InKennyWeTrust

I really believe the problem is with us, not with Franzen.

For some reason when he signed his new deal fans developed unrealistic expectations for him and they don't match-up with what he's capable of or what the team actually expects of him. Franzen is not going to be a 50 goal scorer, he's a consistent 25-30 goal guy who will put up around 50-60 pts.

The idea that he's lazy is a fan thing, the players call him "Mule" for a reason. Even Babcock who got annoyed with his play near the end of this year seems to speak only positively about him.

Other than guys on entry level contracts it would be near impossible to find a player who produces more for the amount he gets paid.

I think the production is there, I wouldn't expect a whole lot more from him in terms of goals or points. There are shifts, however, when he just finds a spot in the neutral zone towards the attacking blue line and doesn't really do anything. I'd rather him backcheck hard consistently and lose 5 goals a year than float.

The other problem with the streakiness is that it goes away during the playoffs (usually). That tells me that he has an extra gear, he just only uses it when he wants to.

If true, how lucky have I been? Yzerman...Fedorov...Lidstrom...now Datsyuk...no other fan of ANY team can even come close to that in this era!

...Crosby who?

All the "secondary" players, too- Chelios, Probert, everyone on the Grind Line, Hull, Hasek, CuJo, Lucky Luc, Shanahan, Schneider, Holmstrom, Zetterberg... It's good to be a Wings fan.

This is what Ken Holland gets for having no Plan B in place for when Nick ever decided to call it quits. Even IF they sign Suter...they still need another 2 or 3 top notch D-Men that are nowhere to be found. People like Kindl, Ericsson, & Quincey sure as hell aren't gonna improve any to get the job done...ugh...and people thought our D-Core looked awful last year?...just wait.

Why all this doom and gloom? Sure, it'll be tough to transition, but it's manageable. Kronwall is still here, Smith looked fantastic, Ericsson improved by leaps and bounds last year. Add Suter, and that's a better D-corps than most other teams can ice.

One thing's for sure- I'm never trading NHL '12 in for an upgrade.

The hell with it, this isn't a funeral. This is a celebration of one of the best players to ever play the game. I feel so incredibly lucky to have seen this man lift the Stanley Cup four times. No other player exemplifies the game of hockey the way Lidstrom does.

Yzerman will always be the Wing's captain, but there will never be a better Red Wing than Nick.

You know that feeling when you know for certain that the next day will not be as good as the previous one?

Yeah, that.

They are incredibly balanced. I can't believe how much more fun they are to watch now as compared to 3 months ago.

Also of note, if the Eastern conference team wins, whether it be the Devils or Rangers, the Wings would be the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team who won the cup. What does this mean? Nothing, aside from me being able to write a terribly convoluted sentence.

A shot for every typo?

Shots until it makes sense?

Wow, it looks like a whole bunch of statistical white noise. Are you trying to point out a trend?

In my opinion, the sentence was short by about a factor of 10.

Wow, some people are REALLY taking this too far. This team wasn't struggling before the deadline by any means. With the recent news of defensive injuries, I would have bet a lot of grabbing a depth player, but that's purely so you're not scrambling if you get unlucky.

I've got faith in this team playing a lot more hockey, barring a string of injuries.

The thing that shocked me was that we essentially lost defensive depth. I would have thought someone like Lee would have been a nice target.

Ericsson is pushing people around on this shift right at the blueline.

Let him go crazy in the postseason then handcuff him to Abby next year for educational purposes?

I don't know who is irritating me more tonight, Bertuzzi or Franzen.