The Wings need to get tougher, seriously

[Guest micah]

Good psychological analysis of tough-guy Laraque. You do know that he has been suspended/fined for his history of cheapshotting 3 times already, right?

3 eh? How many times has he fought other togh guys and not cheapshotted anyone?

Looking at Mr Laraque's history, it appears he is more inclined to send messages by fighting other toughguys than he is to attempt to injure weaklings. If only we had someone for him to call out.

Edited November 23, 2009 by micah

[GoWings1905 2,694]

You do agree, though, that with Lilja in the lineup this wouldn't have happened?

Of course GMR.

[uk_redwing 495]

When somebody wants to injure somebdy he does it and fight does not prevent anything.

Fighting does not prevent it, pre-enforcing does.

[redwingfan19 293]

this team just needs to get tougher not necessarily fight more ( although i have no problem with that ), we need more guy like abby and helm and less guys like lieno and lebda

[Dr. Sapirstein 0]

I do give Laraque the benefit of the doubt though. He does not have the reputation of being a cheap shot artist and rarely even fights guys that are smaller than him. I mean, with the size and physical strenght that he has, if he had the mean spirit of a Dave Brown for example, he could do some big damage out there...

But the thing is that since he's arrive with the Canadiens, Laraque is getting more than his share of criticism in the Montreal medias. When he signed with the Habs, most people (fans, media members) taught that he would have fight every night and brake opponent players bones on a regular basis.

Well I guess that Habs fans are happy now! I even red on some Habs fan sites that Laraque did a good job last night by hurting Kronwall. But then again, who could ask for anything less from a group of fans who sing Nanana, hey hey, goodbye when their team has a 2 goal lead with 4 minutes left in the 3rd period (not to mention their pathetic OLE OLE OLE soccer chant...)?

Edited November 23, 2009 by Dr. Sapirstein

[cjm502 165]

!!! That's kind of like saying, we could make pizzas, but we don't have any dough, sauce, or cheese, isn't it? !! Scoring isn't our problem. Goaltending isn't our problem. And the defense has been ok. As soon as Babcock get Holmstrom off Datsyuk's line and puts Helm up there, you'll see a lot of problems go away.

Helm-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Cleary-Zetterberg-Leino

That should be how are top 2 lines look.

I have wanted Helm with Dats this whole time, I just didnt want to be the idiot bringing it up.

[Doc Holiday 0]

Babcock himself has pretty much stated that he believes enforcers have a deterrent effect.

You guys can make fun of us for believing that, but how do you explain the head coach saying virtually the same thing? Are you going to say that Babcock is wrong too?

The same coach that the year Detroit didn't have an enforcer stated "Our powerplay is our enforcer"?

That guy? I supposed Babcock is only a genius half the time...

And Micah's assertion that May would have even bothered to fight Laraque directly after a ******* highsticking penalty is hillarious. He doesn't even play on the line that was out there.

I think there have been enough injuries on this team that have shown that enforcers don't magically provide defensive auras for their teammates.

[thedisappearer 291]

Laraque would have had a hard time kneeing Kronner if he were trading punches with someone who called him out for his blatant and reckless high stick. If one of our guys had instigated a fight with Laraque right then and there, Kronner would havve been fine and we would have still had a 2 miute PP.

Which would have negated the man advantage Kronner was trying to exploit. You're right- as soon as a penalty is gonna be called, turn the puck over and stop the play.

[mjlegend 155]

Must be May's and Babcock's fault Filppula and Williams are injured. And that stupid Franzen wouldn't have hurt his ACL if we had an enforcer at the time.

We've had more injuries now than the last three years combined. Brad May is lazy and useless!

SIGN KIMBO SLICE NOW, KENNY!!!!

[thedisappearer 291]

If we hd been plying smart, there would not be a sitution where a Georges Laraque is on the ice with nobody capable of stnding up to him, drawing his fire. Had May (or Downey, or evver Brad f'n Norton) been on the ice talking s*** after that high stick, Kronner would have a helthy knee tody. On every shift, the right matchups need to be on the ice. Last night, they weren't

So you now you want us to dictate line changes based on... George LaRaque? Um, FAIL.

[thedisappearer 291]

You do agree, though, that with Lilja in the lineup this wouldn't have happened?

LOL. Blow him and get it over with.

[mjlegend 155]

BTW, Laraque on fighting:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2009/01/05/...que_last_word/#

"I fight because it's my job, not because I like it. How many fighters like fighting anyway? I've talked to many tough guys and I can't even name you one. We do it because it's our job; that's it.

I never talk about fights; I never look at my fights or get revved up about it. I often wish my opponent good luck and always talk to the guy in the penalty box after the fight to ask him if he's okay or say good job. I never fight mad and maybe that's an advantage in a way because you're more in control of what you're doing. I also never wish for anyone to get hurt in a fight because I respect all my fellow brothers and when did winning a fight become not enough? You don't need to embarrass the guy and if you want respect from your peers, there is a lot of stuff you have to do."

He's a thoughtful guy when he has time to think. Rarely does the sport of hockey allow for such introspection.

[uk_redwing 495]

There are plenty of tough guys who love/loved to fight. May, Rypien, McCarty, Downey...ignore Laraque. He ******* sucks in every sense of the word.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

The Wings are fine with this stuff.

And predictably, the same people have the same viewpoints in this subject matter that will never change.

[skyphoenix 153]

I think the Wings are plenty tough. They get run around a lot and our "soft" euros get knocked around but they still manage to be excellent puck handlers and elite forwards. I don't think we need to get any tougher. Our injuries were flukes and not one of them was a result of us being "weak".

[Nev 1,085]

A hockey check/high stick could have given him the exact same injury. Dont be stupid. As our own Micky Redmond says: "No one gets hurt in a good fair fight."

Apart from Lilja and Kopecky last season

[Guest Shoreline]

We all saw what happened in the playoffs last spring with Niedermayer and Talbot taking some physical abuse on our key players (Datsyuk especially).

Now when it gets to the point where we are getting bumped around by one of the softest teams in the NHL (the Montreal Canadiens), I say we have a major problem!

I say you have a major problem. This team is "tougher" than last year and is actually doing worse off. Maybe toughness had everything to do with jack and s***? This team could have a boxing-on-ice lineup and you would still complain about the team being weak if a Wing managed to get touched after the whistle or injured. Funny and sad at the same time.

Edited November 23, 2009 by Shoreline

[Electrophile 3,554]

I say you have a major problem. This team is "tougher" than last year and is actually doing worse off. Maybe toughness had everything to do with jack and s***? This team could have a boxing-on-ice lineup and you would still complain about the team being weak if a Wing managed to get touched after the whistle or injured. Funny and sad at the same time.

Ah, the truth is revealed.

Look, we could dress 5 or 6 Muhammad Ali's every night and if something happened to one of them, you can bet your house that somebody here would be screaming about it. I've seen people getting into arguments in GDTs....for games we won. It doesn't take much to start a *****-a-thon around here. Funny and sad.......try tiring.

Edited November 23, 2009 by Electrophile

[Z and D for the C 712]

the league knows about Detroit - people hae been saying for years that if you abuse them they'll disappear, and now we see teams employing that strategy.

Are you seriously saying that we've had a bad start this year because we aren't "tough" enough?

[Electrophile 3,554]

Must be May's and Babcock's fault Filppula and Williams are injured. And that stupid Franzen wouldn't have hurt his ACL if we had an enforcer at the time.

We've had more injuries now than the last three years combined. Brad May is lazy and useless!

SIGN KIMBO SLICE NOW, KENNY!!!!

Oh God, that would be magical. Who do we have to bribe to get it done?

Edited November 23, 2009 by Electrophile

[Guest Shoreline]

Are you seriously saying that we've had a bad start this year because we aren't "tough" enough?

Deja vu.

[skyphoenix 153]

Yeah I'm sure teams are going around talking about how much of a ***** team we are.

I can see Joel Quennville whispering to Ken Hitchcock about how they are going to body check us into submission because we are a bunch of ******* who can't score if we get hit.

[Guest micah]

So you now you want us to dictate line changes based on... George LaRaque? Um, FAIL.

I wish you would have written "Um, FAIL" first so I would have known not to bother reading the rest of your post.

The failure was in letting one of our guys get hurt when that injury might have been prevented by icing someone who could contain Laraque, just like we put the right guys on the ice to try to contain an Ovechkin. If a Laraque is on the ice, there's no reason not to put someone out there to draw his fire.

[Guest micah]

I don't think anyone here is suggesting that enforcers will magically make all cheap-shots disappear either - just that having 1 on the bench may be of some use from time to time.

'Zactly. Nobody here stated that icing a tougher team would be a magic pill, just that we think it could help. The opposition sees how metered and reasonable we are, they get nervous because they can't respond to us without eating crow, so instead of doing the grownup thing and considering our posts, they say things like "Get Kimbo Slice!" and "Oh, you think ALL the Wings injurries could be prevented with a fighter!" It should make you proud. They're complimenting you, they're acknowledging that you're right and that they have no counterpoint.

[PROBIE4PREZ 58]

Who's to say if May was even dressed that he'd even drop the gloves? would that take back Kronwall's injry? hell no ... it would likely end in May getting destroyed by Larouque latter on in the game .. No one is really going to stop a "heavyweight" from doing what he does .. May could have fought George in the frist 30 seconds and s*** would stil have unfolded the way it did ... "seriously" .. hate this topic btw