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Go root for the Pens then

Please Montreal, Boston, NY, anyone, hell, even Chicago ffs stop Pittsburgh from winning the title

OK, let's say that the Wings had given up their 2013 1st, 2nd, and 5th, 2014th 2nd, and three of Jarnkrok, Pulkkinen, Sproul, Ouellet, Tatar, and Sheahan for three players whom we could not possibly re-sign---one of whom was a third-pairing defenseman, another who was a beat-up power forward, and a third who was almost certain to return to his hometown anyway. No thanks. This is a team in the process of rebuilding on the fly.

Who cares, we have Franzen.

Don't forget Bettman is on their team also.

We like our team.

Now I know why other teams' fans hated the Wings during the pre-cap days.

Exactly the reason, why some people (like me) would love to see this team being sellers at the tradedeadline.

Hoping this turns into the Pens version of the Wings 1999 deadline deals that brough Cheli, Ulf Samuelsson, Wendel Clark, & Bill Ranford to town.

So. How hard is Gary Bettman right now?

plz beat them i think i dislike the sharks more than i do the kings..... and that is saying alot.... lol

I tend to agree that those who get upset at Holland for failing to make things happen since last summer are off-base, as he did do all he could when in those situations, as I'm sure he's doing now. But it doesn't tell the whole story. What most Holland-bashers screw up on is thinking Holland dropped the ball say last summer with Parise and Suter or if DeKeyser doesn't sign here, then he obviously dropped the ball because it was an easy set up. But it's ultimately irrelevant what he does now with these guys in many ways when it's the team that's been put together over the last 4-5 years that's going to speak more to these players than what Holland says now. If Holland dropped the ball, it's been in not doing more to address player losses in years past, or failing to prepare for the loss of Lidstrom before he was up against a wall and desperate. After all, does anyone really think this would be a question for DeKeyser if the team looked more competitive on a consistent basis? If Holland had done a better job since our last Cup win at helping this team evolve, he likely wouldn't have to do much selling at all to someone like DeKeyser. But in any event, what happened happened, and while I haven't been a fan of many of the decisions for some time now, I can at least say that Holland is trying to do what he can since last summer to address issues. There's nothing more he can really do now, and presently, given the situation, you can't say he's not trying and doing the best he can. But he is stuck playing catchup you could say, and for that it is in many ways his own fault. A team with Hossa instead of Franzen and a legitimate number one defensemen replacement installed before Lidstrom retired instead of some of our tradable assets over the last few years is going to be a more attractive team to anyone he's trying to sign today. He got sentimental when things were still good and we weren't feeling the full heat of the cap, and the team that emerged out of that was not the team that he could use as leverage to get guys to really want to sign here, let alone for less than market value anymore. You could say that it's just the effects of parity brought on by the cap, and that's absolutely right on many levels. But if Holland was as good of a GM in the cap era as some thought he was prior to the cap, he would've done a better job of maintaining this team's prestige when he had the opportunity 3-4 years ago to do so. That's when he truly dropped the ball; back when things were good and people weren't paying enough attention. And yes, I know this team isn't terrible, and it's impressive that we're still in the playoff hunt with the team we have this year. That's all fine and dandy, though make no mistake, it really does help that we still have Dats and Z hanging around. But that's also the tragedy, as we still have Pavs and Z, which almost by default make this team competitive every night. And if a few more pieces were in place that could've been in place, this team wouldn't consistently still be a team that could make the playoffs, but a team that could legitimately challenge for the Cup every year. I know you don't win every year, but while you have the benefit of having Dats and Z on your team, it'd be nice to think a little more than, "we have a good chance of making the playoffs," and Hossa, a Lidstrom successor at least in title of legitimate number one defenseman, less old scraps and more youth would've been a big step in that direction. And if we had those things, we might've had a better opportunity of landing solid veteran help willing to play for less to win a Cup. Or a better opportunity of signing a much sought-after free-agent defenseman with potential to contribute right away. But we don't have that same leverage anymore. That didn't happen last summer, and it didn't happen while Holland was chatting with DeKeyser. That happened because over the last four years, when it was clear to anyone willing to admit it that some of our guys wouldn't play forever, and some of our newer guys weren't so proven, when the team needed to be truly evolving, nothing was done.

Speaks volumes on our prospects, character of our team, and most importantly our coaching staff. I tip my hat off to the crew for making something out of this team. At the beginning of the season, people thought this was the year we would finally feel the transition stages. From the injuries we've endured and losing Lidstrom, Rafi, and Stuart on the backend.. wow... can't even complain about this team.

This. Wings used to do it all the time before the salary cap. All they've done is add fire-power without addressing their defense and goaltending issues. There has to be something said about the immense pressure they've added, too. These are the years where if your team wins the Cup, then they've done what was expected of you, nothing impressive. But if they don't win, they just go into the heap with the rest, with nothing to show for it but 2-3 months of flashy names. They have moved their team from "could win" to "should win" to "must win". The next few years of cap crunch won't be pretty...

Watch out; giving props to any team or GM other than The Red Wings or Ken "I wish Bowman was still here" Holland is strictly forbidden in Red Wings nation...

That's what I keep telling Pens fans who are already planning the parade. It just takes ONE hot goalie and you're screwed. We had a much better team than the Avs in '99, we ran into Roy and lost. We had a much better team than Anaheim in 03, but Gigure was a wall, we lost. If the playoffs started today, they would be playing Lundqvist. The 7th seeded team is NJ with Brodeur. Those guys are more than capable of stealing a series.

Sorry but I respectfully disagree, the decline started after the last cup run and it was obvious. Thanks to be cap the Wings couldn't keep their roster, not only would they have done so otherwhise Detroit would for sure have fixed the wholes and try again next year with an even better roster thanks but not, the cap destroyed that. In the end the Wings ended up with a worse team than before - i.e 2 round exit against the Sharks (first of two in a row) - so the cap is not only an excuse it is fact. Looking back it really is unbelievable how much quality this team has lost over such a short amount of time, no other team had to deal with something like this and yet Babcock is doing a tr emendous job, by still keeping them somewhat in the hunt for a playoff spot. Some weeks ago (during the lockout) I did post how this roster would look like if the best owner in all of sports wouldn't be handicaped by a small little guy who knows nothing about hockey. Do I blame Holland for standing pat too long? Yes, but since last year he is trying to improve this team, going hard after Suter and now Dan DeKeyser though in the end signing players is a two way street (offer/sign it). That said I can't wait till this team will be loaded again and face the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals....with a different outcome this time! This is an original 6 franchise, this is hockeytown

Wow. And I like Iginla. Guess I won't be liking him this year. Too bad, really. He's one of those guys I'd have rather seen on a team where I could be kind of glad if he won the Cup, but not really glad since it wasn't the Wings. Sort of like Hossa winning it with Chicago after coming so close twice. Maybe next year, Iggy, depending on where you end up.

I hope they get torn apart in the first round. (Again.)

Sorry, Wings. You had a good couple of wins, but you can't take the night off again. These games coming up are absolutely must-win if you want to establish yourself in 4th or 5th place going into the playoffs. You can't beat the crappy teams, but you've got to beat the other middling teams.

The NHL instituted a salary cap in 2005. The Wings have made the playoffs every year, won a Stanley Cup, made it to game 7 of the Stanely Cup finals, several conference finals and we can't say Holland is a great post cap GM? Who would be then?

esteef

I cannot like this enough. People need to stop with the "Holland better get this done or its his fault" mentality. Holland has done everything he can do. Danny has to make up his mind and sign. Holland can't make him sign.