2011/ 2012 Red Wings

In the off season, we mercifully we didn't sign Jaromir Jagr in the off season. We didn't go out and make huge free agent splashes and sign the capable likes of White & Commodore. We say good bye to Paul MacLean and Brad McCrimmon behind the bench. And we also say goodbye to the long standing guys like Chris Osgood and Kris Draper [[last of the Grind Line) as they head off to the golf course; their Cup contributions won't be soon forgotten. We also welcome back Ty Conklin into the fold again. And we still have the best defenseman I've ever seen lacing them up in Nick Lidstrom for another year.

Feel free to discuss as the season progresses and maybe in mid-June we'll still be playing some significant games.

Well Kenny Holland has the habit of pulling a rabbit out of a hat , this offseason is no different in that we don't usually trade away players that we are developing . Cory Emmerton is an example of that , he's ready to come up from Grand Rapids as is a few others , but in his case is either play him up here or lose him . Its time to start bringing up some of these youngsters .

Real nice start to the season. Hudler looking better, too.

I just went to my first Red Wings game on Friday. It was so much fun. Joe Louis Arena was so energetic and exciting. The other fans were friendly. The food at the stadium was delicious. To top it off we won 5-2. Overall it was a great experience.

C'mon Wings........ find your game.

Five losses in a row has to go back some time. Either way I'm a die hard fan, but watching them lose in this fashion is really rough.

Those 5 losses in a row are a distant memory, the team is playing great. Howard is at his best.

I can't believe Howard isn't on the all-star ballot after having a great season last year and even better one this season so far . I've written him in on the ballot .

Well folks this isn't quite what I wanted , I would have rather had us replace Atlanta [[now Winnipeg) in the East . At least no more 10 pm and after starts . I believe this realignment could have two East or two West teams face off for the Cup , I think I heard this on HNIC


Board of Governors adopt radical realignment plan

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The NHL's Board of Governors on Monday approved a radical realignment plan, eliminating the current two-conference, six-division setup in favor of a configuration that features four conferences based primarily on geography. Two conferences will have eight teams and the other two conferences will have seven teams.
The Board authorized Commissioner Gary Bettman to implement this proposal in Monday evening's vote, pending input from the National Hockey League Players' Association. The League's intention is for the four-conference set-up to be in place starting with the 2012-13 season.
The vote to approve realignment required a two-thirds majority of the League's 30 governors, and it passed on the first of two days of meetings here at The Inn at Spanish Bay.
The makeup of the yet-to-be-named four conferences is as follows:
* New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina
* Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay
* Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg
* Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado
much more at :
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604852

I wish we were in the Boston, Montreal, Toronto Conf instead. Oh well.
I wonder how the playoffs will work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kenp

I wish we were in the Boston, Montreal, Toronto Conf instead. Oh well.
I wonder how the playoffs will work.

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2 Conferences
2 Divisions per Conference
East Conference: 2 Divisions of 7 teams each
West Conference: 2 Divisions of 8 teams each

Top 4 teams from each conference go to the playoffs.
1st round & 2nd Round are fought within the Division.
3rd round is a conference championship.
4th is the cup.

That is my current understanding.

It says there will be 4 conferences, so each conferece will have a champion. Then I dont know what conference plays to get to the Finals though I would agree it would probably be the "western" teams playing together. The one good thing here is we would only have to go out west for one series in the playoffs instead of a possible three series under the current process.

So the NHLPA nixed the realignment. I think this is just posturing by Donald Fehr, the new head of the NHLPA and ex MLB union head. With a new contract coming up it seems this is just a shot off the bow of the NHL by Fehr. Its going to get interesting with him and Bettman.

The problem appears to be how teams make the playoffs .

Congrats Wings on the impressive Franchise Record!

The Todd Bertuzzi Spin-O-Rama shootout goal the other night- I couldn't believe that there are some people on some other sports threads [[not DetroitYes or Detroit related) say that it shouldn't have been allowed because the puck lost forward momentum. I get the gist of the rule but why would that matter with his goal in particular. I never once thought that the momentum of the puck stopped- maybe it slid parallel along the crease for a split second, but Bert still kept the puck moving. Isn't that the idea?

Personally I wouldn't care if he skated in circles with it. The second he shoots the puck or loses control should be the criteria IMO.

I've been wondering about this as well. According to the old rules of a penalty shot the goal would be disallowed. Not just because of the spin move, but because he initially skated towards the boards and not directly to the goal. Patrick Kane had a questionable shootout goal where he slowed down and appeared to stop his forward movement, also disallowed under the old rules. Are the rules for a penalty shot different than for the shootout? Not sure, I need to see the new rules.

This shootout stuff is really changing the game. I cant stand when a game is played only to end in that.
The Red Wings have good one on one players, you would never have thought Bert would be so good at it.

Heckuva game versus the Blues tonight. It had a playoff atmosphere. Both teams vying for first place. While it took awhile to get stewing, that third period was pretty intense and got pretty physical. I loved seeing Jimmy Howard come out swinging especially if he felt as though he was run [[he was). Not only does he need to defend his crease but he has to protect himself. Way to wield that blocker, Jimmy. Don't take any sh!t from anyone.

And it was also nice to see the Wings walk away with a 3-1 victory.

I saw a show last night were they followed Nic Lidstrom around for 36 hours and was shot during the recent Buffalo home game and ther Dallas road game. It was really a good show.
Lidstrom is an interesting guy, has all kind of weird rituals. He eats at the same place before each game at the same time and same table. And a bunch of other habits. Also Holmstrom seems to be his asst. Funny stuff

Seven to two. Yikes! Montreal was flabbergasted. Didnt think the Habs would do more than putt-putt along last night. Our new coach is beginning to knock some sense into our talented young Subban. Wish he could blowtorch Gomez's rump to get the bastard to shoot the puck.

That was a forgettable game. I liked the game where we chased Patrick Roy out of Montreal better.

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Originally Posted by Downriviera

That was a forgettable game. I liked the game where we chased Patrick Roy out of Montreal better.

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Yeah, that was like the beginning of a long line of chasing talent out and getting highly paid, surly faced, untalented or at least lazy players on board...

It had better be a forgettable game to Detroiters, but for the Habs players, it has to be a reminder that effort = results.

Red Wings about to make history?

One home win away from an NHL record.

Hard to compare this streak with the teams that hold the record. They did it without overtime or shootouts. Its still a nice streak and I'm just glad they're winning at home. Need to get a bit better on the road and the pp needs a little work. Who goes down after Howard comes back, Conklin or McDonald?

Streak not withstanding, this team is starting to show some serious moxie. I like what they've been doing defensively again- and that always seemed like a hallmark of the winning WIngs teams of old. Puck control is still one of the benchmarks of this team too.

One other thing that I'm really liking about the Wings is how they've been rolling in some of the fresh troops like Nyquist, Brendan Smith, Corey Emmerton, Jakub Kindl, Jan Mursak, etc.. It's not just one over ripe kid from Grand Rapids; they keep everyone guessing and hustling to be with the big club. It's this sort of depth that keeps this team relevant over the last two decades.

Following up my recent post about the Wings depth, let's hear it for journeyman netminder Joey MacDonald. One could tell he's really falling into a groove by being The Man while Jimmy Howard is temporarily on the shelf. He's playing his angles well and really not afraid to come out and challenge the shooters now. His one gaffe in the Philly game was playing the puck and that has to do with communicating confidently with his defensemen. But his team rallied around him and it didn't hurt the team any.

This was also following an impressive shoot-out victory against some pretty decent shooters in the Ducks game too. Way to stand tall Joey Mac!