Chunkylover

I'd enjoy speaking with Datsyuk about his faith and his experience growing up deep in the Soviet Union. I think he grew up where the Tsar and his family were killed. Plus, he seems to be a legit Christ-follower.

Happy people perform better.

People do what they enjoy with more effort and efficiency than what they dislike.

People are more willing to sell out for others if there is an atmosphere of mutual respect.

What Mule said is true, and likely applies in the current situation. However, sometimes people refuse to enjoy things and work hard at them as if it were a life's goal. Hopefully that is not our teams problem. If he is saying it, it is probably bouncing around all over in the locker room, starting with the coach, so it is probably true.

Can you prognosticators give me lotto numbers?

Cries for toughness are funny. We're all for vigilante justice when some punk is running around or hacking and slashing, yet we mock those who fight after a clean hit.

Enforcing rules is for refs. Otherwise, hockey is tough. The Wings aren't asking to soften the game to suit them and they aren't quitting, so in reality, despite your observation, there is no problem.

Who cares? Not saying those hits aren't enjoyable and it is impossible to say with any certainty whether they can impact a game or not. If they play tough defense and never hit it's still hockey.

He's probably more like Mario, but injuries kept his name from receiving the prestige it might otherwise have merited. High draft, immediate impact player, something of a whiner, injuries keep him out but dont affect him when he returns.

If I understand it correctly I like it. It sounds like they would get their six California and Western Canada games out of the way on two respective monster trips. They already do long trips anyway so that shouldn't be an issue. Plus the second game would be intense, like a mini-playoff series.

Am I the only one who favors staying in the West for competitive reasons? The Wings notoriously play down to inferior opponents and I'm not so sure they would dominate the East like many here.

I'm a little concerned about his comments about Modano's work ethic.

No, 29 owners respect him as well.

I don't hate him.

Most people that do blame him for things he hasn't really been responsible for.

It's not Bettman's job to make fans happy, he is supposed to make the owners happy. He doesn't work for us, he doesn't work for the players, he doesn't work for TV, he works for the owners and is answerable to them.

It is the owners' responsibility to make the fans and players happy. Which is why salaries for players are so high, and why owners are always trying to find ways to cut costs to the fans without compromising the ability to generate revenue. No money in means no money out.

Clearly, based on the 18-year tenure, Bettman is doing a good job as determined by the only people who really should matter to him. If you aren't happy with VS or southern teams, blame the owners who moved them or the networks that despised the game.

rhetorical question

–n.

  A question that conveys a point rather than expects an answer.

E_S_A_D? Is that you?

When I saw this title, I expected to see the Hindenburg in the first post.

What interest/concerns me most is whether Datsyuk and Zetterberg can pass off what they learned from Yzerman, Hull, et al to the next wave. That is what is most important. Sure D and Z had talent before they came here, but so did guys like Patrick Stefan and Alexandre Daigle. Unfortunately for the latter they did not learn the game from Hall of Famers like the late-round also rans we have here in Detroit.

Datsyuk can barely speak English, though he's probably better than he lets on, but unless we gets some young Russians he will be limited in his ability to teach the kids. Zetterberg can speak well, and he certainly has the personal dedication to excellence, but I wonder sometimes if he has what it takes to lead like Yzerman and Lidstrom. Perhaps I'm holding him to too high a standard at this point, but sometimes he seems bored with life, especially during interviews, and I wonder how he is in the locker room.

We all know how Hull really took Datsyuk under his wing, and there was a real nurturing of the younger by the older. Watching them on the bench I really got the impression that Hull cared about Pavel's development, and that Pavel really looked up to and respected Brett. That's the kind of leadership we'll need here to keep this party going.

You forgot the pride of Collier County, Ray Finkle.

skip to around 6:20. its a nice goal, good for ville, didnt see any of that in detroit this season.

Actually isn't this exactly what we saw from him: a great goal in his first game? Nothing against him, but for his own sake he needs to work harder to make sure he doesn't have the same slump afterward.

With the Flyer's no. But if he gets traded to Pittsburgh or Vancouver and gets to play with Crosby or the Sedins then he'll explode. Just goes to show that any decision made by Detroit management is completely stupid.

Kind of extreme statement there. It was Leino or Franzen, right? The writing was on the wall for Ville; he'd had his chances here and couldn't make it happen. To be fair, no one on the team was doing well either, but If he'd been willing to stay in North America, if not the NHL, he'd still be in Michigan at least.

I saw someone mention before that the Wings have some sort of agreement with the league to move east before Columbus, even though CBJ is further east than Detroit.

I'm not sure I really want them to move to the Eastern Conference though. I think they'd be more likely to sink down to the level of the Eastern teams rather than maintain the high level they have from being constantly challenged in the West.