b.shanafan14

The guy has a hard shot, but he couldn't hit the house if he was standing in it.

I think Leino should be on the team right now, but thats just me. The Wings are too deep and unwilling to part with Sameulsson.

Fedorov was always a play-for-the-buck type player and his ego wasn't given the room to grow behind Yzerman and later Shanahan. He may have gotten a bit of the shaft in the situation that lead to him leaving, but he had held out on contracts before, calling the Wings' bluff, the last time didn't work out as he was used to. Sergei was always only concerned about himself and since he left the Wings he has done nothing of merit and consistently been one of the most overpaid players in the game. Shanahan found himself on a team that was nothing like it was in the past. I think the transition from Lewis who wasn't much of a coach to Babcock who demanded so much even from the veteran superstars probably didn't rub him the right way. On top of that, I think Steve leaving really effected his decision. I think when Steve retired it became more obvious to him that he was holding on to what the team used to be instead of stepping aside and bowing out after a tremendous season (40g,41a). He even said he felt like more the past than the present or future. I think it was the right move, especially when you see Chelios, Maltby, and Mac continuing to linger around for nostalgia's sake. Think of how much Shanny would have been flamed on LGW these past couple years of his decline. I would still love Shanny to play one more game in JLA just to get the standing ovation that was well-earned and a long-time coming.

Honestly, top 3 captain?? There is plenty more to being a captain than wearing the C and putting up points. Crosby is NO WHERE near top captain in the NHL, no matter how much Bettman and the media would like to think so. The kid has a long way to go, not to say he won't get there, but right now, not a chance. He gets his feathers ruffled so easily and would rather complain then give a stiff upper lip and galvanize his team. Also, did anyone see how much hype the Caps-Pens game got last night and they talked to Ovechkin and he said he didn't like how they are always compared, and the media guys were like "oh, he's just saying that". I'm sure Ovie is actually quite sick of "oh, you're playing the Pens, are you gonna watch Sid?!". And it seems that Crosby stands alone as Crosby, but bring up Ovechkin and at least 1/4 of the time you instantly get met with a Crosby reference. Personally, I never liked Crosby from day one, I think his skills are ridiculous, but he doesn't carry himself as well as I think a captain should, which will have him as the youngest, but far inferior to others. Its like a really sad, pouty version of Iginla on a bad day when he starts to goon.

For BOTH?! Are you insane? Hell no...

I was really pissed when they did that, when I saw it upside down I was WTF'ing all over the place. "We're soccer boys" then why are you openning the hockey season if you don't know the basic knowledge of when the Stanley Cup looks like set up right? There are literally 1000s of bands that could have played and been at least familiar with the NHL, but we went across the pond to get the limies to play? Go Cheli

The complacency is definitely there. The defense is playing terrible in my opinion and the lines seem to have no chemistry anymore, seems like individuals are trying to do too much and its leading to WAY too many turnovers and odd-man rushes against. Even the bounces aren't going for the Wings and Ozzy has looked shaky in net, probably due in large part to the quality of the chances against. I know its 4 games into the season, and we don't want to push the panic button, etc. but the Wings aren't playing like the Wings. And the games at the beginning of the season are worth as much as the harder competed later season wins, that why the Wings win the Presidents trophy so often, they come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Not only that, but it seems the injury bug has reared its ugly head already. I'm not gravely worried yet, but something has to change.

Sucks about Hank, hopefully its minor and he gets it taken care of soon. I think Helm is going to be great for us in years to come, but since we lost a scorer, wouldn't it make more sense to call up Leino and put him on the third line not only to replace some of the offense we lost when Z is out, but also to give the guy a boost and maybe convince him to stick around. Maybe its just me...

MMMMMMMMMMMM.... crow

Stevie will always be number one, and Shanny will always be number two to me. The guy was one of the greatest power forwards ever to play the game and he had charisma to burn. Its a shame Shanny hasn't played in Joe Louis since his departure, we all know he would get a huge standing ovation. Great ambassador to the NHL and the sport of hockey, especially taking the initiative during the lockout to get the talking started. I hate to see him just fade into obscurity or skip team to team before his retirement. Here's hoping Shanny gets a contract, lights it up and retires on top, though its not likely.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=252668&amp...s=headlines_nhl Sounds like the speculation was true. Great news, Stevie is going to do great!

As others have said, Z is still doing his thing and getting open or making plays, but he isn't getting the puck in those holes like he would on a line with Pav, which is totally expected. Same thing with Pav, he is still doing his thing, but sometimes Hossa doesn't seem to expect the puck in high traffic areas where Z is used to Pav threading the needle. Personally, I think the real problem on Z's line is Hudler. I know he was awesome with less minutes, and he has some flashes here and there that show he may be capable of Z's line, but he isn't nearly as good in the corners and puck retrieval as Filppula or Cleary. Either way, we either need to stay the course and let them mesh more, or switch it up and hope for a spark from Cleary or Filppula. Of course, I said from day one to leave DZH alone and put Hossa with Mule and Filppula, so there is that

I thought they played terrible, sure they had the usual offensive chances, but they were completely undisciplined and were passing into low success, high risk areas which they usually don't do without looking first. Just looked like no one wanted to hold the puck so they were forcing passes leading to turn overs. Every goal against last night was on a Red Wings gaff. Osgood has the first one, Osgood pulled a Dom on the second one and like a few games in the preseason, the defenders just stood there while the opposition banged and dug until they got a goal. and the 3rd one, Cleary was passing to who knows who near center on his own blueline. The Red Wings played more like the Leafs and the Leafs worked the transition and capitalized on mistakes like the Red Wings usually do. It was frustrating to watch, and hopefully Babcock kicked them all in the ass and let them know. That said, first game of the season, big deal. GO WINGS

I love Hockeystreams.com so far. They are really reliable, and if you have any problems or request anything, they are really helpful. Bandwidth too high to stream without buffering? Tell them and they will get you a link that you can use. Good example of just how good they are, the other day the Wings game was airing on NHL network with the FSN Detroit coverage, and they were advertising for the Red Wings season preview that was airing after the game. Of course, it was on the NHL network so as soon as the game ended, the FSN-D feed was going to be gone, I asked the admin. during the game if there was a way to stream the Red Wings season preview, and he got us the FSN-D stream and let it run through the season preview. They are that good, and cheap.

Not only did Bruunstrom come with more hype and a big price-tag for someone unproven on the tighter ice, but it sounds like he may refuse to report to the AHL and develop. Granted they did promise him ice time which was a huge mistake, although probably the deal-breaker. But you contrast that to Leino, who had a pretty much lights out training camp and preseason, and still is willing to report to Grand Rapids knowing he is on the short list to be called up, says a lot about the character of the guy. Every interview with Leino seems like he is perfect for the Wings, adapting well and willing to work for a spot.

I know, I was more remarking on the fact that we have developed some good players for teams like the Panthers, Kings, name your bottom-feeder, that don't have a good enough system in place to draft and develop their own players. Basically, everyone gets the same draft pool, but the Wings know how to pick them and train them so well, that we take the cream of the crop and let the others grab roster spots in organizations elsewhere.

As was said before, EJ Hradek is the only one on the list I really respect. Burnside usually isn't much for loving anything the Wings do, and Buccigross usually makes a decent point and then manages to instantly make up for it by saying something retarded. One person picks Lidstrom for Norris?? These are the same kind of people who sit stone faced in front of the EA simulation to make their predictions, and hey, that Phaneuf guy was on the box, he must be the greatest. Like has been said before in this thread, I was watching NHL Live the radio show with EJ and Dom Legrecka (sp) last season, and after the Wings won the cup a caller asked about how nobody picked the Wings to win the cup eventhough they had been great for the two previous years. EJ and his co-host both said they did pick the Wings, others didn't, and the reason they don't is for the sake of these very conversations and for the chance of sounding smarter than they are. Look at the predictions for this year, only one person went with the clear cut favorite Red Wings this year and it was EJ, everyone else is looking for an underdog or upset because if it does happen, they look like some super-analyst who looked at factors no one else did, but if they lose, big deal, the Wings were the best team, any idiot could pick them to win it.

I was thinking about this yesterday, the whole "price of depth" thing mentioned above. You have many organizations who don't have a good system, don't draft well, don't develop well, and then you have the Red Wings, who have this incredible wealth of young homegrown talent that could easily play in the NHL right now on other teams, but will most likely never see regular ice with the Wings. Then we get this strange cycle of having to trade players we drafted and developed to make the roster and cap fit, and then we'll prolly get a late round pick that we'll again use to draft and develop a player that in all likelyhood will turn out good enough for everyone else, but not good enough for the Wings... wait i'm supposed to be doing something.... [/rant]

Agree with NN point, enforcers like Downey are good to retaliate for hits such as the one on Nick by Lapperiere, but if your job is to do that kind of stuff, having to answer the bell isn't a deterant, its just part of the job. I do believe that having an enforcer is very important for team morale and I think those that run our skilled guys should have to answer for it, but I don't believe its a deterent at all. If i'm a dueche bag like Hollwegg or Tootoo and I have a guy ass up, face to the boards, lined up for a big goonie hit, i doubt i do a mental inventory of the players on the opposition bench who could kick my ass. As I said before, I believe having an enforcer is extremely important, but if you are dressing a guy like that for no other reason, and he plays only 5 minutes a night, and he only drops the gloves 1 every 6 or more games, you might as well be dressing 11 forwards the nights he doesn't get into the rough stuff. Comes down to Leino or Helm, Helm is the fourth liner we need, but he is also better off in GR. Leino is a top 3 line guy, but he'd have to bump Sammy to get the spot, which I doubt. Tough decisions indeed. I'd like to see Leino tho

I agree that the Wings could definitely use an enforcer, I would prefer to have one, but at the same time, are you going to sit someone who can kill penalties, skate well, or has great puck skills for a guy like Downey who will sit all but 5 minutes a night, be a liability when he is on the ice, and still may not even have to fight that night. On nights Downey is going to drop the gloves, he earns his spot, which is only about 25% of the time, MAYBE. Every other time, the Wings are basically only dressing 11 forwards.

in the few games I've seen Hossa play I've been pretty disappointed. On one hand, we don't want to make rash judgements and we can assume he'll perform better once he finally gets to play with Pav and Homer, but at the same time, this guy is supposed to be amongst the elitest of the elite in the NHL and frankly, I've seen more out of Samuelsson in the preseason, and plenty more out of Leino. Hopefully he'll turn it on when the games matter.

LEINO. Mac has been mediocre if not invisible, and Downey has been passing up way too many provoked opportunities to drop the gloves. Tonite he took 2 or 3 penalties because he decided to push instead of fight. Leino has adjusted quickly to NA hockey is only going to get better. Downey should have been fighting like any other kid in the NHL trying to win a spot. Leino and Helm have both been really vying for the spot, Mac not bad but nothing worth giving it to him, and Downey is apparently competing on the assumption he'll drop the gloves eventually. Helm would do better to develop in GR one more year with more ice time and I think Leino could fit nicely with Filppula on the third line, so LEINO.

Wings were on TV last night and Ozzy played out of his mind I thought, his defense hung him out to dry on all the goals, first and last especially. First goal against was a turn over from Lilja and Samuelsson, and the last they literally got 6-8 wacks at it and the Wings' d-men just stood there and let them do it until it found a hole.

I'm with Pavelec on this one. Its just an issue of Atlanta having a terrible organization that would rather same a few bucks then put a decent product on the ice. Teams like this piss me off, cause they have a franchise that hovers around the cap floor and it seems that if they don't feel like contenders, they just get by with the bare minimum and expect that one year they are just going to be good out of the blue. Treating players like this is why teams like Atlanta aren't destinations. From all accounts, this Pavelec kid is pretty damn good, at least compared to Hedberg and just hasn't been given a fair shake because the Thrashers would rather call it a season before it begins and save change then develop their drafted talent.