Echolalia

Its important to remember that Smith is still very much inexperienced. Due to the lockout and the fact that we've been hearing so much from him in previous years, its easy to forget that as of right now, he only has 48 regular season games, and 14 playoff games of NHL experience under his belt. By the way, he has 15 regular season points, and 5 playoff points, which is a pretty respectable pace, IMO. He just needs to keep working on his play on the defensive side of the puck.

This also happened with Eriksson and Kindl, and will probably happen to DeKeyser as well. Smith isn't asked to be a quiet, keep-your-nose-clean and don't be noticed defensman like he was when he was first called up. He needs to be a difference maker, and that sometimes means sticking your neck out and taking risks to make a play. Smith is at the point in his development where he's still learning when to takes those risks and how. And yeah, like others have mentioned, its likely affecting his confidence when he tries for the breakaway pass and it gets picked for a goal in his own net. I still maintain that he will be an excellent player (especially offensively) in a couple years, once these experiences set in and he learns how to be an effective player.

It'd be cool if Datsyuk sponsored the Wings for a game, just so when Zetterberg scores, we'll all hear "Zetterberg scores!!! THIS GOAL IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAVEL DATSYUK. BECAUSE EVEN WHEN HE DOESN'T SCORE... HE SCORES."

I'm conflicted, because I really feel like Mrazek is going to be with another organization in a couple years now that Jimmy has a longer-term contract with the Wings.

haha congrats!

How was Bert's fight?

That was my guess.

Dekeyser is going to be a game-changer

All of Eaves excellent playing didn't amount to much though, which is typical for a fourth liner. Cleary, regardless of how many times he fell or how slowly he was skating, still managed to put up solid numbers in the playoffs, and as per his entire tenure with Detroit, better numbers than Eaves. Eaves is an effective fourth liner, and I really enjoy having him on the team. That I think everyone can agree on. Cleary has been a less than stellar top-9 player, and I would even agree that he was a poor option for the top-six last year. But we're still comparing a career fourth-liner to someone who has had success regardless of where he's placed in the lineup, and who he's playing against. Even if he's doing his job poorly, Cleary still brings more upside to the team than Eaves, or any 4th liner.

This. Cleary isn't our best top-six option, at least if he plays like he did last year. But he still brings more to the team than several of our bottom line guys. Holland saw an opportunity to bump the least worthwhile forward off the team in favor of Cleary. Someone like Tootoo, Eaves, or Emmerton.

Thanks a bunch for the assessment. I was really interested to hear how the young guys performed.

It took a long time last season to see whether Abby was capable of being a difference maker on the top six, and for whatever reason Pavel kept praising him and insisting that they be on a line together. When the playoffs arrived Abby really made his presence felt, and it seems like he is going to continue to solidify his game, which is nothing but good news for us, assuming he can be consistent.

Tatar playing in the same preseason lineup as Cleary. I bet we see a fire under his ass

I never would have taken him as a sports analyst. He did really seem to enjoy interviewing Dmac during the last Cup run, though... http://m.freep.com/entertainment/article?a=2013309090078&f=1234

I think this is the best way to go about it as a fan. The season hasn't started yet. No one knows what will happen throughout training camp and up to opening day, but as long as the best players are on the ice in October, and the worst/least effective three players are the ones traded/waived/whatever, then I'll be okay. I trust that Babcock and Holland are a good judge for what will make this team the most competitive, and cuts will be made accordingly. For what its worth, I happen to think Cleary can bring more to the Wings than a guy like Emmerton, but we will see how the cards play out.

I think Cleary tried to use Philly to get Holland to commit to a higher salary or longer term, but assuming the 1yr@1.75M is true, it would seem that Cleary's plan didn't work, and he decided to sign here (for shorter term and less money) anyway. But who knows.

Tatar or Dekeyser. Tatar because he has exceeded expectations at every level and dominated up to this point in his career, and I want to see what he's capable of in the NHL. I remember when he first joined the club and Holland's plan was to send him to the Whalers because he would get good ice time there, instead of bottom line minutes in GR. He tried out for the Griffins and blew everyone away, skipped his tenure in Plymouth and immediately earned a substantial role on the Griffins. He's been over there for a few years, but he's become a leader on and off the ice, has excellent numbers, and is still quite young. Dekeyser because he came out of nowhere, looked much better and poised than I think anyone was expecting, and I don't know if anyone from us fans to Babcock knows exactly what the Wings have in Dekeyser. It will be interesting to see what he can do.

haha ok

3 years? How is that possible?

Whatever had been bothering him has been doing so for a year. If this was an issue that could heal on its own with time, it would've been fixed by now. I am really worried that we won't see Helm play unless the problem is diagnosed and surgically repaired.

To echo Haroldsnepsts' response, I'm incredibly skeptical about exactly how many teams are allegedly suffering. I obviously can't back up my opinions with facts simply because this kind of data isn't made public, but a general rule-of-thumb about billionaires is that they're pretty clever when it comes to money, and I suspect a lot of team that are supposedly in bad shape only appear to be in financial troubles because of either clever book-keeping, or maybe even straight lies from the BOG and Bettman during the lockout in attempts at winning the publicity war. In any event, the results speak for themselves. Bettman has been around since the 90's, and I haven't heard even a whisper of discontent about how he is doing his job from owners. He's obviously doing something they like, and what they like is typically the bottom line.

There seems to be some confusion over what Bettman's job actually is. He is not responsible for making the fans happy. We don't directly pay him, after all. His primary concern is keeping the owners happy. That's who signs his paychecks. Looking exclusively at that position, Bettman had done a stellar job. Under his regime the NHL has steadily increased profits, thrived under cheaper and alternative media outlets, introduced and popularized the cash cow Winter Classic, and while there had been a few lockouts, each one had resulted in more power/money being shifted from the players to the owners. The owners are as happy as they've ever been, thus Bettman is sticking around, likely with regular pay raises in the future.

Because NHL profits as a whole are steadily increasing. Bettman makes relatively little compared to other sports commissioners.

http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/red-wings-goalie-jimmy-howards-new-mask-channels-the-spirit-of-detroit I really really love the concept, but i think the back plate clashes with the rest of the design. Thoughts?

I like the back a lot. I wish Detroit wasn't slanted across the jersey, though. I think it would look nicer if it were straight.