MidMichSteve

Seriously....who is this Franzen everyone keeps talking about?

He is struggling now but I fully expect Mule to come alive in the playoffs.

They're looking better. That's all I can ask at this point in the season. Good D and goaltending, The scoring will improve.

The Nucks, Hawks, and Kings have all been rolling the last 10 games. The Wings haven't. It's a little late in the season to still be tweaking lines but there is still time to get their game in order.

I'm anxious to see how the second line performs today.

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!

Please don't come out with an effort like the last game.



Oh, and hey, Rinne,

BOOOOOOGA!!


Thanks, Mike. Stellar job.  

Just duplicate the effort of the last game.

BOOOOOOGA!!

Win and move up to a 5 point lead on Chicago and move ahead of the Preds. Sounds like a good enough reason to me.


BOOOOOOGA!!

I would not want to take the risk of playing against the Sharks in the first round and give up any home ice advantage during the playoffs.

Plus, no team lower than a 5th seed has won the cup before.  Not sure I want to give up on the Cup just because the team is underachieving right now.

Well said.  

Home ice is extremely important in the playoffs, particularly for the Wings this season.

Sharks. I hate the Sharks. As happy as it would make me if they missed the playoffs, I would love it if Detroit would sweep their asses even more.

Conks gets a reprieve from his day job.

Nobody wins the Cup in March.  Seriously, how many times have we seen the Wings dominate in March, then get knocked out in the first or second round?  The playoffs are a totally different game.  Everybody gives a little extra.  There's a little more fighting in the corner for loose pucks.  More willingness to give up the body to block shots.  More willingness to stand in front of the net to chip in a loose puck or deflect a shot.  All these little things make a big difference in the postseason.  Winning in the regular season is all good and fine, but they won't be playing Carolina, Winnipeg, Isles or Leafs in the playoffs and the good teams they'll be playing will be playing much differently than they are now.  I'm not saying they won't change themselves, but winning a bunch of games in the regular season doesn't prove anything.  Our fan base has learned that lesson a bunch of times.

And we promptly forget it at the beginning of every season.....myself included.  

Hey, Niemi!

Dats is back? I went to NHL.COM and it isn't even mentioned.



The OP must be mistaken, the NHL always promotes the return of their star players.

Damned idiot(s).     I hope they get busted ASAP.

The sad thing is people tend to paint their opinions of other fan bases with a wide brush. Not all, or even a majority, of Vancouver fans rioted after the SCF. It was a very small minority. I'll bet almost all Flyers' fans were appalled at the recent assault on the Rangers' fan.

I would hope that most people realize that. Detroit doesn't need, or deserve, the negative publicity.

Which is what they have done.  They sit tied for 3rd in the NHL right now, and only 2 points out of 1st in the league.  I think thats pretty darn good.  

Right!  

Dats skating is great news! I didn't expect him to hit the ice so soon. I don't thing the Wings will panic, they'll wait until he's healed to get him back out there.

It's a good thing in a couple of ways. Dats, Jimmy and Lids are getting some rest and the team is learning how to play without their best players in the lineup.

I was pleased with how the Wings played yesterday, against a good team, with a very depleted lineup. Smith's play, in particular.  

I'm not worried in the least.