Echolalia

Only one defensman per power play unit, and no Smith or Oulette, but we do see Helm and Nestrasil. They're really going all in on this 1-3-1 it seems, with only one defender per line.

Weiss has looked better than last year, that's for sure, but his timing is still quite off. I'm still willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, because he's played like 40 games (while injured) spread out over the last couple years, and now he's playing in a new system that he never had the chance to properly mesh into last year. Even being healthy, its going to take some time before all the rust is knocked off and he's on the same wavelength as everyone else. Until then, I expect he will be working sheltered minutes on the third line, where a mistake is less likely to be costly than against top 6 talent. I also expect that its probably going to be more than a few weeks before hes back up to speed.

Eva was a legend. I miss his super serious font, especially in the context of super serious font telling me Hudler can put up 70 points playing with Datsyuk. It brought even more seriousness to his serious statistical analyses.

A little more on Weiss and his potentially being scratched: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/10/red_wings_stephen_weiss_feels.html

A lot of us were definitely thinking those things during 2008 and before, and also being raging dicks about it to our friends in different states, but there's always people who freak out at the smallest things, ie goalie controversy, wings aren't tough enough to last four rounds in the playoffs, too many soft, skilled Euros, the refs and Bettman will do whatever it takes to keep the Wings from winning, Holland didn't make a big move at the deadline and the Pens/Chicago and yadda yadda got whoever which puts them over the top, the Wings are too old, blah blah blah blah. Those voices were and probably still are the minority, but they're also definitely the loudest.

lol classic Its LGW. We always find things to ***** about and logic doesn't matter.

Agreed on Mrazek. He had better numbers than Jimmy and Monster last year, and although I haven't looked at the stats for the preseason, but he looked the most impressive to me from the three of them. His unsustainable one shutout for every three games played he had last season continued through the preseason as well. But numbers aside, Mrazek is aggressive as hell in net, and he's real comfortable handling the puck. Not to mention every account of the kid says he's as confident and competitive as anyone you'll meet. The kid is the real deal.

If those are the guys we can expect to play our season opener, then it would look like there was some truth to Babs saying no more tie goes to the vet, but to the best player. Andersson might be an unpopular option but I think he showed more strength on the puck and defensive responsibility than Weiss, Cleary, or Nestrasil, so I can appreciate the decision to have Anderson as a reliable fourth liner, who can also take a faceoff. Having said that, I hope that Nestrasil is higher on the depth chart than Cleary and if Anderson isn't cutting it (or someone gets injured), Nes gets a chance to play.

Of those prospects I think they made the right call. Jensen and Oulette both consistently outplayed almost half out defensive NHL roster, and both provided much needed offense from the blue line. Callahan could have provided some much-needed sand paper from the bottom six, but overall Nestrasil has the potential to be a bigger difference-maker, both now and especially a couple years down the road. That said, there's no guarantee that Callahan even gets picked up off waivers, so there may be hope still that he sticks with the organization.

All I'm saying is that if I'm a goalie and Nyqvist is coming at me in the clear, then I'm making damn sure that my goalie stick is covering the 5-hole as I slide across the crease. Problem solved. At least with Datsyuk I have to guess whether he's shooting left side or right side, and for a goalie committing to one side means abandoning the other (and Datsyuk has the added advantage of not having to comit to anything until he fires the puck).

He's skating a lot better than last year, and getting more involved in the play, but I would still like to see more out of him. He hasn't been a difference-maker yet, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt (at least for now) considering he essentially hasn't played in a year.

I swear Nyqvist has one move on breakaways, and eventually goalies are going to catch on

I love how aggressive Mrazek is on these shots. He's butterflying at the faceoff circle

lol Nes-Traz-ill

Oulette making a strong case for himself with a PP goal

No Jensen is interesting. I wonder if the competition is down to Oulette, Kindl, and Lashoff, now

By Gus I meant Gustavsson

Gus isn't looking sharp

I thought Franzen has looked pretty good in the preseason so far. I just tuned into this game so I can't say how he's looked tonight.

haha what is going on this month

Babcock was quoted as saying the following in the above mlive article: "I like when we move the puck. I like when the puck gets going in a hurry. I like guys who can make good decisions and move it," Babcock said Thursday. "We're going to do everything we can to upgrade our D, so is that the guys who've been here in the past? Is that someone new? I don't know the answer for sure but I got two more opportunities to watch before we got to make decisions." I feel like this paragraph has described Jensen to a tee in the preseason.

If it's a keeper league it might be worth picking him up for the potential long-term investment, but if we're talking just for this year I don't think it is worth it. It's going to be a bit before he even plays in the AHL due to his injury, and IF he thrives in the AHL and IF there are enough injuries to bring the kid up, and IF he continues to thrive in the NHL such that Mike "the tie goes to the veteran" Babcock is willing to keep him in the lineup, then it might be worth having him. But even then, there's so much more to fantasy points than scoring. Will he be putting up assists? +/-? PIM? Shots? I think there's plenty of average/slightly above average players that are already playing in the NHL with a proven track record that would be better bets.

Thanks for the link. To add fuel to the fire that Kindl and/or Lashoff's jobs are NOT safe: http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/10/mike_babcock_insists_red_wings.html

I'm sold

When/where did Babcock say that Kindl and Lashoff's roster spots were safe?