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That pass last night was sick, the sense to jump up like that is great to see.

Also had a pretty big hit on Brown. Well Brown went to hit him and Smith completely stood him up and made him look like an idiot. He held the line really well on one play and drew a penalty on it as well.

5 points in 8 games, solid defensively, 2 big hits and beat a guy up.

Living 30 minutes from Buffalo I see a lot of the sabres and let me tel you, if the wings played buffalo often Kaltea would be winning this poll in a land slide.

We all see Ott play in the western conference but man the s*** Kaleta pulls is ridiculous. Hes also a spot picker (when he does fight he wins a lot though, its strange)

It would be way cooler if we got two desperately needed points, regardless of whether or not someone fights.

No s***, Sherlock.

Doesnt mean that people talking about a specific player cant be excited to see what he brings to the table tonight

well we know that smith takes no crap from anyone and we are playing philly tonight.  im thinking smith drops them with rinaldo especially if rinaldo is in head hunting mode again.  

I was actually thinking this too but for some reason I dont see him fighting 2 games in a row, not sure why. He might  be all pumped up that Babcock said he liked what he saw though and now that theyve got a full set of D he might not think twice about it.

Hes the type of guy I dont really want to see fighting for no reason but only when he needs to because something happens. If Rinaldo is running around again like he did last game on Ericcson then go for it.

Imagine if he beat the s*** out of another guy in back to back nights, he would become an instant favourite of every wings fan  

So the point you were trying to make is that on occasion Dallas Drake was capable of hitting 180 lbs. puck moving defensemen pretty hard?

No I think what hes trying to say is that Drake was an absolutely huge hitter on the cup run and also capable of sticking up for his teammates through the regular season. He would have had more then 5 fights that year but Downey did all the fighting on that squad.

Abdelkader is like a Dallas Drake, capable of defending teammates and a big hitter but shouldnt be the guy carrying the load of the fighting because he cant handle the Clowes of the league. Adding one guy to take on the brunt of the load and allowing Abdelkader to run around more crushing guys without having to fight all the time would be perfect

Detroit needs to get their hands on Prust this offseason  

And for the record I think Abdelkader is a fine middlweight scrapper, hes fought some pretty big tough guys lately and was at the end of a long shift against Jones. Hes really only just embraced the fighting role and played NCAA so he couldnt hone his fighting skill like guys who played in the CHL. Give him a couple more years and he'll be a very good middleweight

I don't remember much of when Smith played for the Wings last.  The one thing I remember is that he didn't carry himself like a rookie on the ice, and his head was up and constantly analyzing his surroundings.  I don't remember much physicality from him though.  Not sure where all those claims are coming from, unless he's been tough down in GR?

His first fight in pro hockey, against an AHL goon that fights 25 times a year with years of experience after Smith was fresh outta the NCAA

http://www.nhlfightclub.com/videos/24780/brendan-smith-vs-antoine-roussel-dec-11-2011ahl-grand-rapids-griffins-vs-chicago-wolves.html

his latest fight against an experienced scrapper.

The wings finally have a guy who can play big minutes and play tough. He also throws some pretty big hits, watch him dish out some damage in the corners tonight youll notice it

Well after being 5th in AHL defensemen scoring (with a lot less games played from suspension), and playing a nasty brand of hockey it seems redwings top prospect Brendan Smith is getting his shot on the big club finally. Babcock said in an interview toady that he wanted him on the team from the start of the year but Holland said no.

Seems like they want him to split with Kindl from here on out to see who to play in the playoffs. What does everyone expect of him?

I think he'll actually end up stealing Kindls job and mihgt even see some second PP time here and there. I think before the end of the season we'll see him in 2 fights trying to prove he is well rounded and can back up his teammates to help earn a full time spot. Babcock wants toughness, trading away Commie hurts that but putting Smith in the lineup might even make them tougher and he can provide in other areas as well.

Seems like hes just too god to keep down anymore so the wings actually moved a vet from their depth to get him on the roster down the stretch, that bodes well.

Good luck out there Smitty, make it count  

To be fair, besides the two best players on that team, they are just about all Canadians.


Ice Hockey was originated in Canada, but not by Canadians. It was by British troops stationed in Canada who played a variation of their field hockey.

Yeah but Cherry has never hated America or Americans. Everyone rips on him here but noone has ever memtioned how he did a piece on Abdelkader a couple weeks ago blocking a shot, being hurt and than trying to block another one. He gives Americans plenty of credit all the time. People just dont notice that because after doing that, he'll call the wings soft. Which to be honest they are a pretty soft team, one huge hitter in Kronwall, a couple solid ones with Stuart and Abdelkader, Helm is good for a big one but not consistently at all and ABdelkader seems like the only somewhat willing fighter that plays.

I dont know why people care so much that Cherry points it out. The wings are still a very elite team, but they are fairly soft compared to most teams and definitely are in the bottom 6 or so

All these people calling Moen just a grinder and that he wouldnt improve this team at all are clearly just the homers who dont watch anything except the wings and think every prospect is going to be the next Datsyuk/Lidstrom.

People do realize hes the best PKer on the leagues best PK right? And that Detroit has a pretty terrible penalty kill. He was also part of the best shut down defensive line since the grindline that was huge fora  cup win in anaheim. On top of that he plays a physical game that could only help come playoff time.

Do peoplle erally want to see a lineup with Emmerton and Mursak in come playoff time? The wings have always won cups with 4 lines they can roll and theyve been barely rolling the fourth line in the regular season this year, so what does that say about plaoyffs?

Why is Tomas Tatar so high on our list of top prospects? Many people think he is our top forward prospect and I just dont get it at all.

I think Tatar should be behind Gustav Nyquist for sure, and also behind Teemu Pulkkinen, Calle Jarnkrok and Tomas Jurco, and even behind Jan Mursak in my opinion. I just really dont see why everyone thinks this guy is going to be so good. Someone please explain what is so great about this kid.

He deserves to be high on the list but anyone that has him above Nyquist or Jarnkrok just dont have knowledge of prospects.

As for Pulkkinen, definitely not above Tatar. Jurco is close, but Tatar has shown he can play in the NHL and is much closer to a full time job there while Jurco has had one great season in the q. Jurco is definitely moving up the list quickly however.

Tatar has good speed, is very competitive and willing to go into traffic despite his size. He has a pretty good offensive package, but not amazing. He looks like he should be a solid second line winger which is pretty good `50 points

I see that a lot of people call Abdelkader useless and extremely mediocre etc. But I dont really get it. For starters, he provides something this team lacks. Hes not a great fighter but at least hes willing and has become a solid middleweight, hes leading the team in fight majors this year. Hes the only consistently physical forward and leads the forwards in hits, second on the team behind Stuart. Second in the forward group for blocked shots, and has a 52% faceoff rate.

On top of that, from playing pretty much the entire year on the fourth line he has 1 less point then Helm and only 4 less than Miller. Not to mention the age difference between Abby and Miller

Why do we see this Abdelkader hate and everyone loves the other 2 so much? Did everyone have their hopes up for the next Mccarty fighting every other night or something and now they dont like him cause he got their hopes up (GMR lol)? Someone wanna help me out with this?

Since late January the wings have actually doubled their fighting majors from October to January. Theyve had like 5 fights in their last 5 games or something like that. As well, Ericcson wanted Eager bad tonight but Eager had nothing to do with it.

I have to think Babcock said something to them about sticking up for each other and toughening up down the stretch to get ready for playoffs. Commie cementing himself as what looks to be the more regular 6th defenseman has helped as well.

Just seems like whenever the wings look flat and a fight starts, the wings get their legs under them. Abdelkader sparked them tonight and they didnt look back after.

If they have eachothers backs like this all the time I would be very happy. Keep it up  

Hockey used to be a mans sport, used to  get a few scars and learn to handle yourself and keep your head up.

This game is getting softer then baby s***

Everything Abdelkader can provide? Abdelkader is a much better skater, much better offensive skills(althought Abdelkader has struggled offensive since making the switch to center but is still better than Moen) and is much younger has better F/O Percentage than 36% for Moen last year compared to Abdelkader 52%, and 40% this year to Abdelkader's 51%. Hell Moen doesn't really even take faceoffs for Montreal anymore(only 12 this year), Abdelkader has 97 hits compared to Moen's 73 and Moen gets about 4:00 Minutes more a game.

I like Moen he's a solid player, but he's not better than Abdelkader just because he has a crappy talent at punching people, that's for boxing not hockey.

Moen has a talent for punching people, with his one more fight then Abdelkader this year youre right thats why I like him more, give your head a shake.

I guess we agree to disagree, Moen is a very solid skater and at least on par with Abdelader. As for faceoff percentage, well no s*** hes a left winger thats why he doesnt take draws?  

One thing Moen does do, is be on the go to PKing pairing for the leagues number 1 penalty kill. Hmm, lets see where does Detroit need help... Oh thats right the penalty kill and the coach also wants a tough, physical winger for the playoff run. Adding Moen is perfect for what the wings want and need to improve, you have to be blind to not see that.

It doesnt matter if you like Abdeklader more or not (I think hes developing into a VERY solid player) but he and Moen would work perfectly with eachother. Abdelkader is a great defensive center, shut down Doan last year in the playoffs and Moen is also great defensively while both are tough.

Last time I checked... we have too many forwards with plenty of depth... we don't have top end depth... so why would Moen help our team?  Because he is a tough guy?  I could care less about that, sorry but Miller can play better defense than Moen, Mursak has better upside, and Eaves can bring more offense.  I just look at the roster and I don't think adding depth forwards is necessary unless we move a bunch of forwards in the trades.  With the way the Wings are playing I don't like that idea.  I didn't even bring up the fact Nyquvist could play too if needed.

I definitely do not want to give up our prospects for these guys.

I completely disagree. Moen is one of the better bottom 6ers in the league actually. Defensively, he was a critical part of the best checking line assembled since the grind line and is a great PKer. Saying Miller is better defensively only shows you haven't watched Moen play or youre a homer because Miller is on the wings.

As for Eaves bringing more offense, yeah maybe about 5 more points a season. Moen already has 9 goals this year in 46 games. Eaves has only ever scored 13 as a redwing and now who knows how he'll be when he returns. Moen has 16 points already this season, the most Eaves has had as a wing is 22. Moen has also never played on a team with the depth Detroit has except for on that 07 ducks team.

So basically, Moen is better defensively then Miller and I would say on par with Eaves (pre injury eaves) offensively, while being a better PKer then these guys, a solid hitter (wings dont have many of these) and also a very solid fighter who is also willing (wings have none). He is a MUCH better option then Emmerton, Mursak (He doe have upside but has limited time to get in shape), Eaves (injured and out of shape), hes better than Miller, and provides everything Abdelkaderr does while being better.

Moen is the perfect bottom 6 toughness this team needs to add, giving Emmerton and a 5th would be a good deal for him