1984Echoes

Early returns on Yzerman's deadline trades are... Not too bad.

And now it's Tuzzi's turn!!! 6-3.

Empty Netter by Sundqvist = 5-3...

But we give up another goal for a 4-3 score...

But on a 2nd line Center, yeah, we need one. I have it in my head that Berggren could turn into one. He's played Center before... but the NHL is harder and there's a lot more responsibility that would be dumped on his shoulders so I'm not really certain about that... But I'd like to see Berggren between Vrana and _______, just to see what happens...

I am prematurely optimistic that Sundqvist could turn into a Holmstrom, or even another Bertuzzi...

PS: To put that more explicitly, If I'm running for office against any of Putin's western political apologists, I'm straight up calling them "Bought and Paid for by Vladimir Putin". "You're obviously a Russian Stooge". I think any accusation like that that sticks in a campaign, is an auto-lose for Putin's Russian Stooges.

Vrana has 13 Goals in 18 Games (sss) for the Red Wings ... we need to keep him healthy.

I'm crap on ice so... I have a hard time criticizing sometimes especially with the speed the NHL plays at... So while I defended Raymond; you are correct in that the simple and less dangerous play would have been to chip it against the boards just to get it out of the zone... He was probably trying to "make a play" and, as soon as he turned away from the boards in the attempt, ... he was screwed. The right play was probably to chip it out... I'll agree with you on that. But I'm still reluctant to put everything on him as, again, I know he was trying to "make a play".

Sweet puck control and pass by Larkin... But DAMN is Vrana a fucking dangerous shot!!! (please excuse the language...)

I think that just got flushed down the toilet along with the rest of Russia's international influence. Even though there are still a few PAID Russian Stooges in the west like MTG, Galloway, Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard, etc... It's gonna go out of style right damn quick. Thank Zeus.

How in hell does Oesterle have the most TOI for defenseman?

Yeah that's not the competition at all. It's E-Rod-Mize-Skubal-Manning locked into the rotation, save injury. The Tigers will decide who is their 5th starter: Pineda or Alexander. Probably Pineda and Alexander is the swing guy in the BP and 6th starter... But I wouldn't bet money on that either...

I don't think that was necessarily Raymond's fault as he was looking for an outlet pass and couldn't find one... he was trying to skate to a passing lane and ended up getting himself trapped by 3 Flyers...

BTW: That was a brilliant goal by Veleno.

At first glance... I also like both Sundqvist's size and how he uses it.

This would give me reason for hope if we do indeed draft Willis.

Rodney Peete was at least a somewhat serviceable backup. And a 6th rounder to boot. No expectations for anything more than that. Ware at #7 couldn't read defenses, had difficulties transitioning from a shotgun to under-center QB, and was not accurate. IIRC our scouting director quit after Fontes insisted on drafting him (that may have come from Mouse Davis & June Jones in Wayne's ear...). A complete and total disaster with about 7 starts his entire career. Drafting Wilis at #2, if he never gains the ability to read NFL defenses and/or struggles badly with accuracy issues and locking-onto-#1 option issues... would be closer to a Ware than a Peete. Peete was nothing but an unspectacular yeoman. But not a top 10 pick either. 6th rounder? He provided great "value" for where he was selected. I don't think Willis will be either of those guys... I was just being smart with the Ware mention... Ware was particularly a disaster of an NFL QB... But if all Willis turns into is a lesser Jalen Hurt... I don't know if that's good enough. If the Lions draft him, they have to believe they can coach him up... and they better be successful with that too, if they want to stick around for the long haul...

Or Andre Ware v2.0.

It has been specifically noted that Willis is weak in those areas. Which makes him a particularly dangerous prospect, especially at #2. I take a trade down if there's interest from other teams at grabbing him in the #2 spot.

I hope Chet ain't the guy at the top of their board.

And Ty Alexander doesn't want to lose his rotation spot.

Daz is really trying to show that his hat belongs also in the 4th OF'er possibility... not just Reyes and/or Hill...

Ewww. I just threw up in my mouth.

We don't have much in the way of flashy O players but... We could use the same thing.