The Axe

I posted at the beginning of the season that Rig deserved his props.  Glad to see others think so as well.  He is good.

Simple solution = Bobby Orr Trophy to the top scoring Dman.  Norris to best all around.

Now that the Wings have gone beyond all our rational expectations, can the people who are posting things like "God, we are awful" please just cool it for the rest of the playoffs?  We are going to get scored on.  And we are going to lose games.  That's not Kind.  That's not Samuelson.  That's not Howard.  THAT'S F$%KING SPORTS, PEOPLE.  Now is the time to cheer for the Wings.  Not trash them.  We've got a good squad.

That Orpick hit is perfect.  Lateral force.  Exploding up is dumb.

Miraculous recovery coming soon for Lydman.

NAD timing for Abdelkader.  I just don't understand why Pavel's hits are always flawless and the most devastating, while our other players (Kronwall & Abdelkader) can't ever just deliver a good body check.  Watch the beginning of Datsyuks goal against Nashville this year.  He starts by knocking a guy on his ass.  No elbows, no flying arms, no leaving his skates.  Just good technique.

Back in 03 most people didn't see the next Yzerman or Fedorov in the system.

Not true.  Hank and Pasha were good from the get go.  Read all of Hull's quotes.  They were on the 3rd line is all.  People knew these guys were future all stars back then.    

I think, barring injury, we've seen Ian White's last game in the winged wheel.

Yup.  At this point, he might as well go home.

numbers? what the +/- bs? come on i monitor the guy like no tomorrow.. 10 passes 8 are intercepted. 10 shots 1 goes through. so weak too. good skater thats about all.. but guys like white and lashoff and cola should be in instead of this guy. i cringe when he has the puck knowing hes gonna make a bad play. 

Well, I'm glad our coach doesn't coach by your cringes.  Cuz this guy leads our D in +/- in the regular and post seasons.  Barring bad penalty killing, we will win if we score more even strength goals than the other team.  

 
  Yes you really can.  They are in no way the same person.  I LOVE Fedorov and his entire era, however Feds later in his career seemed to put his rockstar status above his own team at times.  Datsyuk is not going to sit out for part of a season and watch on the sidelines waiting for a paycheck.  Does Feds belong in the rafters?  I think so but as admirable as Pavs?  No way... 

Pavs sat out for part of a season this year waiting for a better paycheck.  

This is a very tough pill

Dekeyser loss is so important.  This pretty much means Lashoff needs to be his equal.  Tough task.

Now is not the time to be getting snappy with our youngsters for their mistakes in the playoffs.  Now is the time to get excited we have youngsters!

Is there anyone here that actually believes we win this?

Yup.  Me.

It is way to early to discuss Datsyuk in the rafters. He needs another STRONG 5 years to be in that catagory. Z will never be in that catagory. Reading some of the posts on here, you guys show your age. There are a bunch of guys equal or greater than datsyuk and Z that are not in the HOF or have their numbers retired. To be considered at that level, you need to be a once in a generation talent, and not sure either of them are. we are talking about a fine line here. What is the difference between being very good vs great vs once in a generation talent? Some of us are old enough to remember seeing Howe play, grew up on The Great One, watched Super Mario. No the NHL isn't the same as when those guys played. But would datsyuk and Z dominate in the other eras? not sure they would. But again, in 5 years after each puts up another 300 points, maybe we can have this conversation.

I'm sorry, but you derailed your argument by excluding Pavel from the one in a generation category.  Fedorov is the most talented all around hockey player of all time, but Pavel Datsyuk is the craftiest player that has ever touched a hockey puck.  His highlite reel speaks for itself.  Guys like Zetterberg and Iginla are great players, but I'd agree with you that they are not magical.  Datsyuk does things on a regular basis that make you put both hands on your head, open your eyes wide, and smile in disbelief.  He is a once in a lifetime player.