Kp-Wings

You never know, Lou. Babcock is unpredictable. We may just see Downey in that game (probably not, but it would be cool if he did play).

Not really a big Gauthier fan, but he would be an upgrade over Lilja. His contract is too big though. Pass.

Yay! I'm so glad Downey made it. Hopefully he get's a good chance, and stays with the team permanantly. I'm looking forward to seeing him in a regular season game. A good day all around. Also happy for Ellis, too. He's a really hard worker, and deserves to make it.

So far, it's had no effect on Illitch yet though. Apparently they were still charging full price tickets for certain pre-season games. Nobody wants to pay $52 to watch the Rangers AHL team. The Red Wings organization is so un-fan friendly, it's unbelieveable that they still call Detroit "Hockeytown". And it's the damn sad truth, too. Regular season games at the Joe have become so lame and boring. The PR staff barely promotes the team. Off ice events are so few and far between that usually a solar eclipse is going on the same day. We'd be lucky to attend at least 2 open practices a season, because usually they only have 1. In my opinion, there a few simple solutions they could follow: 1. Lower the damn ticket prices. The biggest fault as to why we couldn't sell out any playoff games, and for the past few seasons, even sold-out playoff games still show empty seats. People, especially the average middle-class working man, don't want to pay $250-$300 for a single ticket to a one-night event. I understand Illitch has his own personal expenses, but he's not poor. He doesn't have to completely rob people of their life savings just to attend a Red Wings game. With $52 tickets, $15 for parking, $8 beers, over $25 in a decent sized meal, and at least $20-$50 for any good souvenirs (depending on how much you buy), you're looking to spend at least $150 on a regular season game. This is regular season. Playoffs are a whole other story. Unless Illitch leads some secret double life that has not been made public, he doesn't need to charge that much for attending games and merchandise. He's not poor. If he can afford to run 2 professional sports franchise's, a large Pizza company, and a large Casino, he must have some money he can spend. 2. Market the team more. Honestly, unless you're watching the game on TV at that moment or within 5 miles of the Joe, you would be extremely lucky to see any advertisements about the Wings. 3. Make the team more fan-friendly. This is called "Hockeytown", so start living up to that name. Have more off ice events, such as player meet and greets, open practices, autograph signings, that sort of thing. It doesn't cost that much money to hold these events, at least not for a man like Illitch. You know, unless I run into a Wings player on my own (I occasionally see Chelios at GLSC arena in Fraser), it's pretty much impossible to get an autograph or even talk to a player. And really, it's quite a shame that the organization chooses to keep such a distance between the players and the fans. This isn't the 90's anymore. The Red Wings are no longer the most popular item in town. Despite the Tigers missing the playoffs this year, they've still clearly got the stranglehold on Detroit sports now, and it should remain that way for a long time. The Pistons have a great following. And no matter how bad the Lions will continue to be, they will never lose fans. It doesn't take that much to do what I suggested. Unless, of course, there are things we don't know about Illitch, and he is for whatever reason incapable of doing these things with the Wings.

Hey, that's more then Lilja has.

It all depends on how willing Grigorenko is to accept an assignment to GR. Honestly, it will do him no good being the #13 forward. Unless you take someone like Kopecky out of the lineup, that is what he'll be. Downey is a much better suit to that role, since he probably won't demand a whole lot of ice time like Grigorenko would. We'll see what happens tomorrow, I guess. The final decisions should be made then.

How exactly? Dumping Bryzgalov's salary won't do anything for the salary cap hell they'd be in if both of them came back. I know you said once before that they should dump Rob Neidermayer onto another team, but how well do you think that'll sit with Scott if that happens? I don't see anyone else on their current roster that they could dump and get some salary cap relief from. Most of the guys they have are young guys like Getzlaf that don't make very much money. In the end, I'd say Neidermayer might return. But Selanne definitly won't.

That's why if we're going to keep him, it would be nice to have an enforcer in the lineup. Such as Aaron Downey, for example. Maltby is useless unless he has an enforcer to hide behind. He can still be on the PK, but other then that he really doesn't do much. That's why it would nice to have Downey on the team. Maltby can go hit and cheapshot guys like he used to, and then have Downey step in and do the dirty work. It was with Dmac and Kocur that he played his best. Since Holland found it upon himself to extend Matlby for 3 years, at least give him the one type of player in the lineup to make him effective again.

Why the hell does everybody care what Barry Melrose has to say? The guy is such an idiot that he continues to keep his crappy 10 second a year job at ESPN. They don't even cover hockey anymore, even in SportsCenter, and yet he still shows up to work everyday. Either they must give him a really nice paycheck, or he likes doing slave labor jobs for the analysts who cover the NFL. There is a simple reason Barry hates the Wings, which was stated earlier: when Bryan Murray was fired, it was believed Melrose would replace him as head coach. The Wings went with Scotty Bowman instead (thank God). He's been a pissy ***** about the Wings ever since, and goes completely out of his way just to bash them. He hates Mike Illitch, and the Wings organization in general. Something I find funny about that article: last year around this time, he said Schneider was horrible defensivily, and would only be effective if paired with Lidstrom. Now he acts like Schneider is some kind of defensive Norris-Trophy God on skates. I guess if someone no longer plays for the Wings, he can fit into the ever dubious catagory of "Barry's Best".

Usually when we play Chicago in the early part of the season, we lose, badly. The season then spirals out-of-control, and we pretty much don't win again for a long time. I see tomorrow being no different. It's ridiculous to imagine this team actually having 3 wins before October, because it hasn't been done in nearly 7 years.

Soundgarden - My Wave

Downey and Ellis or Downey and Grigorenko sounds good to me.

Usually I spend my fair share of ragging on the Rags (pun intended ), but this is great that their doing this. It's about damn time someone takes a stand against the NHL. I'm getting sick of the Communism-esque choke hold the NHL has over the way everything is run (including the teams themselves). This isn't Russia, Gary, so stop trying to make it seem that way.

Fleischmann, 3 years after the Lang trade, has yet to crack Washingtons lineup full-time. This is Washington we're talking about. The same team that's #1 centers last season were Kris Beech and Jiri Novotny. That lineup is so-talent depleted, and yet he still can't make it. ...and I must say, you're Chicago example is so ridiculous, it's not even funny. I can't believe you're basically willing to suffer through 10+ losing seasons just to have a few good prospects. Who even knows if these guys will even pan out. Chicago's draft history the last decade says otherwise. Look at who they've drafted in the 1st round from 1997 until now: Dan Cleary Ty Jones Mark Bell Steve McCarthy Mikhail Yakubov Pavel Vorobiev Tuomo Ruutu Adam Munro Anton Babchuk Brent Seabrook Cam Barker Jack Skille Johnathan Toews Patrick Kane That list is pretty awful. At least 5 of those players (Jones, Yakubov, Vorobiev, Munro, and Babchuck) are no longer playing in the NHL. Cleary played less then a season in Chicago. Bell never put up the offensive numbers expected of him. McCarthy never was, and so far never will be, nothing more then a #6 defenseman. Ruutu is injured so much that he's not even a factor. Seabrook is the only player on that list that is not a rookie right now that has made a meaningful impact in Chicago. Having prospects based on their numbers in juniors doesn't mean anything. Shall I bring up the ever so obvious examples of Alexandre Daigle or Pavel Brendl? Quit whining over stupid crap. The Bertuzzi trade, all be it not really what people were hoping for, is over and done with. It at least showed Holland has the guts to take risks still. In the end, I really don't feel it will make any such difference, as it's unclear whether Matthias will even crack an NHL roster.

Haha... Leafs fans are such losers. The Laff Nation is nothing but a crumpled up mess of insane cave creatures that don't get enough air. Oh well. At least it shows the JLA crowd isn't completely dried up yet. It's nice to see something going on there. Most of the time it's like a graveyard in that building.

Ahh... I love Wings and Leafs games. Especially when the Wings win. Now then... let's sign Downey to a contract, dump the others in GR or whatever, and start the season already!

He's a better skater, and doesn't get flat out burned like Lilja does 1-on-1. I'm just saying: from a player standpoint, I would rather have Dandy. But I didn't realize his salary was so high. I thought we'd get him for much cheaper off waivers, but apparently we wouldn't.

When they start lowering ticket prices to reasonable rates, and stop alienating the fan base, things will improve. Until then, it won't. They could try some different things. Such as having more then one open practice a season. Or some meet-and-greet with the players. Sometimes I'll run into a Wings player at GLSC arena in Fraser (like Chris Chelios, who's often there watching his own kids play), but other then that, the players really aren't very accessable to the fans. The team really doesn't do much in the way of PR stuff either, which hurts the fan base. It's really quite a shame, too. For Detroit being the so-called "Hockeytown", the ownership sure doesn't make the team very accessable to the fans.

Why is it on so late? The game starts at 7:30.

I wouldn't mind having him back. He's a good utility player, and brings some speed and grit to the lineup. He'd be a good upgrade over Lilja, that's for sure.

Always exiting to have a Toronto game. Wings win 4-2. Cleary scores 2 goals, Rafalski and Lidstrom score the others. Hopefully Hasek is playing tonight, and does better then what Howard did last night. Go Wings! (and hopefully, Holland signs Aaron Downey sometime soon )

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/09/wi..._ryno_oula.html http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/09/li...include_cl.html Judging by these two articles, Downey is offically down as a Red Wing. As much as I am not happy about this, I can't say I'm surprised in the least bit. Downey really had no chance from the start. What I don't get is the guy they want instead of him: Mark Hartigan. This guy is approaching his 30's and has never been able to hold a roster spot on even the worst of teams in the NHL (Columbus, and Atlanta pre-lockout). He really doesn't do anything at all. At least Downey was able to fight. At this point, I'd like to see either Ritola or Ellis make the team. They both have had pretty good training camps so far.

Bernier is playing great. Hopefully he keeps it up. Go Kings!