Kp-Wings

The Islanders arena (I've been to a few games there), although old, still has a certain charm about it that you don't find in most of the newer arena's. Their all cookie cutters of each other now. Never been to Pittsburgh's, but I'd like to go before it's gone. If I ever get enough money saved, I'd make a special point to going there to watch. Other than that, though, I can't think of any I'd really like to go to. Maybe catch a game at the ACC in Toronto, or the new Prudential Center in Jersey. Of course, these teams both have their problems: the former has very expensive tickets that are hard to get, while the ladder is in one of the worst cities in the country. I don't think downtown Newark is exactly the best place to go. I hope when the Wings new arena comes along they keep a classic charm to it. Not turn it into a grayscale business/corperate suite like the majority of NHL arena's today.

What a grand surprise. The Wings hire another clueless moron to be a part of their marketing team. Illitch is either really cheap, or really stupid. Try bringing in a decent marketing staff (like Dallas has), and make this team more marketable off the ice. Reading the comments on the posted page, this team could be in real danger. This idiot proposed the Predators playoff games to be blacked out on TV because they didn't sellout. Because the Wings can no longer sellout home games anymore either, this could be a problem. Legionnaire: can you confirm if this really did happen with the Predators? That sounds like a horrible, Chicago Blackhawks esque idea.

Go get 'em Downey!

Great post, Lou. There is absolutley nothing to justify Drake being in the lineup still. He has been terrible all season long, minus his fights. If he can't fight, then he might as well be out of the lineup, because that's the only thing he's done right all season long. The numbers really don't lie. Downey is a +1, while Drake is a -6. That's a huge dropoff point. Downey has also played much better hockey than Drake all season, and with less ice time. Exactly what I've been thinking also. Holland is extremely anti-enforcer for some reason. It's surprising that he brought Downey in here in the first place, but I think it was more or less Babcock getting on him about the lack of protection for the star players. In my opinion, anyways. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, and Downey continues to play well and prove his critics wrong. I want him to stay, because he's played good this season. And, of course, he fights.

All you had to do was copy and paste. Nonetheless, here it is.

Good luck. Osgood is not enough of a high profile name to be a starter, and the rest of the choices depend on the coaches (who I can bet will be Randy Carlyle on the Western Conference team). There are too many other guys ahead in the pecking order, based more off of name than anything. Example: I'll bet that Kiprusoff will be there, even though he has been horrible this season. It just comes down to that simple fact. They like to put the big name players in. That's just how it works. Osgood should be in, but he probably won't be. In my opinion anyways.

As am I. Especially considering Brodeur is 2nd on the list, when he has been absolutley terrible this season. They need to stop going off of the previous season, and go by what said player is doing now.

The 4 guys you mentioned are no longer playing in the NHL, as of my knowledge. Chistov vacated back to Russia over the summer. He apparently wasn't happy with a limited role in Boston, so he signed a contract with a Russian team. The Bruins had to suspend Chistov, because he was still under contract with them. Kaigorodov remains property of the Phoenix Coyotes from the Mike Comrie trade, but is not signed by the team. He is currently playing for Magnitogorsk Metallurg in the RSL. Lisen is currently playing in the AHL, after starting out in Russia. I guess you could include him, although technically he isn't playing in the NHL. Zhamnov is an unknown case. He's battled injuries for quite a while now. The Bruins tried to buy out his contract in the summer of 2006, but couldn't because of his injury status. He didn't play in the 2006-2007 season with anyone, and sat out the whole year. He's never officially confirmed retirement or anything. I don't know what to include him as, because he's not playing with anyone, but his name and contract status might still appear on the Bruins contract listing. Those 4 names I did not include my listing. I guess now that Lisen is back from Russia, you can include him, bringing it up to 29. But the other 3 you really can't. While Chistov and Kaigorodov are still property of an NHL team, neither of them are signed to NHL contracts (well, technically Chistov is, but he's not playing under it). As for Zhamnov: he hasn't been heard from in over 2 years, so unless he makes a big comeback, he's done. As for Yashin: Yashin's wife is an American, and you've got to wonder what she thinks of that. Unless Yashin really wanted to be closer to his parents or something, he took the money and ran in my opinion. That's just how I feel about him. It wouldn't have mattered if he wasn't Russian. I already said that I don't usually go by that Russian stereotype, because it's stupid. Yeah, there are guys like Yashin and Vladimir Malakhov who play like that, but there are also guys like Larionov and Konstintinov that aren't that way at all. I just believe it goes through the persons individual personality. In Yashin's case, I think he is greedy. But, that's just me. If Yashin's intention were to be closer to family, then I apologize for my accusations. Going back to the list, if you include Lisen, that brings it up to 29 players, which is still very low. The other 3 don't qualify, because 2 of them are playing in Russia, while the other one has disappeared for well over 2 years now.

That's really just greediness, if anything. Especially in Yashin's case. That guy will forever be a benchmark into a Russian stereotype, because he turned down a chance to continue playing in the NHL for a slightly higher paycheck in Russia. Normally that's not that big of a deal, but Yashin is still making money from being bought out by the NY Islanders (don't know the exact figures, so I'll ballpark it between 2 and 5 million). If he is that concerned about making an extra million, while still making a lot of money to begin with, that shows he's greedy. Markov... I don't know what his deal is. I don't know how he thinks he's worth 4 million a season, because he's not. He'd certainly be a welcome addition on this current Wings team, but not at the price tag he comes with. I can't believe his thought process in the whole matter. Most of the time, I don't think it does come down to greediness. I don't believe in the "greedy Russian" stereotype like some do, but that doesn't go say that there isn't any greedy Russians, which there is. Look at Yashin. He's making good money already, yet he is still going back to Russia for more money. That's greedy in my book. The fact that he happens to be Russian is merely a coincidence, since that trait reflects more on his personality, and not on his nationality. Oh no, I'm not saying the drafting will completely stop. Russians are still being drafted, and that will always happen. But if last year's draft is any indication of what the near future holds, the numbers are falling right now (9 out of 211 picks is very low). Yeah, I suppose that's a factor into it, but Russia always seems like a country that has it's problems. If a player get's a chance to come here to play, I'd think they'd take it. Not always of course, but there are some Russians who do want to play in North America and win a Stanley Cup, but might not be able to due to lack of transfer agreement, and not getting drafted in the first place. I think the lack of a transfer agreement is the biggest reason why there is a decline in Russian hockey players. There are exceptions, such as greed (Yashin), or just wanting to stay in your home country close to your family, but I belive that there are a lot of Russian hockey players that would like to play in the NHL, but can't, due to the lack of a transfer agreement.

I can't believe Lecavalier is so far down on that list, as far as sheer numbers. This guy is leading the league on scoring, and is one of the most complete players in the game, and yet he has less than 30,000 votes? That's ridiculous. It wouldn't stand to reason as not being true. The NHL treats him like he's the king of the universe or something, even though there are two players who currently have more points than him right now. Oh well. I didn't vote for Sid, so his vote count probably just increased by 800 or something.

Russia's stubborness (if that's even a word) about signing an IIHF transfer agreement is going to halt any huge drafting of Russian prospects in the NHL. The lack of a transfer agreement between Russia and the NHL can be compared to the WGA strike and it's effects on the majority of tv shows. As a hint to that, only 9 Russians were drafted last year. And, right now, there are only 28 in the NHL all together. It goes to show that the amount of Russian players has really dropped off in the league, for every team, because of their unwillingness to sign a transfer agreement.

He also has a knack for missing the net 20 feet wide. That truely takes skill, which only Samulesson has on this team.

Detroit vs. New York would be good, but I'd be nervous playing against Shanny. It seems like every former Wing (except Anders Eriksson) always manages to come back and beat in some way shape or form, whether or not they were actually let go by the Wings or left on their own. I can see it being the same with Shanny, since he'd be up for playing against us. But I agree, that would be a great SCF.

This was supposed to be the summer of George!

Edmonton vs. Florida It'd be another one of those repetitve Northwest vs. Southeast matchups that just wouldn't seem to stop until last year. Talk about some entertaining hockey!!1!!!1

It's not a lie if you believe it.

nevermind

Seems that level of enthusiasm drops off quite a bit during Wings games. Ok... I'm done with my bashing on us being all boring and stuff. For now...

I'm surprised by the lack of production surronding that team. It seems like Crosby and Malkin are the only ones doing anything out there.

Lucic vs. Ivanans Lucic didn't really win the fight, but he held his own pretty well. Ivanans is a heavyweight, so it shows that Lucic should be able to hold his own against some of the league's better fighters. This kid is going to be a great hockey player. I wish the Wings had a guy who could play the all around game that Lucic play's.

This team is in serious trouble when Lidstrom retires. Kindl has the tools to be a replacement, but I haven't seen enough of the guy to really say if that's the case. The Wings need to find a future starting goaltender, and stop with this goaltending carousel madness that goes on every season. In the past 10 years, we've had 6 different guys be starting goaltenders at different times: Vernon, Osgood, Hasek, Jospeh, Legace, and Hasek once more. This year, Hasek has played so poorly, you could easily make a case that the rotation has returned to Osgood again as #1. I don't know what Jimmy Howards deal is, but he better start showing something down in GR now. I'm really concerned that he is nothing more than an overhyped, failed prospect. The Griffins are really sucking it up in the AHL this year, and Howard hasn't looked good at all. This team could be in for a really rocky road ahead. Their drafting has been top notch lately, but they'll need to start getting production from their other draft picks. If they do, they'll remain a very good team for many years to come. If not... might as well cut some eye-holes in the brown bags, because it could be a looooooooong few seasons ahead. The Wings can't buy Stanley Cup's anymore, so their drafting has to pan out. That will be the key to whether they succeed or suck. They need the young guys to start filling in the voids left by players departures. If they do, things should be fine.

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

It's pronounced "Rangas" in New York itself.

You have amazing willpower then. I can't stand either of those guys (especially Jeff Rimer). Every time he calls Nikolai Zherdev "Slicky Tricky Nikky" I die a little inside.

Considering JLA is like a graveyard most of the time, you shouldn't have to worry about anything. Red Wings fans are extremely boring and non-passionate. You'd here more noise at a library or at an outdoor swimming pool in the middle of January than at a Wings game. Sorry guys, but it's the truth. I think if ticket prices were lowered, you'd see more passionate fans go to games. But everyone knows that will never happen as long as Illitch is running the show. You'll find a live dinosaur before the Wings charge affordable tickets. Hehe... I'm such a cynical jerk sometimes. You have a Jamie Rivers jersey? Wow, it's been a while since I've heard his name.