Motown4013

What a crazy Stanley Cup year! At this rate, i truly believe that anyone could win it this year!!!!!Its been fun to watch!

Hey LGW:  I was thinking about how I anticipated this year as kind of a year of change with Raffy gone and Ozzie shifting the crown full time to Howard. Some players exceeded my expectations...some disappointed. Just wondered what everyone though? Anyway, I gave players an A+ to F grade, based on WHAT MY EXPECTATIONS WERE on the year for then. What were yours?
Thoughts?

Abdelkader, Justin  B. I felt Abby got stronger as the season progressed. He had a few more points this year but he looked stronger on the puck.

Bertuzzi, Todd B- Todd was awesome in the shootout but he is still very proned to taking untimely penalties. He was hot and cold and about what I expected

Brunnstrom, Fabian D I  was really excited when we signed Bruno and I kept waiting for him to show me how much potential he has but besides in training camp, I didnt see anything at all. He was a big disappointment for me.

Cleary, Danny C Cleary looked slower and less hungry early in the season, way before his knee injury was an issue. At times I thought he should be the guy sitting. He showed me some of the old Clears in the playoffs but he didnt seem to have the passion.

Commodore, Mike B I actually thought Commie was solid for us and I prefered him over Kindl. I am probably in the minority, but I think we missed his size and physical play.

Conklin, Ty E He was horrid. No need to berate the guy...his play said it all  

Conner, Chris B- He was about what I expected except he is faster that I thought. I like his energy and his attitude  

Datsyuk, Pavel A- Pavs didnt have a fantastic year but alot of that was his knees and his linemates. I hope next year we get him a Parise to play with! I still this Dats has a lot of magical hockey in him!

Eaves, Patrick ...I cant give a grade when the guy was out all year.

Emmerton, Cory D He didnt take a step and I think Mursak is a better player. I wondered why he was in the line up when there are other players that are better players than him. I dont anticipate seeing him next year.

Ericsson, Jonathan B I welcome the negs on my grade here, but I felt Big E took an important step this year. I remember when he got hurt, people were happy and I thought he would be missed much more that ppl thought. He was great on the PK and I liked his game, especially down the stretch.

Filppula, Valtteri A my 1st A...and it goes to Flip who was great and finally had his breakout year. He peetered down the stretch but he was so good in his own end and such a great skater, he keeps the A.

Franzen, Johan D- Lazy, streaky, disappointing, hard to watch. Franzen may have has lots of goals but he cost us a few as well. He IS the most frustrating person to watch on this team and I would not be sad to part with him in the offseason.

Helm, Darren  B+ he works so hard, creates havoc on boths ends of the ice and we missed him a ton when he was injured. He didnt put up as many points but he does everything so well.

Holmstrom, Tomas B- I thought Homer did a good job in the role he played this year. He could have complained that he was stuck on the 4th line, but he worked EVERY SINGLE SHIFT out there and it made me love him even more. I think this is the last of the demolition man, which saddens me!

Howard, Jimmy A- Before that finger injury, Howie was in Vezina contention I think. He was a stud but never really recovered from the finger and groin problems. He came up with some HUGE saves for us, even though he was a bit flat in the playoffs!

Hudler, Jiri B+ What a turnaround season. I was very happy for Happy this year. Lead the team in goals and after a horrific year last year, he righted the ship. I dont know if he will be back, but I am glad Hudler was able to have a good season in Detroit!

Janik, Doug B No panic Janik ws solid when he came up...like he always is. He's a good guy to have in the AHL

Kindl, Jakub D Again, I didnt see Kindl take the next step this year and, in fact, I felt like he may have regressed, being outplayed by Commodore. Not sure what will happen to Kindl but he didnt appear ready to play full time with the big boys this year.

Kronwall, Niklas A- Nik had a good year, ramped it up on the scoreboard too. I think he has finally found his stride and a top 2 man in the NHL.

Lidstrom, Nicklas B Lids is always awesome and he was great again this year. You can tell he has lost a step and that his amazing stride is a bit slower but Id be happy to see him in the Winged whell again next year

MacDonald, Joey A- He was amazing when he had to come in, unprepared for Jimmy. he alos kept the home game streak alive for three games. Joey showed me that he is a legit back up for the Wings!

Miller, Drew B This is a tale of two seasons because Miller was red hot until March and then he lost his game. He was about what I expected although it was nice when the pucks were going in for him

Mursak, Jan C+ Tough for Jan this year with injuries. I felt like he was better than Emmerton but thats about it. He didnt make a leap at all and besides his speed, I didnt see a whole lot in his game to give him and more than a C plus

Nyquist, Gustav A. He needs to get a bit stronger and play a bit more with the big boys and this guy will find his jam. He didnt look at all out of place playing wityh Pavel and I hope he cracks the line up full time next year.

Quincey, Kyle C Too many turnovers, too many penalties. I have seen him play in Colorado and he can be a great D man but he had a terrible time with Detroit. I hope he figures out the system here but his arrival left much to be desired.

Smith, Brendan A This kid is amazing and he will be a great blueliner with detroit for a long time. I like his grit, passion and his big stature. I hope he makes it out of training camp...cant say enough about Smith!

Stuart, Brad C I thought Stewie was average at best...and crappy at worst. I think his heart wasnt in it this year. He took silly penalties and didnt seem to want to work as hard as he has in previous years. I thought he'd be better...but he wasn't

White, Ian B- He was great with Lids and terrible with anyone else. I thought he started off well and peetered out down the stretch. It was so hard to grade him because it was like watching two different guys. I hope he has a rebound year next year.

Zetterberg, Henrik A- He was fantastic down the stretch, amazing in tyhe playoffs but horrible to start. I have no idea what was wrong with Hank early on but he had 8 points half was through November. His crappy start stopped me from giving him an A but he was great in the second part of the year and like always, in the playoffs!

I think E has been solid. I like his tenacity tonight

PS: Get your own f***in tradition

I have been in the same situation as zetterberg, getting your face smudged on the glass isn't fun but it isn't life altering like some people here think. All I am saying is that it wasn't that hard, can that make it through your skull?

The guys helmet was broken. Is that hard enough for you?

Hank initiated it.  Yeah, Weber did not need to slam his head into the glass, but I doubt he'll be suspended. Bert had a chance to do something, but did not. Maybe he didn't see the play, but I doubt he would of done anything even if he had. This team is neutered. But there is next game. Let's see how this team responds. Here's my bet: nobody on Detroit get's in Weber's face. That's easy money!

Wow. Just wow....Take another look....Zetty is fighting for the puck and trying to check Weber off the puck....he didn't initiate a fight...he made contact with him.
Lastly, Bert did go after Weber but there was a linesman to break it up. You are neutered.

Ok, Lets do this!!!!

$1 per game won
$1 for every goal Flip scores
$1 for goal from a defenseman
$5 for a shutout
$5 for a hat trick

Count Me in!!!!!

No kidding.  Lidstrom would be old enough to collect social security by the time the playoffs finished.

I seriously laughed out loud at this. So true Harold! Poor Lids.....that's a lot of hockey

Wings in six baby!!!!!!!

Best time of the year, no doubt. Perhaps being an underdog ( most " experts" are picking us to lose to Nashville in the 1st round) so....flying under the radar may work to our advantage.
Anything can happen...as hockey fans, we have seen it time and again.
Let's go Red Wings!!!! I want to still be cheering in June!

Preds with nothing to play for is leading Colorado 3-1.  Shows me that they got it and we don't ... we had something to play for and notta.  I'll watch every game and hope that the Wings win but if I take off my homer glasses, I think it will be a short series, Preds in 5.

No.
Anyone who is going into the playoffs HAS something to play for. Try different lines , mix up the face-off men....the AVS have nothing to play for since they didn't make the playoffs. If you are motivated team,you should be working.
As for us....we got notta? Pretty sure we came back from a two goal deficit to take it to a shootout.
Wings in six....enjoy your crow before round 2

I was somebody who said I thought the team would miss E more than they imagined when he went down. He is playing very solid hockey and I am really glad that he is getting the Props he deserves.
way to go E!!!

Here's what you'll be posting shortly.

Enjoy your first round exit, wings.

Remind me why you troll around here.
What kind of "fan" has that username and avatar? Get lost

wonder what Derek Dorsett so mad about there?

He plays for Columbus?

"LOL WOW WINGS SUCK! Y EVEN WATCH???"
"I'm done watching. Wake me up when Ken gets his head outta his ass. I can't believe this is my favorite team."
"Trade the whole team"

These type of bandwagon comments are the reason I just don't even bother posting here at times, especially on gamedays. Sure, its nice when they win, but people really act like its the end of the world if we go on a skid. Don't get me wrong, I'm critical of the team at times, but I'm not on here riding every guys ass every damn chance I get, and this team will always be mine no matter how they play.

Now that we played a decent second half of the game and pulled out a win, all the trolls will be silent for a day or two.

Well said! It's overkill!
Great heart tonight boys...awesome game,