stevie for president

Torres has a history and it's hard to give him the benefit of doubt, but he didn't jump, he didn't throw an elbow, he didn't take strides before the check, the shoulder was the initial point of contact, and in my opinion the head was only contacted because Stoll reached for the puck and was on his back way up which shifted the position of his head and shoulders.  The only valid argument I can see against Torres is that the check was reckless, but I'd argue that Stoll was even more reckless for reaching for a puck. Bad things happen to you when you reach for the puck. The NHL is shifting blame on the checking player, and I think it's unfair because that's a hit Torres needs to make (just like Gryba needed to make that hit last round) and the hit would have been clean if Stoll stayed in the leaning forward position. I could see 1-2 for a reckless hit with incidental contact to the head given Torres' history, but a potential 6 game suspension in the playoffs for this hit is entirely too much. Just my 2 cents.

Hmmm...  If only Anaheim would take a trade like McCollum, White (pending UFA), & Miller (pending UFA) for a Bobby Ryan.  Hmmm...  If only Calgary would have taken Pearce (leaving hockey to go back to med school), Sammy (injured & has a NTC), & Emmerton for Bouwmeester.  Hmmm...  If only every trade Kenny tried to make for a top 6 forward or #1/2 d-man wouldn't start with teams wanting Smith, Nyquist, and/or Mrazek in return & instead they would take a combination of the Wings' bottom 6 forwards & #6/7 d-men for high caliber players .  Hmmm...If only Kenny didn't care about rebuilding the talent pool in the farm system that was dreadful after spending the 90's & early 00's trading his best picks & prospects away and he would just continue to flip them for more bottom 6 forwards or bottom pairing d-men.

 

Hopefully that offensive creativity is on the way in the next few years i.e. Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Frk, Almquist, Jarnkrok, Pulkkinen, Sproul, etc. as long as Kenny doesn't go nuts & trade them all off.

 

I agree, no one wants our garbage, but last year Stuart said he wants to go to Cali and there were rumors of Anaheim looking to trade Bobby Ryan. You could've packaged Stuart, a 1st, and mid-round pick or mid-range prospect for Bobby Ryan at that time (and I even suggested it in a thread last year so this isn't a case of hindsight being 20/20) instead of letting Stuart walk and wasting that 1st on Quincey. At this deadline, you could've gotten at least a 5th for White and an overpayment for Filppula who are both likely walking at the end of the season. My issue is if Kenny is rebuilding, why were the wings trying to be bargain shoppers at the deadline? He could have just as easily gotten some picks and prospects for those 2 UFAs, scratched guys like Cleary and seen what the next wave of prospects has to offer. Maybe Tatar provides some offense. I mean, he can't be worse than Flip or Brunner have been.

 

Dallas, Phoenix, and San Jose are 3 sellers who have really turned it on after the deadline, so it's possible to be a seller and still make the playoffs, too!

To all the people predicting a Chicago beating, do I need to remind you of the 2006 Oilers? or the 2003 Ducks? or even the 1994 Sharks and 2001 Kings? We've been on the receiving end of so many first round upsets that I'm surprised some of you are so pessimistic. Maybe it's finally our time to be Cinderella. Get in and anything can happen, even beating the almighty Hawks.

It's not the end of the world if the streak ends. All non-playoff teams have a shot at the 1st overall pick, and regardless this would be our highest draft pick since we took Marty Lapointe 10th overall in 1991. I just wish Kenny would've shopped Flip and White and even Quincey. More draft picks and cap space for next season is never a bad thing. Oh well, hopefully he can get something for Q or Flip's right at the draft.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but why is everyone calling for us to be sellers and rebuild?

You have Paterson and Mrazek as two big time goalie prospects with a youngish starter in Howard.
 

If Dekeyser signs in Detroit, they'll have Smith, Kindl, Sproul, Backman, Ouellet, and Dekeyser all just hitting or in the middle of their prime  in 4-5 years (not to mention Kronwall, Ericsson, and Quincey as potentially very good veterans at that point).

 

On offense, we have prospects who should be major contributors in 4-5 years like Andersson, Jarnkrok, Sheahan, Pulkkinen, Frk, Jurco, Nyquist, Tatar, and possibly McKee if he switches to LW like I've seen people on here say he should.  This is in addition to Zetterberg, Helm, Brunner, Abdelkader, and Emmerton.  Datsyuk and Franzen could potentially be here in 5 years, but I doubt it.

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that assuming the Red Wings get 0 prospects, 0 big trades, 0 superstar UFAs, and their current prospects develop as projected, the Red Wings will still be very good (especially defensively and in net). The Wings should be buyers, not sellers. They should go for Dekeyser and a top 6 winger for the Datsyuk-Franzen line. If they get healthy and 1 big forward, they'll be in the conversation with Anaheim and Chicago. We don't need a rebuild; we already have one of the best farm systems in the league today.

The 2003 Red Wings were better than then 2013 Penguins, and I don't have to mention what happened that year in the playoffs.  Penguins are the favorite now, but the Stanley Cup isn't won on paper.

It'll probably be something boring like Brunsy.

 

But, if I had a vote, it'd be for Toblerone. And when he snipes one, Ken and Mick can say, "Toblerone's shot is as sweet as chocolate." I'll show myself out.

I thought the NHL made lifelong, front-loaded contracts illegal after the Kovalchuk debacle?

I still can't believe we booed this guy when he played for Columbus and Anaheim.  He might be the most talented Red Wing of all time.

I feel like this is a "The grass is always greener on the other side," type situation.  In that time frame, the Wings were better than the Rangers in every season except this one.  Datsyuk-Zetterberg were Red Wing draft picks, Richards-Gaborik were not NYR draft picks.  Red Wings wait until their prospects are "over-ripe," Rangers don't.  The Rangers draft picks were given the opportunity to make the big club with a big role, and they seized it and look to have panned out.  The Red Wings prospects for the most part haven't been given that opportunity, so the jury's still out.  Not trying to take away from the Rangers, but these aren't really 2 comparable situations.

Also, some of these young guys need to keep improving.  How many times have we seen players surprise everyone one year and disappear the next, or look like a top 6 forward in the playoffs and then go back to normal the following regular season?

Last year, TB beat PIT after going down 3-1, Chicago won 3 straight after going down 3-0 to the Canucks, the Wings won 3 straight after going down 3-0 to the Sharks.  In 2010 Montreal beat Washington after going down 3-1, and Philly beat Boston 4 straight after going down 3-0, In 2009, Washington beat the Rangers after falling 3-1 in the series.  Bottom line, hockey is a funny sport and these things happen more and more each year.  It's not over until one team wins 4 games.

Not the coaches' fault, look what they have to work with.  In all honesty our top line has an old, worn down Bertuzzi and a shell of what used to be Franzen.  To make matters even worse, Zetterberg has to lift Hudler and Flip on his bad back.  Our 3rd and 4th lines are HORRIBLE, some of that due to injuries but also some of that due to not making a trade at the deadline and not signing any free agents.  Our defense is an old Lidstrom who isn't playing like Lidstrom (he looks VERY slow out there with his bad ankle and all) and a career journeyman Ian White.  Kronwall and Stuart are playing good hockey but Stuart's foot is out the door, and Ericsson-Quincey I thought have been pretty good but I'm probably in the minority there.  Our goalie has been below average since his finger injury and there's no backup to throw in to change things up.

I hate to sound so pessimistic, but Holland needs to make some SERIOUS changes this off season.  Sadly, his post-lockout track record doesn't make me feel like that will happen.

I never thought I'd utter these words but... God, I wish Pronger wasn't injured!

Also, I hate to wish injury on anyone, but Crosby is really asking for another concussion.  This series really helped remind me why everyone who knows anything about hockey can't stomach the sound of his name or the sight of his face.

I turned over to the Leafs-Flames game on Sportsnet. Joe Bowen did a quick scoreboard update, the Wings score was last. Also it took Joe a couple seconds to say the Wings set the record. Then he mentioned about the extra opportunities we have to win with OT and the Shootout.

Screw 'em! You can't discredit a record because of a rule change. I think it's more impressive because they have extra chances to lose, so it evens out because they've gone 21 games without a loss. If the Leafs set the record, Joe Bowen would have a heart attack and would have to change his pants after the game because he got so excited! Plus Leaf fans would start celebrating downtown.

I'm glad the Leafs are losing 3-1, and are about to lose their 4th in a row, heh heh heh.

I hate that people try to discredit records because of rule changes.  Previous home winning streak in shootout era was 14 I believe (albeit its only been a handful of seasons).  We increased that number by 50% and still counting. And if shootouts give that much of an unfair advantage, why has no one else gotten close to the home winning streak record? why has no one been close to 62 wins?  If people want to play that card, we should take away all the Habs and Leafs cups from back when they had a monopoly on canadian prospects, or when there were only 6 NHL teams, or when the Stanley Cup was a challenge cup.  We should take away all of Gretzky's records because he used a curved stick.

The only legit strike against this record is our away record, and if they can finish with 25-28 road wins on the season, which I believe they will, it becomes a non-issue.

I'm good with fighting.  Fans love it, players love it, and it absolutely has its place in the sport of hockey.  I am against punching a bloodied player or a player that is covering his head, and i absolutely think the take downs should come with an additional minor or even a game misconduct.  The so-called "unwritten rules" or "code" should be written and enforced.  the unwritten rules are mutual agreements between fighters that are there because it makes fighting safer.  So simply write the rules down.  theoretically it'll make fighting safer.

I wish they'd do something about the cheap shots after the whistle though.  that wings-ducks series in 2009 was the most egregious example i could think of off the top of my head.  The penguins would probably need a new game plan if they did that though.