Echolalia

Realistically, I'd like to see Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Helm Franzen, Weiss, Nyqvist Tatar, Sheahan, Jurco Miller, Glendening, Abdelkader Which leaves Cleary, Andersson, Callahan, Ferraro battling for that 13th forward spot. I would love to see Callahan bust into the top 12 just because he seems like he could turn into a well-rounded player who can contribute at all areas of the game in a bottom six role, but its a long-shot for him and especially Ferraro at this point. Defense I'm more up in the air about. Ideally Sproul can win a top six spot from Kindl and Lashoff because the Wings desperately need a right-handed bomb from the point, but with Babcock's history of preferring experience to untested youth, I don't know if Kindl or Lashoff will lose their spots to Sproul, Oulette, or Marchenko. At least not by game 1.

Selanne would be benched/riding low ice time regardless of who was coaching the Ducks. He just wasn't effective anymore. Winning is about what you can contribute now, not how many goals you scored in your rookie season.

Awesome to finally hear it, and I think it's an entirely fair deal as well. Yeah, he's our second/third best defensman, but that's given a sample size of one season. It's also on a defensive core that isn't too impressive personelle wise. A two year deal gives the organization some time to see what kind of player this kid will actually turn out to be, and the plus for Dekeyser is that he should be approaching his prime when it's time to write the next contract (read: $$$). Meanwhile, Holland still has some cash to work with, depending on if Alfie plays, or perhaps some moves at the deadline. edit: according to puckdaddy, the main sticking point seemed to be a long term contract vs a shorter term, with Dekeyser wanting to be locked up long-term. Also, I didn't realize he will still be an RFA when this contract expires?? http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/danny-dekeyser-finds-free-agent-solution--signs-2-year-deal-with-detroit-230044861.html

Mantha with a rocket at 6:40

He's an RFA with less than a year's experience in the NHL. Regardless of how good a season Dekeyser had, it's not like he has much bargaining power to work with.

What would it take, realistically, for this kid to break the lineup.... There's no way he displaces Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Franzen. Weiss, Helm (for now), Nyqvist are the other three rounding out the top six, and you have Tatar, Sheahan, and maybe Cleary or Abdelkader on the third line, assuming Jurco is in GR. Miller is a 4th liner at best, so is Glendening, and likely Andersson and Callahan, if they can even make the team. Cleary might spend some time down there, also. Anyway, Holland said top six or bust (although he also mentioned earlier this summer top nine or bust). The idea presumably is they want this kid to get good minutes, wherever he ends up. So he's not going to take Miller's spot on the fourth line. I gotta say, the second set of forwards I mentioned (Nyqvist, Helm, and Weiss) are all vulnerable. We don't know whether Weiss will rebound, and if he doesn't look good, I can see him dropping to the third or fourth line and Mantha coming in (although Babs will have to sort out who's playing center). Helm in the top six, as intriguing as it sounds, likely isn't going to pan out. He's also a guy that thrives in a bottom six role, so Mantha could slip in there no problem. Nyqvist had a hell of a season last year, but he may find it more difficult to repeat that success, especially now that people know who he is. I can see him dropping to the third line, opening up a top six role for Mantha as well. I don't know whether he is ready for the NHL yet, but I think there's more of an opportunity for this to happen than I initially believed a couple months ago. I don't know if it will happen out of training camp, but I'm thinking more and more, if he can adapt his game quickly, he's going to be wearing a Wings jersey before the season ends.

So I've been playing hockey since I was a kid. Growing up, my coaches always used me as more of a defensive forward, because I was a taller, lankier kid with long arms in high school. I also got used to playing with hockey sticks that weren't cut, so the butt of the stick often came up to my eyes/nose when I stood the stick up (ie really long reach, excellent poke-checking capabilities). This is the way I've had my hockey sticks ever since, even though the role on my teams has gradually shifted to more of an offensive playmaker/scorer type. The biggest issue I've had with my game is that my shot is fairly weak, and it takes me longer than I'd like to set up for a shot. In order to remedy this, I tried cutting to a much shorter stick, with the thought that my lower hand will be closer to the blade of the stick and I'll be able to put more muscle into my shots now, and with a shorter stick the puck will be closer to me and I'll be more ready to shoot the puck from stick-handling, instead of having the puck another foot out from my body and having to take an extra step to pull it in before shooting with the longer stick. The stick is now cut so the butt comes up to my collarbone when I'm on skates, so its a good 6 to 7 inches shorter than what I'm used to. I've played one game with it like this and I can't believe how different the experience is. With a shorter stick, it forces me to have more bend in my knees and at the hips just to keep the blade flat on the ice, so I find that my skating is more explosive. Previously I was more of a back-is-straight kind of skater and most of the work came just from my knees. I also find that I am way tougher to get the puck from in tight spaces. There were several times in the last game where I was able to fight through poke checks or resist stick-lifts, or come out of a scrum of guys in the corner and still maintain possession of the puck. I owe this to the fact that I'm able to put more of my weight through my lower hand and into the stick, and my body overall is closer to the ice, and thus harder to move. Stick-handling/deking I would say has gone back a step, although I was doing much better with toe-drags. With the longer stick, my range for stick-handling was pretty wide, and I could go wide left to wide right on a defender quickly, and be out of his range on both sides, so getting around guys was pretty easy if I could just find the holes. Now its a bit more of a challenge, and I need to change my game to be more comfortable stick-handling closer to my body, and relying more on foot speed. Defensively I didn't feel that much of a disadvantage. My range is definitely smaller, but I think the increase in speed that I got from playing with more bend at my knees and hips made up for the shorter range in most cases. As for shooting power/speed of setting up the shot (which is the whole reason for the change), the jury is still out. I can definitely get my shots off quicker, because I'm stick-handling pretty much right in my wheelhouse now instead of away from my body, and I feel like I can put more mustard onto my shots as well. The problem is I'm so used to shooting the puck when its further out from my body, so there were many times where I would shoot the puck and not even make solid contact becauseI had pushed the puck too far from my body. Unfortunately this happened during the shootout, where I whiffed on the puck and didn't even get a real shot off... This is going to take some time to get used to. Overall I'm really excited about the changes, and I'm looking forward to getting back on the ice to keep working on getting more comfortable with a shorter stick. Anyway I figured that I'd share my experience, partly because before I decided to go to a shorter stick I did some research online to see whether anyone else had gone through the transition, or could summarize their opinion of the pros/cons of long vs short sticks. There wasn't much out there and it was mostly all the same stuff that people were repeating (a stick should go between your nose and your chin on skates, longer stick = harder shot, shorter stick= better deking etc), and after going through with it first hand, I've noticed that its more complicated than all the generalizations that are published online. And for conversation sake, I was interested to hear how you guys and gals prefer your equipment and why, and whether you've made any changes to accommodate a change in the type of game you play. It could be hockey stick, skates, gloves, anything. edit: this also gives us something to talk about that isn't Dekeyser still hasn't signed! Alfie is injured! Cleary is wasting a roster spot! etc

I didn't get to watch the game, but I see that Mantha scored a couple. How did he look outside of the goals he put in?

I bought my skates there, yes, but I bought the hockey stick from some other hockey shop.

Well I'm in the metro Detroit area so I'm all ears to any recommendations that anyone can provide. I was going to a shop in Royal Oak before it closed. Now I know of Perani's on Van Dyke in Sterling Heights, and Total Hockey on Big Beaver and Rochester rd. in Troy.(Another story: I was in a small shop just looking around killing time while they sharpened my skates, and just on a whim I told the shop owner I'd buy a new hockey stick if he gave me a discount. Ten minutes later I was walking out with a new composite and $40 bucks still in my pocket. About a year later my friend and I were down river and he was buying a ton of equipment from one of the aforementioned big chain stores (first time playing hockey so he needed everything), bill comes up to like $800. I asked if we could get a discount on a stick because he's spending so much money there and they didn't even entertain the idea. I wasn't necessarily pissed off or anything because it's not like we were entitled to any discounts, but I think that's another perk of the smaller locally owned shops is people are willing to work with you if it means getting the sale done, and you see more local shops rewarding loyalty.)

You guys mentioned skates a few times and it reminded me of an experience- I had the same pair of skates for like 13 years. My parents bought them for me when I started high school, and a few years ago was the year that they absolutely needed to be retired. I went into Perani's looking for the closest thing to my skate as possible, but to my horror every boot made these days is all plastic, instead of the fabric that they used to use, and what I had grown so comfortable with. So I'm trying some skates on and don't like how any of them feel, and the sales rep was of no help either, just offering different skates to try on seemingly at random. Finally I leave and decide to go to the shop that my parents bought my original pair of skates at: some mom-and-pop hockey store a few blocks from where I grew up playing. Immediately someone comes up to me and asks if I'm looking for new skates, seeing as how I had my old ones in my hands. I ask him if he has anything like what I already have, and he tells me that they stopped making skates like this for a while, but the closest design to what I'm looking for is a Bauer Vapor (I don't remember the specific skate). He just looks at me and says "you look like you're a size nine, but I'll bring a nine and a size down too, just to make sure. He puts on the football game and goes in back, comes back out with two boxes and sure enough the boot fits wonderfully, and he was right with my size as well (and he had me try the size lower just to be sure). We baked the skates up right there and he chatted with me while we watched the Lions lose, waiting for the boot to cool down and mold to my foot. He tossed in a pair of free skate guards, too. The service was amazing, and ever since that day I went there exclusively for my hockey gear. Unfortunately they closed down recently, so now I'm stuck with Perani's or the Total Hockey that opened up (which doesn't seem much better).

Sounds like you should play goalie!

I want to believe that the diving rule will reduce the amount that we see it in the game, but its not like it wasn't illegal before. Ultimately the refs have to call a dive when he sees it, and until they get more consistent with that I don't think any amount of rule tweaking will yield any short of change. The spinorama should remain in the game, and frankly I'm disappointed that goalies haven't been better to adapt to that move. They're going in the right direction with the trapezoid, but I agree with the poster above that it should be eliminated entirely. I don't understand this whole "game misconduct" category for interference, elbowing, etc... So if Kyle Quincey has two interference penalties he can be suspended for the rest of the game?? Can someone clarify what they're getting at with this rule, because I can't possibly have interpreted it correctly.... I like the puck out of bounds rule, and I like the overtime rules. I'm kinda bummed about the tripping rule because it used to be a really awesome defensive play to see a defender dive out and chop the puck away on a forward on a breakaway. There's no way that happens without a forward skating over the stick and falling.

Yeah I held off on the change mostly because the consensus is shorter sticks are better for stick-handling and longer sticks are better for shooting. I can understand the ideas behind those ways of thinking, and I think you're right in that its going to take a while to fully get used to a shorter stick, and perhaps at that point I'll agree. At this point, however, I've designed my whole game around a longer stick and a straighter posture , so I've learned to be an effective stick-handler and deke around guys efficiently while using the entirety of my arm length and a long stick. Right now I need to adapt to having less space to work with when approaching a defender. I also need to get my clubs customized. Unfortunately I'm not at that point in my game, yet, where I can justify that kind of money

When did Ericsson mention his finger is still not fully healed?

That is a sexy mask. I love the font that Red Wings is in

I was at the game against Anaheim a couple years back when the "you got Kronwalled" chant was born, which followed a raucous "Todd Bertuzzi" chant, and there were tons of other cheers going on during the game. It by no means was as elaborate as European chants, but we were on our feet most of that game in our section, and that was by far the most fun I've ever had at a sporting event (WIngs won in OT, btw). I didn't have a voice for the next seven days. If Ottawa can get this thing off the ground I think it could be huge for the game

I may be remembering incorrectly but I think there were several teams interested in Alfredsson, and several more that were interested in Weiss. As for this year, there were what, five players that the Wings targeted that weren't signed, and the Wings are one team in a league of 30. The odds are NEVER going to be in our favor to sign any particular player, especially when said player is besties with the coach in Washington, and that other player wants to be with his family in Minnesota, etc etc. side note: Funny that this article was posted on mlive this morning, because it mentions goaltender prospect Jared Coreau picked the Wings over seven other teams back when he was a free agent. He did this knowing he would be just one goalie in an organization that already includes Howard, Gustavson, Mrazek, McCollum, and Peterson. But he picked the Wings because of the system's ability to develop players properly. So there you go. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/09/red_wings_prospects_jared_core.html

Where did you hear this?I just found some sources, but it looks like he's been training with Gary Roberts for the past few years. This link is dated from 2010: http://mobile.thn.com/articles/34950-The-Straight-Edge-Stamkos-and-others-thrive-with-Roberts-regimen.html

According to capgeek the Wings are rolling with a bit under $5.3M. One of the issues is Quincey received a raise and is earning $4.25M, and Dekeyser outplayed in him just about every aspect last year. Dekeyser is also younger and his ceiling is likely much higher than Quincey's, so Dekeyesr's agent can work from a point of strength on that comparison. Another issue is even though Alfredson is old and missed a lot of last season with injuries, he was still the Wings' leading scorer, and the presumption is that if he does play this season, it is because he feels he will be healthier (and thus more effective) than last year. So Alfie's camp also has a good argument to make a good chunk of that $5.3M the Wings have. Obviously Holland wants both guys, and its going to take some cooperation from all three camps to get a deal done that works for everyone. But in the mean time, Holland needs to know if Alfredson is even going to play, and until then, I imagine nobody is in a hurry to get a contract done. But this is all just speculation on my part.

I wonder if they're trying to gauge whether Alfredson will be playing or not, and basing how much money is potentially available, and how to structure the contract on that. It would explain the delay in signing a contract, and it would also explain why both Holland and Dekeyser seem like they aren't too worried about Dekeyser not signing here.

I've actually noticed some other teams have started adopting this strategy within the past year or so, but the Wings have been doing this effectively for years. I think its burned us maybe once or twice that I can remember.

Helm on the top line is very interesting, providing it lasts more than 2 periods in the preseason. He demonstrated flashes of offensive talent when he returned last year, much to the surprise of LGW, so maybe he can be a contributor. What interests me the most is his speed paired with Datsyuk's vision/hands. With Helm's wheels, its going to force the defense to back off and respect that a bit, especially on the breakout. At the same time, a player like Datsyuk you want to play tight, and stick close to him. That dynamic could be trouble for defense if they aren't careful (especially if Helm finally learns how to capitalize on his opportunities). I just don't know if he'll be as effective in real life.

The Spirit of Detroit holding up the city skyline is an awesome concept but poorly executed. That could have been my favorite goalie mask of all time. I personally like 2008-2010. The retired numbers on the tachometer is a groovy blend of Red Wings history and Detroit history.

Or cripple the guy's confidence if he comes up and gets destroyed, for that matter. I'm more than comfortable with letting him ripen up in the AHL.