Andy Pred 48

have to agree, its a tuff ask for a win tonight. The D are going to be relied on alot and we can only hope we get a few decent scoring chances on the break. Tonights forward lines are going to be interesting to say the least. Bet no one can call all 4 lines correct! I would like to see Hartigan get a little more ice than he has done as he is a skilled player, and maybe put the old Griffs scoring line of Flip Rex and Kops out together all night as they should have some old chemistry. Babs has said that Flip may be on the top line with Dats and Cleary, I'd go with the Mule instead of Flip thou. Still fingers crossed we may nick a point.

Then, a melee five minutes into the third period piled insult upon injury for Rockford's Prestin Ryan, who sustained a pummeling from Jonathan Ericsson !!! Now if he can get his 6'5" 220lb up to 235, then we may be onto something of a force on the D next year.

if we could get an out and out goalscorer, then I would have him on the line with Hank and Dats. I would use Homer on the 2nd or 3rd line and bring him on for the PP where he is at his most dangerous. The idea of a Alex or Ilya on the 1st line with the euro twins is mouth watering but it aint going to happen in this current NHL set up. A player who could do well for us and has a decent pedigree is Miroslav Satan, not sure of his current contract status thou. He's a natural scorer and a rightwing, good skater and has a fair size. Think he would complement the top line. I just feel we don't score enough goals even handed, its great that the PP is working ok but we need to find a way to score more even strength. At the moment our top line are scoring less than 1 goal a game at even strength which is food for thought for some.

The guy is 36 next month, he is one of the old mould enforcers and I think that the new style NHL is passing him by. It maybe time for him to call it a day and this incident may in a way help him come to that decision. When frustration over takes your self control its a downward slope for one.

Strange as it may seem, The Redwings have never had 2 players hit the 100pt regular season mark in the same season. In the 93-94 season we had 2 50 goal scorer's in Fedorov 56 and Sheppard 52. We could have had 2 100pt guys that year if the Capt had been healthy. Feds got 120pts and Stevie had 82pts from just 58 games. At the current rate Hank is on course for 117 pts and 60 goals!! With Dats on for 102 pts. Of which 70 would be helpers. Hope they keep going and hit their peak about May time.

At this moment in time, Pronger and Niedermeyer have got a job on their hands getting the Ducks in the playoffs!!

For us to win the cup we need to have 4 lines rolling. At present with Malts and Draps out we are only using 10 forwards. Downey and Ellis aren't seeing much ice and that is where we will struggle if not addressed. Although they are on the roster the 5-6 mins they are getting between them isn't what we need. On the plus side with Malts and Draps out, Hudler has seen more icetime and he has delivered. I'm still not getting what Dallas is bringing and if we make a change then that is where I would look to alter the forwards. Get someone in who can play2/ 3rd line at least and has speed. Nils Ekman, would fit in well with the Swedish guys good penalty killer, good skater and has put some decent numbers up. He is currently playing in Russia. We seem not too bad on D although I would like us to have 7 top end D, Meech is not going to be anymore than a #7 at best so we could upgrade here and get in another top 4 D. There are one or two possabilities out there but not sure of the cost or what we would have to give up. If we had the cap space or could offload some cap space then I would make a play for Alexei Morozov for the 1st/2nd line scoring winger. Then try and get Anton Babchuk for that 2nd line D pairing. I think these 2 could see us be serious contenders for the cup, and would fit in well with our current playing style.

better make that 3!!

Sure did in his debut. Helped his new team beat Kitchener in OT, 5-4. Scored 1+2 and picked up the 1st star of the game too.

The salary cap and all its laws and do's and can'ts have me a bit puzzled to say the least. One question that I would like to know the answer to is this. If a team doesn't use all its cap space money this season, say they still have $5m unused at the end of the season, is that then added to next years entitlement or is it lost as not being spent? Just thought it may be a good ploy for some teams to be able to offer some RFA's an offer sheet next season; ie AO cough cough!!?

I'm not dissing Jon here but a 27yr old with 80 games in the AHL over 5 years isn't exactly the veteran player I mean. Maybe if they put him out with Brad Ference, who is only a year older than Jon but has over 250 games in both the NHL and AHL behind him it may be a better option for the Griffs coaches and Kindl. Brad's style would complement Jakub's a bit better in my opinion.

Jakub seem's to be having a few problems lately. His offensive output of 1+5 in 15 games isn't to bad, but he has been a healthy scratch the past week and his -11 rating is a team worst. I'm not sure he has the right D partner's at GR to guide him through his first full year as a pro. Where if he had gotten on the wings roster, Cheli and Lids would have been a huge help to him. Hope he starts to get it together as he has great upside and could be on the Wings blueline for many years.

Now that Langfeld has left for pasture's new, does anyone know if Flip will get the #15 as he used that early in his career and at GR's instead of #51 that he used for the Wings.

Had a 4 point game last night for Regina, I must say looking at our prospect's we look like we have plenty of talent coming thru on our blueline and this guy could be one of those late round steal's that our scouts tend to make. He is about the same sort of build as Lebda but is slightly heavier, I like the look of this kid and can see him moving quickly thru the ranks to GR next year and if he keeps putting the numbers up there then who knows what could happen.

3 pt game last night, really seem's a very useful offence D man coming thru the ranks for the wings.

Update on Logan and the signs are looking good. He was made Capt of the Pats this year and is leading by example. Sits third overall for defenceman after a 1/3 of the season, but more impressive is he is way out in front on the goals scored by a D with 13. I just feel if he keeps going the way he is and is coached the right way then maybe the Wings could have gotten themselve a bargain. He has improved no end in his own zone as his stats show, and looks like he's really taken to the C role alround. 2004-05 WHL Season Regina Pats 67 5 19 24 -33 67 2005-06 WHL Season Regina Pats 71 10 35 45 -14 89 2006-07 WHL Season Regina Pats 71 14 48 62 14 84 2007-08 Regular Season Regina Pats 27 13 11 24 6 36

Lilja just dosen't learn does he. More press box coming up for Lilypad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forgive me for being too simplistic here, but what on earth does Drake bring to this team? Veteran leadership? Extra grit? That scoring touch missing on the 4th line? I'm not going to pick on just Dallas here but I did question the signing when it was first announced and I'm still trying to see some sort of justification in it. I would sooner we had kept one of the rookies and given them his 8 mins ice time. At least we would have been benifitng the org more by blooding in our future stock and given them valuable experience. Having say Ryno come up and play on the 4th line with Kops and Mule, would be a good start. Hell, maybe we even should have kept Grigs here, I'm sure he would have gotten up to speed by xmas and we could have had a top 6 forward on our hands. I know its all ifs and buts, yet our top brass always seem to shy away from having young guys and go towards the more senior guys. There excuse that they aren't NHL ready may be right, but how do you get ready if you don't play at the level? Surely not by playing in the AHL till your 23-24 yrs old!! Its time we took a gamble on guys and gave them a chance. I'm fed up seeing other teams giving youth a chance and us standing still. Yes I know we haven't got the 1st round picks waiting to come in like most other teams have, but we do have some talent that could flourish given the chance. Our last 1st round pick should be here instead of Meech. Derek is a good player but he is never going to be more than a 6/7 D. Kindl is top 2 material and should be here learning his trade. Fish had 7 AHL games before he got the call, and Kindl has more natural talent than Jiri had at the same age. Get them here earlier is what i want to see. Then when they are 24 they will have 2-3 years NHL exp instead of a handful of call up games. But I'm afraid that our top brass let sentiment rule their brains when it comes to decision making, when you look at some of their last transactions. So i have a hunch that it'll be the status quo for the rest of this year at least, more's the pity.

Is Ericsson a physical player for the Griffs? I hear he did well in pre-season and he seem's to be filling out his 6'5" frame, listed as 220lb on the Griffs site. Maybe he is closer to coming up than some. Would he be an upgrade on Lilja eventually?

HOW THE *** DID WE LOSE THAT 42-17 AND 3 SHORTYS AGAINST

keep it going boys, we can't keep outplaying these guys and not win one. I'm still confident the W is going Doms way tonight.

As along as Lids don't score we'll win. Both his markers this year have come against the Hawks!! Cheli is a healthy scratch tonight so it'll be good to keep out of the box as he is one of our key PK's. Looks like Drake has got the nod over Downey, although I would have liked to have seen a 4th line with Kops Mule and Downs. Here's to a good game and a 4-2 win with Z getting back in the points.

Rex is starting to warm up lately thats for sure. Last 5 games hes gone 3+4 at a +3, the only game he didn't put up points was when he only got 5.36 ice v the Bluejackets. About his shooting, he's taken 10 shots in the last 5 for the 3 goals. Think I'd take a 33% shooting ave!

just got to stop taking dumb ass pens. Get an early goal and watch as the hawks wilt under the pressure of being the first team in the Div to beat the Wings in the 3 straight games. I hope,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,please some one take the game by the neck........Dats?

Top prospect Cory Emmerton led his struggling Kingston team to a 7-3 win in top of the league Belleville's barn. Cory got his shooting boots on as he compiles a 4+2 game and outshines Wings ex prospect and league point leader Shawn Matthias who has just 1 helper on the night. The home side out shot the Frontenacs by 43-28, but an inspired PP unit for gave the visitors the edge as Emmerton helped them score on all 3 power plays. Lets hope Emmerton can push on and get amongst the points on a more regular basis.