Guest Heaten Report post Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) Your boy Ritola had a whopping 0 goals as well, but he damned sure got his name on the Cup. Was he our savior then? Was his contribution any more or less than Downey's? In fact, why was Downey called up over him if Ritola's so awesome? Please impart this keen knowledge you seem to posses that the rest of the hockey world does not. esteef In 2007? Ritola was 19- 20 yrs of age and just begun the early stages of training and development while Downey was 34yrs old. 2007/08 was Ritola's first year to play North American Hockey after coming from Sweden in 2006/07. And despite all that, Ritola was called up in 2007/08 to play two games in the big league. In those two games that he played in, he scored 1 point; he played the same number of games Justin Abdelkader did that year and out-scored Abdelkader (Abby and Ritola are the same age). Is there anything else that'd like to know about hockey? Edit, more on Ritola's 2007/08 first year of in North American hockey 2007/08: Surprised at Red Wings' training camp and appeared in five NHL exhibition games (5-2-0-2-4). One of Detroit's last cuts along with Jonathan Ericsson and Jimmy Howard. Saw regular ice time and was a two-way presence, although production was minimal (72-7-15-22). Posted a team-best plus-10 on a squad cluttered with minuses and had 117 shots. Earned two-game call-up to Detroit in March, recording an assist and averaging 5:46 of ice time. Called up to Detroit to serve as Black Ace (spare who doesn't play) during NHL playoffs. Edited September 27, 2010 by Heaten 1 dobbles reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
esteef 2,679 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 In 2007? Ritola was 19- 20 yrs of age and just begun the early stages of training and development while Downey was 34yrs old. 2007/08 was Ritola's first year to play North American Hockey after coming from Sweden in 2006/07. And despite all that, Ritola was called up in 2007/08 to play two games in the big league. In those two games he played, he scored 1 point; he played the same number of games Justin Abdelkader did that year and out-scored Abdelkader (Abby and Ritola are the same age). Is there anything else that'd like to know about hockey? Downey brought something to the team that Ritola (or anyone else in GR) did not. That's why he was called up over others and played fifty some odd games. Simply stating he didn't score goals therefore he's useless is idiotic. esteef 1 Zeowingsfan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Heaten Report post Posted September 27, 2010 Downey brought something to the team that Ritola (or anyone else in GR) did not. That's why he was called up over others and played fifty some odd games. Simply stating he didn't score goals therefore he's useless is idiotic. esteef Or lack of depth... Again, Ritola was 19 years old and never played North American hockey before. Why is that so hard to understand? Ritola is now 23 and had a chance to learn/develop NA style hockey, do you still think Downey is a better hockey player? Or are you going to argue that is not a fair comparison because Downey is much older now? I'm not even sure why I am wasting my time debating this with you, you clearly value fighting over winning and like to compare oranges and apples. 1 dobbles reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
esteef 2,679 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) Or lack of depth... Again, Ritola was 19 years old and never played North American hockey before. Why is that so hard to understand? Ritola is now 23 and had a chance to learn/develop NA style hockey, do you still think Downey is a better hockey player? Or are you going to argue that is not a fair comparison because Downey is much older now? I'm not even sure why I am wasting my time debating this with you, you clearly value fighting over winning and like to compare oranges and apples. You slippery slope every one of your arguments. I don't value fighting over winning, because the two are not mutually exclusive. You seem to represent the current fantasy sport mentality in that if someone does not score a point they in turn provide nothing to the team. That's where you are mistaken but you're just too hell bent on attacking enforcers and their role in hockey to admit that. Good day. esteef Edited September 27, 2010 by esteef 1 roboturner reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CaliWingsNut Report post Posted September 27, 2010 Oh right, he played a whopping 0 playoff games. How could one ever forget the significance of his great playoff performance, seriously?. Yet you still failed to answer the question... who's Red Wings enforcer for 2011 going to be? I'm all for a McCarty type guy, just not a useless goon. Big difference. I'll take Owens over Downey. But I'll take Miller over both. Let me repeat, he played 0 playoff games in 2008 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dobbles 252 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 Your boy Ritola had a whopping 0 goals as well. Was he our savior then? Was his contribution any more or less than Downey's? In fact, why was Downey called up over him if Ritola's so awesome? Please impart this keen knowledge you seem to posses that the rest of the hockey world does not. esteef you know whats awesome though? ritola averaged more TOI in his games than downey did! so obviously mike babcock thought ritola was a better player by giving him more time out there. i guess his hockey knowledge trumps yours. also, why the f*** do you have to put your name in all your posts? the forum shows who posts everything. why waste your time typing it? and before anyone asks why i care, its because i find it annoying. it causes extra line breaks which makes scrolling take longer. especially on a mobile device. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dobbles 252 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) you know the best thing about that fight? that it did NOTHING to make lidstrom heal faster. just like the game against the penguins the other night, it doesn't matter if you have a worthless goon on the bench, players will still be aggressive and people will get hurt. i am all for fighting in hockey. i really am. but what is the point of a goon? they aren't a deterrent to dirty play. the only people goons fight are other goons. maltby has spent years being a ****** and never fights; because players can just skate away. guys like avery can go out there and be asshats all they want. because 55 minutes a game, the other teams goon is on the bench. and for the 5 minutes they happen to be out there, its against the other teams line of goons. Edited September 27, 2010 by dobbles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newfy 695 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 Who's Red Wings enforcer to start this season? Who was Red Wings enforcer when they won the cup in 2008? I guess enforces really aren't "on every team" after all. Imagine that... Red Wings enforcer: /insert Red Wings 2008 championship photo here Oh I remember why Downey didn't play any playoff games that year, because we had 2 other guys who could fight playing for us that playoff with Drake and Macarty. An old washed up Mac that played 18 games that playoff I beleive. Are you going to argue Mac was good at hockey at that point in the 2008 playoffs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
puckloo39 5,686 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 sounds like he's gonna need to steal games in the preseason to get any in the reg season... I thought Ozzie played well the other night, despite the brain farts in front of him. The goalies surely expect this, when they have babies out there. No big deal to Ozzie, I am sure, or Babs, if they louse up. I have liked what I've seen of the kids so far. That's the whole point of pre-season, to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Heaten Report post Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) Oh I remember why Downey didn't play any playoff games that year, because we had 2 other guys who could fight playing for us that playoff with Drake and Macarty. An old washed up Mac that played 18 games that playoff I beleive. Are you going to argue Mac was good at hockey at that point in the 2008 playoffs? Not really sure if that comment is there to help my argument or yours? But I'd definitely take a McCarty type player in his prime on this team any day of the week, he could actually play hockey. I never considered Drake an enforcer. Edited September 27, 2010 by Heaten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newfy 695 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 Not really sure if that comment is there to help my argument or yours? But I'd definitely take a McCarty type player in his prime on this team any day of the week, he could actually play hockey. I never considered Drake an enforcer. No its not to help you. Mac in 2008 could play good hockey? The guy had been retired for a season then came out of retirement to help toughen our team up. We weren't gonna put Downey in the line up and Macarty but Macarty in 2008 wasn't there to be a guy who could fight and score. He was there to enforce and thats about it. And yeah Drake wasn't an enforcer but he was a guy who could fight and solid secondary toughness behind someone like Drake or Macarty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buppy 1,720 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 No its not to help you. Mac in 2008 could play good hockey? The guy had been retired for a season then came out of retirement to help toughen our team up. We weren't gonna put Downey in the line up and Macarty but Macarty in 2008 wasn't there to be a guy who could fight and score. He was there to enforce and thats about it. And yeah Drake wasn't an enforcer but he was a guy who could fight and solid secondary toughness behind someone like Drake or Macarty. Don't mean to intrude on a good pointless argument, but it should be pointed out that if Kopecky had been healthy that year, Mac would not have played. He only made the lineup due to injuries and a lack of options. He wasn't very good, but he was better than Downey or Mark Hartigan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Heaten Report post Posted September 27, 2010 No its not to help you. Mac in 2008 could play good hockey? The guy had been retired for a season then came out of retirement to help toughen our team up. We weren't gonna put Downey in the line up and Macarty but Macarty in 2008 wasn't there to be a guy who could fight and score. He was there to enforce and thats about it. And yeah Drake wasn't an enforcer but he was a guy who could fight and solid secondary toughness behind someone like Drake or Macarty. It is a pretty pointless argument, but Buppy did bring up a valid point. I forgot about the Kopecky injury. But yeah, if you are happy with having a guy who can fight, then you should be content with the 2011 team. Ericsson, Abdelkader and Salei 'can fight'. Those guys combined will fight more than Drake did. And they can play hockey so it's win-win. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WorkingOvertime 536 Report post Posted September 27, 2010 I'd go: 12th spot Eaves 13th spot Miller 14th spot Ritola 15th spot Draper 16th spot Maltby Wings are more than good on depth. If injuries happen like last year, Wings have Mursak, Owens, Emmerton and Tatar.... all of them showed so much more during preseason than Downey. Good on depth... Check The Wings can only carry 14 forwards maximum. Therefore, two of the players you listed will have to be cut/sent to GR. If another player is cut to make room for Downey, I don't think the Wings lose too much depth considering Mursak, Maltby, Owens, etc in GR. My fear is that Draper will play most of the games a player is scratched and the 14th forward won't get much time. Therefore, it is likely they will not be resigned (or traded/sent down in Ritola's case) after this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites