Mickeyisms Rule!

Buffalo last year had the best attendance in the league (as far as real butts in seats) and always had a huge gathering outside their arena of people that wanted to go to the game but was sold out. I think that if they want to get 73,000 butts in seats then Buffalo is a pretty good choice. It is also only 216 miles between the two cities, so I am sure they are expecting some commuters.

More like one team moving to the East from the West. Would most likely be Columbus as the league wants to keep us in the West as we are the only perennial powerhouse team.

They have Flip at 18G 20A and Hudler at 17G and 17A. Looks pretty good to me, but they don't have Maltby even listed, and he was a 50 goal scorer in juniors, don't ya know!

Whoops bad math there. You counted the lockout season. The number of games per year still sucks, but it is more like 38.

You do know that Schneids played for a couple teams before he came to Detroit, right? If I have a job offer from another company that is going to afford me years of stability and more money, I'm going to go work for that other company and never look back. Our D was not average and is not worse. Our D is one of the top in the league and it has not taken a step back. In fact I would say that it took a step forward with the loss of Schneids and the addition of Rafalski. I don't know how many times I saw a 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 or 3 on 2 develop because the puck jumped of Schneid's stick at the blue line.

C'mon now. To be considered a shot on goal it has to be either blocked by the goalie on its way into the net or actually go into the net. As Sammy has no goals , he hit the goalie 8 times.

I look forward to Carter retiring without ever having tainted the winged wheel. Luckily we didn't draft him so there isn't much of a chance of him coming "back."

Check the pitcure of Jimmy Howard skating sprints (pic #5). OMG he is teh fastest man on skates ALIVE!!

Homer scored 2 and Kopecky in a "shoving match" with Aaron Downey. I think Kopay may be surprising some people this year. He barely had a chance to get his feet wet last year whe hoe got injured. There are a few people on this board that rush to judgement faster than poop goes through a goose.

You guys are relentless. The one right next to the 6 on my keyboard is the "here comes the wife disable the screen so she doesn't see your porn" button.

Heh, living in Grand Rapids, I love it when good players get sent here so I can see them play for $17 2 rows off the ice. Send Lidstrom down! Send Zetterburg and Datsyuk while you're at it! Go Griffins!

I also think that the kind of off-season training required to maintain an NHL position is going to be a bit of a surprise to him. He kind of coasted along in the Russian leagues of late, going just on talent. But with the talent at this level, he is going to need to learn how to put forth the extra effort to be able to perform. Its kind of like starting a new job. You have to learn what is expected of you. You don't automatically know before that first day- or even the first week.

Awesome, thanks for the info!

Its not a game, really. Its an open practice with an autograph session afterward. I ordered the tickets for the opening night game and still haven't received either those or the tickets for the 19th. Anyone else have the same issue? Or are you season ticket holders and already got everything?

Except for one thing. Markov, as of this time, is not a Red Wing and will not be at camp. Sopel will be.

Why do I hate ESPN? 2 words: Skip Bayless

I am beginning to think that the person that updates these rosters doesn't even know anything about the team. Where is our "Goalie of teh Future" eh?

When the Vipers were still around, I would have agreed with you. The Griffins were actually affiliated with Ottawa at the time. Pavel Demitra used to play here. I think that the Wings affiliating with GR has been a wonderful success. Not only is it a straight shot down I-96 to get players called up and sent back, but it also allows people in another part of the state to better identify with the organization. When we see Hudler, Flip, Kronwall, Meech, Howard, and Quincey out there playing, we already know about how well they play, because we have been watching them for years. As for a junior team in GR, I don't think it would draw very well with the current economic climate. It would be a possibility after our governess sells the state, though.

Bleh I just realized I should wake up completely before posting indignant statements.

You're sooooo pessimistic.

This may be a long shot, but maybe he just loves to play hockey?

He looks OK in a red helmet, if you ask me.

All of these little changes are just marketing gimmicks to get people to pony up the cash for the new improved jerseys. If you go through the league, you won't find a jersey that doesn't have some kind of tweak to it that will be glaringly obvious to the fashion-minded hockey fan. Luckily I'm not one of those. I'm still perfectly happy with my vintage authentic Nike Maltby jersey from 97, my CCM replica Draper, and my Koho Kocur. edit: 80 posts in this thread now gogogogogoooo!

Rumor has it that due to Gary Bettman's extreme anti-Canada bias that the letters C and A will be replaced with U and S at the start of the 2008-2009 season. To quote Bettman's rather effeminate assistant:

And for anyone that wants to see it in english http://youtube.com/watch?v=vbtMU0h5gXY That was a night that I will remember for the rest of my life. Alzheimer's won't take that away from me. I will go to my grave with that memory burned into my mind.