Echolalia

Hopefully Lashoff takes Smith's spot with Quincey, and Smith gets some time with Kronwall or Ericsson.

For the record I'm among the group that believes Smith's long-term potential upside is massive, and it is worth keeping him around and putting him on the ice so he can develop into a solid defensman. The first 14 games he had as a call up she showed incredible offensive instinct. I still believe this kid can be the next gen Rafalski once he learns how to incorporate his type of game into Babcock's system.

Lol the last game the Wings won was the last game Smith played in.

Did I just witness the powerplay as our enforcer?

Has Babs put Franzen, Alfie, and Tatar on a line together yet? I'm interested to see is they could be a formidable second line, and allow Helm to center the 3rd line.

You know what they'd NEVER expect him to do? The same move 4 times in a row. Next shootout is in the bag

Has HBO started filming yet?

I hate how close to accurate this actually was

If Tatar wants to stay in the lineup, he needs to start falling in the corners like Cleary instead of driving to the net like that. When is this kid gonna learn?

"There's no one who's a bigger fan of Dan Cleary than Mike Babcock" - Mike Babcock

Franchise players aren't often traded away, and on the occasion they are, there are 10 bottom-feeders willing to outbid you, plus Paul Holmgren.

this. Weiss clearly was uncomfortable with our system, both defensively and offensively, and he said as much during interviews. Every game he is looking a bit more comfortable out there, holding onto the puck longer, and making a bigger impact in the game. He's been reinventing his game to fit into Babcock's system, and once that transition is complete, he should be the top 6 player we need him to be.

I support that mindset. It makes for boring trade deadlines, but its not economical. Free agency and drafts provide players for free, without the added downside of helping out an opponent. Besides, this team really has everything necessary to be successful. The Wings took the Stanley Cup winning team to overtime of game 7 last year with less talent than they have now. Its just a matter of getting everyone on the same page and getting all the wheels turning at once.

Babs is right. The Wings had 43 shots on net to the Jets' 21. Detroit had more scoring chances, more hustle, more PPs capitalized on, solid penalty killing; there were even a few times 5-on-5 where it looked like we were on a power-play. The Wings played a good game of hockey tonight, aside from a couple issues here and there, but this was one of those games where the better team lost. It's just unfortunate that it happened during a tough stretch for Detroit. 2 points tonight would have been a great emotional boost.

I'm ready to expose someone like Miller or Eaves to waivers to get Nyqvist up here. We need secondary scoring, that's 100% what he does. Even if they're picked up, just consider it a trade, similar to how players returning from injury are deadline acquisitions.

How the heck was that not a penalty

Did Ken Daniels just say bitching?

I think Franzen has had a strong game so far tonight. He's been pretty strong along the boards and has been doing a pretty good job defending the puck.

Hahaha that could easily be a quote from LGW, but nope, its Mike Babcock. And Mike Babcock approves.

It may end up being a blessing in disguise. This will give him some time off the ice and away from the game to clear his head and hopefully start fresh upon his return. Every game he played Weiss looked more comfortable out there in the Wings' system. With any luck, this injury is minor, and he comes back and picks up where he left off.

On the event that Stamkos is unavailable for the Olympics, who do you think gets the call to replace him?

Horrible news. I hope he makes a full recovery, and doesn't suffer any persistent issues throughout his career. That was quite a crash, though...

I'm failing to see what he said that's worth getting worked up over. From the article: “Still learning it a little bit.” “I’m glad that we got a western Canada trip out of the way when there was no snow,” Holland said. “We’re going to go to California in early January. We’re going to knock out both trips before we go to the Olympics. I like that. Coming back from the Olympics, most of our road trips are around the East. I like our schedule.” That is everything that he said, aside from an except from back in the summer, before the season began. I don't read "still learning it a little bit" as an excuse by any means, and I don't think there's anything false about that statement. The Wings have 9 games under their belt against the East so far this season. We still haven't even played all the teams in the East yet, so I think its entirely fair to say that the Wings are still learning the East a bit. Film only takes you so far. Holland brings up a good point about the schedule, though. The Wings have it pretty good, especially compared to previous years. The West Coast trip is already done, Cali in January, which makes the majority of the post-Olympic season against the East. If I were making the schedule I would set it up the same way.

While I generally agree that more minutes on the ice equates to better development, I really think in Schultz's case (but moreso Edmonton's issue as a whole), the lack of a veteran presence will limit how good and how quickly Schultz can develop as a defenseman.

I agree that hockey is more than points, and I also agree with the premise implied in the post above yours by Z Winged Dangler via gif that Datsyuk is a remarkably better defensive player than Ovechkin. My comment wasn't about who plays better defensively or overall. I was just pointing out that I am amazed at Ovechkin's point total thus far, especially considering the past few years he hasn't been in top form. You can say what you want about the rest of his game, but Ovechkin certainly knows how to score.