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And I'm sorry, I don't buy for a second that anyone can honestly say they're comfortable with our chances of being a successful team with our defense consisting of Kronwall, White, Ericsson, Smith, Quincey and Kindl. I mean, really...? Really...? I'm not knocking them as individual players right now, I'm just saying, look at that group and remind yourself that it's the core of your defense right now. Really consider that Lidstrom and Stuart are gone from that group. Maybe it hasn't fully sunk in yet. Maybe you're good at forgetting how lost this team looked last year in March without Lidstrom? I don't blame you; we all wanted to forget that. Let's just forget about making the playoffs for a second... Are we even a .500 team with that defense? Maybe in a couple years with more NHL development for the youngans, but next year? Seriously? Don't forget or overlook how important Lidstrom's contribution to our offense was as well. I don't want to s*** on anyone trying to be optimistic; it's a noble thing and I will cheer this team on next season no matter what. But none the less, I don't think people have really accepted what we're going to be dealing with next year, nor are people willing to admit how much Holland has mishandled the whole situation the last 3-4 years. You can talk all you want about how "smart" it is to not make ridiculous reactionary moves now, but we never should've been in this position. And we've been talking about how "smart" Holland is for sitting on his hands because of the "cap" or some player's "potential" for four summers in a row now, and here we are: Lidstrom's gone, Stuart's gone, Hudler's gone again (I'm completely okay with that one, but he still scored goals and that hasn't been our strong suit...). We didn't land our primary free agent targets. We added Tootoo and an older Samuelson (and a good backup goalie, but hopefully that'll be a fairly inconsequential addition this year). Our defense as of now features Kronwall, White, Ericsson, Smith, Quincey and Kindl. No Lidstrom. No Stuart. Very, very, very few options left. Smart?

This is what it is like trying to talk to some members of this board right now: Holland is a great GM. Period.

First, no, it's absolutely not true. But a lot of adult hockey fans in the 80's and 90's were bred with that Cold War mentality, and misinterpreted the playing styles of some of the Russians who defected at that time. Any stereotype based on an entire nationality of players is obviously unfair - Konstantinov and Darius Kasparatis were extremely rugged players who just happened to share the same nationality as guys like Alex Kovalev. But if you ever watch European soccer, there are just cultural difference in sport that Americans will not accept. For example, American athletes fully accept doing anything to gain an edge (bending the rules, steroids in baseball, trying to hurt opponents), yet diving or embellishing injury of any kind is a violation of the "man code" and completely dishonorable. In other countries, however, this is seen as a "trying to get an edge", really no different than stepping out of bounds but failing to correct a referee who doesn't make the call. Still, the "soft" or "lazy" accusation gets imputed to the whole when North American fans see something like this: I never though that Fedorov was "soft" or that Kozlov was "lazy", but I heard that all the time. There was a famous Sergei Fedorov quote where he said if his name were "Sam Jones", he would be considered a much bigger star than he was. There's been this tacit requirement that the bar for Russian players is much higher in the NHL (and still is). In other words, if you're Jordin Tootoo or Cal Clutterbuck and spend most of your time scrapping and running people in corners, North American players are romanticized for doing that, while a Russian who did that but couldn't score probably couldn't even stay in the NHL. I think it's getting noticeably worse for Russian players in the NHL, and the KHL is a prime reason for that. Nobody wants to make a long-term commitment to these guys when there's always the threat that they'll pull a Radulov or Hudler and end up back overseas. I think that's a legitimate concern for would-be employers, but we can do with out the Don Cherry-style xenophobia.

It is a better situation to have it blow up, with room to change. Than have it blow up when you are spending to the cap and have to buy out contracts. Holland is being smart.

I'm content with this group. They are a mediocre bunch who could maybe surprise some people. They're not the Leafs or the Oilers. I'm also content with the sofa that I got in 1976. It's ugly earth-tone paisley and my dad had to beef it up with plywood in spots, but it'll do until I get something better. Pretty much like the Wings. What we have is good. That doesn't mean we aren't shopping around to get better. It just means that we're not going to throw out the babies with the bathwater and blow up the team en route to getting better players. Trades? FA signings? Sure, if they improve the team at a reasonable price. One can be content and still looking to improve. It just means that what one has is servicable. Now if Holland had said, "I'm tickled pink with this team!" then I would worry.

I liked the move and still do but I don't think Babcock would agree with this analysis. And I don't think we would be foregoing our Cup chances by trading pieces and prospects to get a top-tier defenseman to play alongside Lidstrom before retiring. I also think we likely hurt our Cup chances by not shaking this team up a bit more. New blood might've added more urgency, and if guys saw that the front office wasn't above shipping out players (that have likely felt untouchable for awhile now, unhealthy...) it might motivate them to perform better day in, day out. We also have had an incredibly unbalanced offense since the summer of 2009 and Holland has failed to address that time and again. In my mind, and I think many others, Babcock's included last summer, Holland didn't address the needs of this team to get them ready to make a run for the Cup. No matter what he told Lidstrom, Holland's been dropping the ball again and again on this team for 3-4 years now. Like I said before, I'm not talking about Holland's performance this off-season. I'm talking about 3-4 years of Holland utterly and completely fumbling to address the needs of this team in the present and in the future, as in, being set up for right now. Do you see me saying anything about signing lower-middle tier guys to excessive contracts just for the sake of doing something? No. It would be dumb to go crazy right now, but that would be about the only thing dumber than what Holland did the last 3-4 years to help land us in this position in the first place.

Same old s*** from Holland. He's done nothing of significance the last several deadlines and offseasons. This offseason, his big accomplishment is signing a 4th liner that any GM could have signed and that old goof Samuelsson, who we don't need at this point. And that's coming off three early playoff exits in a row and the retirement of your best player for the last decade. I don't know what our record will be next season, but the offseason up until now has been a disaster. But Holland's mentality is, "All is well" Honesty is a b****.

Your position seems to be that unless someone can provide concrete examples of players that were available, trades that almost definitely would go through, and would almost certainly improve the team, they shouldn't complain. That's an absurd expectation. At the time who would've predicted that Holland could get Stuart from the Kings for a 2nd and 4th pick? Or taking the Kings as an example, who would've thought they'd get Richards for Simmonds, Schenn and a pick? Or trade a defenseman they'd recently signed long term to bring in Carter? And that both of those trades would be huge factors in their Cup win? It's likely you would've shot down all of those trades as unrealistic or wouldn't improve the team. But who the hell knows until they actually happen? If I could provide those kind of examples beforehand, I'd take Holland's friggin job. I'm not complaining because I think he sucks. I'm complaining because I think he's one of the best GM's in the NHL, so he better be able to come up with some moves that the average fan couldn't know about. It's awful hard to provide irrefutable evidence for a trade that didn't happen. That doesn't mean I can't be unhappy with what Holland is saying and doing. For now I'm withholding full judgment until the summer is over. But Lidstrom retiring is something he and management should've started planning for 10 years ago. Looking at our blueline right now, it sure doesn't feel like they did. Your position seems to be that if Holland made the move, it was the right one. If he didn't, it wouldn't have made the team better or it would've cost too much. The only thing I've heard you complain about regarding Holland was Ericsson, which you were wrong about.

In Holland I trust

Disappointing to say the least. Here's some highlights from a couple morning articles. Don't expect any new Red Wings anytime soon folks! http://www.detroitne...207120392/1128/

We always seem to be on the same page with these matters, yet for whatever reason, you never get ripped apart like I do. What's your secret?

I agree. People have been complaining since the 2008 cup that the Wings lack motivation, well they should have it now. This is the first time in a long time that they actually have something to prove and hopefully it motivates them.

No, the best move they made was letting Hudler go!

For the record, you can't plan for what happened to Konstantinov OR Fischer, let alone both... Both, were, or were on their way to being, a top 2 defenseman, Konstantinov, a yearly Norris hopeful... Most teams would not have recovered from those losses ever, let alone gone on to win cups shortly thereafter...

Here's how it goes, Wings vs Wild 1st round, we beat them and then we say Suter should of came here

All I hear is wah wah wah. I'll be smiling in May when we are in the playoffs yet again.

Maybe he just likes lightening other dudes loads

I remember when we weren't a contender, when we didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making the playoffs let alone winning the cup. I stood by my Wings then and I'll continue to do so. As a Wings fan you can't help but notice all the animosity, even hate for our beloved franchise. That's because even where our roster stands Detroit is still a force to be reckoned with and that team you do not want to play.

It's a simple old tale - The mind wants what the body can't do... he still has the desire and love and isn't ready to hang them up, but his body is... ultimately, I think he'll come to that conclusion and retire, but Holland is allowing him to go out with grace and rather than come out in the media and say "He's old and useless, we're not bringing him back", he's going about it the right way, for a warrior who has given this team a LOT and deserves to go out on his own terms, so to speak... He will not be back here next year as a player, I guarantee that.

Uh, no, that's not what he said. He never said "fill", he specifically said "replace", as in these guys will replace Stuart and Lidstrom. Not sure how you can read it any other way... How exactly are we risking our money if it's not being allocated to anything else...? If it's essentially, just sitting there? Don't risk some money on a previous 40 goal scorer for a team in need of scoring depth? Just don't understand your argument... And then you say we WILL make the playoffs and WILL compete? You come to that consensus based on......what exactly? Do you not realize this is now a team MUCH weaker than the one that was first to get eliminated and won a single game last playoffs? And yet, somehow, you think with a weaker roster we'll somehow do.....better? Am i missing something here? I just dont understand the logic!

Well, it is tough to face the fact that we are not a contender.... I took it for granted for 19 years that I followed the Red Wings. Any advices?

Look, Holland is being smart here. He tried his best to get both Parise and Suter, but in the end they wanted to be close to their families, which Michigan cannot provide. After those two, the free-agent pool drops off considerably. We have money and we have needs, but is it smart to utilize that money in a poor free agent market in attempt to fill your needs with average players, or would it be better to put a bandage on all the wounds for now and wait until next year when more high profile players will be free to sign wherever they like? Trades are always an option too, but when you need someone to replace Lidstrom, or some top-six sniper (in a dry free agent year no less), prices are going to be high. Holland admitted he wants at least another player before he's comfortable with the team, but it's goIng to be a bandage, not a permanent fix to our roster issues. This year can't provide us with a permanent fix. That's just the reality of it. Better luck next year.

I don't know how anyone thinks the Wild aren't contenders now. They have a good team. I think they will be super exciting to watch next year. That power play is going to kick some butt. I can tell you that.

Jarnkrok, Pulkkinen, Jurco, Frk, Sheahan, Sproul, Tvrdon, Athanasiou, Bodin, McKee...We Won't Miss Mursak, Tatar or Andersson...

Stupid Holland! He should have gotten Roy! Now the offseason is RUINED!