WingNut722

@jammer2 I hadn't heard that Gustavsson was hurt. He didn't play in the Olympics so he must have tweaked something in practice. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. I'd rather have Monster than Mrazek. Mrazek is capable, but the Wings won't make the playoffs on "capable". From the result of last night's play, it looks like you're wish is granted a la Nyquist, coming up huge in overtime to win over the Habs. Great second chance opportunity for the kid driving to the net. Another beauty by Bertuzzi from Franzen...two guys who haven't played hockey in a month put together a perfect power play goal. They looked a bit rusty to be sure, but but all the rust came off quickly and cleanly. Good to start the last stretch of the season with a win. Hopefully they can get at least a point in Ottawa tonight. Son't forget Stephen Weiss is due back next week. He's been playing in Grand Rapids, tuning up his game. Hopefully he's ready to return and be able to consider this a fresh start from his stale play. Looking forward to seeing him again. If he can get going it will go a long way to make up for Zetterberg's absence. And he'll certainly bring the other guys with him. PS - Is it just me or did the Red Wing uniforms looks just a little bit odd last night? We've all been watching two weeks' worth of Olympic uniforms, so seeing the ol' Red and White was a bit strange to me.

Alright folks, let's bring it out to the forefront now. Knowing what we know now, will the Red Wings make the playoffs? Here are the contributing factors: -24 games left in the season; 11 home, 13 away -Currently ranked 8th in the Eastern Conference and hold the last Wild Card spot with 64 points. Toronto and Montreal currently hold the first Wild Card and third place in the division, respectively, and are tied with 70 points -Red Wings first game is at Montreal tomorrow, followed by Ottawa on Thursday. -Henrik Zetterberg is out for pretty much the rest of the regular season after having (successful) back surgery. -Johan Franzen and Stephen Weiss are eagerly expected back soon, hopefully for tomorrow's game, but no official announcement has been made for either -Pavel Datsyuk entered the Olympic break after just returning from what was later stated to be an "inflamed knee." Datsyuk played very little of their opening game against Slovenia, but looked sharp through the rest of Russia's representation in the tournament and turned out to be one of their top scorers. With Russia having been eliminated early, Datsyuk was able to visit family in Yekaterinburg and rest for over a week before rejoining Detroit. -The trade deadline is looming, but in his usual style, Ken Holland has not made any comment as to whether or not he might make a move What say you?

Congrats on the win @jammer2. Nice pickin's! Now back to plain old NHL hockey.... Cheers! Many thanks again for keeping track @hf101!

@yave1964 Many women of curling have posed for these racy calendar and magazine shoots to raise awareness (and thus, funding) for their sport. Their beauty is matched only by their dedication. By the way, google Anna Sidorova. You won't be disappointed.

I would agree with @radoran that you'd see a lot of three-year deals signed in order to participate in the Olympics. It seems like the most logical solution if there happens to be any divide between the NHL and the players. I think the NHL recognizes that they are not the only elite hockey league in the world (like MLB is to baseball). So for the league to forbid its players from participating would be a futile, empty gesture, and in the end would only hurt the league more than these injuries are hurting it now. It's unfortunate that these players are hurt while playing in someone else's uniform, but that's I honestly don't think there is a better way to approach this. In the long run, and from all angles, having the NHL players in the Olympics is both good for the NHL and good for the Olympics.

Please please PLEASE don't put me in the same room with Bettman. I am not taking his side at all. Frankly, I think NHL players should compete in the Olympics. They are the world's best players, so I don't understand the logic in disallowing them that opportunity. There is not a sufficient "business" reason in the universe that will convince me that NHL players should hang back for two weeks. There is no way you can explain anybody to John and Jane American, Sven and Elka Swede, or Sergei and Tatyana Russian how it makes sense to clearly reduce their country's chances of winning gold by excluding certain players.

@SpikeDDS It all makes sense, Spike, but I think your conclusion is too open-ended. The key to your argument hinges upon negotiating what "questionable" means. It's a perfectly clear-cut question, but I think it is a huge gray area. It could be a never ending argument based on the type of injury and the prestige of the player suffering from it. Even the the team's playoff chances are all things that can be argued/considered/negotiated. Concussions are clearly going to be a sticking point here. In the end, there needs to be some ultimate accountability if indeed, the player in question gets hurt or aggravates a pre-existing condition while participating in the Olympics. Who would ultimately be responsible, and what kind of penalties would they face? It's an extremely fine line the League needs to walk in order to protect their sport but at the same time, allowing these players to return to represent their home nations on the world stage.

I would certainly support that (since he's on my team) I think if we give a point to the game-winning shoot out player, we should not give shutout points to the losing goaltender (in the case of the RUS-SLO game, Varlamov would get the shutout points and Radulov would get the goal point). What about if an extra point was awarded to the game-winning goal in any situation (shoot-out among them). Makes it very interesting. Of course the realist in me wants to know what is going to be less hassle on @hf101 for scorekeeping.

@flyercanuck Indeed they did say that. And while the league decided to send players anyway, we can only wonder as to what the league may have done if those two opted out. Since it's Ovechkin and Malkin, my guess is they would have had to pay a paltry fine and maybe miss a couple games. The league can't afford to severely penalize two of their most gifted (and lucrative) athletes. Say what you want about them, and Crosby for that matter) but they are bringing attention back to hockey. However, it takes just one serious injury to change all that. Now Zetterberg's is a pre-existing condition which was reaggravated. But let's pretend that Stamkos broke his leg in Sochi...and missed the rest of the NHL season as a result. I think we could say bye-bye to NHL players at the Olympics.

Then let me posit this question to you, sir... Is it better to have a solution that will make a few people happy, or a solution that will make everyone unhappy? i.e. should the NHL ban their players from participating in the Olympics at all? (I have my opinion, but I'm withholding it now for objectivity's sake)

@jammer2 And yes, the Brier is like the Stanley Cup to many Canadians....particularly since the Stanley Cup itself has spent so much time south of the border!

The Brier is the Canadian men's national championship. The Tournament of Hearts is the women's. The recent years, the Canadian Olympic teams have been determined by the champions of the Roar of The Rings tournament, however, previously, the Brier champion (of the Olympic year) was automatically awarded the Olympic opportunity. (Not sure about the TOH)

@SpikeDDS Are you a curler? You seem to know much more about the sport than the average Joe.

@Hockey Junkie He's got a great team. The Russia/USA game will tell if my made a good choice picking Datsyuk despite the injury. If he's hurt, let's hope they put him on IR, so @hf101 can switch him out for Vladdy Teresenko for me.

@hf101 Helluva game for Carter. Although it's only Austria....

Do it, @jammer2! Pick Alfie! You know you want to! Now if there were someway for me to make sure that Jonathan Quick gets hurt so Ryan Miller would have to take the nets

Having the beer definitely helps, although some restrictions apply (no glass on the ice!!) And it is also curling tradition that the winner buys the first (of many) round of drinks after the game.

@fanaticV3.0 Try it.... Depending on ice conditions, a two-hour game of curling can leave you absolutely exhausted. When was the last time you were completely out of breath while bowling of golfing? I had actually read an article on the physical effort of curling. They had attached some kind of device to each of the curlers on Team Kevin Martin, the gold medalists in Vancouver. Each of them logged approximately 1,000-1,700 calories burned in one match. It's a lot. The athleticism comes, not only in the form of muscular control to allow for proper delivery and more effective sweeping, but also in endurance, so those muscles can keep performing in the later stages of the game (where the shots REALLY count).

Not singling out anybody for specific comments, just generally responding to every point made in this post so far.

@Hockey Junkie @fanaticV3.0 @SpikeDDS Gentlemen- Not only as a fan of curling, but a curler myself, I can tell you that curling is INDEED a sport worthy of its place in the Olympics. The amount of physical effort required during a single game is extraordinary. Yes, it is a contest that just about anyone can get into and enjoy, however, physical fitness usually prevails. Now, to go back to Spike's original post, the US is not doing very well and a lot of us curlers are wondering why they take the shots that they take, which tend to put them deeper into the holes they dig for themselves. Women's curling on the other hand is indeed a spectator sport, and if one is so inclined, a number of calendars are made and sold featuring some of the more appealing ladies in rather racy (but tasteful) poses. Think that Swiss Third looks pretty good? She looks a lot better nude.

Here we go... Men's: Gold: Canada Silver: Russia Bronze: Sweden Women's: Gold: Canada Silver: USA Bronze: Finland

I'm in! Hopefully we have enough?

@radoran Eh...you're probably right. I forgot he was out with injury this season, which is why I didn't see the numbers I was looking for. And I didn't want to count Vanek's season this year because it's not over yet, and Vanek could, as you say, fall off a cliff. If he doesn't, it would certainly demonstrate his versatility as a winger, being able to put up respectable numbers with any line combination. Another reason Detroit should be eyeballing him. @Commander Clueless Other options besides Tatar would be preferred (assuming of course they go for the trade deadline). Tatar is a top scorer on the third or fourth line with Detroit. Vanek would most certainly take second line. The Wings have plenty of prospects and young players to deal. I know NYI is looking for capable talent to augment guys like Okposo and Tavares, so sending someone like Tomas Jurco, OR (not and) Riley Sheahan, coupled with a young defender might make for a nice package. Their ability and potential are high, but a low cap hit. The savings would allow Garth Snow to also pursue another "more expensive" scoring winger in the offseason as well. As has been discussed in many of the Detroit forums here, the greater need is for a better defender, which is a key flaw in Detroit's system right now. If a deal can be made a hot shot blueliner, that would produce that many more scoring chances for the existing offensive talent

@Commander Clueless That would be the reason to wait until the offseason. There's no way I'd try to trade for him before the deadline. He'll command a fair bit of salary on the open market, which means I would want to lose one of my youngest stars at the same time. Even for a cup run. @radoran Parise is not putting up the same numbers with Minnesota as he did with New Jersey. For one reason or another (likely the change in line mates) he's just not turning out the points as he did previously. Vanek on the other hand, has only played for Buffalo (with the exception of this season) so we honestly don't know how well he would do elsewhere. I will agree with @jammer2 in saying he'd be a lot more successful with better linemates.

@jammer2 I even think Holland traded him to the Sharks for a draft pick, just to make sure the deal went through, and Stuart would end up in California. He still had a year left on his contract in Detroit.