Kp-Wings

Chris Chelios wants to here some more of that as well. Chris Chelios appreciates all the Chris Chelios fans in the world, as sirdrake is definitly the #1 Chris Chelios fan there is. Ah, it's not as funny when I do it. That is classic. I like how they add Scatman in the background. It's like the perfect blooper song. For instance, the Norton vs. Downey fight a few years ago.

I like Van Ryn a lot, but the Wings will need to clear a space for him if they were even interested. I think he'd be a good fit here. He's mainly an offensive defenseman (which is Ken Holland's calling card for defenseman), but he's solid defensivily too. He's also a good size defenseman at 6'1, and he can play a physical game if needed to. I'd like to see the Wings get him, but I don't think Florida has any intentions of trading him. Not for what the Wings would offer anyways.

Pearl Jam - Corduroy

Well, if you were a real fan, you'd find a way to go. I seriously hope you know I was joking there. I just have to poke fun sometimes at the ridiculous things people say on these forums here. I only went to 2 games last year myself.

Since when is Chelios a boxer? I guess he's like the white version of Mike Tyson, without the ear biting.

If this is true, somehow I'm not surprised. Laff Nation is nothing more than a bunch of insane idiots who have no lives and spend their entire day bashing their own team. Their like radio personalities in Detroit with the Lions, except their not funny. Somehow I don't think this actually happened though. Sounds pretty unrealistic if you ask me.

Hamilton is not Canadian, he's an American. He was born in Dayton, Ohio. If you would have started going off about Russians and French-Canadians who wear visors, you would have sounded just like him.

I'm sorry, I completely forgot about Cleary. He's definitly a charecter guy. You're not biased in that regard at all. I don't know how I forgot to include him. I'm not on top of it today, apparently.

Then what exactly is? You've got guys like Kopecky in the lineup that are supposed to physical, but are not for some reason that is oblivious to me. The guy is 6'3, but he plays like he's 5'1. It's ridiculous watching him. He's a terrible skater, has no offensive ability at all, doesn't hit, doesn't fight, doesn't do anything. And yet, mysteriously, he is still in the lineup on a full time basis. My preferred solution would be to dump his ass on some crappy team (maybe Chicago, since that seems to be the final resting place of all Red Wings castoffs) and just let Ellis and Downey battle it out for the final spot. Those two guys at least work hard (and Downey fights of course). Kopecky doesn't even work hard, which could explain his lack of ice time. I know he's a 4th liner, but he had only about 3 minutes of ice last night. When you roll lines on a regular basis during a game, he should get much more then that. ...and with that said, there's a sense of irony that really makes me laugh. People cite that playing Downey will force Babcock to not be able to roll the lines anymore. Well, look at last nights game. A perfect example of Babcock not rolling lines, and Downey wasn't even in the game. You figure a meaningless regular season game against perrenial bottom-feeders like the Edmonton Oilers would be a chance for some of these guys to play more. Yet, guys like Kopecky only had a grand total of about 3 minutes of ice time last nigh. He might have had more, he might have less, I don't know the exact amount. But it sure as hell wasn't very much. The point that I, and some others on here as well, is that not playing Downey because of his "lack of skills" is a stupid reason, considering we have guys on our current roster that don't even belong on an AHL roster. Kopecky is useless in all grandstanding points of the game. Whether that is because of his injury last year or not is irrelevant. The fact remains that Downey could do no worse then what Kopecky is doing right now. He would probably do a lot better, since he'll at least hit and fight guys.

Yeah, you're right. He's only played for 4 teams (Washingon, NY Rangers, Toronto, Phoenix), and the only ones of those to win a Cup in recent years was New York. I think you're right about Coffey. I thought about him, but Gartner always comes to mind when referring to being traded away the same year his former team wins the Cup. Coffey did win a few Cup's back during the Oiler's dynasty.

Exactly. I've said this about him since last year. Hamilton took forever to crack the NHL full time. I think he's almost in 30's now or so, and he has only played one full season. That said, he's extremely versitile in a lot of aspects of the game. He can play the point effectivily on the PP, unlike the ones who have done it here (Samulesson and Williams). He has a great shot, good speed, and can play the PK as well. I was hoping Holland would go after him in the offseason, but Carolina scooped him up right away. I believe he was one of the first players to be signed this offseason.

Sorry, my mistake. Mike Gartner?

Good points Lou. I remember what you're talking about with the WCW. Bringing in those guys from other countries was supposed to be their way of trying to become more popular then RAW, since they were always second fiddle (in my opinion, anyways). It completely blew up in their face, and scared off what fans they did have. Most of them went to RAW. The thing about bland players is the point I brought up earlier. These guys are like stone walls, in the sense that they have absolutley no personality or charecter. Look at Datsyuk. It's like pulling teeth trying to get him to do an actual interview or even say anything. It's like that with a lot of guys on this team. Not that interviews are all that big of a deal, but for fans watching the game on TV it is. That's where the personality thing comes in. Our teams has some charecter guys, like Drake, Draper, Chelios, Holmstrom, Downey, Maltby, even Zetterberg. But there isn't much after that at all. I'll bet you that most people have probably never even heard of Mikeal Samulesson outside of Detroit. He's played for 4 other teams in his NHL career: San Jose, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, and Florida, and yet the majority of fans for those teams don't even know who he is. This teams needs more guys that can connect with the fans and make the team more marketable. They don't all have to be North American, either. Ville Nieminen, for as much of a dirty assbag he is, isn't afraid to give an interview or speak his mind. But in reality, I feel this team needs to be more balanced out. It has, by far, too many Europeans. It's not a racist thing against Europeans, like with Grapes, and it doesn't need to be a one-way street like with Brian Burke. But this team simpily needs more North American players on it. To market the team, you need the homegrown guys that aren't afraid to talk in front of the camera or connect with the fans like they are part of the team, much like the majority the Europeans are afraid to do. I just think that if it was evened out more, things would be better. Look at the years where we won Stanley Cup's. It was a balanced mix. We had the Russian 5 for the skill and flash (in Vladdy's case, toughness), but we also had Yzerman and Shanny for the leadership and scoring, and McCarty and Kocur for the toughness and fighting. Those teams were balanced out very well, and were successful because of it. These current day Red Wings teams are not balanced at all. It's all heavly favored towards European skill, but the thing is, the majority of our European players suck. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Filppula, and Lidstrom are all great skilled guys, and they are obviously great players. But what the hell else do these useless players like Samulesson and Kopecky bring to the team? Samulesson is supposed to be our 2nd line winger, and I'd bet there are some Red Wings fans that don't even know who he is. Keep in mind these are probably not very serious fans, but still. This team has some mild forms of toughness: Drake mostly. Downey would also be if he got to play more. But again, there are some pretty useless players on the roster currently (Kopecky comes to mind) that are wasting roster spots that could go to designated tough guys. We've had successful enforcers many times in the past on the Wings, so I don't see why it's such an issue to have one now. And now we come back to team personality. I mentioned before: we have guys on the team that do have some charecter. Drake, Downey, Holmstrom, Chelios, Maltby, Draper. These are the charecter guys on the Wings, and they do it well. But there still isn't very many, and especially considering the dead weight we current have on the roster right now in some places (again, Kopecky comes to mind), there is room for improvement. I rag on Holland as much as anyone around here, but for all intents and purposes, I think he is a pretty good GM. We obviously have different views on certain things (North American players and fighters), but for the most part Holland does what he does good because he has kept this team successful over the years in the changing salary cap era of the new NHL. But to make the players of this team more marketable, he's the one who has to do it. Will he? It's hard to tell. If this team was to have a true North American star player again, then yes, he would have. But that has yet to happen, and as of right now, many would consider this current Red Wings team bland and boring. Not to be a jerk or anything, but it's the truth in some senses.

Correct. Yeah, I thought of that. The leading the league in goals did kind of give it away. I'll have harder ones in the future.

Correct. Here's another one. This is pretty easy, but I feel like doing it anyways: I was born in Ukraine, but moved to Slovakia as a child. I have scored at least 30 goals 9 times in my career. I lead the league in goals twice, once in 1994-1995 and 1997-1998. I am 1 of only 37 players to ever score 500 goals in the NHL. I have played for only 3 teams in my long standing NHL career. I have never won a Stanley Cup, but have been to the finals once before. Who am I?

The official capacity of the United Center is around 20,500. Their attendance last Saturday was around 18,150, which is clearly not a sellout. This idiot doesn't know what he's talking about. The Blackhawks haven't sold out a game since October 5th, 2005. They've been in the bottom 5 in attendance for about 8-9 years. I know they have an excuse because they were bad, but it's annoying as hell when this guy comes on here and preaches to us about sellouts, and yet his team has been in the 5 bottom for attendance for the past decade, and haven't sold out an actual game in over 2 years. Ownership or not, the fact still stands: the Blackhawks have had the worst attedance in the entire league the past few years. Usually they switch off every year with some other bad team for having the worst, such as Phoenix or St. Louis, but overall they have had the worst attendance in the league for quite a while now. Even the season they last made the playoffs 2001-2002, their attendance was low. I am fully aware of the Wings attendance issues, but this guy has no room to talk. The 'Hawks are far and beyond the least supported team in the league.

Yeah, big ******* deal. Tell me again: what was the Blackhawks average attedance last year? Oh, I do believe that was around 12,000, good enough for 29th in the league. When your own team becomes a success, then you can trash talk. I haven't seen that happen yet, though, and one meaningless win over the Wings proves nothing. The playoffs don't start in October, in case you're too young and stupid to know that. It makes the ownership careless of the teams success. The Toronto Maple Leafs, for example, never have to worry about building a successful team. They'll reap the benefits of the sellouts regardless, and the income brought in from TV contracts and whatever else. The Detroit Lions are another good example of that cause. The Wings are a good team, but the ownership, as far as fan relations go, is terrible. The ridiculous ticket prices and the isolation from the players is the reason the fans don't go. Couple that with the retirement of Yzerman, the loss of Shanny and McCarty, and a not very overall exiting team, and you have a recipe for empty seats. It's as simple as that.

I won't deny that point. Detroit shouldn't be called Hockeytown, because it isn't. It hasn't been in almost 5 years. "Hockeytown" was nothing more than a marketing slogan created by Mike Illitch, because he's too much of a tightass to think of anything better. That's something people need to through their heads and stop being so critical of the Wings fan base. I'll bet that if the Wings had never created that dumb slogan in the first place, nobody would give a rats ass about the Wings attedance. But because of that, the Wings fans are put under a microscope. The name "Hockeytown" really doesn't even belong to any American City, except maybe Minneapolis. You can say what you want about the bandwagoners that are supporting the Buffalo Sabres right now, but the Minnesota Wild have a true fan base, and if any American team should get that title, it's them. They've soldout every game since they've re-entered the league in 2000. And those are true-sellouts also, with asses in the seats. Not corperate heads who don't show up anyways. As far as the logo at Center Ice: that thing will be there until the new arena goes up. Illitch firmly believes that's some sort of effective marketing slogan, even though it clearly causes more harm then good as far as the team's popularity and media effects are concerned. Hopefully Illitch cuts the crap and stops with the 10 cents a day marketing, and starts doing a real job of marketing this team to it's fans. If he does that, and lowers the ridiculous prices of tickets, then the fans will start coming back again.

Correct. Fight fans, this is one you should know: I was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1980's. I played with a variety of teams over my career, but spent the most time playing for the Minnesota North Stars. I was known mostly as an enforcer, and put up over 2000 Penatly Minutes in about 600 NHL games. I scored only about 100 points in my NHL career. I now work as a scout for the St. Louis Blues. Who am I?

I was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in 1982. I spent the majority of my career in Minnesota. I reached the SCF's with Washington in 1998. I scored my 1000'th career point in 1999, and retired after that season. Who am I?

Pat Falloon.

Agreed, Lou. Guys like Yzerman, Shanny, and McCarty were cornerstones to this franchise, and it just isn't the same now that their gone. This team desperatly needs more North American players. It really does. I mean, people try to shoot that theory down with the Russian 5 being so popular, but the Russian 5 were a totally different breed. Those guys had charecter, especially Vladdy. Guys like Larionov and Fedorov were the same way. I'm not saying that guys like Zetterberg don't have charecter, which he does sort of. But the rest of the team really doesn't. The only true charecter guys left on the Wings are Chelios, Drake, and Downey. One of those guys hasn't even played a single game with the Wings yet, either (well, technically not in the regular season), which is a shame. This team really does need some North American players though. It's hard for fans to connect with such a bland paper-weight team that the Wings currently have. This isn't a stab at guys like Lidstrom or Zetterberg, but more likely Samulesson and Hudler. These guys aren't very popular players. Samulesson is especially a waste of space on the roster, but hey, that's just me. I don't know if this will ever change anytime soon, but for the fans sake, some more entertaining player need to be signed. Fighters included. None of this is a stab at Euro's either. All I'm saying is we need a balanced mix. Right now, this team is dominated by European players. I'm not asking for a Brian Burke one-way Canadian street, but a balanced mix would be nice. Right now, it's pretty much all European. Tonight would have been the perfect night for Downey to play. Why he didn't I will never know. A Downey vs. Souray or Downey vs. Torres fight would have made my night.

Yep, you're right. Alex Faulkner

I feel better now. Great win tonight! Looking forward to Wednesday's game.

I haven't seen Ellis out there at all hardly. In a game that's not that big of a deal, you'd think Babcock would try giving him more ice time. Downey would have been a better choice for this game since he probably would have had a fight in his limited time, and there are plenty of guys on the Oilers that would be willing to go with him (Staios, Torres, Souray, etc.). But, oh well.