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We should do a list of the all-time best blueadams line threads.

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Right.. If that's the case, we'll take Carle for Hudler. I mean they both have been in the KHL

No I want a guy who can drop the gloves and do something else for a team. Konopka is that guy, wouldnt I be sitting here saying sign Mcgratton or Mcintyre if I just wanted a fighter since those are 2 of the toughest guys in the league? Konopka is the best faceoff man, most active fighter, solid defensively and can throw a hit. Drew Miller has an edge of probably 5 or 6 points a year offensively (barely anything), is solid defensively, is 180 pounds and not physical. Both guys are decent PKers. They seem like players of similar value to a team, it just depends what your team has. Detroit has no big, tough forwards that can wear down other teams defenses really and with Draper going they dont really have a guy you could for sure count on taking a draw late in a game. They also dont have any really willing fighters. All of these things point to Konopka providing things the wings lack. Miller is a good PKer, just like almost every wing forward not named Hudler, and 5 or 6 points doesnt really make up the difference that Konopka would provide other things

Agreed. I guess the hatred for the team that's knocked the Wings out twice is stronger for some people. Since they both can't lose, honestly I'd probably prefer the Sharks win for most of the reasons you mentioned, especially the sense of entitlement and incessant lecturing from Vancouver fans about how great their teams is and how unbiased their perspective is, but barring another meltdown by the Canucks, it ain't happening. Add to that a lot of canadians apparently root for whatever canadian team is left so Canada can win the Cup (???), so it becomes an inferiority complex on top of an inferiority complex, with all the annoying side effects that go with it.

But he was statistically going at a 105 point pace over the course of 11 games in the 2010-11 season. People forget he also did this while on lines with someone other than Datsyuk as well. Whoa! WTF... I forgot who I was for a second. Hudler is lazy and sucks, continue.

Yet he was still the LGWs official whipping boy... Ericsson has the 2nd best +/- stats among DRWs defencemen. 1st best was his defence partner, Rafalski. Ericsson scored more points in his first two season than Jiri Fischer. Ericsson also had better +/- stats than Jiri Fischer's 2nd year in the NHL. Both players are clumsy, both players got knocks for not being physical enough at the start of their respective NHL careers. Fischer was younger and had more upside. Ericsson wasn't a first round pick and isn't expected to be a top 2 defenceman on his team. Defencemen don't even start to peak until their early 30s. Lidstrom wasn't even known as a star until his early-to-mid 30s. What does this mean? That fans (LGWs posters) have unrealistic expectations of players, and don't understand the development process. Bottom line, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Ericsson is a good young defenceman. He is still learning and finding his identity (the same identity that most defensemen don't find until they get into their 30s). The guy is a damn good bottom pairing d-man, and will develop into a rock solid #4. Holland, Babcock and crew haven't been this patient with him because he's a flop. He's a guy that will be pursued by other teams... but according to the latest report (previous page), he said he was never made an offer by Holland, never rejected an offer, and wants to play for the Red Wings because he knows they are a winning team. So the guy seems to have some loyalty and wants to stay here. And I hope he does re-sign. Because who replaces him may be a flop.

Unless your name is Malkin of course then it's not so mandatory.

I agree with earlier comments that the Phoenix situation mostly deals with the new hockey only arena in Glendale. The Thrashers share an arena with the Hawks, they won't be missed, the Coyotes will. What a horrible decision by the Coyotes to not continue to share an arena with the Suns.

huh. Gary actually bought the team with the NHL's money. That IMO is going waaaay to far to try and keep the team in Phoenix. This makes zero sense business wise. The whole thing is fishy. If it's not Bettman's ego, what is going on?

Repost from HF, regarding a 3 conference system: Since a 3 conference idea has been mentioned, I thought I'd fiddle with that: Scenario 1: All O6 in one Northern Conference Great Lakes Division Detroit Chicago Toronto St. Louis Ottawa Northeast Division Montreal Boston New York R New York I New Jersey Southern Conference Atlantic Division Buffalo Columbus Pittsburgh Philadelphia Washington Southeast Division Carolina Dallas Tampa Bay Nashville Florida Western Conference Northwest Division Edmonton Calgary Colorado Minnesota Winnipeg Pacific Division Vancouver San Jose Anaheim Los Angeles Phoenix Still some travel issues, but not near as bad as now. At least I managed to work it out so noone travels more than 1 TZ in their own division and no more than 2x in their own conference (and this only happens in the WC because of Minnesota and Winnipeg). Swapping Vancouver and Colorado is arguable based upon your opinion of distance travel (north-south) vs TZ travel (east-west). In a Pacific scenario, Vancouver could actually do division games where they start at home, play in SJ, then LA, then ANA, then PHX, then PHX again, then ANA, then LA, then SJ, then back at home. This would greatly cut down on travel and arguably result in a lesser travel schedule than being in the Northwest. As a mild alternative for the NC and SC, you could put Buffalo in the GL division, St. Louis in the Southeast division, and Carolina in the Atlantic division. I think that works just as well; it becomes a matter of losing St. Louis vs Chicago/Detroit or Buffalo vs Toronto/Ottawa, but all of those rivalries are small potatoes (or at least, St. Louis and Buffalo are small potatoes, BOG-wise). I'd imagine this would run on either an 84 game schedule where teams play each div rival 6x, conference rival 4x and extra-conference 2x, or 82 game with each div rival 8x, conference rival 6x and extra-conference 1x Here's a map, because we like MS paint drawn maps:

the only thing I would do different is brining Jan Mursak up to the Wings for good. He is now waiver exempt and has far too much potential to lose him for free. I would take Mursak over Miller as my only change. I also feel the exact same way with Ericsson. I wished he would blossom this season and show us his true form but I dont think the Wings brass are too interested in waiting around for it any longer. If not re-signing Ericsson allows us to land Drew Doughty, then so be it.

You may be on to something... Dress 4 skaters and have two goalies in net!

I am not sure what you expect from Kesler when Clowe is the one who initiated. Remember game 4 of last series? You don't have to do anything to get Clowe to want to punch you in the face.

You'd have to ask him. Force of habit? Like I said earlier, I'm a Kesler fan. I've said several times he should win the Selke this year, and probably should've last year. It's not just blind hate. Though this series has made it harder and harder to continue to like him. But if he's jawing with Clowe like that and doesn't think he could get popped, he's an idiot. Even on hfboards they were pointing out how none of his teammates really checked on him. And how he popped up to congratulate Luongo seconds later. If his jaw is that tender, he probably shouldn't be sticking it in Clowe's face at the end of a game. It's not surprising that Clowe would do that.

Yeah, this is sort of the rub. I thought Mursak showed some promise, especially using his speed with Helm's. I didn't see enough of Emmerton to make a judgement but regardless, it's hard to keep seeing prospects shipped away to other teams because of lack of roster space. At some point, I think the Wings need to keep some room to start working on some of the younger guys even in the playoffs, like they did with Helm and Abdelkader. Especially for any potential top-six skill type players e.g. Tatar. Even if he or others don't develop to that level in the end, they've got to take the shot because Datsyuk, Zetts and Franzen won't be around forever no matter what their contracts say. All that being said, I still really think the roster as a whole needs more grit and toughness. If that means clearing some of our borderline, "depth" pieces, I think the tradeoff is worth it even if it means seeing players I like shipped out. I'd rather have some big, physical grinders to protect our skill kids as they develop.

I think you're really misinterpreting Holland's philosophy and comments. I think you're so emotionally invested in change that you're assuming the worst; as if Holland said we're bringing the exact same team back. Like every year, we'll make some tweaks. Wisniewski, though pretty good, would still be a tweak. One that Holland will certainly consider if it looks like a realistic option. Personally I think he'll want too much. After Nick, he's the 2nd highest scoring UFA defenseman available. Montreal has a ton of space, and no one but Subban signed. Wis may not even make free agency. Even if he does all the other good FAs create holes on the teams they played for. Many of those teams will have as much or more money than we will. What I get from Holland is that we're not going to blow up the team. We're not going to trade guys just for the sake of change, but he's said we're open to making a trade if it makes sense. We can't go out and spend like crazy, but that doesn't mean we won't spend up to the cap. We have every year, we will again this summer. This year we're in better cap shape than the last two years, so we should expect the moves to be a bit more impactful. The prime guys like Ehrhoff, Bieksa, Wisniewski, Richards, maybe even Laich and Cole, might be out of our range. But we should be able to do better than Salei and Modano.

Would you rather him over pay for free agents every year? I know I dont... Find your leaders within the system for hometown rates and loyalty. Only go fishing in FA when needed hence Rafalski. Just look at some of the recent top player FA contracts and they get quite pricey and don't work on in the long run. I'm not trying to call you out but we were one win short of the final four with injuries. We faced a3-0 series defiect not because of what players but instead of how they were playing the first couple of games. Holland always ices a contender and we are damn lucky to have that good of a GM contracts like datsyuk and Zerterberg look better every year as the caps go up.

I'm all for this. Babcock and Hitchcock could play, instead of good cop/bad cop, angry cock/pissed off cock. It'll be perfect!!! Also, I really want Ericsson to re-sign. I might be the only guy on LGW that supports him, but he's not a bad player, he just needs a little direction... direction that I feel ken hitchcock could provide!

I think he can score 105 points? It's certainly possible he could do it, but I don't think it would happen. What I have said is that in the eleven games he played with Datsyuk, he was on pace for a 105 point season. That's not the same as me saying "I think he would keep up that scoring all year!" but you don't seem to be one for accuracy. When have people mentioned stats to show support for Franzen? What stats?

(in the McCrimmon thread too, but here for posteriors)

You can have a difference of opinion all you want; no one will stop you or ever say you can't. But at the same time all the posters who are reading your ridiculous comment about Cleary being trash can be of the opinion that your initial opinion is just about the stupidest, most uninformed comment they've ever read. You saying that you watched every game this year as some sort of back up as to why Cleary has 'progressively gotten worse' is a load of crap. Personally, I hope this 'progression' continues because that means he'll continue to bust his ass every shift, fill any role he's asked, and have another career year in goals and points. Wow, talk about putting words into someone's mouth. This is a perfect example of people reacting emotionally to Hudler leaving for the KHL and projeting their anger on to him as opposed to being objective about the situation. Nothing in his comments even suggested your interpretation let alone did he actually say that. You sound like an angry, jealous girlfriend who saw her boyfriend innocently talking to another girl and is throwing a fit. 'Well, if you like her so much why don't you just go date her and have sex with her you ******* cause you're never gettin any of THIS again!' You guys need to get over this crap

Man I sure hope Cleary doesn't regress more and score 30 next season...