ESPN hating on the Wings... Surprise Surprise

[eva unit zero 271]

Datsyuk can't win the Hart...he's not the most valuable player on the Wings. Lidstrom is. Same reason Crosby shouldn't be mentioned for the Hart; because he has Malkin.

Speaking of the Hart though; if Minnesota does manage to squeeze into the postseason...Nicklas Backstrom should win in a landslide.

[dicksmack 33]

Datsyuk can't win the Hart...he's not the most valuable player on the Wings. Lidstrom is. Same reason Crosby shouldn't be mentioned for the Hart; because he has Malkin.

Speaking of the Hart though; if Minnesota does manage to squeeze into the postseason...Nicklas Backstrom should win in a landslide.

Wrong. Not this year he isn't. Rafalski is outscoring him and Lidstrom has looked mortal all year long.

[Dimaline312000 51]

ESPN does the same kind of hating that VS does when the Wings play on that TV Channel. VS hates on the Wings just like ESPN does. People just don't understand.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

Rafalski is outscoring him

The question isn't "Who's the highest scoring defesemen on the Wings," but "Who's the best player on the Wings?"

Yeah, Rafalski is outscoring Nick (by a tremendous four point margin) but he's not been half as good defensively. I don't know aim to speak for the whole team, but among Dmen it's not even close. Nick is far and away the best.

and Lidstrom has looked mortal all year long in November.

Guy has one bad month and people can't seem to get it out of their heads.

[Broken 16 381]

and is plus-24, which is meaningless, but I threw it in there anyway

This is the only part that kinda pissed me off. It's pretty telling. On second thought, doesn't really piss me off... just shows ignorance, in my opinion.

[uk_redwing 495]

I think it's also fair to assume that espn wouldn't be "bashing" us if we had an enforcer. Burnside would be too scared. Ken Holland shares part of the blame for this atrocity!

Win

Bring back Downey

[clutchngrab 12]

First, who the hell gives a s*** about anything ESPN says. Secondly, the E in ESPN stands for Eastern Conference.

[eva unit zero 271]

Wrong. Not this year he isn't.

Take Datsyuk off the team. Now give Ville Leino the amount of ice time Hudler has, and split the remainder of Datsyuk's ice time between Hudler, Filppula, and Zetterberg. Likely the Wings are still tops in the division, top two in the conference, and top three in the league.

Take Lidstrom off the team. Give Ericsson the same amount of time Stuart has been seeing, give Kronwall the same amount of time Lidstrom had, and divide up any remainder among Rafalski, Stuart, Lilja, and Lebda. Likely the Wings might manage top two in their division, probably top four in the conference, and top ten in the league. Lidstrom is likely the only player on the team that affects the team's success enough on his own to bring the Wings down that much if he were missing.

That's just a projection based on the differences in players.

[Electrophile 3,554]

First, who the hell gives a s*** about anything ESPN says. Secondly, the E in ESPN stands for Eastern Conference.

It's funny you say that because a lot of baseball fans I know think ESPN stands for "East Coast Sports Network" because they have an unhealthy obsession with the Yankees and Red Sox. Which I think to some extent is true.

[MissyLKS8 6]

It's funny you say that because a lot of baseball fans I know think ESPN stands for "East Coast Sports Network" because they have an unhealthy obsession with the Yankees and Red Sox. Which I think to some extent is true.

I can agree. Thus, we I don't waste my time with ESPN.

Take a sip of beer anytime they mention a Yankee or BoSox, you'll be out in no time.

And the rare times they do choose to cover hockey, there's really not much diversity there either.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

ESPN does the same kind of hating that VS does when the Wings play on that TV Channel. VS hates on the Wings just like ESPN does. People just don't understand.

You can insert pretty much any sports team in that statement and fans of that favorite team will be thinking the same thing. There is nobody that has it out against the Red Wings on purpose.

[Phazon 24]

I just dont think dats can win hart because of all the monster seasons lidstrom had and never got hart.