Echolalia

The Wings are coming into this game with a bit of confidence, revitalized from a bit of a break, and hungry for revenge. 4-1 I'm calling it now.

Tonight was a solid game, I promise. Don't let the scoreboard fool you. The Wings carried possession for most of the night, kept Anaheim to the perimeter and gave up very few scoring chances, if you can even call them scoring chances (their only goal was a bad break on our part and a lucky break on theirs). We outshot them by an embarrassing margin, outhustled them, won all the little battles, owned center ice, moved the puck well... it was the type of hockey I've been waiting to see all year. The only reason why it wasn't 6-1 was because the Ducks did a good job of clearing rebounds, and the Wings didn't establish anyone in front of the net to put those rebounds in and block Giguere's vision. Oh, and the post saved his ass three times. All in all it was a good win, and I expect to see more of it in December, with a much more friendly schedule. And hopefully that will set the wheels in motion for some real Wings hockey.

If I see this, I will consider this game a victory, regardless of if he wins the fight, or if we win the game.

This is the type of game that I believe Downey could strongly affect the outcome of. If he gets into a fight early and pumps up the team, we might have enough energy to play like how we're supposed to play, instead of the lackluster submissive style we've gotten used to. This is one game I wish Downey was up from the AHL for.

The way this season has gone so far, I'm starting to be more inclined to see Zetterberg leave and keep Hossa and Franzen. I love all three of them, but Zetterberg seems to be pretty selfish with the puck this year, and it has often lead to a turnover, or losing the offensive zone at the least. Franzen is a true powerforward and that is such a rare breed in this age that I could easily see him earning as much as Zetterberg in the right market. Hossa, I believe is better than anyone else on the team, so I would rather keep him above any other option. Edit: nevermind I'm speaking out of anger. I would rather have Z than Franzen. But I would definitely rather have Hossa than Z.

We can crunch numbers and manipulate statistics all we want, but it doesn't hide the fact that Osgood is underperforming right now, and his game needs to pick up if he wants this team to have a chance at the cup. The defense has also been poor this year, but one is not an excuse for the other. Whenever an "osgood is bad" thread pops up, there are always people saying, "well its really the defenses fault", and whenever a "defense sucks" thread comes up, people are saying "well if Osgood played better...". The fact is they're both underperforming and both elements need to improve noticeably if we are going to get through the playoffs. Thank god theres 82 games in a season so we have time to work on it.

I agree Lidstrom has been off. The way hes been playing he definitely doesn't seem like he wants to keep the Norris streak alive.

Is everyone graded on a universal scale, or is everyone graded based on their own skill level? (ie if Lilja has been playing phenomenal he would get an A+ for playing the best hockey of his life, but that would still be "C" worthy if it was compared to Hossa)

Darn I had such a witty remark for that too

I'm feeling a blowout. Probably 6-0. Excellent defensive play, keeping the Canucks to the perimeter with very few scoring chances, good breakouts to set up offense and solid establishment in the offensive zone. This one will be flawlessly executed. Oh, and Hudler's still hot.

Hasek's screwing up was his fault, and although Osgood can definitely pick up his game, there have been many games where our defense didn't show up to play, and this is still somewhat of an issue.

hockeytown cafe

I also laughed my ass off.

I'm of the hypothesis that refs are compensating for teams that are behind, but its not because Bettman told them to. I think because there has been so much scrutiny on the refs the past couple years, its only natural to evaluate your game as a ref more often, and when you see a team taking a lead and the experience the natural repercussions of any lead (other team bitching about a call or a noncall, regardless of whether its the right call, the crowd cheering or booing, etc etc), you tend to subconsciously be of the mindset the losing team is getting screwed over. Therefore a call later on may be a little more liberal in the losing team's favor. It may not even be a conscious effort to "balance the game", but more a subconscious thing.

So you gonna hook me up for the next home game?

Larry Murphy is a favorite in my apartment, because of his goofy antics and ridiculous statements. "Well you know what they always say, the team who gets the best player wins the trade!" "Back in my day, we'd give 'em the ol' stick-in-the-ear!" Not to mention all his advice that he gives to the Berkley kids. Especially the checking drill, where the goalie had to take part as well. This s*** is gold

I'm expecting bigger things this year. The style shoot-out thing it seemed that half the players didn't even know they were going for style points (ie Datsyuk). This year I think more people will have the hint.

"Take the trash out on garbage day" -dad

While I'll agree with you that he can play better, I do have to disagree that he isn't playing like a number 2 defensman. He is our leading defense scorer, and only behind Hossa, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Sammuelson (oh my god) for the entire team.

The question is, would you rather see Hossa, Franzen, or Zetterberg walk?

Good move. If there was any question about Lidstrom's leadership skills I hope this puts them to rest. It means something when one of (if not the) best defensman of all time says he's playing like s*** and has expectations about the next game, and everyone else should also reevaluate how they've been playing also. I'm also glad this speech didn't wait until February to pop up.

It happened against the Wings recently. Redmond and Daniels were joking about it.

What a classy fighter. Notice how when Downey lays Cowan out he immediately stops punching and just lets Cowan try to resupport himself again. He could've knocked the guy out in such a helpless position, which is something many other fighters would do without even thinking about it.

Mickey Redmond

Yeah, I see your point. A consistent 70-point scorer and proven veteran would definitely make winning the cup more difficult.