Drake_Marcus

This is about as close to a make or break game as it gets for a young goalie. The Wings organization know they need wins and they need them yesterday. They can't afford to give him a long leash at this point, despite the fact that they wish they could afford to. If they dump him it will be at great cost-- 4 years in the AHL as the #1 man and tons of organizational focus on him as the goalie of the future.

It's Sammy. We know he can be excellent for short stretches... the problem is when he's cold he's ice cold. On an unrelated note, I love Babcock's comment from the article:

Paint it really, really badly then have the shadows of mike and the bots along the chin with mike pointing at the face.

I completely agree. I'm thinking he'll have a whale of a game tomorrow for just that reason. Like he's quoted as saying in the article-- he's got nothing to lose and everything to gain. (Nothing to lose referring to the fact that he knows he's on his way out if he doesn't perform anyway)

No one remembers that incident. Although my father just moved to Vancouver... I wonder if that bar is still open.

Yeah, but if they had an MST3K themed mask you'd eat that right up. (I would) Hell, I'd settle for an Aqua Teen Hunger Force mask! Maybe one done up like Carl's car with Carl on one side and Shake holding the keys on the other?

Yeah, must be because it's such a horrifyingly badly directed movie. God I hate the terrible s*** Bay pinches out.

Yeah, I can't call that anything other than a hit based on that video. Weird.

Kindl's far, far, far worse than Lebda defensively. FAR worse. FAR. F. A. R.

She's definitely had work done.

NP

Are you guys ready for tonight? It's going to be great. Tatar's playing in his second game baby. Can't wait to see how he performs! http://ahl.neulion.com/team/freenight.htm Booya. Free game tonight

What's wrong with those photos? None of the guys seem particularly intoxicated or appear to be acting foolishly. Just because they're at a party doesn't mean they're getting trashed.

Laugh it up. But ask a US soldier in Afghanistan who he wants behind the sniper rifle supporting him and he'll say a Canadian.

Yup, CG. They did that last year too.

Were the Pens in the playoffs then? I know they weren't in the playoffs for at least a month last year, I think it was for longer than a month.

No one will pouch those guys on an offer sheet because the level of compensation (picks) needed would be absurd. They'll have to trade one or more of them.

Friday: Florida @ Pittsburgh Minnesota @ St Louis (Minny's got to recover soon plus the Blues are due to come back down to Earth) Carolina @ Colorado Saturday: NY Rangers @ Montreal Boston @ Ottawa Washington @ NY Islanders Florida @ Philadelphia San Jose @ Atlanta Toronto @ Vancouver (I'm going out on a limb here, but Toronto can't go 0-82, can they?) New Jersey @ Pittsburgh Buffalo @ Tampa Bay Dallas @ St Louis Carolina @ Minnesota Nashville @ Chicago Detroit @ Colorado Los Angeles @ Phoenix Edmonton @ Calgary Columbus @ Anaheim (uggg I hate picking another away time, but I just can't justify picking against Columbus) Sunday: San Jose @ Philadelphia Columbus @ Los Angeles Edmonton @ Vancouver

Hands problems? 5G & 4A in his first 13 NHL games. He was a point per game player in the preseason. He lead the AHL in playoff scoring through the first two rounds even though he didn't get points in the 4 game loss to the Moose in round 2. Leino's got great hands. Should we dump Datsyuk? He's played poorly so far this season-- 2A in 6 games. Leino has 2G & 1A so far, with the two goals coming in the first 3 games.

There's a reason why Spector shot this rumour down-- it's crazy. Spector, for the record, is without a question the best hockey rumour guy on the internet, so I definitely recommend checking his site out for an intelligent analysis of trade and FA rumours. In reality I think it'd only take one of these two players plus a pick to get Frolov. If we knew more about Abdelkader's scoring upside I'd consider trading him straight-up for Frolov, but there's too many unknowns with Abs. He was the frozen four MVP, so he's been on the radar of other teams' scouts for a few years now. His only season of professional hockey was a huge success, with him tieing for the rookie lead in points on the team, posting fantastic numbers in clutch situations, being the team's strongest player on the ice in the playoffs (with the exception of Leino's performance in the first round) and winning accolades from the AHL at various times during the season. Abs was definitely one of the top rookies in the AHL last year and he did it all with an aggressive edge to his game that is very rare in the Wings' system. Abdelkader has the potential to be a 2nd line centre in this league that can fight, kill penalties and deliver 150 hits a year. As a prospect he's as tantalizing as he is tough to pin down. Worst case he'll be a good checking line player. Leino's considered a legitimate Calder threat and he's signed cheap for 2 years, so he's off the list of available prospects too. I'd give Kindl up for Frolov if the Wings are confident they can re-sign Frolov, though. Kindl's value will either rise or plummet this season. If he can't put a good season together in the AHL this year his days as a Wings prospect could be numbered. I can see them trading Kindl this season if he flounders in the AHL this season and they need to make a move at the deadline. Honestly, he hasn't shown enough to warrant a spot on the team next season, at least he hasn't in the defensive department (and if you can't play solid D in the AHL there will be real trouble in the NHL). But he's still considered a blue chip prospect, so if they don't think he'll make the jump they'll probably dump him while he's still worth something.

Let's do a quick fact-check: False: weak on skates, hands made of cement, small, overly soft, yet to finish a check. True: European. Grade: F Please see me after class Mr. Fly.

You stole Campbell's press quote. Now he'll have to think of a new bs statement to give the press about a clean hit.

First we have a Budd Lynch bobblehead being given away to the first 21,000 fans on November 5th vs the Sharks: Budd Bobbles Next we have the Stevie Y plaque commemorating his awesomeness and given away to the first 21,000 fans on November 12th vs the Canucks: Stevie Y = Hockey Hero Last, but not least, we have a toy designed for kids aged -9 months and up which will be given away December 9th when the Wings punish the Blues for embarrassing them in Sweden: Your kid can't possibly hurt themselves on this Get there early though, there are only 2,500 of those Softboni toys. I'm interested in getting the Bob Lynch bobblehead if anyone picks a spare one up. I'd like the Stevie plaque but I'm guessing it'd be a pain in the ass to ship to New Brunswick. EDIT: There's also a hockey card give-away on Feb 11th against the Sharks. I collect cards so if anyone is willing I'd love to steal those from you. PM me if you can oblige.

If the Wings had a player that could step in and play like Duchene right now he'd be on the roster. The only guy I think will be here early is Tatar-- he's already the youngest player in the AHL at 18 years old, and he's playing pretty damn well so far ("so far" being one game ).