b.shanafan14

haha yeah I thought that was funny too. Also, "the Isles will succeed if Weight and Guerin find the Fountain of Youth, and their youth finds the Fountain of Talent" haha

I noticed Ovie wearing the captain's "C", is this official?

damnit.... I am such a flip-flopper on my Avery hate. When I see him play in a game and interview I consider him the TO of hockey. Just a big mouth that seems to get attention without doing anything of merit. And even tho I realize its a gimmick, it pisses me off, which I guess makes it successful. Then you see an interview like this and he wins me over for the moment. Rough stuff....

funny, but i don't get it

I was just logging onto LGW to state a similar opinion, glad someone already started a thread. Helm and Leino were both stellar last night. Helm was using his speed and finesse to create a lot of opportunities and Leino was handling the puck incredibly and producing a great backcheck for a guy whose weakness was supposed to be defensive responsibility. I didn't as much think about Samuelsson leaving (not that I wouldn't be all for it), I was thinking more about Maltby. I understand the organizations loyalty to players and I think I would be bummed to see him go after all this time, but when you look at the higher level of speed and skill we could have in that spot by throwing in Helm, without losing any of Maltby's deminished physical play, it seems like a no brainer if you take personal feelings out of the equation. And take a guy in Samuelsson who is going to be looking for a good size raise next season when we have other signings, and someone who constantly shoots shoots shoots and rarely on the mark, killing the play or almost killing the Cleary, and weigh that against a guy eager to earn his spot who has a great shot (more accurate, less powerful) and holds onto the puck and makes decisions, that trade off seems conceivable too. I understand that this was a one game thing that we've actually seen on TV, and its fresh in our minds and all. But Babcock has been raving about Helm and even I was shocked by how damn good he was last night. And Babs has also been saying good things about Leino, which we saw, and only mentioning his defensive awareness as a weakness, and which we didn't see last night. Seems like a tremendous waste of talent to let those two sit in GR or bolt to Finland. Ain't seen Mac play, but as far as Downey last night, he could have dropped the gloves at numerous times last night and didn't, even when provoked. He had nothing to lose and at times our players were being taken advantage of. Thats his job, thats how he should earn a spot, fighting everything in sight like one of the young kids you see trying to make other teams. Hossa seemed completely out of place last night as well. I don't know if it preseason and his attitude is lacking or what, but I saw little to no effort and on many occasions I thought he was blowing nice scoring chances by either making an extra pass or throwing a bad shot wide. Even in the shootout it looked like he skated to within a couple feet of Price and let an easy one go, didn't even seem to pick a spot. Hopefully this isn't a trend. [/morningrant] [/overreaction]

I would love to see both on the big club, but we're too stacked at the moment, and it makes more sense they develop with more minutes in GR. But I thought that if Leino didn't make the Red Wings he was free to head back to Finland, am I wrong? If this is true, what are the chances he agrees to buy into the program and wait in GR for a year or more?

Exactly basing such things on being "due" for a repeat team is irrelevant. It goes by individual teams level of play and a lot of intangibles. There were more in the past because it was easier to keep a team together, just involved paying more. The Wings are in a position to win again because they managed to stay together and add to their team, something that has yet to happen post-lockout. But even that isn't guaranteed (1999)

At least the Void made good by someone

How in the hell did the glass shatter like that on Gilmour? Wrong pane installed?

This is strange to me. I remember last season a lot of the fuss about Sundin not waving his no-trade clause, on top of not wanting to leave the Leafs, was that he wouldn't want to join a team set up for a cup at the end of the season he would want to be a part of the whole thing. Now, if this is true, and it could be speculation, that would be a pretty lame move ala Forberg, Neidermeyer, etc. I personally think he is done, but is stuck not wanting to play or announce his retirement, so instead of burning out so-to-speak, he is just kinda fading away.

Oh yeah.... good call.

Just noticed Abdelkader scored a goal last night, maybe they switched his squad on him

Man, I'm really liking the face-lift they are giving the website, and GameCenter looks like a huge upgrade to the bland set up of last years CenterIce online, IF it lives up to their hype. And that could be a big if. Wish they would start showing free preseason!

Oh my god..... is this the greatest day in the history of sports?!! Its about f***ing time!! Too bad its about 6 years too late. Couldn't have fired Millen instead of say firing Steve Mariucci years ago?

Come on fellow LGWers, there has to be some way to watch the game! I'm in Milwaukee, so alas, I can't just drive down to the Joe, buy a ticket, and enjoy hockey. I have to find a link! WE have to find a link! I'll be searching all day, hopefully everyone else will be too, please help everyone out should any link present itself! I mean seriously, the defending cup Champs are playing the Canadiens as their first preseason game and debutting Marian Hossa in the winged-wheel, its not going to be covered anywhere, national, Detroit, or Montreal?? IMPOSSIBLE!

damnit, hopefully it precautionary, was looking forward to seeing him play tho. He was only scheduled to play one of those games anyways

Looks pretty good to me, cycle Maltby and Downey and we're good.

Hope he pans out, either way, better start than Grigorenko, tho it ain't saying much

So the argument posed in this article is that the Red Wings shouldn't be so sure of themselves because two non-playoff teams from last season have gotten better?

just a jammed thumb? DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT! My feelings went from "I LOVE DOWNEY" to "MORON!" in record time when reading the thread title

I'm a big Rafalski appreciator, even back to his time in NJ. Always liked the way he played and thought he would fit PERFECT with the Wings. So last summer when we got him I almost sharted. But since he has been a Wing he has gotten less and less credit. Its the playing with Lidstrom factor, obviously its there, but it doesn't mean you dismiss the guy. Like last All-Star game, at the time Rafalski was second to only Lidstrom in D-man points and plus/minus, but they throw a laundry list of big names who were struggling at the time and good but not great defenseman from scrub teams to fill the bill. Only when they were struggling to fill the spot did they finally invite Rafalski like a week or so before the game when he already had plans with his family. I guess I don't understand how a guy sets a career high points on a team like NJ and its great, and then matches the career high, and sets new high for goals on the Red Wings, and now he is decent? I like you want to see some more Rafalski love from the pundents.

Datsyuk is more physical than Hank in the hit department. Pav was leading the Wings in hits before the Finals, probably ended up leading the team in the playoffs since he continued and maybe even stepped it up in the Finals. I don't think many, if any body, would base physicality off one scuffle. As far as Datsyuk and Zetterberg are concerned, I view them as equals and I almost feel that all the press from Hank's incredible playoff performance has created a separation that really isn't there. Was Z our best player in the post-season? Hell yes. Is Z almost a lock for team captain after Lidstrom? Yes. But is Hank really that much better the Pav? I don't think so myself. Taking their ages into consideration, 27 year old Hank > 27 year old Pav, but they past year, Pav stayed healthy and lead the Wings in scoring for I believe the 4th season straight, while at the same time leading the league in plus/minus and won another Lady Byng for his ability to do what he does on the ice without taking penalties. That said, I think Hank sees more PK time than Pav by a slight margin and maybe takes more draws. But then again, Pav also broke his own record for most takeaways in a season and set one so sick that I don't see it being broken anytime soon. At the end of the day, one has something over the other and I think they are 1a and 1b for best all-around players in the world, I don't think anyone comes close in the two-way department. I'm glad Hank is getting the press he deserves and everyone got to see him and Pav dominate Crosby and Malkin in the Finals the way they did, but I guess I would like to see Pav get equal consideration, seeing how he was 4th in scoring in the league last season while leading the league in plus/minus, and had a great playoff run and not disappearing in the finals like Malkin.

TPC at Sawgrass isn't much higher, and yet Sports Illustrated headquarters is number 22 and ESPN headquarters is number 6. LIST DISMISSED!

Hey, thats premiere power forward Todd Bertuzzi to all us little folk.

Might be onto something. I know there is a certain level of like/dislike between GMs in the league. As a GM there are definately people who you are the first to call and maybe even cut a little bit of a break or at least not play hardball with. In that same spirit I'm sure their are guys like Burke who you would much rather see go down in flames and pay for his mouth if it doesn't help or hurt your organization. Brian Burke is terrible for the sport of hockey in the same way the Emery was and the same reason I'm not looking forward to Avery back in the Western conference, sideshow bulls***. The other pro leagues have it and I hate that Bettman seems to promote this "any news is good news" philosophy. Remember when you couldn't turn on ESPN without seeing either TO doing sit-ups and calling his QB ***** or Barry Bonds walking around as a laughable billboard for steroid abuse? Keep that crap out of my NHL.