In Red Wings Land

Detroit Red Wings look like they’ve finally found formula for two scoring lines – Freep

“I think Bert can help any line he goes on,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “He can really help. Bert, Fabs and Suits, they looked like they had good chemistry. I thought they were really good. You have a really smart playmaking center, you have a really good shooter in Fabs who plays hard, and you have a guy who can do a little bit of everything, including going to the net hard and being hard on pucks, so I like the makeup of that line.

I’ve liked the Guelph line and Namestnikov up top so far.

Around the League

NHL needs to loosen its grip for All-Star Game to be relevant again – Yahoo

But how about this idea? Like many NHL players have and done previously, why doesn’t the league office recuse itself from the selection process altogether? Why not cede control and have the two broadcasting partners on respective sides of the border, huddle up in a room and decide which 44 players they want to try to market across a 48-hour stretch in early February?

I really don’t know how I feel about the concept of removing the requirement that each team have one representative. I get that it leaves more deserving players out of the competition but I also think each fanbase deserves to see their team repped.  I guess I do know how  I feel. I’m against it.

Although, if you did have one set of selections for players and another set designed solely for the skills competition you can likely solve both problems.