An Enforcer

[uk_redwing 495]

Just a quick look back to the Holmstrom incedent against Anahiem when he was elbowed against the boards by Pronger. Does anyone think it would not have been nice to have someone on the team who could have tried to give that ***** what he deserves? As opposed to no-one in the team doing a damn thing about it?

I think its about time we moved from being the "softest team in the nhl" or the "EuroWings". Im not saying we become the ducks in that we try and fight anything that moves but we could at least step up one or two levels with an enforcer(s).

This season gone, we came bottom in the league for fighting majors with only 10 fights, and whilst this was better than the season before with only 6, half of the 10 fights were by minor leaguers Brad Norton and Darryl Bootland. And I really believe the team would benefit from having an enforcer on board (especially players like dats who seem to get roughed up on the road).

Thoughts?

[rick zombo 3,739]

Someone who could play a regular shift and drop the gloves if need be would be nice.

But I think Detroit shed the "softest team in the NHL" tag with their run this sping. They beat 2 big strong gritty teams and barely lost to the "hardest" team in the NHL in the SCF.

IN general, I'd say a top six winger who might have been able to score on a few of those 5-3s in Game 4 would have been more useful to the team than a fighter.

[Izzy24 44]

Anyone who is primarily a fighter isn't going to be playing very many games for this team. It would have to be someone who can contribute offensively and drop the gloves (like Bertuzzi before "the incident") and those players are hard to come by.

[DaKineMaui 8]

This season gone, we came bottom in the league for fighting majors with only 10 fights, and whilst this was better than the season before with only 6, half of the 10 fights were by minor leaguers Brad Norton and Darryl Bootland.

Lately I've tried to steer way clear of the Enforcer threads, but those numbers up there are indeed staggering if they're correct. We used to have guys that would get 10 fighting majors by accident, during the national anthem of the home opener.

[/ boring post]

[Guest jaytan]

It's been obvious for a few years now. We're vulnerable in this area, and other teams are quick to take advantage of it. I wouldn't say we need to add an enforcer, per se, but at least some players who don't shy away from physical play and are willing to mix it up with anyone.

But one or two guys can't change the overall team culture. We have to realize that this is ice hockey, not ice dancing, and play more like men.

Edited May 28, 2007 by jaytan

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

Someone who could play a regular shift and drop the gloves if need be would be nice.

But I think Detroit shed the "softest team in the NHL" tag with their run this sping. They beat 2 big strong gritty teams and barely lost to the "hardest" team in the NHL in the SCF.

IN general, I'd say a top six winger who might have been able to score on a few of those 5-3s in Game 4 would have been more useful to the team than a fighter.

I totally agree . The Wings showed in this season's Playoff's that they are no longer pushover's or soft .

They beat two of the toughest teams in the NHL and should probably have made it three by beating the Ducks as well. Hopefully the tag of being a bunch of soft Euro's are long and trully gone. An Enforcer would be a nice thing to have on the team but is not needed as much as it used to be.

Edited May 28, 2007 by glasgowcelticwing

[rick zombo 3,739]

But one or two guys can't change the overall team culture. We have to realize that this is ice hockey, not ice dancing, and play more like men.

I really can't believe anyone would say this after watching Detroit play this playoffs. The Wings played very much like "men". Just ask Iginla, Phanuef, Thorton, Grier, etc.

I know (edit:) th(ere) is always room, especially on this Wings team, to get bigger and tougher, but comments like the one you juts made boggle the s*** out of my mind.

Edited May 28, 2007 by rick zombo

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

This enforcer debate has been beaten to death at least a million times in here.

The Red Wings aren't a team that just dukes it out with other teams. They don't go out of their way to get in 1-on-1 scrums. In recent years, that has never been what this team was about, and it certainly wasn't the case this year.

1 or 2 enforcers is not going to change what this team is about. I'm so sick and tired for the argument of getting an enforcer type on this team that will play no more than 3-4 minutes a game. There was a guy on the Wings who did that this season. His name was Brad Norton. Look how he panned out.

And if you think this team is still "soft", take a look at who the Wings beat this playoffs, and take a look at who they acquired this season.

They acquired a guy with a fair amount of snarl in Danny Markov. Not the biggest guy, mind you, but certainly not afraid of playing the physical game. They got Todd Bertuzzi, who even despite not being 100% played a fairly physical game this playoffs. Andres Lilja finally rose up out of nowhere and consistently threw his weight around this postseason. They got Kyle Calder, who even though did pan out well, was brought on to play a gritty type game. None of these guys are enforcers, but they are far from the "soft" label.

And the Wings were supposed to get manhandled by Calgary, because Calgary was too "physical". Then the Wings were supposed to get manhandled by San Jose in the post season, because San Jose was too "physical". Guess what happened?

The whole theory that the Wings are still a soft team is a bunch of bulls**t. And they have done it without any real enforcers either.

[Jesus 0]

What pisses me off about people saying the Red Wings are ******* because they don't fight a lot is that there not the only team that didn't fight a lot during the regular season, yet the Wings always get singled out. While the Wings only had 13 fights during the regular season and 19 in total(Got facts off DYG.com), the Islanders only had 18 fights during the regular season and 20 in total, the canadiens only had 19 during the regular season and 22 in total, the Wild only had 18 during the regular season and 26 in total, and the Avalanche only had 24 during the regular season and 29 in total. Yet no one talks about the Islanders, Canadiens, Wild, or Avalanche not fighting a lot.

Wings fight card- http://www.dropyourgloves.com/Fights/TeamS...2007&Team=6

Islanders fight card- http://www.dropyourgloves.com/Fights/TeamS...2007&Team=2

Canadiens fight card- http://www.dropyourgloves.com/Fights/TeamS...007&Team=14

Wild fight card- http://www.dropyourgloves.com/Fights/TeamS...007&Team=20

Avalanche fight card- http://www.dropyourgloves.com/Fights/TeamS...007&Team=16

[puckbags 863]

IN general, I'd say a top six winger who might have been able to score on a few of those 5-3s in Game 4 would have been more useful to the team than a fighter.

A right handed pure sniper would be awesome.. I would take one of those over some meathead who can fight any day of the week!!

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Just a quick look back to the Holmstrom incedent against Anahiem when he was elbowed against the boards by Pronger. Does anyone think it would not have been nice to have someone on the team who could have tried to give that ***** what he deserves? As opposed to no-one in the team doing a damn thing about it?

I think its about time we moved from being the "softest team in the nhl" or the "EuroWings". Im not saying we become the ducks in that we try and fight anything that moves but we could at least step up one or two levels with an enforcer(s).

This season gone, we came bottom in the league for fighting majors with only 10 fights, and whilst this was better than the season before with only 6, half of the 10 fights were by minor leaguers Brad Norton and Darryl Bootland. And I really believe the team would benefit from having an enforcer on board (especially players like dats who seem to get roughed up on the road).

Thoughts?

Another one of these threads, jeez. Let's say we had a guy who had great size, could fight with the best of em and take regular shift, of course we'd all love that. As for this incident with Pronger, the league suspended him for game 4. I'll take a suspension of the other team's best player(60 minutes) over one of our guys instigating a fight and taking Pronger off for 5 minutes and putting us on the penalty kill any day of the week.

We had the chance to "do something about it" in game 4 and we blew it. I'd rather we win hockey games than spend our time, especially in the freaking playoffs simply trying to settle scores. And frankly, even if Probie were out there on that very shift, Pronger had every intention of doing what he did so would it have really mattered? Prolly not IMO.

[canadienhater 0]

A right handed pure sniper would be awesome.. I would take one of those over some meathead who can fight any day of the week!!

why not cut loose lilja and markov and spend the money on brad staurt i think he can fight

[Zion 93]

Wow, that's the worst idea ever.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

Wow, that's the worst idea ever.

I believe that about sums it up.

[Rice 42]

There's not many players out there that can play and fight. Look at Parros' role on the Ducks; he's not doing much in the playoffs from the press box. Guys that can skate and hold their own in fights are few and far between. A Chris Neil type would be ideal, which is why Ottawa won't be letting him go any time soon. The only realistic option out there I see is Asham.

[BringHomeTheCup! 0]

I am a firm believer that the Wings need to get a tough guy, but one who can skate, so it can be a regular in Babs line-up without hurting the team. A guy like Gary Roberts would be ideal. He isn't afraid to drop the gloves and dance, and he can score. Another name is Laraque. He is so solid, and he is a lot more talented than he gets credit for. Unfortunately, it looks like Pittsburg will retain both these guys. I would love to see someone of the same caliber come here. It's something we've lacked since DMac left. And no, Shanny just wasn't the same. He was never, nor ever will be a guy on the team that you are afraid of if you are the opposition. Yes, he is a solid fighter, and a tough player in his own right. But nothing like what DMac was. BTW, just to kill this before it starts, no we shouldn't go after DMac. His best days were behind him before we bought out his contract.

[Feldmarschall 9]

A right handed pure sniper would be awesome.. I would take one of those over some meathead who can fight any day of the week!!

His name is Mikael Samuelsson.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You're completely correct, a sniper to offset all of our setup guys would be excellent. Here's hoping we get one with some of the Lang money.

[Kp-Wings 3]

We tried an enforcer last year (Brad Norton), and it didn't work out.

If you want someone to fight, and can also do other things and can contribute, then Scott Hartnell or Aaron Asham are your answers. Those two are the ones to look for.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Scott Hartnell.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

As great as it was to see Fisch destroy Hartnell a few years back, he would be a nice addition to this team. Granted he won't score as much as Ryan Smyth, he would be a much cheaper alternative that would be a great fit to this Red Wings team. As far as the whole enforcer idea, it is completely overrated. Case in point being Brad Norton. Besides, if Bertuzzi comes back healthy, nobody is going to mess around with him anyways. Get Scotty Hartnell and a healthy Bert and this team has plenty of toughness up front.

Edited May 28, 2007 by GoWings1905

[martyrme19 73]

Its been said in a few posts already, but there is no room on the team for just a pure enforcer that brings nothing else to the table. The only sense there is to address this situation is if it comes through a player that will contribute in other areas on our team as well. We had a hard enough time as it was deciding who to play and who to take out in the playoffs (pre-injury era) so a big brawler would be absolutely useless. And as far as a guy who can fight and score....well as a few have already said, those are hard to come by. Iginla seems to be the poster child of that description, and the other has already said he wants to remain in Detroit (Bertuzzi). My hope is is that Bertuzzi wont be just a shell of his former self and will regain that reputation while the wings get a decent pay cut for taking that risk.

Aaron Asham has been brought up before, but at the expense of whos ice time? I'll tell you one thing though, the wings sign Chris Drury and i say to hell with an enforcer at all, we wont need em.

[Guest DetroitIan]

I'll make this short and sweet. I want an enforcer out there. Im sick and tired of being pushed around with no consequences. Kopecky or someone else will just have to play in GR. We need an enforcer desperately.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Scott Hartnell or Arron Asham

[Guest DetroitIan]

Scott Hartnell or Arron Asham

I hope thats a joke calling Hartnell an enforcer.

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

I'd rather go after a physical scorer than go after someone who we bring in just to fight. Hartnell looks good but he takes way too many penalties at the moment. He was second only to Tootoo on Nashville this year.