wings4thecup06

Sorry but that's a load of bs. The guy spent the entire year last season playing hurt or on the shelf. Now, because he's not been lighting it up in the preseason, despite the fact that he's the healthiest he's been in two seasons, you feel the need to can him just to boost your own ego? Give me a break.

I will raise my hand and admit I didn't know sweet fa about Jensen really until camp and preseason. Good for him. But really, I thought our main guys were the big 4 (Ouellet, Marchenko, Sproul, Backman) and everyone after that was either nowhere near ready or just an afterthought. Would really love the Wings to be gutsy and just go with Ouellet or Jensen to start the year with the Wings.

I agree. I think Lashoff is somewhat useful as a 7th D. Someone who it's ok to leave on the bench for half the season. You don't want any of the kids to be playing 20 games and sitting out the rest as the 7th D. Not good for their development.

The Wings just need to go with this on the back end. Keep one of Kindl/Lashoff as the 7th D man, and promote either Ouellet or Jensen. Try and trade (or at worst, waive) Kindl/Lashoff and just get on with it already.

Bah. we don't need another project on the back end. We need good quality D men, who will actually live up to their potential.

The way I see it, something's gotta give pretty soon with the back end. Babs has even come out this week and stated that he needs to sort out the D, and from what I've read, both Kindl and Lashoff have been awful preseason. Whether it'll mean they try and trade Kindl again, and just have Ouellet start the year, who knows. It sounds like Babs and the Wings are frustrated with Kindl and his regression, and I think if they can cut the cord they most certainly will.

You know what, I reckon all these sore groins, sore this sore that and whatnot are just simply a product of the media life and times that we live in. 10 years ago we didn't hear these things all the time in the preseason because there was no twitter around to keep people up to date 24/7. Just me reckoning.

To an extent I agree with you here Frank. I love the physical aspect of Hockey and wish the wings were more physical like they were back in the late 90's. But I agree with nawein. Nothing p****** me off more than seeing a guy get pounded for a clean hit, even more so when they guy who got smoked had his head down. How many Kronwall hits last year that were clean did we see where another player on the other team tried to take retribution. To what purpose does that actually serve? It's not stopping Kronwall from laying people out. He's one of the most feared open ice hitters in the game today. And he's not going to fight anyone, as evidenced when Kesler tried to get a piece of him. So why go after the guy? Intimidation? It just simply doesn't work and only serves to slow the game down. What I would like to see, which I'm sure you'll agree with, is someone sticking up for your team mate when he gets smoked on an ILLEGAL check. Like the elbow Datsyuk took last year from Cowan. Cowan should have got smoked, or at least challenged to a fight for that. And that's one of the things I miss about this Wings team.

Are you being serious or sarcastic? Because seriously, I can't think of a worse idea than putting ads on NHL jerseys. Something I treasure about the NHL is the lack of advertising that allows the purity of the sweaters to really show.

Calm down everyone. It's a mild shoulder strain, 2-4 weeks is nothing. Now is the best time for Pavel to rest, and it gives him a chance to get it healed fully with the prospect of missing maybe a week's worth of the regular season. Injuries happen. it's a contact sport. Datsyuk's injury was a freak, he was just hit hard along the boards. No one is ever going to say you're not allowed to hit someone while they're coming down the wall like that, like Pavel was. Hitting the corner like that is a freak. It happens. He'll be fine, and missing a week now is better than missing a week down the stretch. No amount of conditioning could prepare even the fittest athlete in the world for a collision like that. Yes it sucks that Pavel won't be in the lineup on opening night, but I don't see why everyone is just absolutely clamouring with depression at the fact that 3 guys are hurt already. All 3 injuries were freaks. Helm can still play, just slap on a cage and as long as he can breathe it's all good. And we're not the only team with injuries this early. Look around the league. Malkin and Crosby aren't practicing, Drouin broke his hand, Jordan Staal fractured his leg, Stepan also fractured his leg. So were aren't alone. it happens. Just be thankful that Pavel isn't out for that long and that during that time he can still keep his legs fresh

Only on LGW can you find this kind of reaction to 2 minor injuries in a simple preseason game that no one really cared about anyway. Pavel will be fine. Give him a weeks rest and he's still got another week to get ready for the start of the season. A broken nose is a broken nose. Helm will get over it. Mantha's injury was a freak, but he probably wasn't going to make the roster straight away anyway. All that has done is just quietened everyone talking about him.

Couldn't agree more, even if all those prospect profiles just served to over hype everyone in my eyes!!

Curious as to why?

Add in the fact that he's also a righty, and even though Marchenko is too, he's not coming off a high ankle sprain.

Screw the Penguins. So stoked to see our top 4 D prospects all playing at once! Should be awesome to see how they get on.

I agree with your sentiment, but I don't think there was zero chance. Its all irrelevant now, but I feel that if he had truly shown he was ready - by tearing it up in preseason games - Babs would have asked KH to find a way to have him on the roster. And in that way, that's why I feel it had a potential impact on Jurco's making the team or not. As for Alfie, unfortunately I can't see him starting the year with the wings especially as he isn't coming to camp. I reckon it;s more likely that he signs around December and plays half a season, assuming his back holds up. It's not like he'll be out of the state and its make the team or go home, now that his family is in Michigan.

Exactly. It's one less (and more heralded prospect) for him to have to compete against. Now all he's got to really worry about is Cleary.

As much as this news sucks, I'm going to put a positive spin on it, because I feel like it. 1. This increases dramatically the possibilities of Jurco starting the year and remaining with the Wings - where hopefully they'll reunite the kid line from last year with him, Tatar and Sheahan, whom I thought were truly tremendous. Not only does this add to our scoring depth, it allows the 3 of them to grow their game at the NHL level together, feeding off each other and reaching new heights. Add into the fact that if D and Z are healthy, they won't be playing against top line opponents, which maximises their opportunities for success. 2. While we may have seen Mantha start the year with the Wings (I felt it unlikely, but no one could count it out), his injury/rehab process will mean that he will definitely start his pro career in GR, which is at this stage what I feel is best for him. Get his confidence playing against men, and then he can help the Wings down the stretch next year or as a playoff black ace, while getting a cup of coffee at some point along the way. 3. It opens the door for others - Pulkkinen especially, and that free roster spot may now open the door for someone like Callahan to prove he's worth more than say Andersson. The negatives I can see from this: 1. Mantha doesn't get to even participate in camp, nor play pre-season games against pro opposition. 2. He'll be rehabbing, unable to use that leg for 5-6 weeks, which will put his progress back a little way. By no means is it insurmountable, but not the kind of start you'd want to your first pro season.

Hmm, I'd like to think that Jurco's got it nailed, as long as he has a strong camp. I'm just worried about Cleary. As long as Jurco has a strong camp though, I can't see why they'd keep him off the roster if he's played well enough.

Add into that equation the fact that Babs also said that if DeKeyser hadn't got injured, we'd probably beaten Chicago.

There's no Mantha for tonights game..Apparently a little banged up and they want him good to go for Friday. http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/st.-james-updates-daniel-alfredssons-situation-with-red-wings-and-back-mant

It wouldn't be all that much of a bad thing tbh. Give Mantha virtually a full year to adjust to the pro game and then start tearing it up, while the Wings gain a free year of his deal. That way, when he does start on the NHL roster guaranteed in 15-16, he'll be much better than he is now.

Anyone else thinking that if Alfie can't play til say December (or even retires) that it massively increases Jurco's chances of making the team?

This is precisely what I think has happened. They signed Kindl to a relatively lucrative contract at the time, and last season got burned with what is possibly an immoveable contract, or at least one that will not be easy to ship out. The last thing KH wants is to really strap the teams finances down by signing DK to a $4m deal for 3-4 years only for him to flop next year and become the next Maxim Kuznetsov.

I love Mrazek. But right now he's a top AHL goalie, not an NHL one. Tons of potential yes, but until he's Howie's backup and is putting up Corey Schneider like numbers then I'll be more excited. Didn't stop me from getting his rookie card tho....