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I don't care about the media "asking the tough questions". I really don't. I don't get off on the idea of seeing Holland squirm in his seat and hum and hah. What does that accomplish? People act like he's going to have an epiphany and all it takes is people confronting him about it and then he's going to see the light! In today's era of social media they know the general consensus of their fan base's opinion. It doesn't take a beat reporter's "digging" to find that out. (Much like what 55fan was saying) I rely on the media to give me facts. I'd love more insider info but I also see how that can be counter-productive to the Wings doing business. I read blogs and message boards (LGW) to hear other people opinions so I can better reflect on my own (which I've gained from watching as many games as I can).

Couldn't help myself. Thing is, IT IS the job of a journalist to regurgitate what management says. They are reporting what was said... and that's what was said.... The timing of this article, all the anonymous sources, and the writer constantly citing his own credentials, makes me question this article a lot.

This article has absolutely nothing to do with "the job Ken Holland is doing". People are just using it as another soapbox to complain from.

This. I need to be informed of "what" happened, not what to "think" about it. I can do that on my own.

I think some fans are confused as to what a journalist is, the difference between a beat reporter, a columnist, etc. HSJ and Khan are beat reporters. Their job is to report the daily goings on of the team in a somewhat factual manner. I'm relatively sure I've seen the issues with the power play reported. HSJ asked Holland about Franzen being bought out, she asked Holland about the unpopularity of Cleary's signing. What exactly is she supposed to do? Post nude pics? Drew Sharp, Mitch Albom, Bob Wojnowski, etc, they are columnists. Their job is to give their opinions. If they are too agreeable and don't get readers fired up, they won't have a job long.

I don't know why anyone would give a blogger the time of day. It's like hey, I've got a computer and an opinion, take me seriously. It's like the bozos that try and diagnose themselves with a medical condition on the internet.

I've read that in a couple places but its just a claim made by a fan with no screenshot or any sort of proof that it's a legitimate email from anyone within the organization. For all we know it was made up by the person that originally made the claim in the first place.

Everyone has a job to do. If you're in PR, you have a responsibility to the team to make the team look good. That's what they hire you to do. The team is the one who's paying the PR guy, not the newspapers. As for reporters/bloggers, they can write whatever they want within the laws of libel and the standards of their paper (in the case of reporters). If the PR guy for the Wings doesn't work well with some reporters/bloggers who don't report the team in a good light, he's just doing his job. It doesn't silence the reporters/bloggers. It just means that they don't have a red carpet that leads straight to their information. There's news and there's opinion. If a reporter is reporting news (i.e. Wings sign Player X) then what will be reported is the facts. If the reporter is posting opinion (i.e. Player X is the next big thing) then that is what will be published. The PR people have a responsibility to provide the news reporters with their facts. Any opinion reporters can take those facts and comment at will, but it's the PR guy's job to see that the news reporters get accurate data. As a hyper-fan, I'd love to get more inside information, but these guys are people with lives and it's also the PR guy's job to protect that whilst still giving fans access to the players. If you work for the team, you're not going to work with a reporter/blogger who wants access so he can rip a player apart or throw him under the bus. That's not taking care of your team, which is part of your job. There has to be a level of trust there if we expect the players to open up to the media for us. I'm checking the news daily in hopes of seeing "Danny DeKeyser re-signed" and when I do, I will first seek out the facts, and then come here to get all of the opinion I can handle on the subject. Sure, I will probably read some opinion articles and some blogs if I run into them, but at the end of the day, any one of us here who is reasonably literate could be a blogger if we really wanted to.

I make about one post a year and I have to waste it on this garbage.... BOOO, these reporters are reporting on the news and not on whatever their opinion might be, BOOO. This is being played like politics and a perceived lack of interest in bashing management is being equated to condoning said moves. These are not the same things, everyone is taking mental shortcuts to the conclusion and bypassing the idea that media SHOULD report ONLY the facts. People are so quick to forget that because it is sports, it is journalism too, adding opinion taints that. Let bloggers speculate, speculation is what you people seem to desire, but is also the reason these speculators don't have credentials, because they only want those credentials to make their asinine opinions seem more valid when they are arguing in their own comments section. Nobody knows what a good signing is until the season is over and we all have 20/20 hindsight, your intuition is not proof of any fact and your anger is not a catalyst for change. All I read when I see this garbage is a lot of spoiled fans who even after making the playoffs for 23 years in a row and winning more Stanley Cups than any team in a quarter century, think they could do better and sit around bitterly whining about a few depth moves being made. Grow up Hockeytown! 29 other teams lose the cup or on said free agent, I can't wait for the article to come out saying player X didn't want to come to Detroit because of the entitled fans, well I guess I could buy a website, call myself a blogger, write the opinion myself, use anonymous sources and then ***** because no one takes me serious.

Why would you hope he has a terrible season? Don't you think it would be better if he had a legit bounce back year and made the team better?

Uh... So call a guy out for going to a team you doubt has a chance at winning the cup, then criticize his desire to win? I don't get it... He was basically the most consistent forward on the team last season. He was a welcome addition in my eyes. If he's healthy, I'd want the guy back.

As a born and raised newfoundlander, Dano being the first to win the Stanley Cup, and with my favorite team no less, is my favorite. But the game winner in 09 and the penalty shot in 07 are great moments. I wish Dano had gone out on a high note so I could remember his best moments, not his falling down and IR stints.

Dallas, a team that was the last place team in the Western Conference to secure a playoff spot and hasn't been relevant since they lost to the Wings back in 2008. Tampa Bay, a team that actually did pretty well last year and then got swept by Montreal. The past two seasons before that they didn't even make the playoffs. This is with Yzerman at the helm who was considered to be better than Holland. Sure, these teams seemed to address their teams needs, but we will see how the product on the ice looks and how they do in playoffs. Same here man. I guess I am not a butthurt fan. Sure, I wanted to see a high priced free agent come into play. At the same time though, I am ok with the moves that Holland has made so far. Giving the kids a chance is what he needed to do and he is going to do it. Cleary is just an insurance policy. He won't be beating out someone for a roster spot if they are better. Being objective would be looking at the entire situation. Suter and Parise wanted to play in Minnesota. They have ties to the area. Same with Vanek. Boyle has family in New York and requested to play there for less since the Rangers were against the cap. Players will do what it takes to go somewhere they want to go. When Dekeyser chose to come to Detroit, and the contracts were the same no matter where he went, did you give credit to Holland for this?

I agree with you kip that that is a decent top 12. But: The thing I reckon is that Mantha definitely won't start in the NHL. Even if he blows people away. It's not the Wings way, and while we haven't had this hyped a prospect in a while, I still don't think they'd just throw him right in there. And they'd keep Jurco in the NHL before having Mantha start the year in Detroit I think. Then, I think Jurco would drop down back to the kid line, and who knows what happens with the top line. I have a strong feeling Alfie will return, and be put on that top line.

Thank you for creating this thread GMR. With all the negativity being spouted around right now about Cleary and KH, it's actually really refreshing to remember why this guy was beloved in the first place before all this crap. I voted for when he knocked the crap out of Phaneuf. I still remember that to this day, and I remember being so happy because I hated Phaneuf with a passion at the time.

Not only do I want Total Tomfoolery , but I demand Utter Shenanigans along with, dare I say, The Old Razzle Dazzle. "Real Fans" would expect nothing less. P.S. Franzen is lazy and he sucks.

Sammy, toots, and Bert are gone, what more do u want from poor Holland? Total tomfoolery?

I don't like the signing, but I don't think money is really worth complaining about. Last year when Cleary signed at 1.75 mill it was definitely less than what he would have made elsewhere. It was also less than we offered him earlier (2 mill I think). He did this because we were against the cap by the time signed. 2.5 is partly paying for last year's salary I think. This year we are not going to be close to the cap and the 1.5 mill cap hit won't matter. The 1 mill bonus will count against next year's cap - a year when we'll have Mzasek, Mantha, Sproul, and maybe others at low caphit - so it won't matter. The reason to get mad about this signing is because he showed himself as a very ineffective player last year and he takes a roster spot. P.S. Holland said specifically that Cleary would have to beat someone out for a spot and would be a good insurance (paraphrase - I forget exact words.) I still feel like there's a good chance that doesn't play 10 games. If he does play more than 10 games then hopefully it is because the Dan Cleary of old is magically (or medically) back. I'm okay with those 2 scenarios.

Cleary isn't blocking Jurco from playing in the NHL. Even without Cleary, it is pretty obvious he'll be in the AHL to start the season. Alfie returning would have us at 13 forwards not counting Cleary. Cleary and Andersson are gonna be in a dog fight to try to avoid being the 13th and 14th forwards. There are 12 other forwards VERY unlikely to give up a permanent spot to either. It is better to have Cleary taking up a healthy scratch than Jurco, don't you think? A returning Alfie has more impact on where Jurco starts the season. If Alfie decides he can't play, Jurco will have his shot to win a roster spot. Just like Cleary. If Alfie comes back, Jurco will be the first call up. If he makes an immediate impact, he'll no doubt stick around. Cleary for one year is a low risk signing. Who cares what the salary is? The cap space was there, and Holland felt he owed him. That's a stand up move whether we agree with it or not. If Cleary is in the lineup, he has to earn his way there. He'll only take a job from a kid if he earns it. In the mean time, if he does in fact have a bounce back season, that is fantastic for us. If he struggles like last year, he won't play. It's really that simple. It's either give Cleary a contract or give Landon the spot. No offence to him, but nobody seems to high on him anymore. He is likely Emmerton 2.0. At least if Cleary can have a bounce back season, it gives the team a shot of having a playoff warrior on the team to do the dirty work. He was important to the team in the 2013 playoffs while having a rough, injured year. A healthy Cleary come playoff time could be a great thing. If not? It's just a one year contract that does nothing to hurt the team.

People here seem to forget there's a Salary Cap. I think it's obvious Holland is building through the draft, and won't overpay for UFA's. Teams that build through the draft win Championships, teams that sign over priced UFA's don't. Hindsight is always 20/20 vision, after the 2009 playoffs if Holland signed Hossa over Franzen there would have been a riot! Hossa was a letdown in the playoffs, while Franzen had 12 goals, and 13 the year before. I think based on what both players make, and the points they've put up, Franzen vs. Hossa has been a wash.

With the litigious society we live in coupled with the NFL lawsuit and the BS ones fringe ex-players are tossing at the NHL, the league has to be seen taking steps to cut down on head injuries. Discouraging fighting and making sure people have helmets on are steps towards that. If you want to blame someone, blame the lawyers and over-reacting hockey moms who go berserk over every bump and bruise. The league won't be going away from the current standings point system anytime soon, but I'd rather see it be a win or nothing than the extra point for OT. Failing that, 3 for a regulation win, 2 for OT win, 1 for OT loss, nothing for regulation loss. The current format keeps teams bunched up more though, meaning it looks more exciting.

Hossa was offered a contract, he didn't sign it. Franzen was negotiating at the same time and he accepted first. He'd just come off a huge playoff and big season, and was looking like a 30 goal a year guy. Had Holland not signed him, and he left and Hossa still left for Chicago because he was chasing a Cup, the Wings would have been screwed. Remember, Hossa did pretty much the same thing to the Pens the summer before. Filppula wanted out, and after the season he had he shouldn't have been signed to that contract. If he has another big year in 14-15 it will be the first time in his career he was healthy and productive back to back seasons. Tootoo was bought out because nobody else was getting bought out, and it saved $975k in cap space and about $650k in real money. It was use it then or lose it, the compliance buyouts aren't valid after this summer. Holland offered contracts to every decent player out there. They went to other teams for various reasons. Legwand would have been the 3rd center, assuming Weiss is healthy. They don't need him for that role with Helm and Sheahan on the roster. Tatar for Green is media and fan speculation, not something Holland has said.

Franzen jumped first, for which I don't blame him. He was coming off a season that few had predicted. Hossa was coming off yet another good season. His playoffs were bad due to injury. I don't remember when it was that Franzen re-signed, but I thought it was a great deal at the time. Hossa knew he could make more elsewhere, even though he'd probably have stayed if the money was right. Franzen wasn't sure if anyone else would offer that plus he wanted to stay in Detroit. (The part about Hossa is a guess. The part about Franzen was what I remember him saying, but after this amount of time, I have no link for it.) As to the direction of this team, I'd say it's getting younger, but still with some veteran presence. If this means a lag whilst the young guns get a couple years of experience under their belts, than it is what it is. I just hope they don't wait until Kronner, Dats, and Z are old to get another Cup.

Idk about u, but if I had made the big leagues I woulda milked every second out of playing for the wings. Especially if the GM was giving 2.5 million too. Sure beats retiring

Filppula was offered roughly the same contract he signed with tampa but for 7 years, he turned it down, went to free agency, circled back to the wings but they had already used up their cap space. Hossa was offered the same contract they gave Franzen, he turned it down so they went with plan b and signed Franzen.