There are a TON of rumors circulating right now that the Wings are about to pull the trigger on a Hemsky deal with Edmonton. Malik reports that the "braintrust" for the Wings is currently meeting in Vegas and no deal will happen until those meetings conclude, but this has been gaining heat since The Edmonton Journal first reports on it at the end of December. It's been a while since I have heard a rumor so strong circulating the Wings, so I am going to give it a bit more credit than the usual fare (generally involving Nashville defensemen).

His career stats aren't terrible, that much is for sure. For the most part, he's a point-per-game player, though his stats have seen a hit this season due to these two guys named Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. That said, health is a major issue for him. He's played in 523 of 702 possible games in his 8 year career and he has missed 1/4 of this season.

His cap hit is $4.1 million, so we can definitely absorb him with our cap space. This is the final year of his deal, though, so this could just end up being a rental.

So... what does everyone think of Hemsky? Would he be a good trade? What is he worth?

• All Star ballots were released yesterday.  Only snub for the Wings, as far as I am concerned, is Jimmy Howard, who is quietly having the strongest year of his career.  To be fair, though, I didn't expect him (nor Niklas Kronwall) to be candidates, so I will take what I can get. [Puck Daddy]
• It would appear that Henrik Zetterberg believes that the Flyers did the right thing against the Lightning's 1-3-1 trap by holding onto the puck until the Lightning made a move. [MLive]
  
• Fun stat of the day: Nicklas Lidstrom is +527 over his career compared to Ilya Kovalchuck.. [Puck Daddy]
• As unlikely as it sounds, Red Wings Front is pointing out that Tomas Holmstrom is moving his way back up the forward lines.  [Red Wings Front]
• On Monday, former Red Wings defenseman, partner of Lidstrom, Brad McCrimmon, and Konstantinov at various times, Mark Howe will join his father, Mr. Hockey himself, in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  [MLive]
• TPL has updated their excellent "Gradient of Failure."  If Lidstrom was any better, he'd be off the chart. [The Production Line]
• The Blue Jackets traded Kris Russell to the Blues last night for Nikita Nikitin (what are the odds this guy is a super secret Russian agent that likes to smoke?).  Separate reports were out there that they had also traded Fedor Tyutin to the Islanders for Evgeni Nabakov, but nothing happened officially on that front. [The Cannon]
• Ever the Stat Geeks, Arctic Ice Hockey shows the bias given to the home team when awarding assists.  While I think this may be more consequential than anything, an 8% dip on the penalty kill may be outside an expected margin for error. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
• theScore wonders who has the worst shot in the NHL.  Hint: if you paid attention, he is the one trade I would go back in time and undo. [theScore]
• This Lightning fan wants the media to back off his team's actions against the Flyers like they backed off the puck.  [Raw Charge]
• As any team (even the Wings) does during bouts of losing, fans of the Capitals are trying to lay blame on whomever they can.  This fanpost goes directly after Alexander Semin, not at all a surprise given fan hate of him in recent memory. [Japers' Rink]
• Icethetics has what looks to be the official Winter Classic jersey for the Flyers, and I love it. [Icethetics]
• Late Addition: NHL.com has a feature on Nicklas Lidstrom and his hot start. Best part of the article is when a reporter asked Babcock whether TPH's start was "fluky", and survived the death stare. [NHL.com]

Discussion of the Day: Let's have a prediction today.  Yesterday, Yahoo! posted an article from AP writer Dan Gelston that talks about how young the core American players are and how we have finally hit that next wave, nearly 30 years after the last wave of American hockey began.  Is this current crop good enough to face the likes of Canada (with its 500 All Stars), Sweden (featuring 3 T-900s), and Russia (with all its... vodka)?  What do you see happening at the 2014 Olympics in Russia?

• So, I chose a bad night not to skip school.  5-2 with a hat trick from the Mule and more scoring from TPH?  I'm sad that school got in the way of that. Don't forget the curly fries today. [The Production Line - MLive - Detroit Free Press - Mile High Hockey - Nightmare on Helm Street]
  
• This is just an awesome read about the experience of Joe Louis Arena. [The Score]
  
• With realignment a month away, Puck Daddy has posted a visual look at every single league alignment since 1967. [Puck Daddy]
• The Blues shutout the Blakchawks 3-0 in Ken Hitchcock's debut behind the bench.  I have to admit, I was rooting for them to win.  I root for every Blackhawks opponent to win. [St. Louis Game Time]
• Sidney Crosby may finally be on the verge of returning.  [Yahoo! Sports]
• Speaking of the Penguins, they traded Mark Letestu to the Blue Jackets for a fourth round pick yesterday. [Pensburgh]
• Copper and Blue point out something that has always been a limiting factor for the Canadiens: their preference for players, coaches, GMs, and personnel who speak French.  I know it's a big part of your identity, Montreal, but you shouldn't choose spoken language over the people that give you the best chance to win. [Copper and Blue]
• Mike Knuble doesn't sound too confident in his Capitals right now, questioning their commitment.  Don't worry, Mike, it'll get better when you have a T-1000 and a weird cross between a horse and donkey score a bunch of goals for you. [Washington Post]
• A Junior player received a 20 game suspension for a hit that likely would have seen a similar Shanaban, if not more.  That is the kind of hit that makes you cringe. [Pro Hockey Talk]

Discussion of the Day: Do you think last night will be followed by another cold streak from Johan Franzen?  He himself has said he doesn't like scoring this much all at once because he has a tough time scoring afterward.  Let's hope he has a hat trick every night.

• Like NOHS, I was pretty surprised when I saw a tweet over the weekend talking about Konstantinov painting.  It's hardly something I would expect him to be doing, but it does seem like a great way to rehab. [Nightmare on Helm Street]
• Here's a kind reminder (and a good interview to boot): Mr. Mickey Redmond goes to the Hall of Fame in a week. [Detroit Free Press]
• USA Today points out that we are not in the clear yet, after ending our losing streak.  Our upcoming schedule is pretty damn tough. [USA Today]
• Malik, yes that Malik, is back and the first article get to link to from him is about how he believes Nicklas Lidstrom may be playing the best regular season hockey of his career this season.  That is a pretty big suggestion for a player who is 41 and unanimously considered the second greatest defenseman of all time. Also, Malik. [The Malik Report]
  
• Stevie Y is lucky that Holland is not spiteful.  Mattias Ritola, previously plucked off waivers from the Wings, cleared waivers over the weekend to be assigned to the Lightning AHL affiliate. [Raw Charge]
• Completely unrelated to absolutely anything, but I am giving Col. Hans Landa some love. [YouTube]
  
• You snooze, you lose, Columbus.  The Blue Jackets who, as of Friday, were still looking to clean house and re-hire Ken Hitchcock as head coach to save a few bucks (he is still under contract with him), decided to wait a few days and, in the process, lost their man.  The Blues fired head coach David Payne and replaced him with Hitchcock yesterday, only days after saying that they were confident an upcoming string of home games would turn things around and that there was no reason to make changes this season.  Go figure. [St. Louis Game Time]
• This is surprising.  The majority of analysts (I link to just two sources, but I have read many more this weekend) believe the Predators will now put all focus on signing Shea Weber to a long term deal and that a trade for Ryan Suter is most likely.  I figured they would sign Suter, the UFA, and wait on Weber, the RFA, just because they stand to lose more otherwise. [Red Light District - Ottawa Sun]
• SI writes that hits to the head are still controversial , mainly because of some inconsistent Shanahans.  [Red Light]
• Some more off-topicness (though considerably less awkward than the last bit), but parent company Vox Media (formerly SB Nation) launched a new site last week.  The Verge, a project from a group of Engadget defectors, launched last week to nearly universal acclaim.  Be sure to give it a look. (for those of you wondering, hopefully this will be the end of issues most other Vox/SBN blogs have experienced during the final stages of The Verge's development) [The Verge]

Discussion of the Day: Mickey Redmond.  Just talk about him.  He deserves the love (though not as much as Col. Hans Landa, I think).

• Sounds like I should be happy that I was not able to watch last night's games.  Either way, here are a few recaps for those that, like myself, were unable to see the game. All I know is that we are beginning to upset Cave and that is unacceptable. [MLive - Detroit Free Press - The Production Line]
• At least Gustav Nyquist enjoyed his one game stint with the Wings, his NHL debut.  He described it as 'awesome.' [MLive]
• As you may have heard, the Predators broke with their customs yesterday and didn't screw over one of their players in contract negotiations as they signed franchise goalie Pekka Rinne to a 7 year, $49 million deal.  Reaction to the deal has been mixed, though most are of the opinion that his all but solidifies that they will have to cut one of their two star defenseman loose at the end of the season. [On The Forecheck]
• Speaking of Rinne, the Predators most recent re-signing knows how to celebrate a newly signed contract.  Too bad Niklas Kronwall didn't do similar earlier this week. [On The Forecheck]
• You be the judge: Danny Briere had a controversial shootout winner last night against the Devils.  Did he come to a complete stop?  Should the goal have counted? [Puck Daddy]
• NBC suggests that the Flames should blow up their team in favor of a youth movement and that holdout-RFA Kyle Turris may be the man to lead it.  The Flames could do worse than having a man who refuses to sign a deal worth his play lead a youth movement.  I can't think of anything that would be worse, but I am sure it is there. [NBC's Pro Hockey Talk]
  
• I can honestly say that Shanahan has disappointed me with his suspension of Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta.  The fact that he has done this multiple times in the past should have warranted a ten game suspension.  He's purposefully targeting heads with his helmet and it is a dangerous play.  Four games for this is simply not enough. [Die By The Blade]
• As NBC's Pro Hockey Talk points out, the NHL stands to gain a lot of ground in both revenue and ratings as the NBA lockout continues to eat away at their season.  Which I suppose is only fair; Bettman's mentor, NBA commissioner David Stern, enjoyed a nice rise during the NHL lockout of 2005. [NBC's Pro Hockey Talk]

Discussion of the Day: Is it time for a roster shakeup?  Six straight losses and just one goal per game.  Should Holland try something drastic like trading for someone?  Who is there to get, even?

• Goods new, everyone.  Niklas Kronwall is okay and will play tonight. [MLive]
• Kronwalll has also given Mikko Koivu a vote of confidence, saying that there should not have been a penalty on the hit.  He says that it was both of them moving in just the right way for the elbow to make contact and that it was not intentional. [MLive]
• Speaking of those two, SB Nation examines whether or not Koivu interfered with Kronwall before the game winning goal. [SB Nation]
• In other news, Babcock is going to really shuffle lines from the sounds of it.  It's looking like we will play with a top line of Hudler-Datsyuk-Cleary, as he splits up the Eurotwins.  That has been one of my ideal lines all season long and we have not seen enough of it, in my opinion. [Detroit Free Press]
• There is a new episode of Fake Henrik Zetterberg up and today, Mr. Fakeberg discusses life with Fake Dikembe Mutombo (who has the longest name in history, by the way).  [Fake Henrik Zetterberg]
• The Datsyukian Geek — which has the second best Wings blog name behind Nightmare on Helm Street — puts forth the frustrations everyone is feeling in not-so-eloquent terms. [The Datsyukian Geek]
• NBC's latest wake up call is for Hank and they are absolutely right: we need him to be our best player and we need him to do it now. [NBC Pro Hockey Talk]
• Let's just make this clear: last week, I jokingly suggested we should bring back Dominik Hasek and play him instead of Ty Conklin.  I was joking.  Completely.  I do not want Hasek to return again.  I was joking.  Do not come back, Dom.  I was joking. [NHL.com]
• Icethetics, one of my favorite sites on the web, posted a new jersey concept yesterday.  This is exactly how the Jets jersey should have looked.  The designer took an outdated logo and jersey design, and modernized it respectfully and with attention to detail.  In my opinion, this would have been one of the best jerseys in the league. [Icethetics]
• NBC is rallying for the Capitals to fire head coach Bruce Boudreau.  Wait... they're actually praising his changes.  That's odd.  I write that first statement out of habit at this point. [NBC Pro Hockey Talk]
• Dan Carcillo isn't changing his play style despite the Shanabans.  Unfortunately for him, I get the feeling not doing so will lead to a Chris Simon-type blackballing by teams in the league. [ESPN]
• The pilot of the plane carrying the Lokomotiv KHL team, as well as former Red Wings Brad McCrimmon, Ruslan Salei, and Stefan Liv, crashed in September due to a pilot error that was apparently encouraged by the airliner as a way to decrease takeoff times. [The Globe and Mail]

Discussion of the Day: What lines do you want to see Babcock play tonight in an attempt to jumpstart our play?

• Today's header image: the gradient of failure, brought to you by the guys over at TPL. [The Production Line]
• How do you celebrate signing a 7 year extension?  By getting hit in the head in your first game after signing said extension, of course.  Niklas Kronwall will be re-evaluated today and hopefully does not have a concussion. [MLive]
• Sean Avery cleared re-entry waivers yesterday, as pretty much everyone expected him to.  The former Wing will play for the Rangers soon and still has a chance to prove my bold prediction right and play in more games than Chris Pronger, who is still having trouble with his eyes. [Blue Shirt Banter]
• This was brought up in the comments yesterday, but it needs to be brought up again.  The slow burning feud between Joe Thornton, who called the Rangers soft, and John Torotella, who didn't believe his apology and explanation, is entertaining beyond all doubt.  Yesterday, Tortorella told the media that Thornton "hasn't won a g--damn thing in this league," and now everyone either loves or hates him, depending on your stance about Thornton. [Puck Daddy]
• Andre Agassi dressed up for Halloween as Mr. T, bodypaint and all, and there is a mild roar of protest compared to Raffi Torres, who dressed up as Jay-Z and the opposition sounded like a wailing banshee.  Go figure. [NBC Sports]
• Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton got a five game suspension for a hit to the head of Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche.  I am glad Shanny has not slowed down the Shanabans. [Puck Daddy]
• Forbes profiled the 10 billionaire owners in the NHL (there's only 10?  Seems small) and, of course, Mike Ilitch is in there with over $2 billion. [NBC Sports]

Discussion of the Day: What are your expectations for Mr. Nyquist the rest of the season, specifically games played?  What about in the foreseeable future?

• Danny Cleary isn't scoring and he knows it.  He says he's trying to find a rhythm, but so far nothing has worked. [Detroit Fee Press]
• Scrappy Octopus wonders if yesterdays changes, Niklas Kronwall signing an extension and Gustav Nyquist being called up, are what we need to wake up and play some hockey. I hope so, because we are in trouble if it isn't. [Scrappy Octopus]
• There is even more backlash over yesterday's plagiarism as Nick from Nick on Sports tackles the issue. [Nick on Sports]
• NBC Sports has ten players killing your fantasy team, and the top two are Red Wings.  As usual, the Red Wings have been pretty terrible in terms of fantasy numbers this season. [NBC Sports]
• Raffi Torres is apologizing for his Halloween costume and his agent is saying it was harmless.  Did neither of them think that wearing blackface might anger some people? [TSN]
• Funny moment of the day: a Swedish player scores, hugs an opposing player in celebration, and is promptly punched in the face for doing so. [Puck Daddy]
• Won't even sugar coat this one: this article from PHT introducing estranged NBA fans to hockey is one of the most hilarious things I have read in ages.  You can get a little taste below. [NBC Sports]

The Canadiens are one of the most revered franchises in all of professional sports and widely known as the NHL’s classiest organization. Last week they fired their assistant coach 90 minutes before a game

• Vancouver police charged 163 people yesterday.  All involved are accused of disorderly conduct following the Canucks loss to the Bruins in June. [Puck Daddy]
• Are we really going to do this before we even hit 15 games played?  Pensburgh is already looking at the Rocket Richard race. [Pensburgh]
• If you have Ville Leino on your fantasy team, now may be the time to start him.  He's been moved onto the top line in an effort to jumpstart his season. [Die By the Blade]
• Imagine you have a player who likes to talk.  A player who provides the media with endless quantities of hilarious quotes that get printed the moment they leave his mouth.  A player whose words often get him into trouble.  How do you handle him?  Well, if you're the Flyers, you make sure Ilya Bryzgalov is only allowed to speak after games. [Broad Street Hockey]

Discussion of the Day: Introduce NBA fans looking for something to watch to the NHL.

With this morning's great news that newly-appointed alternate captain Niklas Kronwall had signed a 7 year extension carrying just a $4.75 million cap hit, one thing was certain — Ken Holland has expertly placed the Red Wings cap-wise.  The Wings still rank 19th in the league in total salary and will have nearly $5 million in cap space to play with this season, possibly getting a rental or even something more long term.

What is really shocking, however, is where we are long term.  With the cap currently at $64.3 million, and expected to rise yet again next season, we are looking at nearly $25 million to re-sign players and, for just the third time since the lockout, attempt to make a splash in the free agent market.

After the jump, we'll take a look at our free agents for next summer, our needs after these free agents are signed or let go, and who there is for Ken Holland to look at.

Continue reading this post »

• The Scrappy Octopus has a pretty good article on what it means to wear the Winged Wheel. [Scrappy Octopus]
• If you're interested, Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle has a photo caption contest up with a picture of Justin Abdelkdar pu...or getting a new... I'll just let you decide for yourself what the hell he is doing. [Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle]
• Tomas Holmstrom, who had a very nice goal waived off on Friday, believes that disallowed goals should be reviewable and I can see why — the man would be in Jaromir Jagr range if they were. [MLive]
• Speaking of Jaromir Jagr, he had another 2 goal night on Saturday and has moved within 50 goals of one of the greatest milestones in sports: 700 goals.  Who here sees him hitting it? [Broad Street Hockey]
• NBC Sports has a recap of a realignment plan that CBC reported over the weekend.  This plan is drastically different than any of the other plans being discussed and is apparently "gaining steam."  The plan is a 4 division, 2 conference layout with 1 home and 1 away game against each team outside the division and the rest of your games played within the division.  The first two rounds of the playoffs would also be divisional opponents only.  The amount of divisional play would likely lead to a resurgence in divisional rivalries and, generally, a more exciting season.  The Board of Governors will vote on realignment at the league meeting in December. [NBC Sports]
• Expect the Blue Jackets, owners of a beautiful 2-9-1 record, to start with a clean managerial slate today.  NBC reports the Jackets are expected to fire their entire coaching and front office staffs today and the likely replacement for behind-the-bench is a familiar face in Columbus: Ken Hitchcock. [NBC Sports]
• Arctic Ice Hockey wonders how useful +/- is. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
• We haven't even played the Ducks yet and they are already getting on my nerves.  The team is up in arms over the Francois Beauchemin suspension with everyone from the coach to lowly donut man commenting on the injustice being done to them.  Now Ryan Getzlaf is stepping up and saying that Jordin Tootoo shouldn't be allowed int he league.  Yes, you read that right, he's trying to support his suspended teammate by saying the teammate of the person Beuachemin hit should not be on the ice.  Getzlaf needs to take a class on logical reasoning. [OC Register]
• Pension Plan Puppets looks at the Leafs defensive strategy of 'fronting' which is apparently less successful than anyone believes. [Pension Plan Puppets]
• Joe Nieuwendyk is heading to the Hall of Fame and the Stars honored him with a very well-done ceremony. [Defending Big D]
• The Hockey Gods are cruel.  The man who we had hoped would be our backup for the foreseeable future, Evgeni Nabokov, is quietly have a great season in Long Island. [Lighthouse Hockey]
• Sean Avery will be placed on re-entry waivers today.  Odds he gets picked up? About as good as the Wings sending Pavel Datsyuk through waivers. [Blue Shirt Banter]

Discussion of the Day: What do you think of this latest realignment plan?

• Hey, look, only three days between games this time around.  We play the Sharks tonight and Babcock is breaking up our dream line.  Yes, Two Kids and a Goat 3.0 will play apart for the first time this season because Babcock was not impressed with Patrick Eaves and Tomas Holmstrom on the same line.  Emmerton and Brunnstrom will sit. [Red Wings Front - MLive]
• Less than a week old, little Tiberius watched his first Red Wings game with his father.  I think Ty Conklin may have ensured the little one does not follow in his father's footsteps as a goalie, however. [Detroit Free Press]
• NOHS looks at and tries to determine why Henrik Zetterberg is struggling.  My guess?  Preoccupied with his desk job. [Nightmare on Helm Street]
• Ty Conklin has gotten his fair share of criticism after his last two starts.  A lot of it is warranted and, frankly, a lot of it has come from me (I do remember asking if he "shat the bed" against Columbus), but the Wizard of Os defends him and makes me wonder if I have been unfair. [Wizard of Os]
• With the single greatest explanation of a soft goal ever, Carey Price "Bill Bucknered" a faceoff draw and allowed his own teammates faceoff win to go into the net.  Now, that is just the kind of season that Montreal is having and I can't really blame something like this on the goalie — it does happen a few times a year — but saying he "just Bill Bucknered" the puck while playing the Bruins is hilarious.  Price got a load of respect from me for that. [Puck Daddy]
• Kyle Turris has apparently asked for a trade (and may or may not have done so at the beginning of negotiations) and Coyotes GM Don Maloney says he will not trade Turris under any circumstances.  As you may have seen on Twitter, I am a huge fan of this move; in the words of the Winkelvii, "Let's gut the friggin' nerd." [TSN]
• Inspired by a recent writer proposing they trade Roberto Luongo to the Lightning for Vincent Lecavlier, Nucks Misconduct thinks they should trade Luongo for St. Louis instead.  If you said that with a French accent, you would be wrong. [Nucks Misconduct]
• Anaheim Calling confuses me. Just yesterday I posted a link to an article where they call this year's Ducks the deepest the team has been since they had Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermayer. Now, they are trying to analyze their defense and a "growing problem" of letting goals go in while on the ice. Make up your minds, guys. [Anaheim Calling]
• I'm going to call it right now: there is another goalie controversy brewing. If you remember the previously reported list, Vancouver, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Phoenix, Toronto, Columbus, and even Detroit have had issues with their goalie tandem, mainly one of their goalies not being up to par.  I think it might be safe to re-add the Flyers to the list as Ilya Bryzgalov had a .600 GAA and Sergei Bobrovsky had a .666 GAA against the Jets.  Yes, the Flyers allowed the Jets to score 9 goals. [Broadstreet Hockey]

Discussion of the Day: Let's stick with the goalie issue.  There are countless fans unhappy with their current goalie situation.  As I mentioned above, between 1/6 and 1/3 of the teams seem to have this issue right now.  Will this issue resolve itself? Will we see a load of trades happening to try and fix this?  Can you think of any ways any of these teams can solve their issues?  Sound off in the comments and come up with your best solution of Roberto Luongo.

• Yesterday was supposed to be a day off for the Red Wings, but Mike Babcock called a practice in response to their play on Tuesday.  Hopefully this will wake some of ours guys up before we play San Jose. [Detroit Free Press]
• Jan Mursak had his cast taken off yesterday.  He is still quite a ways away from returning, however, as he won't be cleared to wear skates for another six weeks. [Red Wings Fronts]
• Mike Modano is... a little odd without hockey. [NBC Sports]
• NOHS is holding a Red Wings costume contest for Halloween.  If you enter, be sure to post a picture on here.  We'd love to see. [Nightmare on Helm Street]
• Senators rookie sensation Mika Zibanejad has been sent back to Sweden for the year and ruined one of Jeff's bold prediction. [Silver Seven]
• In a surprise move, the Canadiens fired assistant coach Perry Pearn yesterday.  Why he was fired instead of head coach Jacques Martin is a mystery.  Don't expect Pearn to be jobless for long, though, many have him pegged as the assistant coach most likely to get a head coaching job. [ESPN]
• The city of Edmonton approved a monstrous new arena deal for the Oilers yesterday that makes the team, at least in one way, better than the Islanders.  Congratulations! [NBC Sports]
• Looks like Drew Doughty should return either tonight or Saturday; he's been cleared for full practice. [LA Kings Insider]
• Anaheim Calling believes their team is the deepest since '09.  I don't see it.  They still have one great defenseman, two average defensemen, and 3 sub-par defensemen.  That isn't very much depth in my eyes, especially when you are trying to compare it to a team that had both Scott Neidermayer and Chris Pronger.
• Not to upstage Roberto Luongo, who is on his way to a Patrick Roy exit from Vancouver, Jaroslav Halak is having a similar problem with his backup, Brian Elliott of all people, in St. Louis and is great danger of losing his starting position. Elliott might be a good pickup for your fantasy team. [Puck Daddy]
• The Winter Classic alumni game may be more interesting than the big game itself.  Eric Lindros confirmed yesterday that he will lace up and play, all but confirming the legendary Legion of Doom will play together once more. [Broadstreet Hockey]

Discussion of the Day: Which former Red Wings line would you like to see reunited for an event like the Winter Classic alumni game?  (hint: the correct answer is The Russian Five with Sergei Fedorov on defense and Pavel Datsyuk taking his place as a forward)

• I neither saw the game nor want to talk about it, so here are some recaps. [Detroit Free Press - Yahoo! - MLive - The Production Line]
• The Wings were asked about visors last night and it seems like players are in favor of it being by choice, and I am not surprised (nor do I think they are wrong to think that).  [Detroit Free Press]
• For those of you curious, it looks like Todd Bertuzzi, Tomas Holmstrom, Johan Franzen, Ian White, Mike Commodore, and Jonathan Ericsson are the only Red Wings who do not wear a visor. Anyone else? [@bradonweb]
• This is kind of interesting: a food blog is ranking NHL teams by how good their food and drink is.  They posted numbers #10–5 yesterday and the Red Wings rank in at #8. [Food Republic]
• JJ announced yet another upgrade to Hockey CSSI yesterday: you can now view events by time elapsed. [Hockey CSSI]
• I didn't expect to see this one when I woke up: Copper & Blue has apparently forgotten to drink the kool-aid because they think that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, first overall pick by the Oilers and one of the most successful players of the young season, should be sent back down the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL.  I'm personally on the fence.  While it would be great to put him through the system (I subscribe fully to the Wings philosophy of over-ripening players), the Oilers need him now and he is definitely ready for the NHL.  I don't think the Oilers can make the wrong decision with him at this point.  They could even trade him to the Wings for a dollar and a bag of pucks and I would not say that made the wrong decision. [Copper & Blue]
• Allan Walsh, one of the few agents anyone actually knows, is throwing a hissy fit over a fake Roman Polak account and saying he has reported the user to the his ISP and the authorities (sidenote: there is no way he could have figured out his ISP without asking Twitter, which would have to break its privacy policy to provide such information, so Walsh is full of shit).  So, naturally as this is the internet, another fake Roman Polak account sprung up as did a fake Allan Walsh account. [St. Louis Game Time]
• Next summer's draft will be held in Pittsburgh at the Penguins beautiful new arena, the Consol Energy Center. [Pittsburgh Live]
• SI says that the Canucks are still the best hope for a Stanley Cup in Canada, something that has been absent from the country since 1993 when Guy Carbonneau, Denis Savard, and Patrick Roy won it all in Montreal. In other news, the Canucks were down 3-0 at one point last night to the Oilers who I hear have already called dibs on the first overall pick. [Sports Illustrated]
• Paul Holmgren, GM of the Flyers, says Pronger is likely out 10-14 days after the stick to the face on Monday night. [ESPN]
• TSN has a good article up in regards to the mandatory visor versus player choice debate. [TSN]

Discussion of the Day: Last week, I asked you to put together the "All Former Red Wings Team," made up entirely of good players who we did not hold onto.  It was difficult because, as was the consensus, the Wings have made it a habit of holding onto their talent.  Today, I want the opposite.  Give me the worst possible team made from the worst possible former Red Wings still playing in the NHL.

• The NHL decided to be nice and allow us to play more than 2 games this week.  Here are some previews of our tilt with Columbus tonight. [Detroit Free Press - MLive]
• You lose one game, and apparently that makes you worse than both the 4 loss Penguins and 3 loss Blackhawks.  Go figure. [TSN]
• Looks like the fourth line will be Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, and Tomas Holmstrom tonight.  This will be the first game we play this season without Cory Emmerton who, despite not having a single point since the season opener, has played extremely well so far. [Red Wings Front]
• Habs Eyes on the Prize writes that Double Overtime may be the ultimate book for hockey fans. [Habs Eyes on the Prize]
• Pension Plan Puppets puts forth a very convincing argument that their backup, Jonas Gustavsson, is not an NHL goalie and that they need a better backup.  Someone tell Ron Wilson he can have Cory Schneider; the Canucks without a starter-quality backup will be hilarious. [Pension Plan Puppets]
• Wings fans should be hit very close to home with this one: the Kings will not start Jonathan Quick tonight because they told Jonathan Bernier a few days ago he could start today.  In case you have not seen, Quick is undefeated in regulation, has three shutouts, and a .972 SV%.  He's off to one of the hottest single starts in league history... and the Kings are going to start their backup.  [Jewels From The Crown]
• Jaromir Jagr finally scored last night.  Took him eight games to get that first goal and he finished the night with two of them.  Jagr is the most realistic chance of seeing a 700 goal celebration anytime soon; he's currently 52 goals away from the mark and certainly seems like he has it in him to reach one of the most exclusive clubs in sports.  The next closest? Jarome Iginla at just 486. [Broadstreet Hockey]
  
• The Cannon continues to find silver linings in their horrendous 0-7-1 season, and this time it is defenseman Aaron Johnson. [The Cannon]
• Chris Pronger was hurt last night, and hurt badly.  Mikhail Grabovski shot the puck and his stick caught Pronger right in the face.  Pronger, who does not wear a visor, immediately fell to the ice and skated to the bench as quickly as he possibly could.  The injury is bad enough that he has been put on bed rest for at least three days and will be out for at least 2-3 weeks and Flyers medical staff may not allow him to return without a visor, possibly even a cage. [Broadstreet Hockey]
• BlueJackets Xtra points out the unfortunate: with games against Detroit, Buffalo, and Chicago, it is very possible the Blue Jackets start the season winless in October and lose their first 11 games. [BlueJackets Xtra]

Discussion of the Day: Should the NHL require visors to prevent what happened to Pronger or to Steve Yzerman?

• A great little post game "nocap" — if there is a better term, please enlighten me — from The Scrappy Octopus which uses (and champions) JJ's CSSI to give Zac a +/- for the game.  He came in at a resounding -12, about 3 points higher than Ty Conklin. [The Scrappy Octopus]
• The namesake of this Quick Hits, Brett Hull is a god.  He signed up for Twitter a few weeks ago and has apparently taken to trolling Sabres fans over his Cup winning goal in 1999 with hilarious photos and diagrams and tweets.  [Puck Daddy]
• Two trades this past weekend.  First, the one that broke during the first period of our game with Washington which I heard got cancelled and was never played.  The Florida Panthers traded David Booth, Steve Reinprecht, and a 2013 third round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for former Wing Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm.  I think we can all agree that Dale Tallon is nuts, but let's also agree to laugh with Jefff that Samuelsson is going to rot in Florida now. [Nucks Misconduct - Litter Box Cats]
• The second trade is minor in comparison.  The Phoenix Coyotes traded Petteri Nokelainen and Garrett Stafford to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2012 7th round pick and Brock Trotter.  Montreal gets some young talent they can develop, the Coyotes make some roster space.  Like I said, minor. [Five for Howling]
• Kerry Fraser details how assists are awarded in his latest column for TSN.  Surprisingly enough, they are insanely lax on who gets them.  Not as much as the Celtic's Rajon Rondo, but still far from what I was hoping. [TSN]
  
• In case you missed it, the Blue Jackets blew a 1 goal lead by allowing two goals with 31 seconds left Saturday night to remain winless through 8 games played.  The best part?  They did it to the Ottawa Senators.  [Puck Daddy]
• Despite many, many, and even many more reports over the last week that there is a sect of GMs and owners who want to abolish fighting from hockey, NBC reports that there is "no desire" to do so. [NBC Sports]
• The Lightning unleashed their Tesla Coil celebrations live for the first time and they look damn cool.  Celebrate a Lightning goal with lightning?  Awesome.  We should find a similar way to celebrate... or we can just continue throwing cephalopods onto the ice.  [Puck Daddy]
  
• The NHL signed a major broadcast deal late last week that was fairly underreported.  The deal will broadcast NHL games throughout Scandinavia.  That's right in the KHL's backyard, which makes me rethink their "let's work to improve relations" statements after last month's accident. [SB Nation]

Discussion of the Day: A huge glaring lack of Red Wings news for this morning; it would seem people are not too keen on writing much on a Sunday after a blowout loss.  That said, let's talk about the Wings, shall we?  The Wings play Columbus on Tuesday, the Sharks on Friday, and the Sharks again Wild on Saturday this week.  What are your expectations for these games?  Who do you think plays on the fourth line and will Conk's performance Saturday night against Washington affect Babcock's playtime strategy?

Down 4-1 heading into the third.  LET'S DO THIS ALREADY.

• Goods news, everyone!  Tonight is the season opener.  After so long off, we take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. [Detroit Free Press]
• Due to injuries, the Blue Jackets will skate tonight with just over $100,000 in cap space.  Not a bad position to be in if you are winless. [Cap Geek]
• The Wings are happy with their third pairing of Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl.  While some may see this as a confidence booster, I think it is bad news for Mike Commodore who was fighting for playing time to begin with.  I think Kindl is continuing to prove to everyone that he is not a 7th defenseman. [MLive]
• The Wings now have another off-time activity to play in the catacombs of the Joe – ping pong.  Much like soccer before it, the Wings are apparently obsessed with it. [Detroit Free Press]
• Valtteri Filppula has finally gotten the message: he is fifth on the team in shots, with 20 through the first four games. [Red Wings Front]
• Puck Daddy's weekly "The 7 Players" segment landed on "The 7 Players we'd pay to watch in a shootout" and Pavel Datsyuk is their number one choice — and I have to agree. [Puck Daddy]
• Sidney Crosby wants someone to hit him — and hit him hard — and JJ is really hoping it is Niklas Kronwall. [NBC Sports]
• The Wall Street Journal Wonders if goalies have become too dominant in today's game.  Honestly, they were far more dominant pre-lockout, in my eyes. [Wall Street Journal]
• Oh, look at that.  Alex Ovechkin finally 'broke' out with a multi-goal game last night as the Capitals remained unbeaten with a 5-2 win over the Flyers. [Japers Rink]
• Despite pissing me off with a Wings quip in the first bullet point, The Cannon does an admirable job defending their team's rocky start.  Granted, if they weren't just $100k under the cap and 0-5-1 to start the season, they wouldn't have to even be on the defensive (well, maybe they would since James Wisniewski is their top defenseman). [The Cannon]
• Nucks Misconduct has come up with a great song to sing while blaming Roberto Luongo for their terrible start. [Nucks Misconduct]
• Speaking of Luongo, a Vancouver sports writer is demanding that he be traded for Vincent Lecavlier.  Someone forgot to mention to him how much loyalty and sticking to one team for your career means to Stevie Y. [Puck Daddy]
• Ever wonder what it takes to get a goalie interference call without wearing #96 and a goal being scored? Read no further than this great explanation. [Defending Big D]
• Wayne Gretzky says that he has had front office job offers from both the Oilers and Kings, both of whom would like to be bottom feeders owned by the league like his previous team. [TSN]
• Bill Simmons, one of the better sports writers out there, has traded in his LA Clippers season tickets for Kings season ticket due to the lockout.  He provides amazing insight in how he is converting to hockey and how he has never once not enjoyed a hockey game.  A great read from Sports Guy that I highly recommend. [Grant Land]
• Bad news, DirecTV users.  It's looking like the satellite service will be dropping Fox — and, consequently, FSD — from its lineup on November 1. [Puck the Media]
• If you're following Brendan Smith and Cory Emmerton on Twitter, you'll definitely appreciate this drawing from TPL's Stevie. If not, the drawing should teach you everything you need to know [The Production Line]

Discussion of the Day: Have goalies become too dominant as the Wall Street Journal writes?

• As Rob Discher points out, we love superteams failing.  We love it when the predicted winner loses.  The Canucks. The Miami Heat. The New York Yankees.  Discher has noticed that the teams unanimously chosen to win often do not manage to do so and points out that few have chosen the Wings to win.  Good omen? Only time will tell. [The Production Line]
• Babcock has a long list of positives this season, the schedule is not among them.  He does all but say "TOLD YOU SO!" in regards to Jonathan Ericsson, though, and I am having trouble disagreeing that Ericsson hasn't looked better than he did last season. [MLive]
• The writing may be on the wall for Thomas McCollum.  The Wings signed prospect Petr Mrazek to a 3 year deal last night that will kick in next year and with McCollum's contract over at the end of the season, we may be ready to cut ties with him.  Our top goalie prospect once Jimmy Howard took over and Daniel Larsson went overseas, McCollum has not improved the way we would have hoped and seemingly lost his 'top' status to Jordan Pearce and has looked lost in the NHL games he has played. [The Production Line]
• Is Ian White better than Brian Rafalski?  Detroit Hockey Report seems to think so, but NOHS is hesitant to agree.  I side closer to NOHS than DHR here.  White is good, he's far better than I think anyone expected or hoped — most of us had him on the third pairing —, but he has his downsides.  Like NOHS pointed out, Raffi's life was the powerplay and White seems lost out there.  [Detroit Hockey Report - Nightmare on Helm Street]
• WGR550 writes that Ville Leino is finding his place in Buffalo.  It's too bad he never found it here. [WGR550]
• Puck the Media has a list of their top choices for guest analysts on NBC/Versus's NHL Overtime and Mike Modano leads the pack.  Personally, I say we take JJ's suggestions from Twitter yesterday and throw Charles Barkley a bone — or a whole skeleton; he is not small — and let him commentate on some NHL stuff until the NBA returns.  Got that image in your head now?  Good.  You can suffer with me. [Puck the Media]
• It would seem that Pierre LeBrun has not tasted the kool-aid that his TSN brethren have in regards to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as he is only listed third on his Top Calder Candidates list. [ESPN]
• Do NHL teams have to give back to the community?  I don't think so, but it is good PR. [St. Louis Game Time]
• Here's an interesting thought: is it correct to refer to your team as "we" despite not having any part in the organization?  I think it is, but I, of course, do it. [Edmonton Journal]
• This is actually a pretty cool idea.  Anaheim Calling has put together the 'All Former Ducks Team.'  The defense and goalie situation is actually better than their current lineup, too. [Anaheim Calling]

Discussion of the Day: Let's do what Anaheim Calling did — what is the 'All-Former Wings Team'?  Active players in the NHL only, here, so no Stevie Y or Shanny or Fedorov.

• Did you get a pizza from Little Caesar's in Plymouth yesterday?  Or groceries from Kroger in Birmingham?  You may have eaten pizza that Nicklas Lidstrom and Valtteri Filppula helped make or gotten your groceries bagged by Jakub Kindl and Cory Emmerton. [Detroit Free Press]
• This is truly one of the most ambitious DIY Wings crafts I have ever seen.  Kris from Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle put together a huge blanket made entirely from Red Wings t-shirts on the one side and Tigers t-shirts on the other.  It is glorious.  (I feel there should be a "You're my boy!" right here...) [Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle]
• TPL interviewed YouTube sensation and recent Red Wings draft pick Tomas Jurco. [The Production Line]
  
• The Fake Henrik Zetterberg site is up active and a teaser of their season of web videos along with it. Looks like the season premiers a week from today.  Now if only @NotPavelDatsyuk could somehow be involved... [Fake Henrik Zetterberg]
  
• Rory Boylen writes about a bunch of standard predictions already being laughed at, including the notion that the Wings are too old and the Sharks are good. [The Hockey News]
  
• Trades? Already? You betcha.  Names that are on the market are slowly starting to trickle out and they include, Rene Bourque, Tuomo Ruutu, Cory Schneider, Niklas Hagman, and Matt Stajan.  It would also appear that Columbus is willing to trade just about anyone outside of their main core once Jeff Carter comes back from injury and that Tampa Bay is in the market for defense. [NBC - ESPN]
• Raw Charge is sitting each of the Tampa Bay Lightning players down and having a good chat with them about their play so far, which has been disappointing to say the least. [Raw Charge]
• Kris Letang got two games for boarding Alex Burmistrov as well as a nice explanation of why from Shanny.  Despite this, I still think this one was a little harsh.  Though it does hurt the Penguins unbelievably.  Sidney Crosby and Tim Kennedy remain out, Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik sat out last game with injuries, and now Kris Letang is out for two games. Sounds like us in February last year. [Pensburgh]
• I am beginning to think that JJ needs to partner with the guys from Arctic Ice Hockey.  Their stat and play analysis is unbelievably good and yesterdays 'Impact of Winning an Offensive Faceoff' is no different. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
  
• Can it really be called a fight when you can't reach your opponent's chest?  I don't think so.  Zdeno Chara fought last night which is always a great watch, and this one even had a backup goalie skating the length of the ice to try and fight the other goalie before getting charmed into not fighting.  Stupid Cam Ward. [NBC]
• Wow.  It appears that Winter Classic tickets this year won't go on sale to the public, not even in a lottery-type format.  [Broad Street Hockey]

Discussion of the Day: Take a look at standings and look at the teams that are struggling early on.  What do you believe is the reason for their struggles and how can they fix it?  Do they just need time to mesh or are there flaws in the team?

• Despite everyone claiming the opposite since the day we signed him, Ian White is playing more and more like the Brian Rafalski of old and is looking absolutely fantastic out there.  Analysts suck at analyzing, who knew? [Detroit Free Press]
• In what will amount to good news for only Brendan Smith, Mike Commodore is skating but is unlikely to play this weekend.  This should give Smith the opportunity to finish serving his 5 game suspension he received for a headshot on Ben Smith of the Blackhawks during the preseason.  In all likelihood, Smith will be sent down to Grand Rapids as soon as Commie is ready to play and not see any NHL action. [MLive]
• With a setup paragraph that would feel right at home inside the Jedi Council, NOHS details why our power play is not up to scratch. [Nightmare on Helm Street]
• Oh look, we remain undefeated and drop in ESPN's Power Rankings (but rise in NHL.com's).  How does that happen? [ESPN - NHL.com]
• Hey guys, did you hear we are off for five days?  Longest break of the season?  What the hell? [MLive]
• As the Wings found out with Curtis Joseph and Manny Legace, there is no defense for a bad goalie. [Wall Street Journal]
• In the Battle for Florida, the Panthers prevailed over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night with a 7-4 win victory that included 4 powerplay goals (and two assists for Ed Jovanovski.  Go Shady Weber!).  For comparison's sake, the Wings have one powerplay goal in nearly 20 chances over 4 games. [Yahoo! Sports]
• The Penguins are hit again as Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik joined Sidney Crosby as unhealthy scratches yesterday.  They fell to the Jets 2-1, who got their first ever regular season victory.  [Yahoo! Sports]
• Bob McKenzie warns everyone to hide your wife, hide your kids, and to hide your husband because Phoenix Coyotes news is about to heat up again.  The NHL is expected to endorse one of two groups trying to purchase the team and (unfortunately) keep it in Glendale which should jumpstart the acquisition process.  Over/under 1 year after the purchase that sale and/or relocation news starts heating up again? [TSN]
• "Gonchar not expected to play Tuesday, Ottawa fans probably okay with this."  Excellent. [NBC Sports]
• Possible jerseys for the Winter Classic have popped up again and they are actually pretty good.  Previous renditions have had Flyers jerseys so bad that I cannot believe Chris from Icethetics has not gone apeshit and gotten suspended by Brendan Shanahan yet.  Hopefully these are what we see in January [Broadstreet Hockey]
• Ryan Kesler will return for the Canucks tonight.  Ready your fantasy teams, (wo)men. [Nucks Misconduct]
• Playing in Canadian puts unnecessary pressure on underperforming players whose first names are initials.  Who knew. [TSN]
• Is there still room in the league for a designated fighter?  I don't believe there is, but there is room for MMA-trained, midget Czech pimps.  Could we ask for anything more? [NBC Sports]

Discussion of the Day: Today's discussion is a follow up to yesterday's question about possible free agent targets.  With how well Mr. White ('Whitey' according to Babcock) has played, is it really necessary to sign someone if Nicklas Lidstrom retires this summer? Or would we be fine with Kronwall-White/Stuart-Kindl/Ericsson-Smith/vet like Commie or Ruslan Salei? 

• Anyone up for ignoring Michigan teams not named the Red Wings or Spartans after this past weekend?  Yes?  Good.
• Fabian Brunnstrom continues to keep saying all the right things.  He's not playing right now — thanks mostly to the fantastic play of Cory Emmerton — but is apparently happy just to still be in the NHL.  Ken Holland sure knows how to pick them, doesn't he? [Detroit Free Press]
• File this one under the painfully obvious category.  Apparently the Wings like the potential of Three Kids and a Goat 3.0. [MLive]
• Helene St. James writes that Ian White is continuing to show that he was an absolutely terrific signing, and even throws in a dig at James Wisniewski.  Bless her. [Detroit Free Press]
• Puck Buddys has an interesting article detailing how Jeff Adams has continued to cover and follow the Red Wings, despite having moved from Michigan more than thirty years ago.  He's not alone in covering from afar; JJ, Graham, and Casey all do it as well. [Puck Buddys]
• This is right up JJ's alley — Jewels From the Crown has their first Points-Blown standings which look at what the standings would be if a team had not surrendered any points.  As expected (given that they have earned every point possible), the Wings are right at the top. [Jewels From the Crown]
• Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan, and Jim Thomson won't sue Don Cherry for his slanderous comments on Hockey Night In Canada.  In other news, Cherry will continue being an absolute idiot on-air while most of Canada calls him a national treasure. [Puck Daddy]
• Evgeni Nabokov won in his first game as an Islander.  You know.  The team he swore he would never play a single game with. [Lighthouse Hockey]
• That was fast.  Injury has already struck the Blue Jackets new star, Jeff Carter, who is questionable for their next game with a hairline fracture in his foot. [The Cannon]
• Drew Doughty got absolutely destroyed by Zac Rinaldo this weekend and was subsequently placed on injured reserve, though the Kings promise that it is not a concussion. [Puck Daddy]
• Jason Blake, who was cut Friday in a scene eerily reminiscent of Mike Modano's wrist laceration last year, is out for three months with the cut. [Puck Daddy]
• Puck the Media writes that NBC Sports stands to gain a lot from the constant re-alignment of the NCAA conferences, especially with the recently announced 22-team-merger of the Mountain West and Conference USA conferences. [Puck The Media]
• The Kyle Turris saga continues with reports saying he could be heading to New Jersey (where someone will hopefully tell him to not go under the pier), or at least that the Devils are likely interested (yay for idle speculation!). [The Hockey News]
• NBC Sports believes that Tomas Vokoun is adjusting to having a better defense in front of him.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, guys.  Actually playing defensemen does not mean your defense is better. [Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports (get a better blog name, damnit)]

Discussion of the Day: The Hockey News article about Kyle Turris had a bit on teams that are looking for a top defender and, as always, the Wings were listed due to the omnipresent Lidstrom retirement.  However, they also said that the Leafs, Flyers, and Blues will be in the hunt as well.  Will finding a top defender next summer (or the one after... or in ten years.  Please don't go, TPH) be harder than we thought due to the competition? And besides every defender from the Predators, who do you think would look good in the Winged Wheel? Idly speculate in the comments!

• Hey, look, we won. [The Production Line - Nightmare on Helm Street]
• Hey, look, we won. [Bless You Boys]
• If you didn't notice, Cory Emmerton played in his third straight game last night.  Not bad for a rookie who was expected to spend 60-ish games in the Leino Lounge.  It is partly due to him being a center, but let's not discount just how well he has played and continues to play. [MLive]
• We are now 0-16 on the powerplay and that has to change.  Any suggestions? [Detroit Free Press]
• Pavel Datsyuk was apparently impressed by his bobblehead which looked absolutely nothing like him.  As one of the commenters in the game thread last night pointed out, his bobblehead looks like it just auditioned for Jersey Shore. [Detroit Free Press]
• SlapshotGoal pointed out yesterday that the KHL named one of its All Star Teams 'Team Fedorov.'  You know what that means.
• Unless you live under a rock, I'm sure you heard that Sidney Crosby was cleared for contact during practice.  There is still no timetable for his return, but this is a giant step forward. [Pensburgh]
• Interesting.  When is a fight not a fight?  Kerry Fraser has your answer. [TSN]
• Mikka Kiprusoff passed former Red Wings goalie Mike Vernon as the all-time wins-leader for the Calgary Flames. [TSN]
• How often is a fight decided by k.o. in the NHL? Not often.  But that is what happened last night as Arron Asham knocked out Jay Beagle — and then proceeded to make the most classless gestures possible, something even he admitted was awful. [Pensburgh]
• Another pilot helping authorities investigate the Lokomotive crash from last month has determined it was a pilot error that caused the crash. [Puck Daddy]
• The Sabres are facing one of the most wonderful issues in all of hockey: having too many NHL-capable players.  [Die by the Blade]
• Greg Wyshynski has a bunch of total league re-alignments; none of which are likely to be chosen in December.  It's nice to know there are options out there, though. [Puck Daddy]
• Copper & Blue has the second part to their analysis of puck pursuit and angles, the first of which was posted in yesterday's Quick Hits. [Copper & Blue]
• After Craig Rivet, captain of the Sabres for the past three seasons, signed with an ECHL team last week, I was wondering what other vets were playing minor league hockey.  Turns out Puck Daddy was wondering the same thing.  The list includes Rivet, Manny Legace, and Jonathan Cheechoo. [Puck Daddy]

Discussion of the Day: Which long-time Wings player are you most upset that we did not get rid of?  Let's say five years with the team minimum.