Drake_Marcus

Dont' get cocky boys. We're still watching Hockey here. Even the "lowest" teams can topple the giants of our sport. That's what I love so much about hockey. It doesn't matter how many superstars are lined up on the other side of the ice. If the team plays with a sound stratedgy and plays some sound, cohesive, intelligent hockey they can crush a team that's stacked with stars against them. Ok, so maybe that's not unique to this sport, but under the new CBA you've got to admit we're seeing some much more competitive games against even the crappiest teams. And isnt' that MORE exciting? Ha, there's my uninstigated rant of the day! 5 Wings (MagicZ with 2, Dats with 2, Cleary with 1) 0 'yotes (Hasek is mad that he's slipping to third in the stats since getting injured! Go go Dominator!)

I admit that's the only thing aside from Nashville's horrible embarassment (which softened the blow of the Wings earlier sacking) that made me smile on tsn.ca last night

AMEN. If a girl isn't intelligent then she's not worth dating. I mean, sure I can think of other things to do with Jessica Simpson, but dating isn't one of them

Yep. 'cause the fan's don't pay his cheque. As long as the owners love him he's golden. And he's definitely the human version of the count 'xcept he's not lovable.

That wins the Sickest Feeling In Marcus' Gut Award. *barf* Honestly- I said the f-word pretty loud in a crowded room at school when I read that. Argggghhh. That was the LAST team we needed to see him join. Then again... remember how much fun it was to hate the Aves? We can hate the Preds like that even more with Forsberg on the team! And to think- back in September I was starting to like Nashville. Lapse of judgment!

Well part of the problem likely is that Lang is playing with essentially only one other forward out there- Cleary. Give that line a powerful winger and maybe it'll heat up? Or even push Lang to wing and put a powerful centre? I dunno... Hopefully Kenny will figure things out. If not I'm not terribly worried. It's not like this is my last chance to look forward to the Wings fighting for the cup!

Sweet! My comedy skills aren't going unnoticed. Now to completely woo HR40!

Hahaha, so you're a "take things one problem at a time" kinda guy, eh? I agree that Williams is a pox upon this club, but Lang's actually marketable out there. And to be honest he hasn't had the greatest season with the wings. IF they can move him for someone that'll fit the teams needs better right now they might as well try, at least from my perspective. He clearly doesn't suck, but he might not be the greatest wing right now, and the wings need a dangerous second line!

HUH? I'll support the Wings if they slip back to late 80's play, and I'd go to their games even if they played like Philly.

Guys. It gets better! Check out the features on those hats: * Adjustable closure for a proper fit * 6 panel cap has 6 eyelets that allow your head to breathe * Imported I just wish local stores sold these. Well maybe they do, but all I see is merchandice for Canadian teams. I mean, sure I love wearing a Team Canada shirt- Team Canada is just sublime, but the leafs? I'd rather be chemically castrated!

Sure it can be! Rivalry is the heat that forges great hockey!

Hey, I didn't bash him. I just think he's got a lot of potential and hasnt' always lived up to it. In other words I think he has the skills to be a much better player then he already is, he just needs to develop more confidence and drive on the ice.

The leafs are going to beat us? Has anyone told the wings that!?!

As I scientist I'd like to officially verify this methodology. *checks highlight reels* Yep. It works.

AWWWWWW SNAP! Seriously though- everyone is entitled to a slump once in their playoff careers. Don't let it happen again Dats.

Yeah, when I wrote that the scoresheet said it was unassisted.

Wow. Hank proves that he doesn't NEED any help getting goals

mmmmmmm Z + Dats= drool-worthy goals. God damn I love it when those two have the puck, and wow- I wish Pasha would break out like Z has this season! And we thought Hank was good last year!

GUYS GUYS! (and girls!) Check this out: Linko I was crusing this site after someone posted the sportsline homepage earlier and I found this- you can see exactly where everyone has been shooting from! INCLUDING BABS! Sweet, eh?

Heck yeah! Who didn't find it exciting? Plus- what's more fair then a random event? We need to start writing some strongly worded letters

God I'm bitter about the way the NHL doles out prodigy players... Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Ovetchkin and Semin- five retardedly good players handed to two teams. And with the way Washington is playing.. guess who'll get next draft's 1st pick star?

His stats are respectible for that type of player too: TSN's Laraque Stats/Bio Comparing him to our other players (based on the "on pace" stats for this season): Malts Vs. Laraque: Laraque will end up with 3.9 times the points, be at +9 instead of -10, take 60% less shots, have a shooting percentage that's 4.3 times higher, just over twice the penalty minutes and do that in four less games (gasp! ), but his skating is poor compared to almost everyone else on the Wings. Advantage: Malts- he's a PK master, so we need him for that, but other then the PK I really have to say Laraque is playing far better. My love of Malts is purely nostalgic at this point... Vs. Markov: Laraque will end up with 33% more points, while losing out in the +/- department by a significant margin (50%), but have a shooting percentage twice that of Markov's. I'm not sure what that accomplished, but it was fun to use play with stats.

Why do we keep hearing him say stuff like this... http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...427/1053/SPORTS Babcock disagreed with the sentiment that the Wings were overcome by physical play. "We don't respond to physical play, we just play," he said. "The bottom line is we've got to score on our opportunities and the physical play goes away. The other team gets way ahead, either way; they can do whatever they want. In my two years in Detroit, we haven't had the people to do that kind of stuff, we just play. I guess the way I look at it, it doesn't seem to deter us too much." WHAT? Is he watching the same game, or listening to the quotes from his own damn players? He said the same crap when asked about the headhunting the Wings experienced earlier in the season. Here's what I read when I look at that quote: Sargent Babcock disagreed with the sentiment that his forces were overcome by the German heavy mortar fire. "We don't respond to mortars, we just advance," he said. "The bottom line is we've got to walk toward our objective and the mortar fire goes away. The other force gets way ahead, either way; they can do whatever they want. In my two years in the forces, we haven't had the weapons to do that kind of stuff, we just march forward. I guess the way I look at it, it doesn't seem to deter us too much." When questioned, Private MacDonald responded "Oh yeah, we don't need mortars on our side, I mean once you learn to pretend there isn't shrapnel bursting around you the horrible bodily trauma goes away." "I mean what else can we do- buy weapons for our side?", MacDonald laughed.

Hmmmm.... this is a tough call. I'm still not confident that the loss last night was the end of our woes. Why? The forwards all played pretty half-assed once adversity reared its ugly head. Then again, it was a back to back... so maybe it was just fatigue? I'll give the boys in red the benefit of the doubt. Wings 5 (Pashax2, Z, Holmer, Lids) Dats has been slumpy lately, but he's usually great vs. Turco, maybe that'll extend to Smith? Dallas 2 (both from Nagy who's not yet gotten a chance to get lazy again )

Maybe Babs isn't faultless after all? From http://www.mlive.com/weblogs/snapshots/ Toughness, at this point, is a state of mind as well: The Flyers effectively pounded the Wings, and it paid off with a rare victory for the team with the worst record in the NHL. Two events during the game stuck out: After Andreas Lilja hit Simon Gagne into the boards, Denis Gauthier jumped Lilja in response (Gauthier jumped Lilja from behind, but that's a different topic), and Lilja didn't fight back. When Mike Richards ran over Joey MacDonald, no Wing responded -- something unlikely to have happened in the days when the Wings had Darren McCarty, Martin Lapointe, Joey Kocur or Brendan Shanahan in the lineup. "I don't think we've been pushed around that much this year, but we are missing some of what we had with Mac in the past, Shanny a little bit last year," captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We're missing a little bit of that toughness, but it's not the same as it used to be a few years ago when you saw a lot more tough guys. It's not that you have to have one to win. I think we're pretty tough. We might not fight, but I think we can stand up for ourselves as a team." It pays to bear this in mind, too: The Wings got a four-minute power play out of Gauthier's response, and on most nights that would have yielded a goal for Detroit rather than one for the opposition. That the Wings are third overall in the NHL says something about their level of skill -- and Holland is working to address other needs, pressured by a clock that has begun its countdown. Lilja could have responded to Gauthier after his penalty expired, too. With guys like Maltby, Franzen, Holmstrom, Lilja, Langfeld, Markov, and Chelios, the Wings aren't hurting for physical bite, and Schneider and Samuelsson have mean streaks, too. It's a matter of using what you've got.