Detroit # 1 Fan

Should be interesting to see how Gustavsson plays with a full game. We need these points, to drop back down to .500 after last weekend would not be good going forward.

They are paying Thomas and DiPietro not to play in the NHL. Brilliant.

Great speed, but too soft. Avoided contact in every game I saw him in this year, not what's needed in a bottom 6 role. I'm sure he'll get picked up by someone, hope he has some success if he can stay healthy.

Dorsett is a meat head. When Prospal scored and he skated by and taunted the bench, really irked me. Whether it's Big E or Toots hopefully someone pounds the little s***s face in next time.] As far as Tootoo's play, he's been fantastic. Fighting well, always bringing energy, hits like a truck, draws PP. Wish Babs wouldn't put him on a leash so often and just let him play, and a few more minutes wouldn't hurt either. If we can ever get Helm and Tootoo healthy together in the line-up look out.

nvm

Also, I realize people love to defend the goalie, but bottom line is Howard has been dreadful other then the Kings GP15 W6 L6 OTL2 GA43 SA412 SV369 SV%.896 GA3.08 SO0 MINS838 Not good enough, especially considering it's a contract year.

He's a good coach, just stubborn. Plus, he hasn't exactly been handed the best pieces this season.. not to mention half the pieces are broken.

Defense was bad, forwards were poor, Howard was bad. Special teams are dirt, and way too many injuries. Datsyuk has two anchors on his legs, Tootoo gets the leash put on him by Babs whenever the fun stuffs about to happen, just not many things to be happy or excited about so far this season.

I know we won't but I wish we'd amnesty Sammy in the summer. He's been injured so much I keep forgetting the bum is even on our team, probably the biggest Cleary fan out there, but Danos time is up after the year too. Get rid of the dead weight, get some youth in the lineup. Samuelssons signing was a mistake from the get go, this isn't 09 where he's playing with Fil and Hudler on the 3rd line.

I like Babs, think he's a great coach, develops young guys well, but has no clue about goalie schedules and in game changes. Starting Howard again Friday? What happened to him needing a break? Mrazek won a game in one of the hardest barns in the league, and hasn't gotten a sniff since. It's just stupid. As far as his in game adjustments, he fails to make line changes when guys are really struggling, until it's too late. No better guy out there for the Wings, but some of the things he does drive me wacko.

White's been fine. Q has to go, I've defended the guy for a while now but he's just a trainwreck.

Got beat by Jake Allen tonight, ouch. Howard was bad, defence was bad, forwards were too undermanned to do anything. Without Franzen, Bertuzzi and Helm I'm surprised we even generated 3 goals, thank Datsyuk for that. Quincey gotta go, I've been a fan of the guy and was happy when we got him last year but he's been an absolute train wreck. He falls down more then Danny and has been an anti-offensive defenceman. Speaking of Danny, he needs a game or two in the press box to get his head back in it. Then start him on the 4th line and let him work his way back up. 4th line was good tonight and Ericsson, uh that was about it. Hope Mrazek starts friday.

Gotta light up Jake Allen tonight. He's dust, rattle him early and often and ride it out. Having Franzen out hurts the offensive depth, but Eaves adds more speed and grit, which is how we beat St Louis last time.

We got enough puck movers. He can't play defence. I can see him going back to Pittsburgh at the deadline.

Good luck to Joey. He's a great guy, and his greatest career moment will have come as a Red Wing when we set the record for the consecutive home game winning streak.

I haven't seen any threads on the board about him yet this year, so I figured I'd start one. Let me start off by saying I've been perhaps the biggest Ericsson critique on the boards the past 3 seasons. His passing was horrible, his decisions baffling, he played like he was Hudlers size in the D-zone. But that was then and this is now. Ericsson has been, at least to me, our best overall defenseman. He's making great decisions with the puck in his end consistently, his passes are tape to tape quick and hard, he's getting shots through on the offensive side of things and it's leading to offense for the team. He's got a goal and 3 assists to go along with a +2 through 8 games, pretty damn good, especially for Big E. But perhaps the best thing about his play this year, is he's taken steps forward in being that big mean defenseman he has to be. Knocking guys around the net, clearing the crease. He developed into a decent penalty killer last season, and that's stayed true this year. His hits and blocked shots #'s aren't anything to look twice at yet, but I'm sure they'll get there. Anyway, I just wanted to pump the guys tires because he has completely changed the way I think of him and look at him as a D-man. Keep er going E.

Franzen could quite possibly be the worst fighter in the NHL, but if he went buckets and gloves off with Backes I'd lose my s***. Franzen has punked Backes a few times, hitting him or punching him and Backes lays on the ice looking for a call, it'd be pretty good to see em go. As far as the spear, it was pretty funny. Gutty and everything, but it's Franzen guys, the gloved punch king. As long as he isn't the one diving it's a win for Detroit.

The youth movement is kind of being forced on the Wings through injury, and I've gotta say, it's going well so far. The kids in the line-up have impressed, Brunner isn't a kid but this guy can score 30 goals in the league in a full season. Tatars speed and vision is really good, maybe only a 2nd or 3rd line winger but I like him. Nyquist has shown he can play, he'll get his chance. Mrazek, well I've been calling him the real deal for so long that I wasn't surprised he beat the Blues last night (but dammit was I ever pissed they got one past him). Now it's time for Andersson to (hopefully if he gets into the line) show what he's got. Big guy, smart defensively, lets see what he's got.

Should be a good game tonight. Bert, Ericsson or Tootoo need to tune up Backes for the way he runs around so freely against Detroit. No one else does it anymore, except him, so let's get him. Hope Mrazek plays strong, love to see a win.

Trial by fire. One of the best teams in the league, on the road. Time to watch the goalie of the future do what he does tonight: Win.

Throw Mrazek into the fire if you have too. Better then giving McCollum a start (dear god) and Joey isn't any closer to coming back then Gus like what was stated. We can't ride the hell out of Howard like last year, because he'll get hurt again. And if Howard gets hurt during a 48 game season, say goodnight.

Great game. Datsyuks a magician, Brunner's the real deal, and fighting = wins. Beat the Blues on Friday!

Good game tonight. I hope Babcock keeps the top 2 lines together, they really seemed to gel even with Franzen playing like a ghost. PP was good, Bert and Helm brought alot of energy like I was hoping they would. Lets get a streak going now, beat Chicago on Sunday.

He's even taken it a step further this year, he tosses off one glove before hiding behind the officials now haha. I haven't been a Franzen fan for a long time, mostly because I like guys who hustle and play physical, but he just looks so lazy on the ice when he doesn't have the puck. The worst part about that is I don't like for him to be the puck carrier, he should be skating 100 miles an hour to the net as soon as Datsyuk or Zetterberg bring the puck over the line to create a mismatch with the defenseman which should lead to a scoring chance. But since 2009 I can't recall him doing that much. Sure he leads the team in goals every year, but that's because we've become a goal by committee kinda team the last few years. We have world class centers, but goal scoring wingers, not so much. And, I'd rather Franzen not fight because this is embarrassing:

I'd do whatever it takes to get him if you can. He's 23, decent defensively and developing while very good offensively. If we could put him next to Kronwall, the defensive depth goes up. I'd start off with Nyquist/Tatar, Ouellet(top french defense prospect, oui?), Kindl/Ericsson and a 1st and negotiate from there. You pay for this guy, once he's ours Kenny can figure out how to sign him to a good deal. 8 years 48 mil? I'd be willing.