b.shanafan14

He isn't meshing with his wingers and he is trying to do it all himself. I thought Hossa with Franzen works pretty good, put Filppula or Hudler with those two and get DZH back together. Or leave things the way they are, Z will heat up eventualy.

that so sad. rest in peace Margaret.

Pavel is waking up, and with the rising of Datsyuk comes the stirring of a giant. Pasha is now on a 92 pt pace and I will guarantee he has a better second half in him. Things are looking rough for the competition...

Pavel is playing out-of-his-mind good right now. Keep on rolling, good win.

Ozzy hasn't made many if any excuses for his play, definitely not his recent groin.

I saw this last night at the bar, everyone there was saying "no way, high stick, no goal" and at the same time laughing that since it was Sid it'll count and he'll end up some star of the night for it. The best is seeing just how reluctant the ref is to signal the goal.

This is more a question of luck and geography, not a question of favoritism, tho I don't think thats what the original poster was suggesting. It is working in San Jose's advantage for sure and as the Wings go, they usually don't have great schedules purely because of geography since the Wings are one of the Eastern most teams in the widely spread Western conference, which results in many long home and away stands instead of more interchanging home-away games. Its just the nature of the beast, better to go play Dallas, Colorado, LA, Anaheim, and San Jose all at once and Edmonton, Vancouver, and Calgary too instead of flying to California for a game or two, then flying back just to do it again the next week. So we see another reason why the Eastern Conference is so much easier then the West, much less travel.

Terrific goal. It was like he got in shorthanded, turned around, got a little shove and thought "really, no one is taking me??" and then just walked in as 4 players stood there. Embarrassing goal if you're a Blue. And yes, I too hate Bostons commentators.

Thats a great observation on Fedorov, I've always said the same thing, the guy had more raw talent then he knew what to do with and an ego to match, but never felt he needed to work much at it. He was always the counter-point to Yzerman because Steve was working injured for half of his career, and even though his pure explosive ability had been lost with the knee injuries, he worked his ass off and held himself to higher standard of accountability and we loved him for it. Fedorov on the other hand was all talent, could score at will in his prime, but it was inevitable that he would eventually hit a snag and wouldn't have it in him to persevere, which is the post-Red Wings Fedorov we see today. Unlike Yzerman, Fedorov always had one foot out the door, often holding the management hostage for the big money, until they finally called his bluff. Dragging the topic back on course, we really do have something great in Pavel Datsyuk. We have a guy who needs no accolades beyond that of his teammates and himself, he's humble but confident and his shy but charismatic disposition is not unlike a right-off-the-boat Russian version of Steve. Pavel could have easily become even a reasonable amount of arrogant and left this team for spotlight and spending elsewhere or held management hostage ala Fedorov and dragged it to the deadline for a lot of coin. But instead we have him for at least five more seasons after this one and at an easy $6.7mil. And if the last couple games is any indicator (9pts last 4 games, 6pt last 2 games), he is heating up and looking to lead the Red Wings in scoring for another consecutive season.

I agree with you that Hossa isn't all about the mighty dollar, but this team is going to change a lot next year no matter what because there are so many players who have raises coming, and its unrealistically optimistic to think that Hossa, Zetterberg, Franzen, Hudler, and Samuellson or all going to split whatever is left in the cap that many think will be going down. Even if you somehow convinced both Hossa and Zetterberg to settle on Datsyuk money, there is the cap right there, no Franzen Hudler or Samuelsson. It sucks a lot, because its not like the Wings are throwing around $10 million contracts around and 'buying' players like they were accused of before the cap, its more that players want to play for the Wings even at much lower than free market price, but when you're only given 5 cents, even if everyone takes a penny and a half they all can't fit. Especially sucks because in Z, Mule, and Huds case they were all drafted and developed by the Wings when many weren't going to give them a chance, and now they deserve the money they've earned, but someone is going to have to get it elsewhere. Sad...

I agree for the most part, but this wasn't just like every other scrum. Either way, my point isn't much different than yours, that Crosby is another player in this league, and if we don't treat him any differently he had this coming. There is always going to to be arguments as to the validity of threads, unfortunately a lot of the time it turns the topic into more of a discussion as to whether the topic should exist in the first place. I think its far from the worst thread on here, and if we want to pretend Crosby is just another player, I'd guarantee if this was pulled by Tootoo there would also be a thread. People are gonna fling s*** however they like, I personally do believe this was a ****** move and good for a couple sporting jabs/laughs. That said, anyone who confuses Crosby's over exposure for being overrated is just silly.

Hossa is awesome. Whenever I see him skate up ice, he seems like a brand new shiny car we're taking for a test drive. Damn you salary cap...

Its one extreme to another. You can pair up and keep the scrum from building, or if he really wanted to he could have dropped the gloves with someone else if he really has that big of a chip on his shoulder. The point is he didn't, he was the third man in with gloves on. Yes it was brought up cause it was Crosby and the NHL puts him on a pedestal, but that doesn't dismiss the fact the it wasn't an even manned, gloves down fight. It was Vlasik getting drilled by Orpik with gloved hands followed by "captain" Sid Crosby getting his ass-shots in on a guy who was already on the receiving end, classic third man in which calls for a game misconduct, but it didn't result it that, just an extra roughing. I know I get pissed if/when a Red Wing gets jumped by two players, so why not be pissed for the Thrash, especially when its someone like Crosby who is supposed to be THE ambassador to the NHL. Why can we watch commercial after commercial with Sid as the second coming, but we can't point out the guys flaws. Yes "the guy is human, the guy puts his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else, etc" so why can't he be flamed for a Tootooesque cheap shot?

The issue here is that two players with gloves on went after a single player. This isn't an "ol' time hockey" argument. Two players squaring off is good stuff. One player decking another player with his gloves on gets a bit cheap. Two players with gloves on beating on a single player is extremely cheap, not to mention the fact that the Third Man in rule means a game misconduct, which I doubt Crosby was assessed since he remained in to heroicly pass the puck to Malkin for an empty-netter which made his 2g 2a night supposedly better than Pav's, thus his 2nd Star on NHL.com. I think many people's point is that its a generally dirty play made by the NHL's meal ticket, so no one hears anything else about it. Was it brought up on LGW because its Crosby? No doubt in my mind. But that doesn't change the fact that its a cheap ass play and if it happened against the Wings, we'd all be wondering why the Golden God of Gary wasn't thrown out. Some of us are still sick of hearing that Crosby is a good captain like Yzerman was when the guy can do no wrong.

Yeah, that too, and like a 35% FO and against the Thrashers, I elaborated more in the thread about Pav last night. Just funny that apparently whoever is picking said stars hadn't watched the games or bothered to investigate.

Yeah, Pav was great last night. Great interview too. Unfortunately, he got snubbed on the NHL 3 stars of the night. Two players got hat tricks, they were the 1st and 3rd stars and who got the 2nd star? Evgeni Malkin with 2g (one empty-net), 2a, +3, 35% FO in a win against the Thrashers which must certainly trump Pavel Datsyuk 2g, 2a, +4, 53% FO in a win against the #1 team in the league, the Sharks. Penguins bias much? Its ok, Pav, we know who the man is.

wow... SURE the brakes failed. Something or someone certainly did. Bad enough the ice conditions prolly arent going to be ideal for the outdoor game as it is, now we have chimpanzees running the zambonis. Call Al and get him on the job. SJRADIO's edit: I corrected the spelling of brakes

lets hope so. GO WINGS! Also figures that on a night that Pavel gets 2g, 2a, +4, two players get hat-tricks and a Pens' version of Russian superstar's 4 pt night somehow trumps the Wings' Russian superstar's 4 pt night to give him the 2nd star of the night honor, eventho the Pens' beat the Thrashers and the Wings beat the top team in the league. Explain that one to me...

bout time, complete game outta everyone. you know its a good night when Pav gives a 5 minute interview in english without an ounce of shyness.

damnit, looks like they are splitting up Pav and Hank again.

We have cheap goaltending that has the potential to be very good, but both tenders are in a funk, and as others have said, what you need to get out of that is a couple good games. Unfortunately, the $53 mil team in front of our $2.5 mil goaltending turns over the puck for an entire first period and gives a cold goaltender a 2 on 0 for his first shot on goal and other such events. Goaltending can play a s*** load better, but I blame our defensive effort first.

I personally have thought our 4th line was going through the motions since this season began and even a lot of last season. Our problem right now is players who have been around forever, who you'd think would be the energy line the fourth line is meant to be, seem to be just going through the motions. Yeah Draper is great on faceoffs and great in the lockerroom, but at what point do you tell him to sit a game. Worked for a few weeks when Maltby was benched. Draper seems so lackadaisical out there most nights and doesn't seem to use his speed at all. We don't need a tough guy as much as we just need someone who is gonna bust ass and not phone it in.

I completely agree. We all know Osgood has played poorly so far this season, Conklin hasn't been much better. They both need to step it up a lot. My concern is that our goaltenders aren't given the opportunity to heat up or work through their rough patch because they start the game with a terrible turn over right in front of their net that goes in. Like in last nights game, first shot on goal is a 2 on 0. I think the defensive play is working against our unconfident, uncomfortable goaltenders and thats whats preventing their play from improving. Ozzy is my favorite goaltender for the Wings all-time, but he's played like hell this season. Both goaltenders seem to make saves they shouldn't make more than the softer ones that either end it in regulation or win it in OT. But when it comes down to brass tacks, the Wings don't spend a lot on goaltending like most teams in the league because their skaters are supposed to be the best defensive players in the game, like they were last year. When the defense goes from caviar to crap like it has this season, its hard to blame the bulk on a goaltending tandem thats making less than $2.5 mil combined.

Maltby played very poorly to start the season, got scratched and played better, now he is back to poor play. Draper in my opinion has seemed like he is going through the motions a great deal too. I dunno about goaltending, because it hasn't been great, but it hasn't been horrible. I blame more on terrible turnovers such as the ones tonite than I do on the goaltenders. We'll see I guess, we all know Holland is probably more on it than we are.

[expletive deleted] Just plain gotta play better, all around. Terrible 1st period.