The Enforcer Thread

[Zion 93]

Due the insane level of hardness that the Hossa deal rocks, the next question (after signing the last few FAs) is who is going to protect these guys when they light the lamp over and over and over again?

[Guest Shoreline]

Apparently Lilja or Downey/Mac.

I say we give some steroids to Ozzy, or have Cheli teach Lids the art of slashing.

[puckbags 863]

Due the insane level of hardness that the Hossa deal rocks, the next question (after signing the last few FAs) is who is going to protect these guys when they light the lamp over and over and over again?

Ya can't goon it up if you can't catch em !! Mac and Downey will be around to police the situation if it needs attention !!

People who think that Holland is going to go out and sign 3 goons still haven't caught on to this teams philosophy obviously.

Edited July 2, 2008 by puckbags

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

Ahmen..

But it seems so unlikely we do anything else.. If anything i see Downey finding himself a new team, which screws us.. Expecialy with Mac being our "toughguy" he is a middle weight at best nowadays.. and i doubt we sign anyone else.. we have 4m to sign Flipper,Cheli.. and whoever else we need to get..

we are screwed.

Ya can't goon it up if you can't catch em !! Mac and Downey will be around to police the situation if it needs attention !!

Healthy Scratches.. or Grand Rapids are in there future.. Or hell even different teams.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Dump-N-Thump

[puckbags 863]

Ahmen..

But it seems so unlikely we do anything else.. If anything i see Downey finding himself a new team, which screws us.. Expecialy with Mac being our "toughguy" he is a middle weight at best nowadays.. and i doubt we sign anyone else.. we have 4m to sign Flipper,Cheli.. and whoever else we need to get..

we are screwed.

Healthy Scratches.. or Grand Rapids are in there future.. Or hell even different teams.

Yep screwed going into next season with a better team than we had when we won the cup. We were last in the league in fighting majors I believe and we won the STANLEY CUP...your philosophy seems slightly contradicting.

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

this year your going to have 0 protection.. 0.. none... have fun with that..

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Due the insane level of hardness that the Hossa deal rocks, the next question (after signing the last few FAs) is who is going to protect these guys when they light the lamp over and over and over again?

It's a good question. However, I think the status quo will remain in effect.

That is the Wings will probably finish with the least amount of majors and frankly, will have the least amount of need for fights. Alot of teams dress their roster to match up with us so many times the enforcer on the other squad won't even be dressed or will play very little.

It's the guys like Avery going to Dallas that will be the issue or Torres in Columbus now. Those are the guys that will run at us and the guys we will need to fight back against.

Downie/DMac can do that type of fighting just fine so we don't need any real enforcer. And believe me, I am a fight aficionado so I would have no problem with us leading the league in fights but frankly, its not necessary. It will be toughness by committee again for the Wings.

A couple things about Hossa

1. you don't have to protect this guy. He is so big and strong, weighs in at like 215 or 220 and people don't realize he's going to be one of the biggest, strongest guys on our roster. He isn't going to fight but he is very good at hitting and knocking people on their ass, even when he has the puck. He'll be fine. And, he's a hell of a defensive player already so he's not going to cherry pick all day.

[RedFX 48]

I say McCarty. If Holland had to chose, then he's chosing McCarty.

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

Mac cant enforce anything..

HE STRUGGLED WITH CODY MCCORMICK@@@@@

Zetta, Datsyuk, Homer

Hossa, Flipper, Franzen

Cleary, Draper, Sammy

Maltby, Kopecky, Hudler.

*Mac*

Who's going to protect our team when we get goon stormed? no one.. you expect lilja to turn into a super enforcer? you expect Kopecky to all of a sudden to grow a ball sack?

The regular season is a different species then the Playoffs, the playoffs we can get away not having an enforcer.. because everyone picks up there play.. during the regular season.. Malts, Cleary, Draper. Sammy, are not going to be balls out..

Other teams are going to eye this weakness and destroy us physicaly..

[SwedeLundin77 460]

this year your going to have 0 protection.. 0.. none... have fun with that..

You are mental.... Look at last year's roster... We have the same defense, but we have Stuart ALL year. Lilja is not an enforcer, but plays strong when he feels like it, which is better than nothing. There you have two stronger guys on defense with size. That's not even including Kronwall and his epic hits.

Up front, we have some strong guys and some gritty guys. Holmstrom, Franzen, Cleary, Samuelsson, Maltby, Kopecky, and Abdelkader all provide some level of toughness and grit. We WILL sign at least one of Downey and McCarty - which fills the enforcer role enough for our team philosophy anyway. I honestly hope we sign Downey and play him much like we did last season, maybe offer Mac a 2-way deal.

This team has proven that we do not need a clear-cut enforcer to succeed and anyone who suggest otherwise, much like you Dump-N-Thump, has no clue what the hell is going on when it comes to this topic.

[deltsig87 3]

obviously we've got andreas the destroyer, however don't forget we've got a new puncher on the team as of the stanlely cup finals and his name is none other than.... DATSYUK!!!! He lays the lumber, finishes those checks, and he's not afraid to throw some haymakers!!! No biggie if he hurts his hands, we've got Z, Hossa, Flip, and Franzen

[Opie 308]

I would much rather Downey on this team now, than any other fighter/enforcer!!!!!

This coming from the least Downey guy on this board for the past season!

Look at this roster, up and down there is scoring talent. There will be games (Blue Jackets, and others) that the team will want some one there to police things, Downey proved he did that very well last season. However at the same time this team now has a need for a fighter that is willing to be part time, Downey has specialized at that for his career.

I am now of the opinion (due to Hossa signing) that Downey is perfect for this team, with that much scoring on the roster there would be no more perfect fighter in the league than Downey!!!

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

You are mental.... Look at last year's roster... We have the same defense, but we have Stuart ALL year. Lilja is not an enforcer, but plays strong when he feels like it, which is better than nothing. There you have two stronger guys on defense with size. That's not even including Kronwall and his epic hits.

Up front, we have some strong guys and some gritty guys. Holmstrom, Franzen, Cleary, Samuelsson, Maltby, Kopecky, and Abdelkader all provide some level of toughness and grit. We WILL sign at least one of Downey and McCarty - which fills the enforcer role enough for our team philosophy anyway. I honestly hope we sign Downey and play him much like we did last season, maybe offer Mac a 2-way deal.

This team has proven that we do not need a clear-cut enforcer to succeed and anyone who suggest otherwise, much like you Dump-N-Thump, has no clue what the hell is going on when it comes to this topic.

Whatever.. middle of the season when i hear everyone complaining that zette just got cheapshoteed and no one stands up for him, ill just laugh and say told you so.. because its going to happen often..

[SwedeLundin77 460]

Whatever.. middle of the season when i hear everyone complaining that zette just got cheapshoteed and no one stands up for him, ill just laugh and say told you so.. because its going to happen often..

You're rediculous, so let's go out and waste a roster spot on a pure enforcer, one of which we didn't have last year.... when we won the CUP! I understand the need for an enforcer, but it's called team-toughness, and we do have it. Downey will more than likely be back and he proved very effective last year in games where we needed him to be there to lay down the law. To suggest we need anything more than what we worked with last season is crazy and without any real reasoning other than your own personal opinion.

Every team has problems with players getting cheap-shotted, it's part of the game unfortunately.

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

You're rediculous, so let's go out and waste a roster spot on a pure enforcer, one of which we didn't have last year.... when we won the CUP! I understand the need for an enforcer, but it's called team-toughness, and we do have it. Downey will more than likely be back and he proved very effective last year in games where we needed him to be there to lay down the law. To suggest we need anything more than what we worked with last season is crazy and without any real reasoning other than your own personal opinion.

Every team has problems with players getting cheap-shotted, it's part of the game unfortunately.

We Won The Cup? Ok.. Regular Season toughness from Downey and Drake had alot to do with us being in the situation to win that cup..

Team Tougness? We wont have it.. We are softer then we were in 06-07.

Downey,Mac? Will be in GR.

Cheapshots to every team? yah they happen but guess what? the other teams react to it and stand up for there teammates.

Im leaving this topic, LGW is an anti-toughness community.. no reason to keep getting insulted for thinking logicaly about whats going to happen.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Mac cant enforce anything..

HE STRUGGLED WITH CODY MCCORMICK@@@@@

Zetta, Datsyuk, Homer

Hossa, Flipper, Franzen

Cleary, Draper, Sammy

Maltby, Kopecky, Hudler.

*Mac*

Who's going to protect our team when we get goon stormed? no one.. you expect lilja to turn into a super enforcer? you expect Kopecky to all of a sudden to grow a ball sack?

The regular season is a different species then the Playoffs, the playoffs we can get away not having an enforcer.. because everyone picks up there play.. during the regular season.. Malts, Cleary, Draper. Sammy, are not going to be balls out..

Other teams are going to eye this weakness and destroy us physicaly..

EPIC FAIL!

Yes, b/c that happened alot during the 82 game regular season. I would argue last regular season was the best we had in terms of standing up for ourselves and fighting back. 99% of that was due to Drake and Downey

Drake out, Mac in, Downey still in the mix

Plus, all teams stick together and so do the Wings. The days of the Wings allowing other teams to shove and push and scrum them without retaliating are over. look at the amount of times Sammy or Franzen or Homer or Hudler or Cleary mix it up. They're always in there shoving, punching, face washing and giving it right back.

And 99 out of 100 times a fight never happens out of those things when its the Wings. So there's no fight to get into and therefore not much need to stockpile true fighters.

Wings will be fine. You're the one that might need assistance though. Prozac maybe?

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Whatever.. middle of the season when i hear everyone complaining that zette just got cheapshoteed and no one stands up for him, ill just laugh and say told you so.. because its going to happen often..

Do us all a favor and hold your breath for that to happen. Actually you'd be doing us all a favor.

It was 2 years ago my friend that we all yelled and screamed when Williams, Lebda, Franzen, etc.. were drilled and carried off the ice and nobody did anything about it.

Last year was not the case. You know it. Everybody knows it.

You're whining about nothing. We had our toughest, grittiest team in years last season and essentially we are swapping out Drake for McCarty. Fine with me.

Relax already before you burst a vessel or something.

[uk_redwing 495]

I would much rather Downey on this team now, than any other fighter/enforcer!!!!!

This coming from the least Downey guy on this board for the past season!

Look at this roster, up and down there is scoring talent. There will be games (Blue Jackets, and others) that the team will want some one there to police things, Downey proved he did that very well last season. However at the same time this team now has a need for a fighter that is willing to be part time, Downey has specialized at that for his career.

I am now of the opinion (due to Hossa signing) that Downey is perfect for this team, with that much scoring on the roster there would be no more perfect fighter in the league than Downey!!!

Someone hacked your account?

All those saying we should have Mac as an enforcer need to realise his enforcing days are over. Downey is a great enforcer who suits this team with his disicpline. With our stars, yes an enforcer is needed.

Some of the anti-enforcer posts on here are beyond idiotic and not worth responding to.

[Guest Shoreline]

I wouldn't leave the topic over it.

Think about it. Wings didn't have much toughness when Calgary, Edmonton, and the Ducks ran up and down on the Wings in the playoffs. Wings didn't have much toughness in the regular season either, regardless of the finish, which may or may not have had an impact later on. Teams would be losing 5-1 against the Wings, then send out their goons to cheapshot players like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, etc. who aren't notorious for fighting, to send a message. In the Wings 4 recent cup wins, there were people to back up the other players. 1997/98 (interchangeably) had physical presence and/or enforcers (or players willing to drop the gloves) to back up the skill players -- Kocur, Konstantinov, Shanahan, McCarty, Pushor, and so forth. In 2002 there was Shanahan, Avery, and Fischer. In 2008 there was Drake, Downey, and later McCarty.

There needs to be some enforcement out there because in a division with St. Louis and Nashville, if you've seen their play of late, they will sink to that low when down on the scoreboard. They've also hurt Wings players because of it too. The physical toll has an effect whether it be the next matchup versus the same team, a back-to-back matchup the next night, or later on in the playoffs. That's why there needs to be a presence to let the goons of other teams know to back off.

We definitely need Downey up. I don't think Mac could do it anymore, I know Lilja can't, and Drake seems to be retiring (no hard feelings).

Edited July 2, 2008 by Shoreline

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

You're whining about nothing. We had our toughest, grittiest team in years last season and essentially we are swapping out Drake for McCarty. Fine with me.

Toughest adn Grittiest team in years? that says alot. detroit is soft and we are going to pay the price for it next year..

Swapping out a guy who brings his a-game every game for a guy who isn't physical at all and will only answer the bell against guys like McCormick yup.. thats exactly what we need..

Do yourself a favor, Dont say anything next year when Pavel, Henrik, Marian, Niklas, Raffi are laying face down on the ice, because they got cheapshotted left and right, because the other team knows there is no consequences for roughing up our key players..

i want you to just sit in your chair and say.. Well atleast we didn't waste a roster spot on an enforcer. but instead we have a 4th liner who wont produce s*** anyway.

[Opie 308]

Toughest adn Grittiest team in years? that says alot. detroit is soft and we are going to pay the price for it next year..

Swapping out a guy who brings his a-game every game for a guy who isn't physical at all and will only answer the bell against guys like McCormick yup.. thats exactly what we need..

Do yourself a favor, Dont say anything next year when Pavel, Henrik, Marian, Niklas, Raffi are laying face down on the ice, because they got cheapshotted left and right, because the other team knows there is no consequences for roughing up our key players..

i want you to just sit in your chair and say.. Well atleast we didn't waste a roster spot on an enforcer. but instead we have a 4th liner who wont produce s*** anyway.

I have an idea, since you are so sure of what will happen next year why not put something at stake?

Not necessarily money but try backing up your thoughts with something real.

I will bet you a shaved head and pictures on this webpage if you take the "The Red Wings will have 3 of their major players (you picked 5 above I am just saying pick 3 of them) and end up not winning X" X can be the division the presidents trophy or not make the SCF, I will let you pick. I will take the This wings team is tough enough, talented enough, and has enough heart to make it to the WCF!!!

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

I have an idea, since you are so sure of what will happen next year why not put something at stake?

Not necessarily money but try backing up your thoughts with something real.

I will bet you a shaved head and pictures on this webpage if you take the "The Red Wings will have 3 of their major players (you picked 5 above I am just saying pick 3 of them) and end up not winning X" X can be the division the presidents trophy or not make the SCF, I will let you pick. I will take the This wings team is tough enough, talented enough, and has enough heart to make it to the WCF!!!

im confused tbh i read it over like 3-4 times and still dont understand it. But either way im game.. just simplify the instruction for me.

[Opie 308]

Wow not sure I should take advantage of you if you couldn't figure that out? Maybe I am wrong any other post not follow what I was saying?

Either way, I say that this team is tough enough, skilled enough, and has enough heart to get to the WCF. No excuses, no bad first round match up excuse, no they were injured excuse, nothing.

I say this team makes the WCF, you are saying teams will cheapshot the wings and that will cost them success. So you let me know how much success you think it will cost them, early playoff exit, not winning the Pres Trophy, not making the SCF, whatever you let me know how much success these cheapshots will cost them.

[Guest Dump-N-Thump]

Thats what i thought but i needed clarifiicatin :S

1ST ROUND EXIT.. NO PRESIDENT TROPHY...

Edited July 2, 2008 by Dump-N-Thump

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Toughest adn Grittiest team in years? that says alot. detroit is soft and we are going to pay the price for it next year..

Swapping out a guy who brings his a-game every game for a guy who isn't physical at all and will only answer the bell against guys like McCormick yup.. thats exactly what we need..

Do yourself a favor, Dont say anything next year when Pavel, Henrik, Marian, Niklas, Raffi are laying face down on the ice, because they got cheapshotted left and right, because the other team knows there is no consequences for roughing up our key players..

i want you to just sit in your chair and say.. Well atleast we didn't waste a roster spot on an enforcer. but instead we have a 4th liner who wont produce s*** anyway.

HA! LOL! Okay. Whatever you say. Let me count the number of guys this past season that got cheap shotted and were left lying face down on the ice this past season...............................................................hold on, i'm still trying to think of one of those cheap shots you keep worrying about................................................Lappy on Nick???????????????????????????????????????????not really a "cheapshot" so much as a run at him but Downey dealt with it.......................................................................nope, can't think of any of these cheap shots you're so worried about.

I tell you what, I will come back here and proclaim your greatness maybe 1 or 2 times next season should something like what you suggest happens.

ONLY if you will start a thread every game day after the game is over and eat crow and apologize to the other board members for being worried about nothing when there are no cheap shots that leave our players in a heap on the ice. I imagine you'll only need to do that about 80 times next year.

Do we have a deal?