clayjoh

Well another turd laid by the boys tonight they just seem arrogant this year rather than gritty Is anyone going to compile a mid season or Christmas report card for us to pour over? even the wins don't taste sweet this year Is there a dressing room problem we don't know about? leadership issues? another head shaker tonight

way to go nev !! your Saskatchewan buddy agrees here we can beat the soft teams on reputation largely but this type of effort won't get us anywhere i the playoffs this team is arrogant these days and they get burnt by it from time to time the work ethic better kick in after christmas cause if all us rubes on the forums can see it surely the other players and coaches in the league see it too these guys are playing on reputation largely this year time to pick it up bring up a few of the youngsters in the minors who would be thrilled to be out there maybe some enthusiasm would rub off on the vets who are floating out there

I agree with the Flip comment He's hanging around the boards this year and not busting to the net like last playoff year when he scored some "power goals" with big moves to the net He just seems a bit timid so far this year I don't know whether he benefits most by "playing with the big boys" on line one or two ,or whether he'd be better as part of a "kid line" with Kopecky and Hudler Kopecky sure doesn't play the role of a power forward much either goodness knows he's got the size I wonder if he still contemplates his injury from last year a bit seems timid out there too this year my 25 cents worth

I think the boys may settle down to business in the next few weeks I agree with your desire to see some of the Grand Rapids boys come up and get a look see I'd love to see Leino and Ericksson for a few games It might inspire a bit of mentoring and excitement in the dressing room too.THe team is in that bad spot now where they think talent alone even behind late in a game can overcome almost anything I do recall in earlier cup years though Scotty Bowman would tinker with the lineup till Christmas also experimenting with different combinations Give Lidstrom a night off once in a while THe Downey thing I think is officially over ....don't think he fits into Babcock's or Hollands current philosophy I know fans across the league would be pissed but rotating thru some "rest games" for a number of the vets even this early would help to regain focus and also might go some ways to finding some new lines that click As far as the trap remember years ago under Scotty Larry Murphy and Lidstrom would put up lob passes thru the neutral zone like in basketball that'll beat the trap just go over it !!

Even though our point totals are almost identical to last year our style of play is not as disciplined in the defensive zone I'm reminded of the old Oilers teams when Wayne et al used to storm thru the league... they didn't mind if you scored five goals cause they'd score 8 ... that type of mentality is creeping into the dressing room methinks the team is supremely confident in their scoring ability but this attitude about defense could bite them later Also they must have gotten home awfully late from the west coast 3 hrs time difference also then had to prep for Montreal right away I think they may be a bit fatigued in the last few days from the long western swing and getting home late We'll see who shows up tonight against the improving blue jackets !!

After watching the first few games of the season it's obvious the team hasn't quite gelled yet and appear to be playing on the assumption that they can just about clobber all opposition by reputation alone they're only playing well in spurts and can turn it on briefly but haven't really woken up to the fact that every opposing coach and team is going to be jacked up big time to play Detroit every night this year I would expect they might not even lead the league by Xmas but will round into form mid season You can just tell that all the boys had a terrific summer but aren't in the right head space to commit to 80 plus regular season games and a lenghty playoff yet It might take a western road trip to get the team recommited to the bigger goal hope Hossa starts to work better also haven't seen too much magic from him yet

THanks for the live reporting from Dallas! I live right near Morrow's home town in Saskatchewan but am one of the die hard Red Wings fans in the area since the days of Gordie Howe .

Hey DallasStars what's your assessment of the Modano and Morrow injuries? What did it look like in the rink ??On TV Modano was really grimacing as he got up from a Draper hit and Morrow looked like he popped out that left shoulder , had it popped back in and came back.He fell terribly awkwardly it appeared Are ther Stars more banged up than they've been letting know?/ I for one think they endured some heavy pounding to take Anaheim and San Jose out Ribero looked gassed out there too

Wasn't frantzen the recipient of a slash from Ott at the very end of the last game where Dallas ended up with 2 guys in the box ?? It was never shown on replay to my knowledge but I wonder if he's got a bad bruise or something lower body You know how it goes if the injury is in one area they generally in the playoffs say it's in the diagonally opposite area of the anatomy Scottie was famous for lying about injuries Cherry bigmouth says it's nothin and he'll be back I kinda think it's NOT a concussion Team docotrs would not permit him to have been playing for the last few games with an injury/symptoms like that My 25 cents worth Isn't Dallas a classy organization in defeat Nice press conference by Tippett tonight too kick their asses real good in front of their hometown fans on Monday hopefully

Yes I'm tiring of all the negativity from the so called experts ,and know it all fans of these other plumber teams , but I say we just keep doing what we're doing and in approximately 3 weeks we'll have them all eating our s--t my 25 cents worth too !! Good post sjradio !!

All the talking heads on TSN are trying to get something going here and try to neutralize Detroit's advantage I'm sure Dallas will be bleating to the league office over the next day or two I like the way McCreary took control early with the penalty call early cause you could see Dallas'a tactics early on try to get post whistle rumbles going and it backfired perfectly for us So now all the blabbermouths on TV have to infer is that Detroit is a team of cheats and the refs are on our side nice classy moves by Ott and Winchester late in the game also greasers we should have had a shut out if not for one bad bounce also

can't quite understand why melrose has gone anti wings in recent yeaqs hell he played for the weyburn red wings in junior and detroit as an nhl'er I honestly think these guys are just trying to keep up the blab factor on TV because in private they know who the powerhouse teams are and have a better insight in to injuries and dressing room scuttlebut at least they are more privy to that info if they bother to ask It's their job to do the point- counterpoint thing just to keep us rubes watching and hopefully stir up some contraversy with outlandish statements just like the Bud light ads Milbury is a very poor analyst also give him the hook any time now too ! I just hope we get to watch all these assholes eat crow in a few weeks I'm boldly predicting we only need to play 11 more games to win it all remember you heard it here first !!

Does anyone else out in cyberspace wonder if Dallas might knock off both the Ducks and Sharks and be nicely softened up for us for round 3 after two more physical series than we appear to be embroiled in? Pretty soon the talking heads on TSN and other stations may have to give the WIngs some credit and explain why the "sure thing " Ducks and Sharks aren't continuing on in the playoffs Also who have been our best Conn Smythe candidates and who need to pick up their game now? I say Kronwall and Frantzen as our best players so far and sadly Rafalski has not looked too comfortable out there for some reason and Fillpula seems to be walking/skating on eggs out there All the Sammy bashers will probably dispute this but Sammy has reasonable defensive responsibilities and puck possession skills he just hasn't done too much offensively yet. Maybe he's waiting for more important games to shine Flame away !

It's all coming to pass according to our evil master plan boys !!!!

Was chelios truly injured or did Babcock just rest him and give Lilja a game to keep him sharp for any future rounds Haven't heard anything on chelios's apparent injury in the press Maltby probably plays if it's Dallas we might be more inclined to go McCarty if it's San Jose just because of contrasting styles of the opposition My 25 cents worth

Oddly enough they look like the old tired team we were described as a few years ago.I think their management made poor choices bringing back Forsberg and Foote It's so over for those two plus Sakic looks defeated You really wonder if he's 100% also What was the nature of his lengthy injury that kept him out this year for so long? Hejduk has been invisible but we better watch out for him He still can burn you in a hurry occasionally

Apart from player decisions what about overall strategy Do we come out and try to encourage an end to end shoot out or do we play a real defensive game plan initially then counterpunch if they over press and perhaps get some odd man rushes out of the deal First goal is probably more important to them than us I'd say So what's the consesus on strategy out of the gate ??

Related to the big picture thing here does anyone out in cyberspace bring into question AT ALL the leadership of Lidstrom in this current sticky situation? I know for most of us he wlks on hallowed ground but is he physically all right and is he saying much of anything behind closed doors or is Babcock having to try to pull all the right strings? I wonder if Scotty still speaks to the team ever or just has private strategy sessions with the coaching staff They better come out with the eye of the tiger tomorrow and play like the big dogs of this league and truly teach Nashville a lesson in all aspects of the game No more BS to be tolerated Lots of other contender teams are getting clipped and the table would be nicely set if we can get our act together !

All the hockey brains and Vegas Oddsmakers forget a few critical points about these chumps They played the longest of anyone last spring and had a whirlwind off season They started the season in London and all that time zone difference and hype They lost critical players from lkast years run They picked up Bertuzzi who I believe can poison almost any dressing room he's in Gigure played a ton of games this year Goalies get tired too especially with the extra padding he wears Their scoring is not that deep after line one Pronger is playing a bit looking over his shoulder expexcting another suspension if he "errors in judgement" shall we say Burke must be going berserk I Love it they never deserved it last year and they're not going to win it this year

Just had to say how jacked up I am this year for a variety of reasons The boys seemed to have played the whole year for the most part with a fairly good fire burning in them to avenge last years untimely exit . They all knew they had Anaheim in Game 5 last year and one BS phantom interference penalty to Datsuk of all people led to the tying goal and the overtime loss But we knew we had them on the run !! I have seen outbursts of offensive fury this year in games when we were behind late that I haven't seen since 96 or 2002 .I honestly think we have another gear this year that has only been seen sporadically in the regular season. Our health will only improve as the playoffs proceed and we have excellent reserves if needed Keep the shots against down and we'll be able to score sufficiently to prevail Hope we all sleep well tonight and are ready for classic Redwings Playoff Hockey tomorrow

THought I'd throw this one out for you boys to chew on for a day or so Hasek looks horribly inconsistent as of late THe Brainiacs on TSN figure we've got goaltending trouble in spite of our league leading GAA. So what's the consensus: is Hasek shaky (like tonight),hurt , or just disinterested till the playoffs start I'm really unsure myself whether I'd start him or Osgood in game one Flame Away !

As I watch the season winding down and the western playoff picture becoming clearer I'm beginning to wonder if we'll even see the Ducks vs Detroit this playoff season THey will face presumbly a much tougher first round matchup than us and would also have to meet San Jose and/or Dallas before us also so Does anybody else out there think there's a distinct possilblity we might not even see them this year ie they'll get knocked off before any potential rematch with the Wings They have trouble scoring this year and their talent fallls off pretty badly after line 2 I say SAn Jose is a bigger threat but honestly this year I say bring em all on I'm sure nobody else in the west wants to play Detroit this year.I think our boys are still burnin over the way it ended last year and are itchin for the playoffs already

I concur on the Sharks.Any team with knobs like Roenick on the second line aren't that good ! I'd say Thornton has a habit of disappearing in most playoffs too I think we are deeper than them by a mile esp on defense Only thing I worry about is goaltending I can foresee a series where we're pumping 42 shots a game at Nabakov and losing 2-1 or something cause he's standing on his head Does anybody know our historical record against Nabakov in terms of wins and or his GAA against Detroit ?How does it compare to Gigure the Michelin Man?

Yes that game 5 still bugs me cause we had them ! Wasn't it a phantom interference or hooking call to Datsuk that led to the tying goal?I think the whole team remembers that game/incident and have played the whole season largely to get another shot at those plumbers from Anaheim

I wonder what we'll see of Bertuzzi this playoff year HE was largely a slug last year with us,but I think he's in better shape Doubt him and Chi Chelios will get too stupid they're both too old and frail for continuous slamming in the corners.Schneider always plays well but frankly he's getting on in years the Rafalski deal although not ballyhooed too much by the press has been a real good deal as this year has gone on.I suspect that dork Pronger might even be slightly worried that his typical so called "game style" may be under close scrutiny this year also so he I suspect might not be quite the force we've seen -- Just speculating out here in the frozen hinterland /home of Gordie Howe