Drake_Marcus

Huh. I guess the 'Yotes aren't big fans of shot blocking and penalty killing.

He couldn't do it in 08-09 either. It's ok man. I want Filppula to be a star. I'm a Wings fan-- of course I do. But that doesn't change that fact that next season we'll be talking about his potential "break out year" like we have every year. Hopefully it will happen this year. No excuses. No "he needs x or y and he didn't get it so it doesn't count this time". We need Filppula to be a legit 2nd line centre who can put up points accordingly. And if he does break 50pts this year (and I sincerely hope he does because it will make the Wings a better team and he's a good player who deserves success) you don't get to gloat because you've been promising it for years now-- even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

Naw, Canadian and American kids do that just as often.

Stamkos was tiny when he was drafted. I agree that he benefited from putting weight on last summer. Once you can physically compete the skill comes out.

Armstrong has fooled himself into thinking he's big s***. There's no way we'd get him for a reasonable price.

How familiar are you with the concept of logic? They've been trying this for years. It's a chance to see if Filppula can be a consistent 2nd line centre. This is the 3rd season they've tried it (4th if you count the start of 07-08). The past two seasons they had to abandon the plan because Filppula couldn't carry the 2nd line offensively. Hopefully this year will be different.

I'd rather have Miller or Eaves who were much, much, much more effective players than him last year.

Penalty kill.

Sweet-- sounds like he's not done adding big Canadian kids to the system.

That hit was great. We could use a bunch more of that. Me too. Hopefully they're keeping moves like that on the down-low so other teams don't catch wind Yes. In fact I wouldn't be shocked if this move is mostly a GR one for now. I don't really like the idea of running goalies like that, but damn-- we'd all like another Probert

I know, right? It's not like this kid's name doesn't already sound like a Bond villain's.

lol Like Ladd won't get a better offer than 1.65 mil.

:puke:

That's three 1st line talents drafted this year... I'm extremely excited about this year's draft class. Along with the 09 class things are very exciting right now.

And we don't necessarily need a bunch of fighters... just guys that will hit, hit, hit and hit some more. Having a few willing fighers is all you need. But everyone has to be willing to hit the hell out of the other team.

It was Central Scouting that had his midterm rank as 5th NA skater. So yes, he was ranked 5th by the top scouting service on Earth.

It all depends on whether the Cap inexplicably goes up 10 million. The Hawks seem to be counting on that so who knows...

Nice. A young coach with his resume doesn't come along every day. I'd like to see Babcock deal with some young players a bit better than he did Hudler but other than that I can't complain.

Datsyuk finds your lack of signature space disturbing.

This! A wake-up call is one of those stepping stones you use to become more mature when you're growing up. At least it was for me... You're a confident person. I like that.

It is for me. This kid was a monster at every international tournament I've seen. I'm also excited for Sheahan but that came after they picked him. I was set on a handful of other players, but I'm glad they took Sheahan based on what Nill and Holland said they think his potential is and after doing more research on him. Plus it's interesting to know how set the Sabres were on selecting him and how they immediately tried getting him off of us (at least based on a reporter's observation of their table). Plus I can't help but wonder if the player Vancouver was so set on was Sheahan. Back to Pulkkinen... He was on my want list for a while now but I figured he'd go after our 21st pick or early in the 2nd. So when I saw they stole him in the 4th I knew two things: 1. His medical issues must have scared teams off. But most medical issues are solvable for a man with Ilitch's means. 2. This kid has the talent to be an all-star player for the Wings and possibly a Richard winner based on the quality of his shot and his hockey sense. All he needs is a world class centre dishing him the puck (see: Datsyuk). Of course that's all based on his upside but damn-- we've all seen his stats from international competition.

Sheahan is committed to ND but I wouldn't be shocked to see Pulkkinen and Jarnkrok following in Tatar's footsteps. They both have the talent (especially Pulkkinen-- he's off the charts).

I thought Tatar did, but sure

Here's what I found on one of the guys King mentioned (found on this site): The comment on his hockey smarts might hurt him for the Wings... they're pretty particular on drafting high hockey IQ kids.

I'd like to hear more about these two.