Winging It In Motown: for Detroit Red Wings fans

Welcome to the Christmas edition of WIIM Radio!  We had me, Michelle, Graham, and Kyle on to discuss the Wings in the wake of the Devils loss on Tuesday. After getting that crapfest out of the way, we went on to make ourselves feel better with other stuff. Here's a rundown of the topics   The Devils loss - The Wings felt like they were going to pull that off until they didn't. What a tease. We can't let goaltending be the elephant in the room here. Howard was bad and he should feel bad, but it's ok to criticize the entire team when they fail. That's what teamwork is all about, sharing the blame! With two losses in their last three games and a three-game road trip coming up, will Tomas Nosekand Xavier Ouellet draw into the lineup? Who should play when Ericsson returns? We went over the other two games from the past week, including what should have been a statement game for the Wings against Vancouver but wasn't and then what turned out to be a pretty good performance against Calgary. Prospects report - With the Griffins continuing their tear up the AHL standings, we have plenty of nice and positive things to say about our prospects. Also the WJC starting soon. Reader questions - I don't want to brag, but we rocked this portion. You all asked some great questions and I came up with some really great answers. Everybody else talked too. Farewell and happy holidays   With knowing that you all have a few days off without hockey and have to hang out with your family most likely, we made this episode a little bit longer to tide you through the break.  As a gentle reminder, we use language that isn't suitable for church in our podcast, so please don't plug your Zune player into church speakers and blast it during mass. That would get you in trouble and would absolutely not be our fault. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23 Dec 20151h 33min

Still reeling off the third period collapse to the Sabres, we had me, Graham, Lauren, Prashanth and Michelle to get us caught up on the Red Wings and Griffins this week. Here's a quick rundown of what we went over. The Buffalo loss and the Red Wings' third period woes. It's getting pretty tiring watching the Wings keep doing this, so what's the root cause? Are they playing to extend or protect leads.Tomas Tatar and some real tough defensive play by him lately.The defensive logjam - when Quincey comes back. What to do? If Scuderi can get moved, can anybody? (oh hey, BTW, Rob Scuderi got traded AND had salary retained). We all agree that it's very important to keep Marchenko around.Prospects report - Michelle covers the streaking Griffins and the players from elsewhere, including some WJC stuff for us.Reader questions - Expansion, Sheahan, Team construction, Marchenko, Cherry, Datsyuk, and more!The week ahead: How will the Wings do against their Western Canadian foes? As always, WIIM Radio is rated R for language. You can write your congressperson to complain if you'd like. In fact, please do. I'd like to see a form letter promising to look into this scourge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Dec 20151h 23min

Welcome to another episode of WIIM Radio. This week we had Kyle, Jeff, Lauren, Michelle and me on to talk Red Wings hockey. Here's the Rundown:   Covering the week that was, including the Coyotes beat-down and the Preds comeback, which Lauren was at. A good week where we're having fun again. The effect of losing Drew Miller on the penalty kill and a quick Latin lesson. Brendan Smith maybe doesn't suck, based on one pretty good game. Callups in the wake of the Miller and Pulkkinen injuries. Will they call up Athanasiou, Cleary, Miele, Tangradi, Callahan, or maybe even Mantha or Nosek? Prospects Report, where Michelle catches us up on the Griffins' hot streak and the WJC camp rosters featuring a number of Red Wings draft picks/prospects. Reader Questions - Our hottest Reader Questions of the season. A must-listen segment this week as Jeff and Kyle have to be separated. The Week Ahead - With three big opponents coming up this week, how will the Wings do? Tune in to find out! - - - As always, WIIM Radio is rated for adults and like really cool children who can curse and do the New York Times crossword puzzle. Old people too, because they've heard this. I mean, I know old people count as adults, but they're like a whole different category if you think about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Dec 20151h 17min

Welcome to our new WIIM Radio for the first week of December. This episode is a bit of a Sabres postgame recap (with more, of course).  So please enjoy the dulcet tones of JJ, Kyle, Lauren and Jeff talking the Wings. Here's what we're up to:   Sabers Recap - It wasn't pretty at times, but it also wasn't really ugly. The Wings got two points and that's what matters.Dylan Larkin & Jack Eichel - Good 'ol American boys.Is Petr Mrazek #1 - Has he solidified his spot as the top netminder?The cluttered Atlantic Division - We could be in for a dog fight all season long.Prospects Report - Michelle goes over another hot week for the Griffins. Plus, our top guy in the minors, Daniel Cleary.Reader Questions - Our favorite part of the podcast, where we go over all of your questions to make sure we give them the answers they deserve. FMK is back.The week ahead - Two more games this week for the Wings, with Arizona and Nashville in town, how will we do? - - - WIIM Radio is rated R for language, partial nudity (not really) and sexual content (aka lusting over Larkin). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2 Dec 20151h 8min

As you already know if you listened to WiiM Radio this week, I had the great pleasure of talking to Patrik Bexell A.K.A Zeb over at Habs Eyes On The Prize this week about the Red Wings European prospects. We could only fit a small portion of our chat into the podcast but we covered so many interesting, informative, and funny things, that I didn't want you to miss out. So this week we have a bonus Prospect Report that covers:   In depth discussion about Axel Holmstrom and Christoffer Ehn, what kind of players they are, what roles they have on their teams, how they're developing and growing, and how Axel Holmstrom is an extremely lovable guy.How the SHL and European Leagues compare to North American development leagues. Are the European leagues better at developing NHl ready prospects than Canadian Juniors and what some of the advantages are to letting kids develop in a men's league across the pond.Will we see NHL teams utilize European leagues more in the future the way they currently use their AHL teams, sending excess players to Europe instead of the AHL?And more! If you're interested in reading more about the European leagues, their rankings, and some of the benefits of prospects developing in them, Patrik mentioned a couple articles you can check out in full. What do you think? Should NHL teams use European leagues for more prospect development? How much do you already love Axel Holmstrom? Let us know what you think of this special rinkside chat, and if you have any questions, Patrik will be around to drop more knowledge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 Nov 201524min

Welcome to our new WIIM Radio for the week of Thanksgiving. This time around we had me, Jeff, Kyle, and Joe on talking the Wings. Here's what we got up to: The last week - Detroit earned 5 of a possible 6 points against three of the top teams in the league. Let's take a moment and be happy about that.The loss of Ferraro - The ol' Asset Management Monster bit our roster again and stole away from us Ray Ferraro's son. Listen to us all talk about who we would have rather have waived (hint: It reads with Toe-A-Dream Manger Bun)Dylan Larkin is really good - If you get tired of listening to people praise Dylan Larkin then that's your problem.Jurco's comeback - After three games in GR, Jurco is on fire again. When will he be back and how will we fit him into the lineup?The defensive pairings - What's working so far along the blue line for Detroit? How do we like our pairings?The Stadium Series Jerseys - Candy cane or eyeball pain, what does everybody think of the new duds?Prospects Report - Michelle goes over the Griffins hot week and the turnaround they've seen, then welcomes on Patrik from Habs Eyes on the Prize to talk about our European gems.Reader Questions - Our favorite part of the podcast, where we go over all of your questions to make sure we give them the answers they deserve.The week ahead - Three more games this week for the Wings, with Boston, Edmonton, and Florida standing in the Wings' way. how will we do? - - - As a reminder, we'll have a special version of WIIM Radio a bit later on, as we'll have the uncut version of the talk between Michelle and Patrik about our European prospects.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Nov 20151h 17min

Welcome to the newest episode of WIIM Radio. This episode we had me, Kyle, Jeff, and Joseph on right after the Wings' win over the Ottawa Senators to react to that and also other things of Red Wings note. Here's the rundown:   The win over the Senators - Anderson vs. the Defense, who deserves more credit for this game going to OT; the usage of Glendening versus how it had been, and the brilliance of Gustav Nyquist.The return of Pavel Datsyuk - Pavs has three games under his belt and he's looking like the magic man we know he is. Let's all enjoy that together.What's up with Tomas Jurco - The guy can't get into the lineup over Andersson or Miller, but if he were hurt, why wouldn't they tell us. What's going on here?Andreas Athanasiou is good, yo. - Like, real good.Ouellet/Marchenko and the future of the defense - The Wings signed Ouellet to an extension on Monday. What does that mean for XO and where does it all fit in. How do you describe how Alexey Marchenko plays?The Abdelkader Deal - Now that we've had some time to digest it, let's dig right into the Abby deal and talk about our more-formed feelings.Prospects Report - Michelle takes us through the Griffins past, present and future, then covers the non-AHL prospects in the system.Reader Questions - Yours and my favorite part of the episode, when we finally start paying more attention to you guys instead of ourselves.The Week Ahead - Let's all take guesses on how the Wings will fare in their next three games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Nov 20151h 42min

Welcome to the newest addition of WIIM Radio! We had me, Graham and Kyle on to talk Wings and featured another awesome prospects report from Michelle. Here's the rundown: The Hall of Fame - Another two members of the greatest NHL squad to ever grace the ice went into the Hall of Fame this week as Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom, who were both with the Wings for the 2001-02 cup run were inducted. We'll talk lots and lots about that.Latest News - Pavel Datsyuk is set to return and Andreas Athanasiou may have to be sent back down. Do we want that? I mean, of course we want Datsyuk to return, but AA has been good. What to do with the defense?The Week that Was - Don't look now, but Detroit has won four out of their last five games. How good have they really been though?Justin Abdelkader - Bob McKenzie announced that the Wings and Abdelkader are finalizing a 7-year deal worth more than $4M AAV while we were recording, so we talked about it. Enjoy the air disappearing entirely from the episode at this point. Prospects Report - We talked a bit about the Flint Firebirds debacle and then Michelle will take us through Griffins and other prospects news.Reader Questions - We went through the reader questions to answer those which didn't already have answers. We gave those questions answers. Cool story, J.J.The Week Ahead - the Wings still have two more games this week against San Jose and Boston, then play Ottawa on Monday. We give our predictions.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12 Nov 20151h 28min