Battle for Roster spots getting tighter...

[DaKineMaui 8]

I want this thread [CLOSED] if soon I don't read the word grit, or gritty or grittier, or grittiest, or gritesque, or gritacious, or gritumus maxigrit, gritilicious or something to that affect.

Mahalo

aloha

[LeftWinger 5,153]

Cut Lilja? Oh, you must have missed the playoffs last year.

...no, but, I have seen him every OTHER year, he blows! Oh yeah, I saw him give away the puck to end the series as well...

[Izzy24 44]

Fischer = FURTHEST thing from badass! He sucked!

What?

[russianswede919293 95]

Here is what I want:

Franzen-Datsyukl-Holmstrom

Hudler-Zetterberg-Samuelsson

Cleary-Filpulla-Draper

Maltby-Kopecky-Drake

13th Forward either Ellis or Downey

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Lilja

Chelios-Lebda

7th Defensman: Meech

Hasek

Ozzie

Howard needs one more year in Grand Rapids where he dominates

[Lou_Siffer 1]

They might just be grittier then Anaheim this year Lou.

Krys Barch

Todd Fedoruk

Jeff Halpern

Steve Ott

Brendan Morrow

Brad Winchester

Nolan Baumgartner

Stephane Robidas

Thats a pretty tough squad right there. And they have lots of skill too

I'd still have to go with the Ducks though. It really depends on which of the 3 i bolded are in the lineup on a given night. With Anaheim, you're consistantly going to get the trio of Parros, May, and Moen...along with the secondary crew of Beauchemin, Hnidy, Bertuzzi, and even Getzlaf and Perry. They still get the nod, but Dallas has definitely made it a point to set their sights on them and be able to compete with them physically. The games between these 2 teams should be REALLY good!

[Izzy24 44]

They might just be grittier then Anaheim this year Lou.

Krys Barch

Todd Fedoruk

Jeff Halpern

Steve Ott

Brendan Morrow

Brad Winchester

Nolan Baumgartner

Stephane Robidas

Marty Turco

Thats a pretty tough squad right there. And they have lots of skill too

[norrisnick 1]

What?

Don't bother trying to understand him. You'll only give yourself a headache.

[Crazydavemsu 0]

Is my math bad, or did the rules change?

You can carry 23 players, right? I'd assume this means 14F, 7D and 2G... Why does everyone say we only have 1 forward spot? By my count we have: 1. Datsyuk 2. Zetterberg 3. Draper 4. Holmstrom 5. Drake 6. Maltby 7. Franzen 8. Cleary 9. Kopecky 10. Hudler 11. Filppula 12. Samuelsson. Am I missing something/someone???

[LeftWinger 5,153]

Don't bother trying to understand him. You'll only give yourself a headache.

...I absolutely LOVE this response! Couldn't have said it better myself!

[norrisnick 1]

Is my math bad, or did the rules change?

You can carry 23 players, right? I'd assume this means 14F, 7D and 2G... Why does everyone say we only have 1 forward spot? By my count we have: 1. Datsyuk 2. Zetterberg 3. Draper 4. Holmstrom 5. Drake 6. Maltby 7. Franzen 8. Cleary 9. Kopecky 10. Hudler 11. Filppula 12. Samuelsson. Am I missing something/someone???

Yup. Kenny only wants to carry 22 players unless an extra forward forces his hand.

[ben_usmc 253]

how can you say fisher wasn't a bad ass are you new to the Wings, the season all that stuff happened he broke out and was defending everyone laying some monster hits and not taking s***.

[Guest Crymson]

What have you been watching? Of all the players trying out at camp, Downeys been by far the best.

I heartily apologize. You have clearly shown that my opinion is wrong, because it disagrees with your apparently-absolute view.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

I heartily apologize. You have clearly shown that my opinion is wrong, because it disagrees with your apparently-absolute view.

Ok then, forget what I said, who has been the best forward trying out for the 13th spot then?

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I'd like Holland to find a creative way to move Hudler for something that brings more size and talent to our team. Hudler has talent, but his talent doesn't make up for how he gets pushed around. IMO, Huds isn't NHL material.

Yeah and neither's that former MVP Marty St. Louis dude. Send his top 5 points getting ass to the minors where short people belong.

[skacore 2]

Ok then, forget what I said, who has been the best forward trying out for the 13th spot then?

I want a fighter as much as anyone but realistically Downey has been outplayed by both Hartigan and Ellis in my opinion. It's unfortunate that we opened the preseason against Minnesota and Pittsburgh, if Downey wanted to go to show the coaching staff what he brings to the table, his options were Boogaard and Laraque. Now I understand what that Downey can fight big boys and win on occassion, but where was he when Boogaard just barely clipped our young star Jonathan Ericsson with a knee to knee hit? And why was there no reaction when Boogaard delievered a flying elbow to DOWNEY'S head? Aaron Downey's labelled as a heavyweight enforcer in the NHL, so why didn't he enforce anything when Boogaard was running wild?

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

I'd say he didnt do anything because

1.) Its preseason, and he's on a tryout, getting injured isnt a smart idea

and

2.) Boogard would hurt him.

There are alot of enforcers that also wouldnt fight Boogard in that situation.

I hope he plays in the game agaisnt Tampa, I think he'd be able to hold his own/beat Roy.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

What have you been watching? Downeys done much better then Grigs or Hartigan, that isnt my opinon thats a fact.

It's hilarious with most of you guys, you hate guys that fight, you'd rather have some scrub like Hartigan or out of shape, slow Grigerenko.

At least Grigs has an upside. I'm reasonably sure a conditioning assignment can magically change Grigs' fitness, speed and energy on the ice. We can't give Downey a magical goal-scoring pill though.

I'd actually welcome Downey on the team based on his camp performance, but stop dismissing the argument that the Wings don't need low-talent high-punching players as a baseless argument.

The ability to stick up for teammates and the ability to score goals are not mutually exclusive qualities.

I'm so ******* sick of the pro-fighting crowd's assumption that those of us who don't want to pick up another veteran journeyman who happens to fight is based on a distaste for fighting and not high standards.

Both sides here are guilty of vastly oversimplifying the opposing argument.

[sticknmove 0]

"Don't bother trying to understand him. You'll only give yourself a headache."

Now you know how we feel when trying to comprehend your backwards logic regarding hockey.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

At least Grigs has an upside. I'm reasonably sure a conditioning assignment can magically change Grigs' fitness, speed and energy on the ice. We can't give Downey a magical goal-scoring pill though.

I'd actually welcome Downey on the team based on his camp performance, but stop dismissing the argument that the Wings don't need low-talent high-punching players as a baseless argument.

The ability to stick up for teammates and the ability to score goals are not mutually exclusive qualities.

I'm so ******* sick of the pro-fighting crowd's assumption that those of us who don't want to pick up another veteran journeyman who happens to fight is based on a distaste for fighting and not high standards.

Both sides here are guilty of vastly oversimplifying the opposing argument.

Believe me, when the news Grigs was first coming over came out, I was estatic. I was excited to see what the kid could do. He's definately disappointed, I'd rather he start in GR and impress on call-ups then be the 13th forward.

I really wanted him to make the team, mainly because it might have gotten Sammy scratched

I'd like to see Downey and Grigs make the team, get Sammy out, and send Hartigan to GR. But I doubt any of that will happen.

[skacore 2]

I'd say he didnt do anything because

1.) Its preseason, and he's on a tryout, getting injured isnt a smart idea

and

2.) Boogard would hurt him.

There are alot of enforcers that also wouldnt fight Boogard in that situation.

I hope he plays in the game agaisnt Tampa, I think he'd be able to hold his own/beat Roy.

Preseason or not he is fighting for a job out there, and he is supposed to showcase what he can do. Like I said before, I know he is an enforcer and is a decent fighter but he hasn't shown any signs of it in preseason. Win, lose, or draw, Boogaard had a knee on knee hit with Ericsson, a young star in our organization and THEN he tried to kill Downey, no reaction. Boogaard is a tough guy but the league is evolving as a whole, Boogaard, Laraque, McGrattan, Peters, Shelley, Belak, Brashear, King are all big boys, does Downey get a free pass if one of these guys try to blow out one of our young player's knees?

I'm not counting him out but at this point he has been outplayed by Hartigan and Ellis IMO, they have shown more value to the team in preseason

[Drake_Marcus 890]

MVP Marty St. Louis dude is an amazing skater. Huds is not.

Actually Huds' skating as vastly, vastly improved since last season. I'm basing that on what I've seen of him in the preseason as well as what Babcock said in an interview.

[ben_usmc 253]

as a wing fan you should understand we don't like to give players time, just like if a player slumps trade him.....

[vangvace 12]

Yup. Kenny only wants to carry 22 players unless an extra forward forces his hand.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Grigorenko put in as the 14th forward if he fails to earn a higher spot outright. That way he can get his conditioning up to where it should have been to begin with and not head back to russia. In addition, he could be sent down to GR for the occasional game to "check-up" on if his conditioning is improving for the main stage. With that said, I am disappointed with how ill-prepared or overconfident (not sure which) he was coming into camp.

Out of curiosity, what do you feel the goal production of the fourth line should be?

Edited September 24, 2007 by vangvace

[Saran 1]

well, we will actually, believe it or not, be softer then we were last year. Haha, well hunting season is open I guess. We lose Markov, Bertuzzi (for the short time we had him) and Norton. Pick up Drake, and, well no one that fancies grit hockey so its pointless naming them. so f*cking disapointing....

I wouldn't even consider Brad Norton even being on our team last year he barely played and was sent down early plus he lost all of his fights so maybe he made the bench tougher by sitting on it or the ice tougher from laying on it but he sucked. Lilja had a couple good scraps and actually stood up a couple times this year. Our goal scoring may be a bigger concern than fighting next year. Let's keep all the bitching until the season starts cause if we do get Downey (which I don't want cause he will never play anyway) then this argument has been pointless.

[sticknmove 0]

wow, great point. Well besides the fact you failed to make one. Dont count Norton into last years toughness? He had 1/3 of the team FM. So lets take him out, we were weak last year, weaker this year.

*F$CK it, Wade Brookbank can be picked off waivers. Bring him here,and judging by the reactions of many regarding Downey, things would get really bitter*

Edited September 24, 2007 by sticknmove