Mike

The guys need to drink some orange juice and get some sleep on the plane. Come Game #3 they will have enough vitamin C to score 6 goals.

Didn't Cheli get benched in the playoffs last season too?

The flu has been going through the locker room and I willing to bet that Datsyuk caught it and it has slowed him down a bit. Although Datsyuk is not producing much offensively, he is playing great defense.

Cheli doesn't get played because he is a liability. Bad penalties, bad passing, bad positioning, etc. The last guy I wanted to see in OT was Cheli. Kopecky was bad enough, but not Cheli.

People will hate who they want to hate no matter what and for seemingly no reason. That's the way it goes. Look at the way some of the posters are reacting to today's loss. Fan is short for fanatic and sometimes it shows. Sorry if I came off like an ass in any of my comments. I was at the game today and am not too happy about the outcome. I just need to cool off and put that game out of my mind.

Hossa has had a history of becoming a ghost in the playoffs, until last season that is.

These are not the same teams of Red Wings pasts. People need to stop thinking that somehow things are going to go back to the way they once were. The simple fact is that the rules have changed and made it very hard to justify having an enforcer waste a roster spot. We have tough guys in Ericsson and Lilja, yes he is tough. Maltby can mix it up and Samuelson tries. There is some toughness without the carelessness. The fact is an enforcer doesn't fit into the current system for the Wings. The Wings are about puck possession and passing, not 2 of Downey's strong points. The only point I saw you make was to blast Red Wings fans. It's possible to be a fan of the Wings and not want an enforcer. If Downey was so integral to the team then why didn't he play in the playoffs last season and why is he not playing in them now?

That's a bit of an overreaction. You make it sound like the only mistake that can count against Downey is one that costs the Wings a game.

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Hossa Cleary-Hudler-Samuelson Helm-Draper-Maltby Lidstrom-Rafalski Stuart- Kronwall Ericsson-Lebda The Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa line has not been clicking and the Z line has been ok. Dastyuk and Zetterberg feed off of each other and need to be on the same line.

Is the front office really going to publicly criticize a player though?

I never realized how important his stick is on the blue line during the PP. I think they have to play him and Draper and sit Kopecky.

Somehow I imagine everyone will be ignoring the Bruins game and keep on playing the blame game for the Wings game. Bruins game is scoreless so far.

Yeah, those soft players are so bad. It's not like they won us a Cup or anything like that.

We have to support him because he is a Red Wing? That's the worst argument I have ever heard. You are allowed to not like a player in the Wings organization. Just because you disagree with some the posts in this thread doesn't make them wrong.

Penalties are penalties. They are all totaled up on the score sheet. Just because they are coincidental or offsetting doesn't mean they don't count. You can sit there with every player in the league and subtract penalty minutes for any situation you want, the fact is that Downey lead the team in penalty minutes last season and that cannot be refuted. I'd appreciate you leave the childish name calling out of your response, but I shouldn't assume that much out of you.

I was speaking more of the additionals on top of the fighting majors. He might not have been a detriment in terms of penalty minutes, but his skating ability and stick handling hurt the team.

Big surprise there. Anything bad said about Downey and you go running away.

Game #1: @ NHL Game Preview | NHL Game Recap Capitals win 3-2 Capitals lead series 1-0 Game #2: @ NHL Game Preview | NHL Game Recap Blackhawks win 6-3 Series tied 1-1

Yeah, I do know the rules of hockey and realize 5 for fighting is off setting. 4-on-4 play can be just as dangerous as a 5-on-4 PP because of the open ice. Plus, some of those fighting majors could have be accompanied by 2 minute minors for roughing, etc.

Wings and Bruins win and take to the road 2 games up.

My biggest problem with Downey is his skating ability. He would by far be the worst skater on the team if he were playing for the Wings. For a team that relies on puck possesion, a weak skater can be costly.

I checked the Griffins' website and it briefly mentions the incident and says nothing on it. That makes me think that it was intentional and not some sort of accident. That and I do not think MLive would have posted the story if it wasn't true. GRG

QFT. Threads go on for 20 or more pages about how Downey should be on the team but when he does something like this no one comments on the subject.

2007-2008: GP- 56 PIM- 116 Downey was the team leader in PIM with Lilja being 2nd with 93 PIM but Lilja played in 23 more games. Downey averaged just slightly over 2 penalties per game that he played in (116/56). I'd say he is prone to putting the team on the PK. This season is a moot point because he only played in 4 games but he did log 7 PIM if anyone wondered.

Babs will not be able to sit Helm or Maltby because they are playing like they want it. Kopecky is weak on the puck and weak off of the puck. He has a poor shot selection and cannot stay on his 2 feet. I know he didn't play in the playoffs last season and the team might feel like they owe it to him, but his play does not justify keeping him in the lineup when Draper returns.