buddha

i've never seen a manager take a team to 31-11 and a playoff spot with basically one starting pitcher. one and a half good starters? its been amazing what they've done.

absolutely. a lot of his job is keeping players motivated and interested and used correctly.

ive always been in the "managers dont really matter until the playoffs" camp, but this year's performance by hinch was master class.

i agree with you for the most part. people forget they were the worst team in the league (and one of the worst teams in nhl history) with one of the worst farm systems in the league when he took over. that said, the good sized contracts for middling to average players are now coming back to bite them a bit and those players are now blockinh prospects. the other avenue - besides signing older vets to get the team to be average - would have been continuing to be bad and sell off assets and draft higher in the lottery. the blackhawks route. which way is better? we shall see. but to your point, i think yzerman has done a decent job given the terrible hand he was dealt. the proof comes next year, imo, when kasper/danielson/mazur et al should all be in detroit.

but to your point, they dont seem to have superstars. and the league has played a role in preventing them from drafting them because theyve been ****ed in the lottery.

i have faith that they have a lot of really high quality players. but theyre in the minors and they refuse to give them a shot because we need a fourth line checking wing who has played three years in the league RIGHT NOW.

if they tread water this year and just miss the playoffs again, we'll see if he ditches lalonde should a big name coach become available.

is 31-11 the new 35-5?

this is all very exciting.

wallinder and johannsen seem like roster filler. mazur and kasper should be on the team, but theyre blocked by yzerman's bottom rotation signings. i would rather have this year be a "step back to step forward" year than see petry, maata, and holl out there every night. why motte AND fisher? one would be fine but leave the other spot for a rookie. why three goalies? four really if you count campbell. i get the idea. rookies have to earn it. but has motte earned it over them? campbell AND talbot when you had lyon and husso already signed and cossa as an emergency? i get compher. i even get chiarot and copp. but some of these other signings i do not understand. blood your young talent. spend money to supplement it. not the other way around.

hockey analytics seem off to me. i dont get them at all.

Athletic pre-season prediction: 81 points

i'm too cynical to get excited about media proclamations anymore. i think "ausar is working on his shot" is the new bonderman changeup. interested to see holland in an nba setting. i wasnt impressed with summer league, but its summer league.

"insider" is hilarious. they're PR guys who just send out information from agents.

lets be honest, most of those players never see the inside of a classroom. or if they do, they see it on the first day of class and that's it. i'm not advocating for this, but the ncaa loses every legal challenge and i suspect they'd lose this one too.

https://thehockeynews.com/news/ranking-each-nhl-teams-mount-rushmore-no-4-detroit-red-wings gordie, stevie, nick and.... dylan larkin? nope.

playoffs here we come.

by any other name, professional football. how long until someone sues the ncaa and says you cant restrict my eligibility? as long as the university deems me an employee, i can play football there for as long as they'll pay me. completely remove the "student" from student athlete and make it a real minor league for the nfl.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41531125/big-ten-sec-talk-possible-scheduling-partnership afc and nfc. notre dame should bet on board now when the big ten goes to 20 teams and two or four divisions.

home game against an nfc opponent, this is a big game for detroit. need a win here. need to keep up with the viqueens.

wtf?

when youve lost romad...

i take it back about usc. nice comeback.

i think it was more out of circumstance. they were handcuffed by harbaugh's late departure. and they are still thethered to harbaugh's way of thinking vis a vis NIL: not paying for freshmen and instead rewarding the guys who stay. i get it, but that works when you have harbaugh and his staff, i'm not sure moore can live up to that standard. moore is going to have to put his stamp in the program. they already lost nate marshall this year to auburn. i suspect they'll lose a many more unless they pony up. harbaugh was a unicorn. youre going to have to pay the going rate to compete with the big boys. with that said, i'm already resigned to the fall of the team. it will be back to hoping for 7 wins and not getting blasted too badly by ohio state in columbus while keeping it close in ann arbor for a while. 3 or 4 years of that will get moore fired. maybe by then JOHN harbaugh will want to try his luck in college? or tom brady?

they will be if they dont open the checkbook and sign some players. get ready for the in-fighting behind the scenes to begin. one half of the admin will back moore and the other half wont, and that half that wont will leak things to the press about how bad things are behind the scenes and cut off support for nil, which will undercut the program and send them in a death spiral. they tried to do it to harbaugh (where do you really think stallions-gate came from?) but he had his brother help him out. well, and he's a great coach when he has a decent qb. moore? moore is brady hoke.