b.shanafan14

No one can handle a pass...

Zedurperg.... ugh...

Kindl from Pasha!

Yup... Wings flat to start the 2nd...

Wings are flat again. Our defensemen have looked lost since yesterday. Turn overs behind our net leading to prolonged time under pressure and scoring chances against. Better wake up in the 2nd...

At that price, Kenny would GetzLAF in his face. "How much?! Hahaha!... and I thought Parise was nuts..."

How about we have a contraction draft. That will be much more fun! Dissolve two struggling franchises (Phoenix and....) and sell it for parts.

Wow... talk about "contract year" boost: 2011-2012 82GP 11G 46A 57PT -11 2012-2013 22GP 9G 18A 27PT +10 48GP 20G 39A 59PT +22 (current pace) 82GP 33G 67A 100PT +37 (pace over 82) That contract is obscene. It will be interesting to see if he disappears again. AKA Franzens out.

Hmmm... I wonder what will happen with Perry.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/48920-NHL-expansion-draft-would-cause-tough-decisions.html Article from the end of November in The Hockey News about the possible expansion draft and the rules about who each team can protect, including a list of projected players each team would/could/should protect. Essentially, if it goes like it did in 2000, we get to protect either: 1 goaltender, 5 defensemen, and 9 forwards OR 2 goaltenders, 3 defensemen, and 7 forwards. Howard Kronwall, Lashoff, Ericsson, Smith, Kindl Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Brunner, Franzen, Helm, Filppula, Tootoo, Tatar, Nyquist (Still unsure how things work with prospects like Tatar and Nyquist, assuming they are in play)

Yes, yes. We all get it at this point. Howard has played amazing the last stretch, and has been the reason the Wings have won or gotten a point in many of the recent contests. Every goaltender has hot and cold streaks. The thread was started during a cold streak and has been 'bumped' and beaten to death during the hot streak. Jimmy Howard is a great goaltender when he is hot and an average goaltender when he is cold. Jimmy Howard is a GOOD goaltender. Not the greatest, not the worst. Moving on...

THIS. Enough of this pump-fake crap. They do it every damn faceoff! I swear, they take 4 times longer to drop the puck and almost every faceoff results in a player from one side being thrown out. You can even see their face as they take a second to decide who to throw out for no reason other than "haha, I still have the puck and you looked like you were going to win that one". Happens to Z all the time: ref pretends to drop the puck, Z fights for position (as he should), the ref kicks him out, Z clearly says "drop the *expletive* puck", and Franzen slowly floats in circles like "ugh, do I have to?".

If the Wings are going to stand a chance in the 'bidding' process with a guy like Dekeyser, they'll do so partially by "guaranteeing" ice-time in general or even with a particular player. Otherwise, he'll go elsewhere. There is no lack of teams willing to give him a shot in the big-leagues right out of the gate.

Haha BEAUTY! Wow... poor bastards.

Honestly, it is bad enough the Wings have a bad case of nostalgia (and selective nostalgia, at that) with many of these dropped-off, past-their-prime, or reclaimation-project players, but have you ever seen a team hand out so many NTC/NMC? EDIT: Maybe not, according to CapGeek, only Pavel, Sammy, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Kronwall, and Ericsson have them currently, and Cleary's may have expired already. Just seems whenever someone is playing like crap and the fanbase is looking to drum them out of town, "Wah Wah, NTC". Maybe we're getting better at it.

The hand rules are ridiculous. Hands on the stick in the faceoff circle, fall down and touch the puck with your glove, 2 minutes no matter what the situation. Gross and arbitrary. I'm sure by next week we'll be back to 1/3 of the game on PP or PK, and you're right, we're going to be pretty rusty. We definitely have a huge advantage 5-on-5 given our depth on the 3rd and 4th line (which Pavel envies ). How much of an advantage? We sit 2nd in the league behind only Chicago in 5-on-5 Goals for/against ratio. On the other side, both our PK and PP sit at 24th in the league.

During his best games this season, Kronwall has been Norris caliber on both ends, creating offense and making some great plays on the back end. During his worst games this season, Kronwall has looked lost, bumbling, and even overwelmed. We are starting to see more of the former than the latter, but consistency is what separates the best from the rest. Kronner is still adjusting to the number one slot and may very well come out on top by season's end. Consider also that Letang is on an offensive powerhouse in Pittsburgh (sitting 1st in the league at 3.54 G/G) versus Kronwall who has rotated partners all year, on a team in transition, riddled with injuries more than any other team by a long shot, and offensively is below average (sitting 18th in the league at 2.67 G/G). It should be interesting... Kronwall for Norris in a down year for D-men is definitely far from the dumbest thing Lebrun has said about hockey.

I've loved it! The last few seasons we've seen too little 5-on-5, and its usually result of some very soft or phantom penalties that screw up the flow of the game, result in more goals but less entertainment (NHL seems to think goals = entertainment). Last night there were a handful of plays that could have and would have been called penalties earlier in the season, but it was very even both ways so I'm glad they decided to swallow the whistles. More hockey like this please, NHL. and THIS. Consistency should be priority one. Whatever the letter of the law is, stick with it night to night. There were a few grabs, half-hooks, half-trips, half-interference plays last night that were let go that game but no doubt will be called without restraint later. Its bad enough it changes month to month, home and away, but in the past, even earlier this season, we've seen in called different period to period, or even minute to minute based on the situation (home team trailing, etc.).

Haha... Abdelkader...

How great is it to watch a game that isn't riddled with soft penalty calls, eh?

Emmerton! Datsyuk setting up the glimmer twins left, right, and center with no finish.

Man, missing the net on these scoring chances. Didn't they see Kindl?

And another goal with the third line on the ice.

All Kindl! Beauty!

Franzen looks like he is back to being lazy and making sloppy plays. Made 3 or 4 bad plays in that period that either turned over the puck, killed a break out, or lead to the Wings stuck in their own zone. Hopefully the team overall has more jump in the second period.