Dawgs

My god word coming from the FSN crew is Toronto ruled it inconclusive and the linesman and Leggo overruled the ref that was on top of the play. What a joke. These refs bet on games. I question every call ever made by them again. The NHL is fixed. I never believed that before I do now.

And they wonder why their integrity is challenged? The NHL screwed the pooch here. What a joke.

Ill be surprised if they dont make the playoffs but I dont expect a big run unless the goaltending is improved. Osgood and Howard will not cut it.

I think they will have a better regular season than last year. They should be a harder working team this season over last. They will probably be better defensively from the forward positions too. More physical and better overall skating. I think you improve all these areas replacing Hudler and Sammy with Helm and Leino. And if Eaves can follow the script others like Cleary have, he could find his game after 30 something goals his first two years. Bertuzzi adds physicality and Id love to see Abdelkader see the ice. The penalty kill will be much improved. These guys have track records killing penalties. Last year was an anomaly. Jason Williams will be better at the point on the second PP unit than Sammy. They are soft in goal tho. I wonder how long it takes for Howard and Larsson to change places. That Anaheim series was brutal last year. Couple that with cheap shots to Lidstroms testicles, Erricsons appendix, other assorted injuries, tons of hockey in the last three years and the dreaded Cup hangover and ya have a situation where the best team might just lose a Game 7 to one thats younger and hungrier.

These national "analysts" crack me up. All they do is spew the same old cliches about Detroit over and over. In one sentence Bucci says Selannes 39 but has amazing speed. No mention of his total ineffectiveness against SJ. No mention of the ancient Niedermayer brothers. Yet in the next paragraph 39 year old Lidstrom and 35 year old Rafalski are " a bit of a concern" because of thier age. Really calling us old is getting old. The Wings arent old, they are a really nice mix of veteran talent that can play and still wants to win and young hungry guys whose best years are still in front of them. I keep seeing Anaheims size at the back end as being so impressive that Detroit wont be able to maintain the same net front presence as they did against Columbus. Yet nobody mentions that Columbus has one of the biggest D's in the NHL and average something close to 6'4" and 225. That size didnt do much for Columbus as Detroit went to the net with impunity. Anyone who has watched this Detroit team often, knows that there is no way that Anaheim size and physicality will hinder Detroit. In fact, Ill say that while Anaheim does have a slight edge in size, Detroit is the more physical team. I dont have the stats handy but I was looking at the matchups and they showed the top three players on each team in hits. In 6 games in the first round Anaheims top two hitters had less hits than Detroits did in 4 games, while the Anaheim player that is third had 1 or 2 more than Detroits third. And anecdotally, after watching all the playoff games these two teams have played, Detroit hits as often and thier hits are much bigger. The one area in the physical game that without a doubt swings Anaheims way, is the scrums after the whistle. And thats not physical hockey thats just a brutish attempt at intimidation and the Red Wings have already established the fact that nobody will intimidate them. Between the whistles, when it matters, is at worst even, but I give the edge to Detroit.

I loved Federov and he will remain one of my all time favorites. But no way should his number be retired. He was looking to get out of Detroit almost from the day he got here. He signed an offer sheet with Carolina his first chance at RFA and the first time he was unrestricted he left for less than what the Wings had offered him. Why honor an athlete that couldnt wait to sign with another team? One who you basically broke out of Communist Russia and gave the chance to make millions. Dont compare guys like Sawchuk and Lindsey who were traded with guys who left of thier own accord. Howe had been out of the NHL for a few years before he played for Hartford, and that just to be on the same team as Mark and Marty. As an aside I was at the January 12th, 1980 game against Hartford. It was a tradition for my uncle to give me 4 tickets for my birthday. We lost I think 6-4. But to see Gordie on the ice one last time was something Ill never forget. Id say Ozzie has somewhat less than a 50/50 chance to go into the rafters. The only way he does is if he wins another Cup or two and makes the HoF. Both possibilities. Lidstroms a sure thing. First ballot HoFer. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have a shot if they continue thier careers here and continue to produce on contending teams. Chicago will retire Chelis number. Shannys out in the cold.

Montreal never had a chance with the injuries they had. Montreal fans are the Philly fans of Canada. Lemaire and Riseborough may end up in the mix in Montreal.

That commercial sure does make it look like the series hinged on that goal and that afterwords Pittsburgh went on to win the Cup. Im not sure how marketable Pittsburgh and Crosby really are. It seems to me that the NHL has crammed them both down the fans throats and that has caused considerable backlash. Crosby and Pittsburgh are almost universally hated anywhere outside the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The mistake made was not allowing Crosby to come by his superstardom naturally. His entire identity was created in a backroom at NHL headquarters before any of us ever got to see him. The NHL was basically telling the fans they are too stupid to make a judgement about who is a superstar themselves. If the NHL hadnt been so desperate for a hero and had waited for the natural process to occur, they wouldnt be having this problem with thier "golden boy" being hated around the league.

The cheap s***s gotta go. I hate when two guys are squared off and a third comes in from behind and wraps the guy up around the head and neck area. Thats some cheap s*** there. Anytime a third man comes in between two guys that are squared off he should get an automatic 2 and 10.

What happened to standing up at the blueline? Our defense is constantly backpedalling, allowing the puck carrier easy access to the zone all the way to the top of the circles. It led to more than a couple quality chances at Ozzie. Keep em in front and to the outside, thats the philosophy. While the basic tenet is true, it isnt something etched in stone. You cant be afraid to step up once in awhile. If your constantly giving up your blueline its gonna lead to games that your goaltender would rather forget. This team has a wealth of talent on the blueline along with some extremely responsible two way forwards. I want to see aggression at the blueline. Step up on the puck carrier when you have a forward coming hard on the backcheck. He will cover for you. Alot of our struggles keeping the puck out of the net can be traced to this. We didnt play like this last season. Its gotta be McCrimmon.

With all the attention focused on Osgood by the media he can become that rallying point every team needs. The guys in front of him know they left him hanging out to dry often this past season and that alot of the bashing should be directed at them instead of the goaltender. Just listen to the pre and post games interviews. Were all sorry you have to go through this nighmare with the media, we know it was as much our fault as it was yours. Probably more. Now its time to make up for that and get the media off your back.

He had a strong game last night and didnt look out of place one bit.

The Wings have to have the worst seat colors in the NHL. The red back with the cream colored bottom when empty shows up like a beacon on TV. Look at other arenas and theres empty lower bowl seats. As many as in Detroit. But the color scheme doesnt show up on TV like the red does. Blue seats barely show up at all when empty. This doesnt explain everything but check it out next time your watching a game. I noticed this last season when everyone was on Detroit about empty seats.

The reason for all this hate is that the NHL has done everything in its power to promote Crosby as the next great thing in hockey. People resent having this shoved down thier throats. They dont like the NHL basically telling them thier too stupid to choose thier own superstars so well create one for them before he ever even steps on an NHL ice surface. Let the kid play, and if hes good enough and charismatic enough, the fans will catch on. Unfortunately for Crosby and the NHL, he simply isnt charismatic enough and his game is just on a par with several other players throughout the league. I blame much of this problem on the Canadian media who have been fawning over Crosby as the next "Great One" since he was 12.

Hudler, Filpula, Leino could be an explosive third line.

Its time to go defense no matter our draft position. Lidstrom and Rafalski are both getting long in the tooth and may be playing out their last contracts. Trading Filpula and our 1 for a top 15 pick works for me. Im not sure Filps contract is easily traded with the production hes shown this year.

Id try and trade Filp but it may be hard to find a suitor for that money at his current level of production. Im not sure he will ever grow into his salary with Detroit. Maybe with another team with less depth where he can get 20 a night and play on the PP/PK. Save Hudler til last in FA and see if he gets an offer sheet. If its more than 2 million let him walk. If he doesnt get one sign him for 3 years at 1.5 million. His production is off the charts as a 10 to 12 mpg PP specialist but expand his role and his production suffers accordingly. Any more than 2 million per is insane for Hudler. Kennys modus operandi with the goaltending has always been cheaper, homegrown talent and spend the money saved on defense. The obvious exception was Hasek but those were different times. I think the Wings believe Thomas McCollum is the man. Larrsen and/or Howard may surprise. Its likely that the team bides thier time with Osgood and Larssen/Howard until the end of Ozzies contract then he retires a Wing or becomes a cheap veteran backup for McCollum. Sammy and Lilja are cheap players who provide good production at their current salaries. Id like to see the wings move/release/retire Lebda, Chelios, Maltby, Kopecky, Conklin and Filpula. Cleary is clearly not performing to his salary either offensively or physically and Id love to see him traded but with the NTC that aint happening. I had really hoped hed take on more of a Dallas Drake type role as the Wings big hitter but he must not have it in him to play that way every night. That hit on Phanuef in the playoffs a couple years ago was spectacular. Id put Kronwall out there too and see if he can fetch a bigger return than what hes worth. Id only trade him though if the other team is willing to overpay to get him. Lets not forget that Rafalski and Lidstroms contracts are huge and will be coming off the books soon. Lidstroms game has definately slipped this season. Could just be a bad year but the writings on the wall at his age. If he wants one more contract, and its not inconcievable that he doesnt, I believe it will be at a reduced rate similar to Yzermans last contract. Rafalskis next contract will probably be his last, and being a Detroit boy playing in his hometown, I can see him taking a big pay cut to stay. If not they let him go. Drapers contract is probably his last. I see him retiring when it expires. I see significant cap space being available over the next two years. We will have to replace those guys but hopefully cheaper alternatives from our system break through. The cap after next season is likely to begin to grow again. By the time Zetterberg and Franzens contracts expire we could see 65 or 70 million being the ceiling. Maybe even more. My first thought with these long term contracts was Kenny was painting himself into a corner, but the more I look at the team and factor in the likely growth of the league when the economy turns, the less pessimistic Im feeling. Sign Hossa for 10 years. If anyone can make it work and keep us competitive for the life of the contracts its the Wings braintrust. Obviously playoff performance will factor into any decisions they make between now and June. Just as obvious not all these moves will be made or even be needed. These are just my random thoughts on how I think they could manipulate thier roster to get younger and stay under the cap. Addendum: You can bet your ass this loophole is closed on the next CBA.

I dont want to avoid Anaheim. I think they are the perfect team to start with for the Wings, despite the travel. Lets get the juices flowing right from the get go. After all, if the team is right and contesting every play nobody is going to beat them. The teams that scare me in the first round are Columbus and St. Louis. Those are the teams the top seeds take lightly, and before they can get their game going, the top seeds gone. Thats the Wings modus operandi, anyway, when weve started with a lightly regarded opponent.

I dont see how revenue gained from advertising on jerseys could equal the revenue lost from the dilution of the brand and loss of sales on that brand in the form of jerseys. It may work in the Czech Republic but thats a world apart from North America and 100 years of hockey tradition.

Averys actually good for hockey. He creates a buzz and gives Betman a foil. My probem with Avery is hes a chicken s***. Whacking the goalie in the back of the head because hes too much of a puss to do it face to face. Jordin Tootoo is an agitator. Avery is a chemically imbalanced douchebag.

How is it knee jerk when its been happening for 75 games? This is a team thats completely lost in its own zone. They get caught inbetween. They do alot of standing around watching the play. The puck goes behind the net one defensemen gets cauight half way and the other has his back to the ice watching the play while an opponent moves right into the slot. The puck carrier has no pressure because the first defenseman half assed it, makes the pass to the guy in the slot who is wide open because the second defenseman doesnt know hes there. I see this happen over and over. Our opponents own the boards in our zone. They are allowed to make play after play. We dont pressure the puck carrier. I watched one St Loius player last night fumbling the puck at the blueline while Draper watched him. Just stood there and watched while the player got the puck under control and made a play that resulted in a scoring chance. I watched Kronwall do his best impression of a tree all night in our zone. This is getting beyond pathetic. Peewee teams do a better job in thier zone. I do think this is to a great degree coaching. McCrimmons philosophy seems to be to stay at home in our zone. Like its a 5 on 5 PP. Just stay in your box. Dont pressure the puck carrier just guard your section of the ice. Try to keep them to the outside. Its looks like a zone defense in football. And its not working.

Zetterberg needs to hit the weight room. Hes getting knocked off the puck too easily this season. He looks like he has been the most effected by the "Stanley Cup Hangover". If you look at just this year its been a good year for Pavel and a down year for Henry. Making this call now is reactionary. Looking at the entire body of work, they are about equal. And, in several years, when we are looking back at thier careers, they will be remarkably similar.

The 5 to 10 extra points involved due to the 3 point game is more than offset by parity and the salary cap. Montreal didnt have to play the level of competition the Wings face nightly. Add in the extreme travel component the Wings must overcome, and this record is at least as impressive as Montreals 8 straight. The goal in any one season is the Cup. When your as good as the Wings are, losing makes for a disappointing end to a campaign. But when taking a larger view, looking back through history, great dynastys are as fun to compare as any one season Cup champion. Hell, Tampa Bay and Carolina have won Cups. Will anyone remember 20 years from now? No, they will be talking about the era of the Red Wings, when they put up 9 straight 100 point seasons. A record that may never be matched. So in that light, I do think this record is important. Looking back through the mists of time, records like this gain in stature.

Yea I remember something from last year concerning this. Something like Bettman promising the Wings that if anyone moved east it would be them.

I dont care who we play. Our destiny is in our own hands. We are the best team in hockey top to bottom. Theres little doubt in my mind. If the team is willing to pay the price we beat anyone handily.