T.Low

Saw that on NHL vids yesterday.  Nice new move to add to his repertoire.  Obviously still sufferring brain damage from fighting Pavel.

I haven't seen as much of his play this season as most of you would have, but I feel you're all being too harsh.  Yes he's struggling, and I've sometimes yelled at the TV after seeing him do something stupid, but I feel like we need to give him time to re-adjust. Trading him would be absolutely disasterous because I'm certain that if a team was willing to trade for him, they'd give him consistent top 6 minutes and regular PP time. He sometimes gets that here, but if he doesn't instantly produce, coach gets frustrated and demotes him again, thus deflating his already low confidence.

Hudler is a very gifted player, he put up nearly 60 points last time he was here, obviously his slow start means that's unlikely to happen this season, but I am positive that things will turn around for him and by seasons end we'll be happy to have the little guy on the team again.

The positive aspect is that all the other boys on the team are working even harder pulling their own weight and his so that we are still winning while he get's intouch with his emotions, his self esteem, and confidence.  


If you think LGW is harsh on Hudler now, just imagine how bad it would be if we had been losing.

I keep watching for him, but most of the time I don't notice him.

You don't notice Who?dler?

If this is the Juri Hudler Watch Thread, first we're going to have to find him before we can start to watch him. My friend is a retired Bloomfield Hills detective; I'll call him.

You joke.
Hudler is a scoring forward.

Yawn.

What makes a scoring forward a scoring forward?

Scoring.

When is a scoring forward not a scoring forward?

When he's not scoring. When he's neck and neck in points with the 3rd pairing Dmen.

Rage, thanks for the OP and editing the YT clips back in.  I was not able to watch After Hours and it was great to see those interviews.  It's a side of the game we don't get to see often enough.  Really enjoyed it.

Back when I went to Walled Lake Central, Livonia Stevenson was in our league, so it's fun to hear them mention Livonia.

Thanks a bunch.


Maybe this answers some questions about Modano's "slower than fans wanted" start; he's gasping for lungs and legs trying to keep up with the team until he get's himself in Red Wing shape.  Go Mike, Go!

Man are th fans of the NHL becoming softened up as well or what?

Thornton steps outta the box skates up the to the red line and hits him, not east west. And his elbow was tucked in.

It is a bad angle but if you look, the penalty boxes are behind the red line and thornton hits him at the red line so it is not east west.

This is a textbook hit, it was a suicide pass and unfortunate for perron because he didnt know thornton was coming out of the box but what does big joe do? Let him skate by because the guy has his head down? If thats what the NHL has come to then its a bulls*** league and turning into the god damned NBA

Summed up quite nicely.

I dislike Thornton as much as the next guy, but it was a clean hit.   "Head on a swivel" is a lost phrase in modern day hockey.  The announcer says the puck was not on Perron: well only cause the he missed it. Big Joe timed it perfectly, the puck had already been there but Perron misses the puck and gets caught by Big Joe.

The hit wasn't blind: the hittee (Perron) was blind because he had his head down instead of on a swivel.  That's not Joe's fault. Thats a fundamental mistake by Perron. Watch where the f*** you're going cause it's a nasty game out there and people want to take your head off.

Also, I didn't hear any goalie stick whacking away on the ice warning of the last few seconds of the penalty so his team knows there is a man coming out of the box (FWIW)


This is what is going to be very difficult for the NHL:  There is a difference in a hit to the head, and a hit that invloves the head.  One is much more avoidable than the other. I don't know how the NHL is going to be successful in this quest to rid the game of hits to the head.  It's a great intent, but the reality is not so clear.

There is also a major difference in leading with the elbow vs leading with the shoulder and following thru with the elbow (actually, it's following thru with the forearm, but therefore the elbow does come up too, of course): the ladder being legal and clean.  Joe lead with the shoulder and followed thru with the forearm. Clean.

I can totally understand the NHL wanting and needing to protect their assetts (read million dollar players)by being concerned about hits to the head, but it is going to be difficult to get it right and accurate.  And they still have a problem calling routine penalites correctly during a game; good luck with this new headshot issue.

The much more frequent high speed collisions are an unforeseen byproduct of the lack of clutching and grabbing and waterskiing (hooking a guy for a ride all the way down the ice).

I totally understand the OP's thread title.  It's a legitimate concern.

The OP is interesting.

First off, I hesitate to break up Huds, Modano, and Cleary yet.  

They have had some great chances but they seem to be just a half step off in timing.  I still have faith that it will come together.

That being said; Hudler is the weak link, not Mike Modano. Hudler totally looks like a guy who's had it a lot easier while making almost 3 times the money (factoring salary w/out taxation). Huge money, star status, less effort, much less of a price to pay.  He may never return to the player he was before he left. 70 pts? The Wings are going to be lucky to get 40 pts out of him this year.

I do see the merit of putting Helm up to center Mike and Jiri; he will do the hard, dirty work, and possibly be the playmaker when Mike and Jiri find the open spots on the ice for easy one timers.  But that does indeed penalize Cleary.  But Dan Cleary is a role player and no doubt will take one for the team when asked or assigned.

I still have faith in Modano; but my faith in Hudler is on lifesupport.

Henrik Zetterberg does.

As awesome as Zetterberg is, let's face it, he could never do some of the things Pavel does: the dekes, the passes, the take aways, the Best Russian award...

She is not a sports journalist; just a "freelance" "yahoo user" blogger.  Anyone with time on their hands and a propensity to want to see their own writing on a screen can do it; no subject knowledge required.

https://publish.asso...om/signup.shtml

http://www.associate..._thornhill.html

"The Detroit Red Wings: Why I hate this obnoxious hockey team
By Sherri Thornhill, Associated Content
This article was produced by a Yahoo! Sports user. Submit an article"


Watch this with a beer and remember who we are and who she is; you'll be fine.

He looks good on that line, but I wouldn't say he's revitalized.

In his prime, he'd be destroying people out there with crushing bodychecks, and scaring the hell out of opposition with his dominance in front of the net.

He's fit in nicely in Detroit, but is a different, more tentative player than he was before.  He's reinvented himself, not revitalized.

No, I agree, he is certainly past his prime and will never be that player again. Part of that is indeed his lower back issues.

I do mean exactly that he is not near as tentative as he has been since leaving Vancouver.  He has a lot more jump than he ever had in Florida, Detroit I, Anaheim, Calgary, and even last year with the Wings.  He is playing with a lot more confidence and flow than I've seen him play with since leaving Vancouver.  He looks like he is enjoing the game, at home with is teammates, and feels good to hustle.  He doesn't look frustrated and like he is laboring and also thinking too much out there like he has since leaving Morrison and Nazzie.


Is he good as new? No.  Revitalized? Yes.

Yes i know it's very early, but I've gotta say that Bertuzzi looks like he has more jump than he's had in a long time.  He really hustles on the back check, looks like he relishes playing with Franz and Filp, likes his role very much. And the little fight in preseason for the hit on Franzen   .  While he is indeed a scoring threat, he is really a great passer with his vision and hands and this seems like such a perfect fit for him.  

He really looks like he's settled in with the Wings and is foucussed and will contribute even more this year.

WHat do you think?

Eh, why should we care about what Cherry had to say?

I'm not saying anyone else has to care what Cherry says, but I get a major kick out of Coaches Corner.  Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree, sometimes I cringe.  I just know that he luuuuuuuvs Perry (Like Daniels said, he is one of only four active players to have 100 goals and 400 PIM and thats a Cherry type "beautiful Canadian Boy").  And given his opinion on European players and their fight record and how he ripped Pavel for the protective way he once blocked a shot, I'd like to see his reaction to that fight.

Does this make Datysuk the new breed of Power Forward?   



Serioulsy, though; Datyuk was awesome against Perry; but if he never gets into another fight like that in his career, I'm totally fine with that.

I still can't get over how he's smiling.

Yet another example of how Pavs truely enjoys (and accels at) every aspect of the game.  

He is one of a kind.

Datsyuk exercised a demon tonight.  Perry's a humungous ***** and Dats finally called his bluff, exposing him for what he is.

There's no doubt in my mind that Dats has picked up some tips from Boogie.  Knowing to get the grab arm locked, using it as leverage to dodge big punches coming his way, maintaining his balance so he doesn't get clocked, throwing the overhands and going uppercut when Fairy tried to duck under, changing to throw lefty when the fight dictated it, and finally taking him down at the end.  Great showing by the Lady Binger!

I was expecting a Dats beatdown or even a Semin-like showing but Dats held his own.  Great job!  

esteef

I agree.  

When Perry got Pavel's helmet off so easily, and without contest, I was worried that Pavs was a deer in the headlights and would take a few hard ones then never recover and have to turtle or tackle.  I was worried, and then suprised and then really excited and had to watch it a few more times.  I think once the lid came off, Pavs thought "Holy s***, this aint Scott Neidermeyer, it's ON".  After that, Pavel looked like he knew what he was doing. Perry was unloading in the eafly going but Pavs kept moving his head and moving his grab arm so Perry's punches were glancing off it a lot.   Pavel didn't back down, he didn't go for the tackle, he didn't turtle, he didn't bongo out like Semin; he went toe to toe with a big Canadian boy and at the very least, held his own.

I gotta admit, i'm looking forward to Don Cherry's commentary on this.  Is he going to praise Perry for sending a message of will he admit to the courage, heart, and skill displayed by one of the most highky skilled Europenas to ever play the game.


Thanks for this post, Esteef, I had to wade thru two and half pages of ridiculous enforcer arguement to find this little nugget of an analysis by you. The most awesome openning game in years and these guys still find something to fight about.

I'm kind of surprised they have enough people attending their practices to get advertisers just for that.

Maybe they feel the captive market of 23 with a collective income of $57M is enough. Them boys gotta eat after practice.

Toews : "Good practice guys.  Anyone hungry?"
Keith : "Yeah, for some reason I'm really craving pizza. Let's all go get some, except Hossa, he really sucked today."
Hossa : "Maybe 'boo' in Slavak mean 'Marion gets Cheese and Pepperoni".

is Mike Modano this year's Dallas Drake?

You mean because of the whole "Dallas" thing?  Hmm, something to think about.