Drake_Marcus

Turning the Detroit Red Wings into Cup contenders isn't exactly going to blow the minds of hockey writers. They're looking for more of a rags to riches story than riches to riches. It's pretty early to say that so confidently. If Eric Lindros taught us anything it's that you can't count your chickens before they hatch.

I heard that last season Crosby decided he wasn't dirty enough so he spent the whole summer training with Avery in Mario's basement. Nice work Sean! That's just not fair. Ken Holland's been trying to get the Wings moved to the Eastern Conference for years now.

Holland knew that long term Meech and Lebda didn't matter. Ericsson was above them in the depth chart going forward and Kindl was almost out of AHL eligibility. Throw Smith into the mix and Quincey was an afterthought. And in the end it's all academic anyway because the Wings don't need to lose a whole lot of sleep over the guy who's 8th on their defensive depth chart.

I believe the role of PotG stealer belongs to Filppula. I swear it's the teenage girls in the audience who vote for that sometimes. If Val gets 2pts one night someone else will need 5 to unseat him. Fixed it for you.

I think Valasic is being asked to play outside of his level. He's a much better compliment to a pairing than 'go to guy'.

I disagree there. Tatar was an elite scorer at a younger age than Mursak and he did something few prospects ever manage to do: walk into Detroit's camp in his draft year and blow the brass away. The fact that Holland signed him on the spot and put him into the AHL as a 18 year old (and the youngest player in the entire league!) speaks volumes. Mursak should be a really good player but Tatar has a chance to be a perennial all-star (not that I think Mursak couldn't do that too ). Jan and Tomas could be the next euro-twins. Pearce completed his undergrad with the intention of it being pre-med. Apparently his grades are good enough for him to make a run at medical school and he's stated he plans to do that if he doesn't end up being a pro hockey player. I think the time is coming for him to cut his losses and take the mcats.

It's so bad. The entire board is basically just Go Wings arguing with people. Oh he definitely has a higher ceiling than Hudler. He's got Hudler's huge talent level but he's also an awesome skater, hard worker and a dedicated defensive player who can kill penalties. Add to that the fact that Tatar is bigger than Hudler (in height and width). It's too bad that Tatar isn't a taller guy because players with his talent and skating ability become monsters when they're taller than 6'1 (Tatar's about 5'10 or 5'11 depending on where you read his stats).

He was drafted in 2009 with an A or A+ in pure talent, an A- in skating, a D in pedigree/background and an F in 'knowing how to be a professional hockey player' (which I'd give virtually every draft pick). It shouldn't surprise you that at the age of 19 he had some struggles with being a consistent professional hockey player. No one from his (Red Wing) draft class is even playing pro hockey right now. Tomas Tatar has shown flashes of brilliance during the World Juniors, the Prospects Tournament, training camp and even in the AHL. Tonight's fricking amazing, though. I was about to make a post about the game he's having when I noticed Aussie beat me to it.

Agreed. They were playing 2009 Red Wings hockey instead of 2008 Red Wings hockey. Someone had to smack them across the face, might as well have been Bufglyngggnn's arrogant ass.

Wow... that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside

The guy Flames fans should be blaming for their woes is their terrible GM.

This can't be overstated. The one key component present on every single successful Red Wings team of the last 2 decades is Nick Lidstrom playing at or near the top of his game. If Lidstrom maintains his current level of play through the season and the playoffs anything is possible. You're forgetting a certain assistant coach. Also-- Lebda and Kopecky still play in the NHL so they can still be blamed for whatever we dislike (at least tangentially).

It deeply saddens me that a man of Campbell's stature doesn't know the difference between "your" and "you're".

Agreed. Plus he's been taking shots (3 tonight) which is good when you have a slapper like his. I hope he can continue this play and improve every night like the Wings want him to.

Herp de derp. Hudler got his money after posting 26g and 57pts. He's scored 25pts, 40pts, 42pts and 57pts since entering the league and is in his prime production age. It's certainly not surprising that he's taking some time to readjust to the NHL game after playing in the KHL for a year (where he was a point per game player). It's legally retarded to expect this slump to extend into a 20pt season. Clearly you're not familiar with how things end up working out over an 82 game season for NHL players (especially players who possess talent like Hudler does).

Friday, November 12 Edmonton at New Jersey Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh Colorado at Columbus Minnesota at Florida Calgary at Phoenix Dallas at Anaheim Saturday, November 13 Ottawa at Boston Washington at Buffalo Colorado at Detroit x2 Carolina at Montreal Florida at Philadelphia Vancouver at Toronto Pittsburgh at Atlanta St. Louis at Phoenix Chicago at Nashville Calgary at San Jose NY Islanders at Los Angeles Sunday, November 14 Edmonton at NY Rangers Minnesota at Tampa Bay Atlanta at Washington Anaheim at Chicago

Yeah that turnover sucked. But he scored on the PP to tie the game so all is forgiven.

Agreed. We know Franzen, though, once he scores that goal he'll pot another 5 in the next 2 games. Actually I think the whole point of him starting against Edmonton was to try and secure at least 2 wins out of the 3 games going into Vancouver. This loss didn't matter. Like you said, when you come home from a 3 game road trip with 2 victories you've had a successful road trip.

Friday, November 5 NY Rangers at New Jersey Boston at Washington Montreal at Buffalo Carolina at Florida Calgary at Minnesota Phoenix at Dallas Detroit at Edmonton x2 Pittsburgh at Anaheim Saturday, November 6 St. Louis at Boston Florida at Carolina Ottawa at Montreal Philadelphia at NY Islanders Buffalo at Toronto Chicago at Atlanta Minnesota at Columbus Dallas at Colorado Pittsburgh at Phoenix Nashville at Los Angeles Detroit at Vancouver Tampa Bay at San Jose Sunday, November 7 Philadelphia at Washington Edmonton at Chicago St. Louis at NY Rangers Nashville at Anaheim

Friday, October 29 Montreal at NY Islanders Carolina at NY Rangers Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Buffalo at Atlanta Edmonton at Chicago Missed these New Jersey at Anaheim Saturday, October 30 Nashville at Detroit x2 Pittsburgh at Carolina Florida at Montreal Boston at Ottawa NY Islanders at Philadelphia NY Rangers at Toronto Buffalo at Dallas Atlanta at St. Louis Chicago at Minnesota Columbus at Colorado Tampa Bay at Phoenix Washington at Calgary New Jersey at Los Angeles Anaheim at San Jose [no games Sunday]

Even if Draper was healthy he wouldn't be playing. Abdelkader doesn't even have a spot right now. Really this injury only changes one thing-- the blow to Draper's ego when he's dining with the Mr and Mrs I in the owner's box instead of sitting on the bench.

Either Komisarek is suddenly a 3rd pairing defenseman or the Leafs made a huge mistake.

Friday, October 15 Colorado at New Jersey Toronto at NY Rangers NY Islanders at Pittsburgh Chicago at Columbus Montreal at Buffalo Atlanta at Anaheim Vancouver at Los Angeles Saturday, October 16 Ottawa at Montreal Boston at New Jersey Colorado at NY Islanders Pittsburgh at Philadelphia Tampa Bay at Florida St. Louis at Dallas Washington at Nashville Columbus at Minnesota Buffalo at Chicago Detroit at Phoenix x2 Edmonton at Calgary Atlanta at San Jose Sunday, October 17 Phoenix at Anaheim Carolina at Vancouver Running on instinct this week

Ask Patty Roy. Or why he picked that player to fight.

3-4 weeks is a realistic estimate for an NHL player. Kronwall took less than that to recover from an arthroscopic cleaning just before training camp. Obviously he's a younger guy but recovering in a month is very doable for a professional hockey player. It also depends on how much was done during the surgery.