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You're suggesting that we trade our next captain, who happens to be a very good scorer, an excellent two-way forward, and the most prolific playoff producer since the lockout, in exchange for a defenseman who can't play defense. No offense, but are all of these trade ideas jokes?

Wings aren't a serious cup contender? There are no serious contenders in the league anymore. You make the playoffs, you have a 1/16 chance of winning the cup. These playoffs proved that when the Coyotes of all teams advanced to the WCF with Detroit, Vancouver and Chicago losing in first round.

Well it's a damn good thing the game is played on the ice and not decided by sport writers. The Red Wings have a new look, players will step up, everything's going to be just fine. I personally think it will be better than fine and we will surprise a lot of sport writers and fans this year. I can't wait until puck drop to see what we really have. Sincerely, Optimism

Love this post. You forgot to bold that part though. Push the meeting up Gary! We want to watch hockey. Football has too many idiots celebrating when they run for 2 yards, Baseball is really boring aside from home runs, and Basketball...I will not even comment on. Get me somef****** hockey in October. I hate the offseason!

Anyone trying to blame Bettman fully is overreaching. Anyone saying Bettman is just a mouthpiece with no blame is understating. Gary Bettman makes 8M dollars a year to be a mouthpiece? I don't think so. From wiki: "”6.1 Office of Commissioner, Election and Term of Office The League shall employ a Commissioner selected by the Board of Governors. The Commissioner shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the League and is charged with protecting the integrity of the game of professional hockey and preserving public confidence in the League. The Board of Governors shall determine the term of office and compensation of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be elected a majority of the Governors present and voting at a League meeting at which a quorum was present when it was convened.“[1] In Section 6.3, his duties are spelled out as having "responsibility for the general supervision and direction of all business and affairs of the League", co-ordinates matters between member clubs and serves as the principal public spokesman for the League. The Commissioner also has authority over dispute resolution, League committees, interpretation of League rules, appointment of League staff, NHL financial matters, contracting authority, scheduling, officials and disciplinary powers.[2] The Commissioner also determines the date and places of Board of Governor meetings." Bettman has a HUGE influence on the league and isn't just some puppet to be controlled. He is providing a vision for the owner's and furthermore has FAILED at protecting the integrity of the game and preserving confidence in the league. The worst part of Bettman is the smug look he has on his face when he tells bad news to the fans. He LOVES playing the villain it seems. He isn't bothered by fans booing and doesn't seem to care too much for the sport of hockey at all, which is part of his job description. This is one of the main reasons I hate Bettman so much but all the rest stands alone too. P.S. if there is a lockout it would be cool if Z went to Brynas to play with Jarnkrok and groom him/develop a friendship. Fil could go play with Pulks in Jokerit to develop chemistry for the future.

If there is a lockout, start supporting your local high school teams, OHL teams, USHL teams, etc. I'm a big Saginaw Spirit fan and that just means I have more money to spend on attending those games.

just for the record, the last time the hockey news predicted us finishing low in the conference was the 06-07 season where they said we would finish 6th and could very easily miss the playoffs. that year the wings finished tied for 1st in the league and went on to the conference finals

I think we will see Z and Dats really step it up (85+points each) with the absence of Lids and guys like Fil, Kronner, Cleary will also have bigger effects than in the past. Maybe Franzen steps up? who knows...

They should all be locked in a room together with no food or water. They can haz cheeseburgers when we can haz NHL season.

I've been keeping my body in a state of nutritional ketosis since spring. ( My athletic performance is actually enhanced, etc). The inuit are often cited in studies of living in a state of nutritional ketosis due to their reliance on seal meat and fish (no sourcess for carbohydrates until recent times). So I googled Tootoo diet and this is what i found. Good little read. Read about Jim Thorpe first, or just scroll down to Tootoo. http://www.123helpme...ew.asp?id=40352 His Inuit name is Kudluk, which translates as “thunder.” He has a scar on his hand from a harpoon accident he had while seal hunting His grandmother, Jenny Tootoo, was born in an igloo.

Who has said anything like that? The reality is the owners are the ones saying they're still losing tons of money so they need to reduce their primary costs, players salaries. This is in spite of making massive amounts more revenue than in 2004. Judging by the players proposal, they would be more than happy to stick with the current CBA. Instead the owners want to greatly rollback players percentage of hockey related revenue while also reducing the amount of money that is considered hockey related revenue. Players aren't "in it for the fans." But they want to play hockey and they want their fair share of the money for bringing in billions of dollars for the owners. I know people make the argument that millions of dollars they currently make is enough, but that's not really a realistic assessment. They are elite level talent and have a job that takes a high physical toll and risk on the their health. Yes they make great money doing it, but because $1 million is great money compared to what most of us make here, that doesn't mean they should just let owners take the rest. If you had an extremely specialized skill that generated billions of dollars in revenue, would you be okay with the owner of the company getting most of the revenue for your skill? Especially if your job was high risk? Sorry, this ones more on ownership.

Good question. I can see some of the Euros going back to their home countries. I can see some of the younger ones going to the AHL or another minor league. Or they can go the route Bert went last time and play in a beer league, but to keep it fair, they'd have to play goalie. Come to think of it, maybe that should be mandatory. We'd lead the league in blocked shots.

I posted in another thread that it would be cool to get some of our guys playing with our prospect talent in europe. Jarnkrok is in Brynas and Z could possibly head there with Franzen. Fil could go to Jokerit to play with Pulks and develop some chemistry. I just think it would be good to make lemonade with these lemons and get our prospects accustomed to the boys early. Not to mention Jarnkrok and Pulks could be making the team the year after the lockout...

I used this video once before (when Maj went completely nuts over the Tootoo signing lol) so i hate to use it again, but I feel like it perfectly describes how I feel right now. Bettman is going to kill hockey ((((( the only good I can take from this is maybe the league will go back to pre-lockout style hockey, but knowing uncle gary he'll only make it worse again ((((( I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with myself this winter without hockey. I'm already losing it over here and it's only August (((((

Lockout? What lockout? The prospects tournament was cancelled because Holland sucks! We don't have any prospects left! He traded them all for old men! Blah blah blah!

Both the NBA and the NFL labor talks went down to the wire, that's just how these things work. Meaningful negotiations in Congress do the same thing. The fans have not lost a single thing yet, and would probably do well to lose a little of the collective anxiety this whole thing is producing. Ever wonder why there are waaaaay more trades at the deadline than there are during the season? Because nobody has to make a tough decision until the deadline. Take a deep breath gents.

Agreed. Fehr is apparently traveling to several cities to meet with players and suggested that the union and league could meet without the two heads being there, but the reality is there's no way they'd be able to hammer out a deal without the him and Bettman in the room. It's another game of chicken and it's the fans who lose.

i'm surprised. i still thought it would be a great learning experience etc regardless of whether or not there is a new season. guess not.

This is getting scary...

Good read... A lot of fans will miss him in Nashville, but it was his time to move on. Glad he's in a good situation in Detroit. I know a lot of you don't like the guy, but remember his job was to make you dispise him on the ice. Pretty damn good at it don't ya think? I would encourage everyone to meet the guy as im sure he will make himself readily available at community events, charities, etc...a really good guy As for the whistles, yeah they are annoying, but they were sold in Nashville to benefit his charity. I've bought several but never took them to the games. If they sell them at the joe, then buy one.. You don't have to use it. All that being said, he's wearing red now and I can't wait for the season opener....

Sure hasn't. I just read that article too. I'll quote some things i really liked from it... Quote: With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association head Donald Fehr not scheduled to sit across from one another until the middle of next week and the sides unable to even agree on the core issues that need to be addressed, a sense of uneasiness has suddenly enveloped the talks. Solution: PUSH THE MEETING DATE UP! Gee, i'm smart and stuff. Meet on the weekend or have a conference call. Not hard. Quote: At that point, the league and its players' association will have just 24 days left to reach a new agreement and avoid a lockout. Solution: Then don't wait until there's only 18 days left to act like adults and do some real negotiating. Quote: But where do they start? There is very little common ground between the proposals each side has put forth and neither seems particularly willing to move off its current position. Solution: Point form, what does each side want. Don't be afraid to take the fans into consideration as well...after all, we pay ALL of their paychecks. No endorsements either if there's no fans. We want hockey and we have a pretty decent idea of what's fair. Quote: Under the proposal put forward by the owners in July, the players' share in revenue would be cut from 57 per cent to 43 per cent -- meaning the salary cap would drop to roughly $55 million next season, or just a little above where the floor currently rests. Solution: If you want to drop the salary cap 14 million every time the CBA expires, then quit raising it 3 million every year. Quote: The players are still smarting after being locked out for an entire season in 2004-05 before eventually accepting a 24 per cent rollback on salaries and a salary cap. At the time, Bettman repeatedly talked about the need for "cost certainty" to keep the league healthy -- something the union eventually capitulated to. Solution: The players already got rolled back 24% last time and somehow salaries got out of control again. Maybe Owners should tell their GM's what they're willing to pay and we won't have so many 20 goal scorers at 4+ million. Quote: NHL's proposal@ Salary cap: $55.3 million Salary floor: $39.3 million NHLPA's proposal@ Salary cap: $69 million Salary floor: $53 million Solution: The players seem willing to give some money back, but why should they have to roll back just as much as last time? The owners sign the paychecks and hand them out and now they don't want to live with them....don't give them out in the first place. That was fun.

This thread is so full of fail it's ridiculous. How many times does it have to be pointed out that Gary Bettman is a mouthpiece for the owners/BOG and is not working on his own. The owners tell him what they want and what to say, and he goes out and says it. Getting rid of the "dwarf" will not make anything better. You'll just get another mouthpiece for the owners, and the message will stay the same. The owners are going to push for what they want. It doesn't matter who delivers the message. Maybe because the league is making more money than it ever has, and because revenues are increasing every year? Pay for performance, right?

I still don't know how only 13 players in the NHL made more money than Bettman last year

Guilty as charged. Punctuation and capitalization are important. Without them, the following statement would be pretty gross. "I helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse." TPBM gets annoyed when someone butchers the English language.

Glad to have him on board