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YES LET'S PAY LIDSTROM A HALF-EATEN HOTDOG IN HIS (MAYBE) LAST SEASON OF HIS LEGENDARY CAREER WHEN HE'S STILL ONE OF THE TOP 5 D-MEN IN THE LEAGUE GOOD IDEA

Notre Dame hockey has forever been cursed for me because of one brett lebda. Never again guys, never again.

You know of some better, more traditional way that a hockey player could send a message to an opposing hockey player about his behavior? Pronger is oretty awesome at what he does. He is a troll on the ice, without a doubt. He's a great player and he's a dick to play against. He also makes hinmself available for ass-kicking to similarily-skilled opponents, but almost without exception they cower in fear. That's awesome, and that's how hockey players should be.

Yeah, he should definitely take a lower salary than Rafalski??? You guys really just need to take a step back and maybe re-hash this whole thing. Its Nick effing Lidstrom. He is a top 5 dman. Saying 'above average' is just startling. I have a feeling this is coming from trolls or people who just don't understand the business. He took a huge pay cut his whole career. It just can't sink in anymore than that I suppose. f***'S SAKE!!!

The implication being that Nick has no character? Well isn't that a nice thing to say about our captain and future Hall of Famer. "f*** that Lidstrom, he's a greedy prick." I love how I say I'm rooting for the Hawks to win the Stanley Cup because it would mean something to my dad and that means I'm a traitor but saying Nick Lidstrom has no character and is essentially a money-hungry ******* is the mark of a "true" fan.

One of them will have a Norris Trophy and a one of them will most likely have a Stanley Cup ring. The most recent Norris Trophy and most recent Stanley Cup, which are the most important in determining their current value. If you think that Lidstrom is still worth over 10 million dollars a year, fine. I won't ever be able to change your mind. But from where I'm sitting, the best defenseman this year and probably most years from this point forward, a 25 year old kid, just signed a contract that will take him into and throughout the prime of his career for a 5.5 million dollar cap hit. He did it because he loves the city and his team and because he wants to compete for the championship as often as is possible with the current salary cap. Duncan Keith will undoubtedly sacrifice more salary throughout his career than Lidstrom has. That's called character.

Pronger is acting like a dumb ass, but maybe that annoying song the Hawks always play just finally got to him. And this place is starting to look like letsgohawks.com already. Sick of it! I hate this whole damn matchup. Like Jersey and Colorado back in 2001.

Maybe he didn't want to kick the guy most responsible for the Wings' success the past 15 years in the balls. $6.2 is beyond fair for the organization and its something Lids can live with. That's most likely where that number came from....not some personal need to be the highest paid. It never was. Besides, if that were the case he'd be making $6.7+ next season given Datsyuk's salary. The "Lidstrom Cap" was awarded to him from Kenny for his financial sacrifices, not something Lids enforced.

one of the best defensemen of all time took a 1 million dollar pay cut for what will likely be his last season and it pisses me off!!!!! he's so selfish!!!

Well I was hoping for 5M but really didn't think they would ask him to play for less than Rafalski.

This thread is disappointing. I can't believe people are questioning Lidstrom's character? Insuating that he is greedy? Doesent make sacrifises? You are so spoiled wow. I'm happy that he is back for another year and with another discount. It's Nicklas Lidstrom.

Gongshow you are a gongshow. Seriously, not competitive? We're gonna be fine next year. Stop being stupid.

Give him time man. He's not Lidstrom-- he will struggle a bit as he adjusts to the NHL. This isn't an easy league to play defense in! But he showed glimpses of being top pairing quality in some games last season (though not as many as he did the year before). He also played well in the worlds-- where he was the Swede's leader in ice time (although he had a bad game against the Czechs).

This is unfathomable to me. One of the greatest players the Red Wings have EVER had, just signs a one-year contract to stay with the team rather than retire, which we all feared........and people are pissed? Jesus, no wonder people think we're spoiled. Maybe Nick should have retired. Then you people really would have something to ***** about.

I wouldn't go that far. I'm not too optimistic about next year right now. We don't have close to the depth up front that we had in 2008, and 2009. Zetterberg and Datysuk are both getting older, and it may have showed last year. Franzen blew a knee, who knows how he plays next year.... This team with Lidstrom playing for 6+ million will not be a cup contender next year. I can guarantee. Hudler will not be the difference. I'm gonna get in trouble for saying this, but I think Holland is vastly overrated by Wings fans and deals like this prove it. Holland hasn't done a single thing besides sign long term deals with players exiting their prime that may have possibly neglected the future of the Red Wings.

I think NeverForgetMac has brought a lot of proper perspective to this duscussion. Allow me to expanded upon his original retorts. What is honestly fueling this argument? The fans that are upset regarding the terms of Lidstrom's contract prescribe primarily into 1 of 3 possible ideologies - or some combination thereof. 1) "He should have taken less for the betterment of the team" - The Hometown Discount Clause Okay, certainly there has been some precedence of this. However, lets shape this argument in a more appropriate context. Lets say you are a factory line worker for General Motors. You've worked and dedicated the prime years of your life to the betterment of the company at the sacrifice of your physical health and meaningful time with your family. You are the most senior member of your assembly team and have the added responsibility of leadership which is rightfully deserved and are considered one of the finest, if not the very best at what you do. You are the receipient of countless company commendations and your pension is securly set for retirement. At this point in your career, you have nothing left to prove and look forward to a life of leisure that is well deserved. Now, you have worked yourself to the point where you gross $70,000.00 a year. You plan to retire but the company and management at General Motors has asked you to return because they respect you and the quality of the work that you produce. And ask you to come back for another year at $60,0000 - or roughly a 14% pay cut. A person of your quality is not easily replaced, and you are rewarded for you years of dedicated, unfallable service by taking a reduced salary to do everything that you were asked to do for the last 40 years. Basic Labor Economics states - The Marginal Utility of Free Time Expontentially Increases the Less You Have Time you Have. That is, as each additional hour you work - your free time becomes more valuable because you have less of it - and thus more money is needed to incentivize you to sacrifice your free time. Hence, the concept of Overtime. If you only have 10 hours of free time a week - you protect those hours pretty fiercly and it would take an increase in rate to convince you to work. So, if you were this Assembly line worker - would you take a 14% pay cut when the value of your free time (your retirement) dictates that an increase in salary is needed for you to sacrifice an additional year? The obvious response is "Well, it's different for the every day worker because he's a Millionaire! He doesn't need the money!" Yes, it's true - he is not hurting financially. But he also doesn't have any additional skills besides hockey. He had no trade or schooling to speak of - so what we does now is the money that he receives for the rest of his life unless he takes some type of organizational position in hockey. Assuming he lives to the mid 80's - that means he must live for the next 45 years off the money that he has accumulated - that is a massively long retirement horizon. As your retirement horizon increases - so does uncertainty. Take for instance the crisis of 2007 - Sergei Federov lost over $43M to fraudlent investment and market fluctuations. Or the average American who had their savings and pensions crushed by overextending debt by the financials or the liquidity crunch that followed? What's Lidstrom going to do? Car commercials? Puck Signings? Lidstrom's decision to take a couple of million more may seem "greedy" to someone who doesn't have a net worth of $10M - but he is also doing his best to secure his and his family's financial future for the next four decades and every cent counts. Like NeverForgetMac says - It's easy to tell someone else to take less money when it's not you. Lidstrom's decision - and I don't believe it was monetarily motivated (even though he would be very justified in doing so) - is because he loves Detroit and respects the organization. Concurrently, the Detroit Red Wings value his contribution and all that he had done for them and rewarded him with his salary request - because of all that he has done for them and not insult him with petty contract negotiations. What is tragic, is that despite all this man has done for this organization and how much he has contributed to the joy for being a Red Wing fans - there are those who question his motivations and unfairly accuse him of being selfish for not "sacrficing" more. To be continued...

They apply if player is over 35 (or 34) years old.

Keep in mind that the plethora of rookies will now have a year of experience under their belts. Ericcson, Helm, and Howard should (theoretically) all be more reliable on the ice, and we'll also have Abby the whole year instead of Williams. And don't underestimate what adding Hudler can do to the team. Especially if Babs wants to roll three "scoring lines". Its not the top six that wins a playoff series, but the bottom six. Next year we may also have a bit of money at the deadline to pick up someone who can add a bit of depth. Don't count next year as a lost cause before this year's playoffs are even over.

Term Term Term

Look how easy that is to say when its someone else's money.

Yzerman was not a top 10 player in the league his last (or even last 2) years in the league... nor was he playing top minutes - not the same

I just jizzed in my pants. Thank you Captain!

Joe Louis Arena is uncomfortable, cramped, falling apart, lacks sufficient bathroom numbers (and the bathrooms they do have are disgusting and small), and when I walk into the Joe I feel like I'm walking into a concrete sarcophagus, not a historic arena. The Joe hardly has the charm that Fenway or Wrigley have. Implying otherwise is a bit laughable. Even though I'm a fan of the Wings I can't pretend that JLA is some wonderful historic landmark that needs to be preserved.

A couple folks have mentioned they like the Joe due to its old school charm. Unfortunately all I see when I go there is "old".

I completely understand the situation, but the Joe has got to go... it is easily one of the most dilapidated and over-crammed venues in professional sports - It was built to hold WAY less people and the bathrooms, concessions, etc can't handle the load, not to mention the seats are uncomfortable, the "luxury" boxes are above the nose bleed section and it's in a pretty crap area in the city (not necessarily crime, but location in relation to local bars, etc) I love tradition and don't want a corporate name either, but if it means getting them in a new venue, team up with a major corporation and give them naming rights for a chunk of change to build it...