yave1964

I admit i was dismayed when Berggren began in the AHL (he was killing it early BTW) but the reason was he needed to work on his defense. Czarnik first call up frustrated me as well. Now Berggren will understand offense is not the end all. be all and will play a nasty two way game as well. Again, love the team so far. Beating Tampa and Pittsburgh but most importantly Ottawa so early set the tone.

Wow are the boys fun to watch so far. Let's not forget that they started 3-0-2 last season, but this feels so different. They also had a 4 game winning streak to get within two points of a wildcard spot last season in February but again, not the same feel. A simply ferocious backcheck, the moment an opponent has the puck at least one, sometimes two Wings are in their face contesting every inch of the ice. Perron as a fantastic two way forward is a big part of that, but every addition we made this offseason plays the same way as Perron and Copp, last years adds do. Taking the puck away from the opponents and immediately switching to offense, been a long time. Fun to watch. This feels real. And with more cap room than about anyone in the game still plenty of room to add Kane and/or several others if needed down the stretch.

He liked it so much he followed up with another one. Does he stick? Still looks very raw but Boston really needs him.

Love this kid, great future

I was GLUED TO THE GAME (sorry about the caplocks, it describes my mood, lol. Last year Wings went into Ottawa for back to back games in early February, 4 points out of a playoff spot. Up 2-1 at the end of one, Tkachuk challenged the entire Wings bench to a fight, nobody answered the bell and he stood their laughing. Sens 7-1 followed the next night by the Sens winning 5-1. Game and season over. Hronek and Bertuzzi dealt within a week. I circled this game above all games since the schedule came out, as must see TV, the Wings had to win period. What a fun game, power play clicking, hitting everything that moved, man it felt good today. Still a looong season but the Wings are scoring at a fantastic clip, a relentless forecheck. Five games in, it is fun to watch the boys in every game.

What I like more than anything is the ferocious forecheck and backcheck. Computer joins Copp and Larkin as solid defensive middle men, while kostin and the other new wingers play the same style. I have been utterly blow away by Debrincat coming back on defense, I always pictured him as a one dimensional player so far simply not true. And Holl is playing steady on the back end, Ghost has a rep as an offensive damn with deficiencies but he has a non stop motor. Just thrilled with how we are grinding other teams down.

Man Norris looked like he never missed any time.

Ugh. Kid cannot seem to ever get a break.

Another one goal loss. Hopefully it does not become a pattern as it did last season on their way to coming within a single one goal loss of tying the all time record No seriously, I watched most of last nights game ( the Wings were on local blackout by ESPN because they played in Columbus, grrrr) Markstrom looked great, the team looked confident. The middle six stepped up on a night when the top line was shut down, they faced a hot goalie on the road and still managed a point on the road.

Something else about Young, his nickname is 'the ringmaster's because he is the only man in history to have won all four cups, the Stanley cup, memorial cup, turner cup and Calder cup. Won Stanley as a member of the 91 penguins serving as Tom barrasso backup. He has adopted Chicago and they him, in a sport where regular players can go in public with relative anonymity he says he cannot go eat with his family without people asking him for a selfie, lol. A true cult following. In the A H L hall of fame, his number retired by the Wolves, not bad for a guy with a career record of 59-86-12 and a goals against of 3.94. And YES I did think of you when I put this together. Us middle aged fan boys and girls need to stick to lol.

Wendell Young is one of my favorite people in all of Hockey to follow. He broke in as a 4th round pick of the Canucks in 1981, he took six years of bus rides to get a crack with the Canucks when they were one of the worst teams in the game, going 6-15-4 with awful stats. That shoulda been the end. Players like that usually end up back in the minors, quickly forgotten, going to Europe for a payday if they can secure a job. The end. Case closed. Instead he went to the minors, worked his way back, became a semi regular in net with the Pens before being drafted by the expansion Bolts to be their first starter.after a year and a half at age 31 he was sent to Chcago in the minors, retirement never entered his mind. Other than a few games with the desperate Penguins he spent the next seven years in Chicago as a part time goalie, an unofficial goalie coach. He retired in 2001 after being named the IHL man of the year for perseverance. He went on to be an assistant coach through 2009 when he became the GM of the most independent team in the AHL, the same Wolves who he has come to love. Many, even most AHL clubs are owned by their parent NHL team but the Wolves have refused to do so for years. They have had working agreements with half a dozen NHL clubs over the years, often clashing with NHL execs who want their players played when the proud Wolves team wants to win, development is often secondary, so they play the guys who give them the best chance to win. Last year it came to a head between Wendell Young who refused to play the young Pyotr Kochetkov instead wanting to run veteran Alex Lyon out their because he gave the team the best chance to make the playoffs. Hurricanes GM Wadell threatened to pull his team away from the Wolves leaving owner Don Levin and GM Wendell Young to make a hard decision. Wadell escalated the feud threatening to have the coach, Warsofsky fired, and then very publicly stating that coach Warsofsky was told that they didnt need to worry about winning, they only needed to worry about development of prospects for the Hurricanes. The year before Warsofsky won the Calder Cup. Last year with all the distractions they missed the playoffs by one point. With a month to go they told the Hurricanes they were not welcome back, they were going to go it alone. Waddell stated he just wanted to develop winners, Young said winning develops winners. It got ugly. Young, with aproval from ownership told the Hurricanes to get bent. They officially became independent and the Canes ended up out in the cold with no AHL team. As an independently owned franchise, they need to make money. To make money they need to win. finishing near the bottom of the standings does not draw fans or make money for an owner or an organization. So without an AHL franchise Dufus Don Waddel, high on my list of overrated GMs in the NHL was forced to loan prospects to other organizations or send them to Europe. Meanwhile Wendell Young quietly and calmly signed veteran minor leaguers to build what honestly looks to be a pretty damn god AHL squad (albeit a bit thin in net). Somewhat familiar names such as Rocco Grimaldi, Cory Conacher, Isaac Ratcliffe, Chris Terry, Matt Donovan, Brendan Perlini and now Max Comtois dot the roster alongside some kids who for whatever reason didnt quite stick with the team that originally drafted them make up a decent, passable AHL roster. They are being paid slightly more than most AHL clubs offer, not all salaries are released at that level but it is about ten to twenty percent higher than most AHL clubs pay veteran players. All players have been told that if an NHL job opens up, such as someone needs third line scoring and wants Grimaldi they are free to go, as long as the organization they are going to trades a veteran back their way. Honestly, i am a bit torn. As much as i dont like Waddel and think he accidently hit the perfect storm with the Canes hiring the perfect coach and inheriting what was mostly drafted from other teams while making one bad signing and trade after another they are still relevant is more a statement of the coach than anything. But i understand why he wants his best player prospects to play top minutes and learn on the job so they can be ready when needed. Part of the problem is the Canes are notorious for not wanting to spend a ton of money on development and have refused to secure a permanent AHL affiliate that is club owned, instead trying to bully the Wolves into bending to their will. That is something Wendell Young has not and never will do. He put his foot down with Vegas who bought their own AHL club in Henderson that they can control. It makes sense for the organization. But the Wolves get paid based off the gate, off the revenue, so winning now, being entertaining is very important. Butts in the seats, hot dogs sold, all that matters to the ownership. Winning matters to GM Young. Developing a fourth line penalty killer for a parent club by giving him twenty minutes a night when he is not close to being the best player on the team for those minutes, not so much. Anyway, the last truly stubborn cuss of an organization in any minor league that I can think of anywhere, i am rooting for them to win the Calder Cup this year if the Griffins or Monsters cannot (Parent club owned). Wendell Young may never get a shot at the NHL running a franchise because of the well earned rep he has earned in the AHL of being hard to deal with as he treats winning as the only thing, but i am rooting for him and the Wolves. I seriously think this will be the Wolves last rodeo, they will either agree to be purchased by an NHL parent club (with Wendell Young either immediately being fired or summarily shot, lol) or they will partner up with another organization next season. The third possibility, the one that makes me saddest of all is Carolina does a start up with an AHL team close to home and the Wolves are not invited back to the AHL for next season and they are forced to drop down a runf to the ECHL or simply cease to exist. It is fun to watch a little guy exasperate the big guys every now and then and that is what Wendell Young has done to Waddell. Sadly, i think this is it, the final season for this type of thing.

2 games. About right. Sucks, I like Tanev a lot, hate to see it.

I knew someone would catch that, really only three forwards, not necessarily on the same line. Jarvis still hasn't stepped up but let's say he has a 60 point year. Is it enough to move the needle? Terravainen was beat up last year and was miserable for long stretches when he could play, clearly in decline. I simply think the forward group is very pedestrian, middle of the pack as a whole.

Agree Yotes could surprise, if they get enough goaltending. Montreal will be bad and in easily the deepest division, you may get your wish and they may crater Dj smith. Hmmm, I am more bullish on Ottawa, but cracks already. Norris may be done already and watching korpisalo up close here in Ohio, let's just say he does not inspire confidence. I do not believe in Carolina. At all. Love the coach, hate the gm, mostly though I don't think past the first line that there is any offense. Svech, Aho and Necas are brilliant but nobody else scares anyone. And really they had nobody in top 40 in scoring or goals for. Love the defense, all three goalies, top three forwards but IMHO I don't believe they make it out of first round without two key middle six adds. Just not enough there there if you know what I mean. Heiskanen. Agreed, Norris has become an offensive award but every now and then the voters get one right. I think Dallas is phenomenal right now, he is the games best defensive dman and I hope the writers for once stop being lazy and get one right.

Colorado acquired Seth Jones brother Caleb from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Cal Burke. Here is where the trade gets weird. The Hurricanes do not have an AHL affiliate this season as the Chicago Wolves literally gave them the bot choosing to play as an independent in the AHL this season. Thus, the Canes have been forced to scramble for a place for their players to play in the minors this year, sending some to the ECHL while loaning others around the AHL. Last week they announced that Caleb Jones would be loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL subject to recall by the Canes. Cal Burke had been assigned to the Eagles by the Avalanche as well. So in short, Jones was an Eagle and after the trade remains an Eagle. Burke, also an Eagle who post trade was loaned by Carolina back to them, so he too remains an Eagle. In my entire memory of the game, I cannot remember ever hearing of one teammate being traded for the other, and then both will remain teammates for the upcoming season as well. Just too cool.

STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS Edmonton gets past the Rangers in six very spirited games. DIVISION WINNERS Toronto, Edmonton, Jersey, Dallas. FIRST COACH FIRED Rick Bowness in Winnipeg. Rumored to be universally hated by his team. NORRIS WINNER Heiskanen edges out Dahlin HART WINNER McDavid until further notice IF NOT MCDAVID, WHO WINS THE HART? Jack Hughes VEZINA WINNER Oettinger wins, edging out Shesterkin CALDER TROPHY Bedard of course IF NOT BEDARD? I think Clarke from the Kings is gonna have a damn fine career and was my sleeper pick but coach Scott Stevens wants his defenseman to be defense first last and only, like when he played so he was shipped to start the year in the AHL to get more seasoning. So my non Bedard pick is now a tie between Cooley in an Arizona High school gym or Levi in Buffalo SELKE TROPHY Shoulda hands down been Hischier last year, maybe even the year before. He gets his first of many this season. LADY BING TROPHY Again, as in every year, nobody really cares. OVECHKIN TOTAL GOALS 38 DOES THE OVER THE HILL GANG IN THE IGLOO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? No. Penguins barely miss the final spot. DO EITHER OF LAST YEARS CUP FINALISTS MAKE THE FINAL FOUR? No. Final four will be Dallas losing to Edmonton, Leafs losing to the Rangers. WORST RECORD IN THE GAME THIS YEAR San Jose.

It was important to keep these two, Winnipeg is developing a rep as Siberia of the NHL. If the two faces of the franchise left, who knows, they may have ended up relocating to somewhere stupid like Arizona. Oh wait.....

great deal for both. great deal for the city. great deal for the game. Great day for Manitoba at large. Great deal.

Somewhere Mo seiders agent is grinning wide.

Amadeus Lombardi made an impression, the kid is slipping under the radar but is very talented Wallinder not so much. Did little to impress with as many dmen as we have he could get buried. Edvisson had a nice goal to close out Pittsburgh late but hasn't done much The vets, you are spot on. Rasmussen especially has impressed. I think we will be able to run two legit power play units this year. Cautiously optimistic we will be average or a bit better in net. Tough division. We have to close mb over at least two of Boston, Florida, Ottawa or Buffalo which is a huge task..still I like the roster, not only at the NHL level but the kids at GR as well. Oh PS compher looks really, really fearless and skilled as well.

Damn autocorrect lol

Calgary was so snakebite last year. IMHO their biggest addiction was the subtraction of Sutter ....

The problem to me was picking Boston ylor the penguins for the last spot. Almost a coin toss imho

Fairly high on the yotes this year, surprised and bummed they sent maveric lamereaux back to juniors today. Talented fun kid I was hoping he would stick.

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