Drake_Marcus

Look for someone in LA. They love drafting, developing and dumping future all stars. Plus Q just showed them that Detroit's trash is their treasure!

Such a classic episode.

I think that has more to do with him getting his NHL wheels going. I bet the last half of the third period is absolutely brutal when it's your second NHL game. There's still a huge leap between AHL and NHL conditioning. This guy is definitely a pro hockey player (he was the Finnish MVP so he's not unfamiliar with conditioning for professional hockey) but he's still going to struggle a bit to make the NHL conditioning leap. Plus he is a rookie. He's probably content with starting his NHL career on the first line with Datsyuk and Hossa!

Indeed those numbers were inflated by Crosby gift-wrapping the goals. His number of goals in Atlanta this season is the more telling stat. Plus he'd add to the impressive collection of ex-penguins on this team. I'm not necessarily advocating this type of trade, but I do see the argument for it. Too bad Malone is locked up for twice what he's worth. He's another gritty guy that can give you some goals on the third line.

See the important point here is that Filppula lacks any finish (no pun intended) what-so-ever. We've got talented pivots in spades. Gritty players with the ability to actually knock the puck in the net when they're being set up by Datsyuk? We have two of those. And one is 36 while the other is possibly going to leave via free agency.

Your break down does sell him to me pretty well! I hate to see Filppula go... but it'd have to be done for the greater good if we're going to keep Hossa. Remember- Hossa's side is really pushing for a deal and I'm willing to bet they'd be very favourable in their negotiations. We could probably get him for a hair under $6 million cap hit (5.8?) if it's a 10+ year deal like Zetterberg's. It's a tantalizing proposition... but it kills me inside to lose the Mule. I'm glad I don't make these types of decisions (even putting aside my lack of qualifications!).

It's been like this for so long... it's pretty sad nothing changes. My brother was a talented young goalie that just quit the game at 16 because he couldn't take the horrible behaviour he got from parents of kids on both teams (he'd even get hell from parents of kids on his team when they were shut out by the other team). This certainly isn't unique to hockey. South Park makes an excellent point about how important enforcer fathers are to little league games.

It deserved a penalty, but the 5 minute was very arguable. The misconduct was a joke. The only argument they had was his elbow on the follow through. It looked like a 100% clean hit to me aside from the little extra follow through to the back of the head at the end there. I can see giving him a penalty for that move, but certainly not a boarding + a misconduct.

Hey! You take your logic and well reasoned assumptions and you check them at the door. "More Grit!!!" threads are no place for thoughtful analysis. We play by the gut here. There are more nerves in your gut than in your head. I learned that from Colbert.

That could work better in my mind- at least he's young and has some upside. He's had a misserable season in Atlanta but hell- everyone does (chuck included). Oooo- or maybe that horribly ugly tyler kennedy kid. God damn he's ugly. Like Sandra Oh ugly.

Keep hitting like that Abby and you'll stay here for as long as there's cap room

That's why I wouldn't do it. There's no room for him on the D... and Neil doesn't provide what Filppula does in the playoffs. Give me someone that's a better penalty killer and can put some more pucks in the net. I like what Neil gives the team but it's not enough for what Filppula's worth long term.

While I agree that Leino's skating could use work I think it's something that can be improved by having him go to the same guy who improved Hudler's skating last summer. There's no teaching the kind of awareness and hockey sense that Leino has, and that's what makes him so damn intriguing. Leino looked great out there. He looked like a legitimate top 6 forward. That's impressive for your first NHL game. Abdelkader actually looked pretty good at times. He wasn't as impressive as Leino but he did play decent for a rookie. He looked much better last year before the playoffs when he had that 2 game call up. Abdelkader has the potential to provide what Downey can't- a decent hockey player that can enforce, kill penalties and even chip a few goals in. All that being said- I think Downey has earned some time up in the bigs, especially after sitting down in GR without a complaint.

At this point I think the Wings are treating this as a chance to evaluate the GR kids before the playoffs. We saw before that a GR player could get a big role on the team in the playoffs (Helm) so the idea here is probably to evaluate the other candidates. Downey is a proven commodity... they need to figure out just what they can expect from their prospects, especially with the roster turnover coming this summer.

Kronwall's previous play and overall talent/upside is such that he will get another season or at least the playoffs to prove that this is just an off season. Draper is still one of the top face-off men in the entire league and a great skater, so he still has a place on the team in a fourth line capacity.

Enough of this crap. We've watched it literally since the first game of the schedule. Call it a cup hang over. Call it laziness. Call it a lack of motivation. Call it Bob Dole. I don't care- just effing end it. The Wings have won far too many close games they didn't deserve to. They've avoided too many blow outs simply by the power of their offense. This does not look like a playoff team. And I'm not comfortable assuming everything will just jump back into place in the playoffs. Cruising to a win based on talent alone is what killed this franchise before Babcock came here. The team play. The commitment to team defense and making the correct, simple play. The aggressive forechecking and flawless puck-possession. All of that is gone. Where is the team we saw last season? The team that molested the strongest teams in the league all year long (except for February)? If you think this is whining, stupidity, sky-is-falling... etc, don't reply. Just move along. I never panic on here- I don't cry that the sky is falling. We're 50 games in and the team looks as bad as they did in October. This is the time to do something. I just want to know that someone in the Wings managment is worried and plans to do something! Bench a star player and bring up two grand rapids kids to play 20 mins a night- I don't fricking care what, just stop folding your hands for fear of messing with a winning formula! Tinker or something but do it before we're giving up 6 goals in the playoffs and feeling like fools. *sigh* Let the flaming begin.

Now that's a sales pitch!

Howard has to be ready for next year- he has no more minors options left. If the Wings don't bring him up to the NHL roster by October he'll be exposed to waivers.

This situation, to me is where we see just how good our coaches are. Returning a championship team to form the next year is the ultimate coaching challenge.

Moreover, defensive play is what this team is built to do. All the forwards are at least decent defensively and all the d-men are solid defensively. Red Wings hockey is solid, defensive-minded hockey.

Hossa wants to be here. He wants to be a Wing very badly and all that's in the way is cap room. I assure you- the cap room here is absolutely critical. Dumping Filppula gives Holland a lot more room to sign the players he needs to.

Are you effing kidding? Did you watch all the games this year and last? The Wings this year do NOT look like the Wings last year. If the Wings were scoring 2 goals a game and letting in one goal I wouldn't mind one bit. Routinely letting in 3+ goals is not the way you prepare for playoff hockey. 50 games in and the Wings look as terrible as they have since the start of the seasons- even in 95% of the wins.

Lidstrom has definitely not looked like Lidstrom this year. Elbow, visor, whatever it is- it better get fixed fast... The Wings actually looked good for the first two periods or so today... they shut the Caps down very well until the meltdown in the third.

Exactly. What else can the Wings do? Keep benching players that don't work hard enough and bring up GR players. Expect to see more names brought up from GR for as long as Stuart is out. This is the kind of face slapping that Babs hasn't been able to do because of the cap jam.

A quote from the replies after that video: Gooster43 (1 month ago) Tootoo gets jacked by Iginla. As another classic example of his cheap-shot bulls*** tactics, he hits Iginla when the fight is clearly over. The best thing that could happen in the NHL this year is a slap shot to Jordin Tootoo's trachea. Come on Gooster, tell us how you really feel.