Red Wings

[DanO]

That one was terrible as well. Tough couple years. We won the Presidents Trophy that year. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...................and got our ass kicked in the finals.

[Tom]

Based on numbers, I believe Osgood stacks up against anyone. But I, personally, never saw him as a "great" goalie. He had a few great games here and there but to me he never looked special. I think his crying after the San Jose series endeared him to a lot of Wings fans.

I always felt the 98 team would have crushed anyone so I never gave Osgood credit for that Cup. And I think I'm in the minority when I say I thought the team really locked it down defensively in 08 after they pulled Hasek. I thought Osgood's most impressive performance was the 09 playoffs. He probably would have won the Conn Smythe had they won the Cup.

The weirdest incident in Osgood's career may have happened during the 08-09 season. After winning the Cup in 08, during the following season, Osgood was sent down to the minors. They never said why he was sent down. They did say it wasn't because of injury. I've never seen a goalie that had just won a Cup be sent down to the minors unless it was for conditioning following an injury. It was very bizarre and pretty much overlooked by the media.

[Tom]

I'm not a fan of the contract extension for Abdelkader. Seems like a bit much. I've defended Holland a lot over the years but this does not look like a good move to me.

[The King]

He's a grinder who leads the team in hits and scored 20 goals last year. He fights for possession and every team needs a guy like that. I saw his cap hit is something like $4.5 a year, so that's not bad. That cap hit won't hurt when he gets older. The cap will go up, so the contract value declines. It was a good move.

[Malto Marko]

I'm not a fan of the contract extension for Abdelkader. Seems like a bit much. I've defended Holland a lot over the years but this does not look like a good move to me.

I have not seen the terms of the contract but understand it is for 7 years and 28 Mil.

That averages to 4 Mil a year. Hockey contracts are not guaranteed so if his production slips he can be bought out or cut.

He has an abrasiveness the wings need and good hands.

I think tying him up long term and not having to worry about a grinder like him is not a bad thing especially since it is not guaranteed.

[Malto Marko]

He's a grinder who leads the team in hits and scored 20 goals last year. He fights for possession and every team needs a guy like that. I saw his cap hit is something like $4.5 a year, so that's not bad. That cap hit won't hurt when he gets older. The cap will go up, so the contract value declines. It was a good move.

Did not see this before my previous post but totally agree.

[Tom]

The lack of offense for the Wings is becoming a disturbing trend. They seem to be very passive. They skate the puck in or dump it in to the opponents' zone, fail to get a shot, then chase the opponent (in this case Boston) out of the zone. They fail to control the puck and fail to mount an attack. They can't get a sustained attack going and their opponents never have to panic. The old Wings used to control the puck, keep pressuring their opponents, and eventually break them mentally. I know they're not the same but this is supposed to be a skilled team with speed and quickness.

The weird thing is that in the third the Wings started to mount a little pressure. But it's like they play with no urgency at all in first two periods. They're very frustrating to watch.

[Tom]

The Wings looked much better tonight. I think a lot of it had to do with the early goal by Larkin. They seemed more aggressive and confident (for them anyway) and it ended up resulting in a win. They still broke down defensively at the end but it was nice to see them put some pressure on Ottawa. I heard that the Sens give up a lot of shots so maybe it had more to do with them than the Wings.

[jaadam4]

Did Dats play tonight?

[foxhopper]

Box score (or whatever it's called for hockey) says he played 23 shifts- 19:08 minutes

[FCRhodes]

Datsyuk played and looked like he is getting his legs back. Larkin and AA looked great.

[jaadam4]

Datsyuk played and looked like he is getting his legs back. Larkin and AA looked great.

That's good news.. I can't wait for AA to be there full time.

[FCRhodes]

I can't wait until AA is so good that I can spell his last name.

[jaadam4]

Who are you telling!?! Me too!

[jaadam4]

Good win against LA. We need to get hot and win some games. Even after a bad stretch we're still sitting nicely.

Larkin got another goal and I'm intrigued by the Dats, Richards , Pulkinen line.