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These playoffs are just full of surprises aren't they. Congrats to Phoenix on one hell of a shocker! *Edit: Though it is nice to see Rinne does indeed have kinks in his armor...

Aaaoooooooooooooo!! esteef

Bro... I feel for you. Nothing more frustrating than being stonewalled when your boys are pouring shots on net. Now you know how the Wings felt in the 1st round.

That was a panic move made in house to make sure Ericsson didn't make it to free agency and so he wouldn't lose a young defenseman for nothing. Besides, I don't think that he has been that overpaid based on how he played this season.

When I read posts like this, I am glad Ken Holland is in charge.

here is a link to a helpfull cap site for the NHL. http://www.capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=15 Hope this doesn't violate any rules......

So close for Smith on the goal.. Congrats Coyotes!

nashville might as well forfit the third peroid,because they aren't going to the puck past smith,it sucks the preds are never gonna make it past round 2

This crowd can taste it. They might not know what they're tasting, but dammit they're tasting something!

coyotes fans won't do that because they have more class than the the preds fans do,i don't like the YOU SUCK chants and don't chant along with the preds fans,don't get why they keep chanting it instead of celebrating a preds victory

Good crowd so far. Lots of people offering Radulov their beers during warm ups lol.

From yesterday, at the annual Jazz Fest down here, enjoying the Foo Fighters gig a few stories above the crowd in a tent/shade.

I want a Doan face tonight! esteef

You make it sounds like AI in his prime wasn't an perennial MVP candidate. He may have been an ego and a half but he was a damn good ball player.

I disagree about trades being out of the question-- it all depends on how Holland does on July 1st. If he strikes out we're almost guaranteed he will look very hard for trade possibilities. I have zero interest in Penner unless he's cheap. He comes with huge questions about his commitment on and off the ice (especially in terms of whether he is NHL-fit). Both would be downgrades.

Yeah, CapGeek is the go-to site for most of LGW regarding possible signings and trades. Little known fact, our own Matt helped design their current cap calculator with their most recent overhaul.

Of course, if the cap does rise to $70Mish, then we are talking a whole different monster. Holland could throw $15M ($7.5M each) at Parise and Suter, $1.25 at Vokoun, $1.25M at Helm, $1M at Abby, let Quincey go (collect draft picks) let Hudler walk and ALSO give Lidstrom his $6.2M and that would be a great team. I'd even let Franzen stick around... FORWARDS Zach Parise ($7.500m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) Danny Cleary ($2.800m) / Darren Helm ($1.250m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) Drew Miller ($0.838m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.000m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Ryan Suter ($7.500m) Ian White ($2.875m) / Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) Tomas Vokoun ($1.250m) ------ SALARY CAP: $70,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $67,142,045; BONUSES: $37,500 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $2,357,955 Leaving $2.35 available for injury call-ups and extra cash for depth at deadline...as much I as dislike Cleary and Franzen and believe they need to be traded. I can really get behind a roster like this...of course that is IF the Cap goes up to $70M.

I'm betting the Preds are going to lose, so I called in the donation to Ilitch Charities from the Paypal account; checks go in the mail tomorrow. Our grand total is $264.39. Way to go, LGW! Very nice amount, especially considering the limited opportunities to pad the bill. Again, thanks so very much to all who participated. Hopefully next year I'll take you all for a lot more money.

Bettman makes special announcement, we have a buyer for the team then I hope team goes out there and just put Nashville out of their misery, win this and be done with it. Suter sweepstakes begin. Bonus if anyone can rub Weber's head into the boards, maybe Torres should have done in that last game of his.

Wow, you make blanketed statement with the age and injury thing I understand we lost a lot of players due to injury but you cant just say that the team is old. How about Helm, Ericsson, Kindl, Mursak, Quincey and Eaves. ALL missed 10 games or more due to injury....average age...23.5 years. Kinda debunks your myth because from where I am sitting, young guys get hurt just like the old geezers...No question that it takes older guys longer to heal- It also takes experience on how to take a hit, when to press and when to sit, how to fall so you dont hurt yourself. No doubt this team is missing a few key parts...It became evident as year wore on BUT this is also the same team who won 23 games in a row at home, setting a new NHL record and did a lot of things right. If this team is capable of that, we dont need a major overhaul. We dont need to look at replacing 10 people on this team in the next 2 years.....thats NOT gonna happen and it shouldnt. Key components with our core group and the Wings will be where they want to be. PS Love David Jones? Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Healthier..No, missed 11 games due to injury. Just sayin'

Jarnkrok will be centering Swedens second line today against Denmark. If he's good enough to be Swedens second best center (save for playoff performers) he should be able to help the Wings next year. I know he won't be brought over, but a line of Nyquist, Jarnkrok, and Filppula would be one hellish fast and skilled line.

Yzerman was also damaged goods at that point, playing on one knee. He missed significant playing time each of those years with injury problems, and didn't pot more than 52 points since the 2000-2001 year. Yes he took a paycut, but its hardly equivalent to Lidstrom taking 3M/year to play, who is still quite healthy, quite effective, and even including the lost step he has endured with age, is still an elite defensman in the league. I also have to disagree with you assessment of Parise: You are correct in labeling him as a small forward, but he is effective and gritty in the corners, and plays harder and more tenacious on the puck/body than the majority of our current roster. He isn't going to steamroll Weber, but he will make his presence felt given the opportunity. Keep an eye on him in the playoffs if you get the chance. On our core: Datsyuk is currently 33, which isn't fresh but I wouldn't consider him "old" either. He's nearing the end of his prime, but he is certainly still there. I really don't get the desire to move perhaps the most effective two-way player in the game right now (and frankly the most effective two-way player I have ever seen, in any hockey era). Zetterberg isn't far behind him, and while he had terrible first-half numbers, it was revealed he was injured and really stepped it up in the second half. Z is younger, also in his prime, and still quite effective. Lidstrom is old, but still effective. Homer is also old, so is Bert, and none of them will be around much longer. Darren Helm is young and energetic, Abdelkader is a solid shut-down centerman who's backcheck and defensive game are quite underrated. Also young. Filppula is south of 30. Hudler is south of 30. Jimmy Howard is south of 30. Emmerton, Ericsson, Miller, Eaves, Quincey, White and many others are younger than 30. I don't know that its fair to say that we're an old team anymore. We're the youngest we've been in over a decade.

Steve Yzerman was the exception not the rule and he only took a discount for 1 year. He made 5.8 million in his 2nd last year and for his final year he took a salary of 1.25 million. Neither Datsyuk or Zetterberg will ever be traded, regardless of trade value. They'll both retire as Red Wings. Its that dedication to our veterans that created the Wings reputation as a prime FA destination.

THE MAYANS KNEW!!!