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I'm going to get minuses for this, but does that decision remind us in any way of:

Wishful thinking. Kopy will be on the 2nd line...

For an otherwise stellar program as far as handling players and the class of the organization overall, there was not a single situation handled worse than the Curtis Joseph fiasco and it still bothers me to this day how it went down... It still infuriates me how Curtis Joseph was treated here and how raw of a deal he got... he was flat out STELLAR in the playoffs both years (especially in 03-04) and was made a scapegoat for an offense that couldn't score and a coaching staff that couldn't adjust to life without Scotty and a head coach in Dave Lewis that wasn't ready to be an NHL head coach... Curtis Joseph's Playoff Stats here in Detroit: Year Team League GP W L OT Min. GA SA GAA PCT SO 2003-04 Detroit NHL 9 4 4 - 518 12 197 1.39 .939 1 2002-03 Detroit NHL 4 0 4 - 289 10 120 2.08 .917 0 Regular Season: Year Team League GP W L OT Min. GA SA GAA PCT SO 2003-04 Detroit NHL 31 16 10 - 1708 68 744 2.39 .909 2 2002-03 Detroit NHL 61 34 19 - 3566 148 1676 2.49 .912 5 If you watched ANY of the '04 playoffs, the poor guy stood on his head and lost games 1-0 or 2-1 and his offense gave him NO scoring support, only to be basically ousted in the off-season for an injury plagued Dominik Hasek that was not in physical condition at the time to justify the move(who had already retired and was a year removed from hockey, let alone NHL hockey) and never got the shot at the cup that he so badly deserved...

Cujo absolutely got a raw deal. I, like you OP, have always been rather ashamed of the way the organization handled that fiasco - but I blame Hasek for the whole ordeal. Had he stuck around for another season, the Wing's likely would have won back-to-back cups - again.

A career-ending injury to a player, on an icing call "race", will force the General Managers and the NHL to eat crow and acknowledge that the League needs no-touch icing in it's rules.

Franzen whips out Kane's mouthguard again at some point this season.

I think 'other variables' was the premise. It's not really a point that needed to be made, since as you said most people already know that hitting does not mean winning. There may be a vocal crowd that preaches hitting an aggressiveness, but I think it's meant more in a 'play harder' way then a 'that's the key to victory' way, if you get my meaning. People also complain about turnovers, slowness, dumb penalties, missing open shots, etc. I'm sure if you asked people in Columbus what kind of players they'd want to add, more skill would be a priority. That doesn't mean they shouldn't expect their current players to play harder, finish their checks, clear the crease, etc... All in all, a pretty dumb article.

It's too bad it didnt work out, because CuJo was always one of my favorite players. But he was never the reason we lost in the playoffs, to post a .917 sv% when your team gets swept is incredible. He doesnt deserve the flack he gets/got, class act that deserved better.

CuJo wasn't the biggest scapegoat in the last 20+ years. He's just the one who's been forgiven. Now Fedorov and Legace, on the other hand...

As he shouldn't - he was a consummate professional here and was a whipping boy for a team that was looking for an identity after the loss of the most iconic coach in NHL history and coming off of a Stanley Cup, with a Stanley Cup hangover... he basically walked into the perfect storm.... Unfortunately, the front office gave the team to the wrong coach... I still think to this day that Barry Smith would have done a 1000x better job in that role, as he simply commanded more respect than Dave Lewis did... in the end... CuJo suffered for a situation he had nothing to do with... Agreed, the CuJo mask looked amazing in red... I gotta say though, I really love Jimmy's mask and the spin they put on it with the odometer and the retired numbers...

^ That. Everyone saying he is embracing his new team, when in the end I believe its more or less a stab at his former club. Doesn't matter in the least if he is, in fact that makes it just a little bit sweeter pic because of that.

Mark that as the first and only time an Atlanta Thrasher and the Stanley Cup will ever be seen together again.

Still don't like Claude. I'm itching for another rivalry as heated as that one was. It doesn't even have to involve us, I just wanna have a rivalry like that in the game today.

Predictions: NHL officials have to come up with a new penalty in honor of Crosby: Over-Whining. The Blackhawks' locker room will have a piggy bank stuffed with coins. On it is written, "For little Patty Kane". During a commercial break, "What-Whistle?"-Jackman gets taken out by Hudler as Happy leans over to re-tie his skates. An NHL referee chokes on his whistle while trying to decide "intent" and the magnet used to remove it also pulls out the computer-chip-feed from Bettman. The game is forfeited. Wishful predictions: Ozzie gets real playing time. The Hawks have such a fire sale at the end of the season that their ice is never the same. Wings Win! Wings Win!!!

The odds of him getting on the team are pretty slim. Talking about something hockey-related in the offseason that hasn't been hashed and rehashed is what is keeping this thread going. That said, if he comes along and puts all of his competition to shame, I'll be the last to complain. I can dig it when anyone comes along and shines surprisingly bright for Detroit. If he does make it, I hope we can trade for Selanne so we can find out what the Finnish translation is for "two kids and a goat".

imagine the numbers franzen could have put up!

anyone else find this photo a bit disturbing? got some ***** eye for the straight guy type thing going on

Hate all you want. He still said some nasty things about Draper.

I wish I got TSN. Hopefully it's on Youtube by tomorrow. I'd like to hear their thoughts on their feud - though I'm not expecting fireworks and I'm thinking that they must have respect for eachother by now. Afterall, Lemieux was without question a great player, as was McCarty was great in his own way - he was far more capable a hockey player than most who played his role. Mac did what he had to do by going after Claude, then the next time they met Claude showed Mac that he wasn't scared of him, challenging him to a straight-up fight that was actually pretty close. In addition, both of them came back out of nowhere to play in the NHL again after most thought their days were done - that alone should is noteworthy and oughta endear them to eachother a little bit.

Legace collapsed under the pressure of being a #1 goalie and Fedorov spit in the organization's face for a paycheck and an ego problem - both of these are HORRIBLE examples...

No, your not alone on this. I fully agree with you and I do talk up North American and more importantly Canadian players. I'm Canadian and I Love the way we play the game and I miss having good Canadian players in the mix on our team. I don't hate euro's but for the most part they do play a different style then NA players. My opinion is that we need a better mix! A better mix will give us a more exciting product on the ice... we haven't had what I am looking for since losing Yzerman, Shannahan, Old Mac, a Prime Grind Line. I'd rather see moves made to bring in a Carcillo or Asham rather then sign an unknown Filpula especially since i am not satisfied yet with the current Filpula.

Interesting enough - but only two of those (Packers/Bears and Yankees/RedSocks) have any real staying power. The fact that the Wings Av brawl was still recent in people's memories clearly had a huge inpact on that poll. I doubt it would make the top 10 today (and it shouldn't) but the two I mentioned would. Just as they would have in 1990, 1980, 1970 and so on.

It feels good to be vindicated - I said all along that 1) Mac suckered Claude, and 2) that Claude didn't turtle, his bell was rung and he went down from the suckerpunch. Both of those things were talked about tonight, Mac had no problem with it - he even said that the suckerpunch he landed to the side of Claude's head was among the hardest punches he ever threw. It was a great interview, I really enjoyed the insight that both guys offered. They seemed to agree, that men who land that kind of shot should expect to have to answer to the other team's toughguy. Both guys were known as being pricks on the ice but they seem like class acts here.

Legace didn't do well, but Legace was a bigger scapegoat than Cujo was. Fedorov was also a bigger scapegoat than Cujo was ever since the holdout in the mid-90s. Yet without Fedorov, Detroit doesn't win in 97, 98, or 2002.

Totally, have been in this camp for years despite the success.The Flip was a big flop in the S.J series ; no grit injury or not. I believe his no show along with the crappy goaltending did us in. Grinders, in Detroit has become a remote dream. Imagine were wondering abou the fate of Abdelkader - oh no another Knuble gone. Were far of course - I'll take a guy from PEI any day over ...