Drake_Marcus

This is a really tough call... any of the big three we might meet (SJ, Chicago or Vancouver) is capable of knocking the Wings out, but all are inexperienced at winning in the playoffs. I don't want to pick my poison but SJ is as likely to fail as anyone else (based on their previous play).

Oooooo that would be cool! It'd make Matt's life easier too.

Really? In the first period Lebda overplayed the puck and it directly lead to a goal.

No he shouldn't. Part of the problem is that he's been asked to be Lilja this year. Ericsson's not a stay at home defenseman. He's a mobile, puck moving d-man who plays the point on the PP. The Wings have asked him to play a role that's completely different from the one he played and thrived in at the AHL level. Earlier in the year he was scoring and at one point led the Wings' defense in points. He was confident and was able to play good defense for a rookie. Then s*** fell apart for him and he wasn't putting up points or playing passable defense. Once the points start coming for Ericsson so will the defense. He needs to get back to playing his game and stop trying to be a player he isn't-- Lilja. E isn't going to throw tons of hits and shut guys down with his size alone. He needs to go back to playing the game that made him an all-star at the AHL level.

He's not useless on defense. He's been struggling because his confidence has completely eroded away. It's not like an alien zapped the old Ericsson away and replaced him with a bad player. The Wings just need to get him turned back around and that will take time. Anyone who's willing to give up on a kid with his talent after 60 NHL games is retarded.

The obvious answer is Ericsson. He's big, talented and can skate well for his size. Right now he's suffering from a crippling lack of confidence. Throw him up front and hopefully he'll score some goals and get that confidence back. He's got all the right tools to do it.

Howard is the obvious choice but Lidstrom wouldn't be far fetched. Lids has been a point per game player since Christmas so he's really turned it up when the team needed him. He had a very rough first half of the season, though, so that's why I said Howard. Howie's been the impact guy since mid-October.

Welcome! We need more hockey fans in your area Thanks for dropping in and feel free to ask any questions that come to mind. Congrats on the Superbowl win, by the way.

mmmm... I want to taste their tears...

I miss Happy as well. This team could really use his 57pts and 26 goals.

lol You wish.

This.

I can't decide whether or not your hobbies were the default value or your own sarcasm.

Rafalski's multiple tape-to-tape turnovers weren't enough to qualify?

Considering that Ericsson was one of the only non-terrible players against Vancouver, I don't know how I feel about that

Sounds do-able!

Yeah... but I had to end the curse. So far it's helped Big E and Leino. Tatar's next If you see TeeMan around tell him to check his PMs.

Scary, eh? It's good to see Ericsson earn himself 17 mins a night again. He was fine tonight.

Makin' friends.

Cute that you're trying to be sarcastic but this is another example of a smart move. Again he turned old garbage into young potentially not garbage.

Depressing...

Bettman will do everything in his meager, pathetic power to prevent that loss.

Another good move. At 25 I guess this kid could have room to grow a bit more. He's certainly got more room to grow than Delmore.