swedishconnection

Why does Nashville keep coming up in these discussions? They are doing well for a small market team. To me it seems like they are filling up their barn - and they have some rabid fans. Florida just seems forced to me. Does anyone really watch them? Usually when they are on I flip it away because they are boring. I am still shocked they have a team out of all of the ones talking about moving...

If anyone has any feelings about this, I hope you dont carry an Iphone or Droid. My Droid has programs running like facebook that can automatically update my location. Google gathers all types of personal information from Droid users. This is already happening, folks.

I do as well. It drives me nuts when the "DRIVEEEEE" says it, but to have one of our own? I know he's Canadian but still... you dont hear Mic saying it. At times of continuous suckage everything begins to bother us - or at least me. I begin to key in on every detail and examine it for flaws. Zetterberg has lost the ability to skate fast. I am not sure if it is injury or what but he is always a full step behind where he should be in the game. I love Helmer too but he cant hold onto a puck under pressure to save his life. And unfortunately this is just the beginning. My final thought is still this: Ericsson = turd.

Lidstrom. And in regards to your second sentence I thought I was the only one that felt that way. Glad to see White get some respect. Also, after thinking about it you are probably right about consulting Malts. If that's how it went down I am totally comfortable with it.

Maybe I chose to ignore this thread earlier when it was started, but I didnt see it until now. I will be the first to say that I have a man-crush on Ian White. I really liked watching him on the Loafs, and when he was on the Sharks it really burned me. His defensive play is excellent so far - and yes even during the bad streak. Positionally he is on top of his game. Obviously he is a smaller man so he has a bit of struggle with the bigger grinders. When you really break down some of his passing gaffs in our own zone it has more to do with him still fitting in and learning the defensive system here than "Lilja-esque" boneheaded plays. Has anyone noticed how fast he can skate? There have been 2 occasions that I recall already where there was a break away and he came from behind the player to break up the play. He's not Helm, but he has under-rated speed. Bottom line - Solid speed, excellent positional play, puck possession style, Schneider-like slapper. At a discount compared to other D-men available. I always thought that J-Wiz and Ian White were clones in this league - but obviously price separates the two, and we made out like gangbusters so far. The only thing that I dont about Ian at this point is the fact that he took Maltby's number - too early in my opinion.

Which is why it is acceptable for him to say what he did in public. Sometimes things do need to be said, just as in this case, but it should come from someone who isnt really losing any face.

Okay so technically it was the elbow pad. Otherwise I am not sure what you were watching. You dont fall over and need help up after a chest to back hit. That dazed look in his eye wasnt from his hurt pride. It was from the knock he took on the chin.

This is exactly my thinking. I am still not sure what has happened since we won the last cup, but our defense has been very suspect and it has nothing to do with Lids or his age. Players like Fil that are versatile are the glue that holds the team together. Where were the wings in terms of overall scoring compared to the rest of the league last year? I can say with confidence that we had one of the most balanced attacks in the NHL. That being said - we dont really need Fil to be that star player. His personality suggests that he is comfortable being the excellent supporting player and team first guy. If he's not that superstar, and the Wings dont need the offense, why force him to be someone that he's not? Personally I love having a guy that can skate, backcheck, win faceoffs, play LW or C, and provide decent support. This is what I was talking about. I am not sure if it was just not knowing what their Defensive partner was going to do, or not expecting a pass, but something was a fraction of a second off. With our rotating D last season no one had a chance to get into a groove and just play. The D corps seemed to slow down their thinking a bit, and make the safe play off the boards to get it out. That has NEVER been the best option in the Wings' system. This is also partially due to the bad defensive positioning of some of our forwards coming back - not backchecking hard enough or being available for a pass. Lids said it best; "I think we just need a bigger commitment to team defense. We need to get back to that and it will help our game." <<<-- In my opinion that is where Fil can be a leader - backchecking and commitment to defense.

From what I have watched (every game since 2006), Kindl is far more sound than Erickson. I have seen the typical rookie mistakes, but it says a lot when I feel way more confident when Kindl is back there. He's not overly physical, but he gets back as a serviceable skater, protects the puck, and makes quick sharp passes out of the zone. When was the last time anyone saw Big Rig have a quick sharp pass on the tape? On the other note- I dont know how Smith will take the job of Kindl if they are going to be in 2 different leagues this year. Smith can still be sent down, and will be in order to get top-pairing in the AHL and 20+ minutes a night. Kindl will most likely rotate in and out with whoever is sucking more- Big Rig or Commodore. To the larger topic at hand- I am still drinking the KennyKoolAid. If your largest mistakes as GM are named Cory Cross, Quincy, Hatcher, and the current Big Rig contract, then you are still by FAR the best GM in Hockey. I hope to see Erickson improve- I really do. However, I gave up on him last season. There were too many times that he just stagnated, and I just do not see the faith being fulfilled. If only someone would find out what he was eating during the Anaheim series, and feed him that from now on it may end up being alright. But as I said before- I do not believe at this point that I will be seeing that defenseman any time soon.

Wait, theres a difference now? I am surprised the Eagle never had to deal with this.

Only if you want to concede that Eaves's career was ruined by Armstrong. Jason was nothing special up to that hit. After the hit he was still nothing special. Logic tells me that it didnt change anything.

Brad Marchand, Timmah. /Thread

I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to say Larionov.... Mine are: 1) Ted Lindsay for all time. Left wing is strange in hockey, and there are no better than Number 7. Currently it is Zata. 2) Gotta be Dan Cleary. Pure heart - determination - no excuses. What a revival. 3)Colby Armstrong - although he probably wouldn't get along with Patrick Eaves 4) By far Mathieu Schneider. He was killing it with Lids, and I miss his slapshot (that a lot on these boards still complain about- highandwide). It sucked that he left for Anahiem the same year that Bert did - totally caught me off-guard. 5)G-damned Bertuzzi. For me, there was no worse person to come to the Wings. He was a force against us so many times, plus his cheap-shots, plus the Moore crap. Talk about baggage. f***in hated the guy. However, now the "Stockholm Syndrome" has set in and I really dont mind the guy. Call it the "Pronger" situation: you always will hate the man until he suits up for your team...

Since when is a netminder signing non-controversial in the D? In my opinion this is a solid, solid signing. I love it all the way around. He was great when he was here last. I was sad to see him leave back in the day. C'mon - you must admit that out of former Red Wing-turned-Blues goal tenders you would much rather have ConkBlock back instead of Manny (Not counting Ozzie of course).

1. Ottawa 2. Ottawa 3. Atlanta 4. Atlanta 5. Florida 6. Islanders 7. Phoenix 8. Winnipeg 9. Ottawa again 10. Atlanta again

The other thing to discuss is about the CBA and Revenue Sharing. I was reading a blog the other day about how teams like the Panthers receive revenue sharing money (from teams like DET, MTL, TOR etc.) And now in this market they are able to out-bid the same teams for players that both "small market" and "original 6" are vying for. Doesnt make sense that they can be out-bidding us with OUR OWN MONEY, does it? This is not to say that I am saddened by our inability to acquire the players mentioned - quite the opposite.

While I generally agree with you on principle, the two being compared have differences with "time in the role." That and Kenny basically said during many-an-interview that he inherited a team that was built for success in 98. Notwithstanding the above, he has managed to be the best GM post-lockout by far, and has led the organization to success from his position all the way down to the ice-groomer. Now if we were comparing Babs to Lindy Ruff there would be a plausable argument.

I see what you did there...

Leino wasnt good while he was here. He made Kopecky look like an excellent choice to keep as UFA while he was in the D. Different team, different style, different opportunity yielded crazy results. Kind of felt the same way as Quincy. Back on topic, Bart Lebda was a known quantity that Holland decided not to keep. Especially since TO was tossing Finger money at him. I still feel a large portion of the blame for the outrageous contracts we have seen over the past 2 years can be directly derived from TO signing Finger and the following year Lebda.

To be completely honest, I thought there was a slim chance that "NEATLY" was a minor-leaguer that I had not heard of in which case the team that got Havlat would have won the deal. Upon reading the thread, my jaw has still not returned to its normal, upright and locked position for takeoff.

Perhaps Minny called back and said "We dont feel that we got enough value for Burns, upon review. What else you got?" SJ: "Well, we really felt like giving up our second best winger was a great plan to start. So lets just up it a bit." Minny: "A skilled winger with less than than expected production with concussion issues in Havlat for arguably the best pure sniper in the game." SJ: "Done." P.S. - my G/F just fell off the ******* couch with this one.

DOES...NOT...COMPUTE...ERROR...REBOOTING SYSTEM.... If I recall correctly, wasnt Dandenault a right handed version of today's Lebda? And I do believe that Freddie's shining moment was hitting that one goal against Wahhh when we destroyed him 7-0. So now, if only Commodore Norrington can score 1 goal against Wahhh in a blow out he will impress me. If not, then we shall have to see some stellar defensive play capped off with hard nosed crease clearing.

I totally feel the same way. When ConkBlock left it stung a bit. If he can get it through his head that hes a fantastic backup, but a below average starter then he may just be able to play hockey for a living and make decent money (compared to us on the internets...)

That is interesting... Can the "new Jets" retire a number that technically never played for a specific franchise? My argument would be yes as the player means so much to a city. Is this completely new territory for the NHL?

Smyth to Calgary? I thought he wanted to go "home" where he was Captain Canada? Oh and these combined threads are an excellent idea... too many people attempting to be "the first to post" and creating redundant threads.