmy playing like Giguere did that year as well. Damn! That would be sooooo awesome. Only difference is that Anaheim is not the defending Cup Champion, however another LA team is.........hmmmmmmmmm....

Alright!! Who broke the damn mirror around here??? Sweet Jesus we have to have the most injured players in the league right now.

Personally, I am happy the Wings haven't extended themselves in these crazy contracts. There is no way in Hell I offer a guy a 14 year deal. Just look at the Franzen deal, now we are stuck with a load that no one wants and we cannot move him. Plus, we have no idea what the new cap is gonna bring. I honestly do not understand what the Flyers and Wild are thinking. Big front loaded contracts with decades of time on them does not make sense to me.

See, Now this all makes sense. Perhaps Ken Holland is smarter than we are all giving him credit for.

There has been some talk about the new CBA and that it could possibly lower the cap. No one has came up with any figures on what the amount may be, but for the sake of a good conversation let say the cap drops to 62 million. I'm gonna put this out there to all the CBA folks here (and I know alot of you know hiw this works) what will teams that are over the cap gonna have to do? Can teams restructure contracts or do they have to simply release players or trade? I guess the question is what are the ramifications of the cap being lowered?

I kinda figured that the cap will not be lowered simply because that would lead to yet another strike. But like many of you mentioned if the Cap is lowered just imagine the players out there at that point. MInnesota for example would have to let go of a guy like Heatly and we was one of the reasons Parise and Suter signed there in the first place. Could be an interesting summer to say the least. Here's is another question; Should Holland wait until the new CBA is signed to go after UFA's? This could either be a smart move or completly screw us over next year. Thoughts???

I like this signing, We needed grit and lets face it he does have some skill. Everyone hated Bertuzzi back in the day and now he is a fan favorite and there is no reason why Tootoo cannot follow in those footsteps. We all deserve a second chance and there is no reason why Tootoo shouldn't get one.

The only reason I can see the Kings hanging around as a "dynasty" (if you will) is the simple fact they are loaded in the minors. The Kings were a smaller team in the beginning of the season and were getting railroaded early on. Sutter came in and made the team bigger, that said he called up a youngster from the Adrimals in Dwight King. King was probably one of the biggest impacts to the third and fourth lines on that team in the playoffs. They have many more of those type of players waiting in the wing. The Kings will be contenders for the next while, I cannot say they will win the Cup 3 out of the next 4 years, but they will not be a one and done team.

Sooooooo..... I guess we could say that Kane is the Nick Farley of the Chicago Blackhawks then. They are both about the same age, one smokes and speeds, while the other drinks like a fish. These cases show the two young men need help. I really believe the teams need to step up and help these guys out before they end up dead and then you have everyone asking why???

Does anyone think a Trade involving Franzen may be in the works??? Somehow I think there is, his comments after the Nashville series along with some tensions in the club house with Babs shows me that there is something going on there. I would not shed one tear if Franzen was gone! Sorry Guys/Gals.