Ashenden

Here's a great one for you AO and Aaron Downey fans. I bet his neck didn't feel very good the next day.

http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hock...ney_on_waivers/ Kukla's Korner is reporting that Downey was placed on waivers. Can someone please explain how the waiver system works? I thought he had cleared already once this year, and would not have to back on.

I found this on James Mirtle's blog (http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2007/02/waivers-for-dummies.html): Here's a quick rundown, in plain English, of how the NHL's waiver system works (for the original post on the nine players placed on waivers this afternoon, see here). Essentially any player that has three professional seasons since signing his first contract, or who has played 180+ NHL games, must go through waivers before going to the AHL. The waiver system allows all 29 other NHL clubs to pick up that player, with teams lower down in the standings taking precedence over those at the top. Players are on waivers for two days, and if they go unclaimed, they're off to the minors. If they go to the minors and then return to the NHL club, players don't have to pass through waivers again unless they've been with the big club for 10+ games or 30+ days. So, Downey is exposed to being picked up by another team. I wonder why now since he just got put back into the lineup.

Get over what? I was happy with the Bertuzzi trade. Too bad he didn't end up signing with the Wings. I know OHL success doesn't mean NHL success, and he may end up flopping, but it does suck that he's tearing it up after watching Bert sit out a bunch of games.

From TSN's Backchecking column: Shawn Matthias, C, Belleville Bulls - The 19 year-old was a second-round pick of the Red Wings in 2006 and was traded to Florida in the Todd Bertuzzi deal last spring. Now the 6-foot-3 power forward prospect is second in the OHL in scoring with 32 points in 14 games. Man. 2.3 points per game. Linky: http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=221897&hubname=nhl

Really? I didn't have a problem at all. Some guys around me were ribbing me, but it was in good fun. I got some boos around the arena, but I can't say I was ever nervous. What happened that was threatening? I wonder if sitting in club seats had anything to do with it. It was pretty funny that some guy came up to me to tell me that Detroit sucks while wearing a Canucks jersey after the game. What the hell do you say to someone who tells you that the team that just beat his team sucks?

Fun side note: I went to Vancouver to see the game and while walking around Robson Street a couple of hours before face off, I saw Hasek in a store shopping for shoes! I was going to have him sign my tickets, but he had a hooded sweatshirt on with his hood over his head, so I figured it would be better to give him some privacy. The game was great to see at GM Place, it's a very nice arena. Dats looked a little off last night, making some very un-Datsyukian giveaways and the D looked discombobulated in the first 2 periods (24 shots after 2 periods). They shored it up for the third. Vancouver fans were pissed about the waived goal. Someone threw a slice of pizza onto the ice while the refs were conferring.

Wow, project much? How in the world do you know any of those things? If he's got all of those dollars waiting in the "CCCP", why the hell did he come over? If that was the case, he could be rolling around in all his tax-free dollars right now, instead of putting himself under intense media scrutiny, moving himself and his family to a foreign country, all the while attempting to play in the most elite hockey league in the world. So your statement holds no water. As far as his fitness level is concerned, maybe you're right, maybe not; we won't know until he plays, or we actually get a report about his attitude/fitness. But to present it as "we know" he's not motivated is simply speculation based on your impression of him gathered through the media and a translator. Actually, he has said that the level of play in the AHL is higher than in Russia, that there is no guarantee he'll return in November if he's still in the AHL, and that almost all that have observed him has said that he continues to get better.

Sammy's having a great game.

I read a foxsports review of upcoming Leafs players and some of them sounded pretty good (one guy in particular, I can't find the article to give the name). Are they not close enough yet or what? This lineup looks pretty similar to last year's.

Yeah, the official Red Wings site has a score summary.

They have the game advertised on their website. I don't get it. Maybe they'll start it after this horrible talk show. Franzen scored :30 in. Lidstrom & Rafalski with assist.

http://www.wkrk.com/ play by play of tonight's game (linky: http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/09/wk...gsrangers.html) Edit: I don't know what the story is. There's some blathering idiot on the station, and no Wings. No Wings on that Rangers feed either, although you can listen to the last Rangers/Sabres playoff game.

Did I miss something, or has there been absolutely no information about Kindl? Did he get hurt or what? I heard about his first preseason game and then he was gone. No reports on his play, only 1 exhibition game. Weird.

The problem with Downey making the team is that they will likely keep Grigorenko on the Wings just to keep him from bolting back to Russia. At this point, reports indicate that Grigs can think the game just fine, but he's a step behind and a little out of shape. I figure that given a couple of weeks playing and working out with the NHL guys, he will come around and outplay Downey. That's not a shot against Downey, since I'm not familiar with him at all, but Grigorenko's upside is clearly greater than Downey's. The Wings have put a ton of time into him and will not let him go without a fight. Hell, they've waited for years for this to happen, no way they dismiss him after a month because he's out of shape. They'll let him adjust, and if they have to, will play him like Hudler last year and let him get a feel for the NHL game. Plus, the guy has to be culture shocked and it's not like he's stepping into the Russian Five; hopefully, he gets along with Datsyuk, otherwise he's SOL for a companion that can mentor him.

Is there anyway that I can watch the Super Series in the States? Does THN have a web feed that can be tapped into?

Thanks for the link! I didn't realize what time the games would be playing (6 AM pacific), but I'm still glad to see some of it.

I did that last night and attempted to watch the World Junior finals on tsn. It kept telling me that they can't broadcast out of Canada. So, I did some looking around and it turns out that transparent proxies don't hide the IP which is a giveaway to your ISPs physical location. I know the proxy worked because when I opened google.com it went to the canadian google. It seems like there are a ton of proxy servers out there, but finding one based in Canada is proving difficult. And, it appears that tsn is on to the rouse and I would need an anonymous proxy, which is even harder to find (and slow as hell). I'm gonna keep poking around, but it seems like something I could spend hours trying to figure out and still not have much success. Thanks for the response.

Okay, it's going to be broadcast online at tsn.ca. However, you must be in Canada to get the feed. Anyone know of a good tutorial/explanation on how to get a canadian proxy address?

I'm mostly curious if anyone has any information on a web feed.

I wonder if people would still ***** if we had the "unbalanced schedule" with those teams in our division.

I've been searching around past threads, but can't seem to locate what seems to be a fairly straightforward question. Are the Wings games available in HD on Center Ice through Comcast? I'm pretty sure FSN Detroit broadcasts the games in HD, I'm just not sure if the HD broadcast is available through Center Ice. I'm contemplating a move to a HD television, and if I can't see the Wings in HD on a regular basis, I'm not wasting my money. I'm in Portland, OR if that's helpful at all. Thanks!

I was reading this, admittedly superficial, analysis of the best value on defense (http://icechat.blogspot.com/) and I got to thinking about the Blues and the Kings, both of whom have very good defenses. Even though the Kings traded Norstrom, they are still stacked and have Jack Johnson coming up. The Blues have Brewer, McKee, Jackman, and Erik Johnson coming up. Just based on defense, these two teams figure to be a much tougher opponent next year. I suspect it won't be too long before STL is a solid rival in our division, which will be a nice change of pace. Anyone have thoughts on this or have other teams that are significantly improved?

Those are good points, I didn't consider the Avs as that much improved because I don't think Hannan is a significant addition, but you're definitely right about the mix of young talent. Adding Smyth was a help, they could still use Tanguay, but Leopold still has a lot of potential. Another point regarding the Kings: Hockey's Future rates them as having the most promising future in terms of prospects. Some of the better players for them on the horizon: Hickey, O'Sullican, J. Johnson, Bernier.