Drake_Marcus

You're going to be disappointed.

At least Downey's game misconduct wouldn't kneecap the team like Kronwall's did.

He'll be a door-to-door cane salesman by 2015.

'cause he feels like it?

Hey, we can't all be as fearless and physical as Brian Campbell. He definitely knows gutless from tough.

Malkin and Crosby have helped too

Yeah, if I were a 'Canes I'd definitely have Malkin's head stuck up in front of my dartboard.

On the Datsyuk injury: F. M. L.

Ummm... Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hudler Franzen-Filppula-Leino Abdelkader-Helm-Axelsson Emmerton-McGrath -Ritola Kronwall-Ericsson Stuart-Kindl Smith-Kolosov Larsson McCollum Haha, as you intend- it's a crap shoot. But those are my educated guesses based on the current crop of players and prospects...

Really? I'm not sure you've watched Helm all that closely, then, because he certainly doesn't have better hands than Draper in his prime. Even Babcock said in an interview that he didn't see Helm scoring much at the NHL level. Helm's strengths: very high end skating ability with great top speed, great defensive ability, great on face-offs, strong physical game, amazing energy, great work ethic Helm's weaknesses: not particularly big, doesn't display NHL-caliber scoring or playmaking ability Those are my opinions at least. He has the potential to score goals if he learns to consistently go to the net hard, utilize his speed to attack as quick as possible and get a fast shot off, and go for the 'dirty' goals. Helm doesn't project as a superstar, but he does project as a solid 3rd liner with the potential to be a great shut-down centre. But hey- Helm just might prove the scouts wrong and start scoring consistently at the NHL level-- you won't here the Wings or their fans complaining! But my point here is that he projects as a guy who will do everything aside from putting up points and do those things real well. As far as Larionov goes, you do realize that on the international stage he's considered one of the greatest centres of his era, right? In his prime Igor was the best centre in international hockey tournaments. Unfortunately, his prime occurred in the USSR, outside of the NHL spotlight. By the time he entered the NHL he was past his prime. Secondly, if you think Helm will become more of a star than Filppula I'm just baffled. Filppula has the tools to put up more points and play way more minutes than Helm. You won't see Abdelkader in Detroit next season if he's splitting time with Maltby on the 4th line. He'll be in the AHL unless there's significant roster turn-over up in Detroit and he's guaranteed some real minutes. The Wings have many more years of development in mind for Gator. Stuart won't be going anywhere. The Wings just signed him to a contract with decent term and a NTC. It goes against everything the Wings stand for to ask him to waive his no trade clause the very next year. Plus he's been amazing in the playoffs. Meech is a spare part at this point and I expect he'll be moved. Lebda will likely be moved as well (unless Lilja remains injured through to October). McCollum will be in Grand Rapids backing Larsson up next season. As it stands now, here are the lines next year: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Cleary Leino(*)-Helm-Hudler(*) Kopecky(*)-Draper-Maltby Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Lilja Osgood Howard Note that I assumed Leino, Hudler and Kopecky are signed. Sammy is dependent on what Hudler and Leino sign for (and I'm pretty sure that these two will be retained since Hudler's too valuable to be let go and if he is let go it'll be for an outrageous offer sheet that gets the Wings a 1st and 3rd rounder or better, which is pretty steep for anyone to pay). Leino has already stated he's done paying his dues in the AHL, so he'll require a one way contract, but his experience will likely limit the cost to somewhere around 1 million (plus bonuses). Kopecky will be dirt cheap so he'll be signed if the Wings can't get Samuelsson's number to fit under the cap. I have a hard time seeing the Wings let Samuelsson walk right now given his play and the lack of right handed shots on this team. Losing Sammy leaves the Wings with only the following right hand shots: Rafalski and Maltby. Seriously. And looking at the current prospects, there's no one with a right hand shot that can step in. Ideally, I'd like to see this roster: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Cleary Leino-Hudler-Samuelsson Draper-Helm-Maltby Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Lilja Osgood Howard I put Hudler as the 3rd line centre and Cleary up on the second line because the third line needed a play maker. Leino's better used in a Zetterberg type role where he makes plays and scores, Hudler can be cast in the role of a pure playmaker, although he's got a great shot too. Sammy shoots like a drunk Halo player. I can see those lines shifting quite a bit throughout the year, so I wouldn't be surprises to see Leino float up to the 2nd line (where he should be playing once he's earned his minutes). Helm could end up on the 3rd line as the centre, I just didn't want to put Leino on the 4th where his style (top 6 forward) doesn't fit. If Leino can earn his shot at the 2nd line (and I'm sure he would if given the chance), here's how I'd put it together Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Leino Cleary-Hudler-Samuelsson Draper-Helm-Maltby That's a very, very deep, talented core of forwards.

During the presser after the game Q said he was injured. Add to that the fact that when the 3rd started Kabbie was nowhere to be seen and Correy Crawford was on the bench as the backup.

Really?

Well I'm glad for you that you're so supremely confident, because I'd rather not count my chickens before the hatch. Right now the Wings are up 2-1. That's hardly enough to win a trip to the finals. Let's save the cockiness for times when it's not tempting fate.

Try putting him on the 3rd of 4th for the start of the next game- just to get the message across to him. But in the end all he can do is hope that Hossa fights hard in the games where elimination or slipping behind in games won is on the line. Hossa came through in a pivotal game 4 against the Ducks, we can only hope he does it on Sunday.

You're mad about the negative attitude on here right now? Well great job coming in and swinging the momentum the other way.

Thank you. My thoughts exactly. The Red Wings need to review the video and come out pissed. We reeeeaaaallllly need Dats back. He would've made a big, big difference on the PKs and PPs. When Hudler has to play the PK you know we're short on the regular PKers. Defensive play aside, Dats is also critical to the offensive game. He does a lot of work out there just wearing down the Chicago defensemen and forwards. He's key to a lot of the quick transition game the Wings count on (since he's the best passing forward) and his take-aways are also huge. Datsyuk prevents a lot of the opposition momentum. Just look at the first- the boys struggled to break the Chicago momentum and played back on their heals a good deal. Lots of that has to do with the penalties, but losing Datsyuk's ability to quickly reverse plays from defense to offense is critical too. It's obvious that the Wings aren't going to play as well without Dats as they do with him. Given that his foot was a 'game time decision' today, I'm hoping there's a good chance we'll see him back in the line-up Sunday and at least as healthy as he was in game 2. Hopefully having 5 days of rest gets Datsyuk closer to where he was in the regular season, but who knows.

Highly highly disturbing. Those of us outside Japan tend to frown upon the participation of octopi in human intercourse.

I enjoyed the new, more aerodynamic pucks.

To be fair, though, Carolina's special teams tonight would make every other team's special teams look godly.

I'm not Crosby 'fan', but you can't argue with 24pts in 15 games... that's just retarded good.

That or: Let'sGoBitch

Who'd have thunk we'd hear Roenick talk out of his ass

It's far, far, far more plausible that this is a replica actually given to Darren, than it is to imagine it's an ingenious fake. And this isn't a first- you can buy lots of old memorabilia including Stanley Cup rings of long retired or deceased players. That type of stuff ends up being sold at high-end sports memorabilia auctions to collectors, but it does get sold. And that does include replicas given to players of NHL trophies. I can't remember who the player was, but recently there was a member of one of the 70's Canadians teams that had his personal memorabilia auctioned off.

Probably Babcock is probably a real stickler about his players not drinking during the playoffs. Same goes for doing coke and staying up all night. (I'm looking at you Probie!)

Dude- follow his example. Nothing positive in this world has ever come out of booze. Yes, that includes the conception of Sarah Palin, as much as I enjoy her idiocy.