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Yeah, I mean Phoenix is doing so well, let's toss another team right next to them. So what fun and exciting name are they going to slap on this one? If any of those cities was going to be the first "lock" to get an NHL expansion team, Vegas is the last one on the list I thought would be receiving one. Seattle or QC makes the most sense.

So two years the league was in such bad shape that it was shutdown with the lockout, but now let's add 4 teams? The ineptitude is mind-boggling, either Bettman was dropped on his head as I child or someone should drop him on it now.

This is the only source I could find for that: @SportsBizNews: NHL expansion four teams added by 2017, Quebec City, Toronto, Seattle, and Las Vegas $1.4b in expansion fees I'm really hoping this is a ******* joke. We're being punked, right? I mean, if it was Seattle and Quebec City I'd be fine with it (with one or both of those being relocation instead of expansion), but Vegas? A SECOND TEAM FOR TORONTO? f*** off.

I think we are on a different page when it comes to the definition of a "re-build" What Chicago and LA did was completely different. We are rebuilding our roster, what they did was make minor tweaks as all teams do with UFA and natural turnover. Neither really lost their status as Stanley Cup contenders. If I believed the Wings were a Gaborik away from winning a cup, I would say go for a Gaborik (just an example, I don't literately mean go for Gaborik). But I believe that it is in the Wings best interests to be patient and hold on to their big prospects, and not trade for a rental or a band-aid. Once the kids are ready to go all the way, if you have your cap under control, that's when you make a big move. Don't get me wrong, if the RIGHT trade or the RIGHT UFA comes along now at the right price, go for it. But make sure you take your future into consideration. What GM's need to do now a days is project what the cap is going to be x amount of years down the road, project what they are going to be paying the players that will be on their roster, that at the moment are not signed long term (ie. Gus, Tatar, DD, Mantha etc.), take into consideration the cap hit their vets are going to have, and then see if they have the cash left for the guys they are considering to sign or trade for. Not as easy as it once was. I would hate to see us lose a guy like Gus, Mantha, Jurco or Sproul etc. because we overpaid/signed a guy like Niskanen, Pouliot, Stasny etc.

Taking a team like TB or Dallas and improving it is a lot easier than what Holland is trying to do. I'm not sure how people trying to compare the three of them can't see that. Let me know when either of them guide a team to the Cup. Holland is juggling a time bomb right now, eventually it's going to blow up and the wings are going to crash, but so far he's done a hell of a job keeping the team from falling off into the league basement while overseeing a team that had the core age out, half the payroll cut, then start seeing the new core aging out, and he still has several good to great prospects coming up. The one concern I have is a lack of top line center potential, unless Larkin turns into one soon.

If that were the case then Matt Cooke should be in jail.

I never once said anything about Kyle Quincey You are contradicting yourself. You are upset that the Wings are sitting back, yet calling out Chicago and LA as perfect examples of the way it should be done. Like I said above, it took Chicago 11 years to complete their rebuild In that time I don't recall any major UFA signings until the end. Based on this logic, if you consider this year 5 of the re-build (which is a HUGE stretch), then are you saying you would be okay with it taking the Wings until 2020 to become contenders because that is what the Blackhawks did? But that goes against your point of sitting back and waiting just waiting for talent to develop.

In all seriousness, this is no contest. Yzerman and Fedorov, hands down, all day long, all week long, all year long...etc...etc... I love Pav and Z, but if Yzerman and Fedorov were able to play in this no obstruction era, I cannot imagine the points they would have put up. I believe Pav and Z would've done fine in 90's, but not as good as they do now and I believe nowhere near what Yzerman and Feds would do today...

Mrazek = Blue chip Mantha = Blue chip Jurco = Blue chip Sheahan = Bluechip/graduated Nyquist = Bluechip/graduated Tatar = Bluechip/graduated I'd venture to say Ouellet, Sproul, Marchenko, Backman, Pulkkinen, and Athanasiou are also all blue chip, or at least very close to it. That's 12 prospects i would consider highly valuable. 9 if you don't want to count our graduates. Also, Hockeys future also still ranks Dekeyser as a prospect, even though I don't consider him one, bc when you think about it he's barely 24. Still very young. There's a reason are prospect pool is ranked so highly. The only teams really ahead of us in terms of having a number of bluechip prospects are teams like Buffalo, NYI, Tampa, Winnipeg, all teams that have been bad for a while. And for most of those teams there is a huge drop off in talent level after their blue chips. With us that is almost never the case. And yes he's serious. As am I. Everyone is quick to say get rid of Holland but then cannot cite one good replacement. I challenge you to do this. My point was not to say "look at all the possible options!" it was "look at how crappy our options would be if we didn't extend Holland". Fresh eyes are good and all, but I'm not going to throw out a great GM whose made a few low-risk mistakes the past few seasons just for the sake of bringing in a nobody or loser just because there eyes are "fresh". If there was good GM available looking to make a change or takeover an original six or big budget team, or we had someone in the organization ready for the reigns, I might be singing a different tune, but there aren't any of those people available right now. I also don't think cutting off the head of the snake is a good thing to do in the middle of a delicate retool when all is said and done. EDIT: Larkin is also our highest pick in what? Like a billion years? Might consider him bluechip as well.

IMO this was always a freak accident. Sure Bertuzzi shouldn't have thrown the cheap shot, but there are plenty of on-par or worse cheap shots that have been thrown in the NHL. The only difference is this one happened to end with the unthinkable. The result was certainly not Bertuzzi's intention, just like no player intends to end a career when they go airborne on a hit, or throw an elbow, or slam a head into the boards, or uppercut an opponents face. The intent is always to harm, but never this. The problem is 1/somelargenumber end up like this. That's the reality of fast contact sports that condones fighting. I hope that moore can get what he needs, but I also don't think that Bertuzzi should be burned at the stake for his actions. This has been hashed out a million times, but It's late and I've been drinking.

Kaner is just shaking with anticipation

I decline to comment. What is being said is not confirmed nor can it be identified as the absolute truth, it's also unreasonable to assume it is false, we will evaluate where we are when the time becomes appropriate and adjust accordingly. The main concern has and always will be the growth and financial health of the nhl, therefore we cannot and will not comment at this time.

I'm sorry, but this would be the worst idea. It's an absolute joke. Hasn't the NHL actually learned from the fiascos that are the Panthers, Coyotes and all the sunbelt franchises? What were the stories coming out of Florida last year saying the panthers were losing millions each year? How many years did the league have to prop up the Coyotes finances? If they should be doing anything, it's moving the Panthers to Quebec City, and the Coyotes to Seattle. I'd rather see the league fold than have a team in another doomed from the start, non hockey loving City that couldn't give two shoots about the game.

I reckon the simply and short answer is, there is a new challenge that has arisen. Before, in the late 90's early 2000's, it was tweaking and adding little pieces to get us over the top. Ala Hasek, Robitaille, Hull etc. Lang. Stuart. Etc etc. We didn't need all these fancy first round picks, we could get who we needed. Now, not only is the cap a massive challenge, but the Wings lost Lidstrom, and competitive balance is raging on as ever. The challenge is now to keep the Wings competitive while building the team up without falling into the basement, so that in 2 or 3 years we can start adding those little pieces to once again put the Wings over the top.

I really do wonder how much better their numbers really would have been tbh. Not because of the quality of their line mates, but simply because the average standard of goalies across the board has increased dramatically in the last 10-15 years or so. For example, in 88-89, Yzerman's best offensive output, GAA league leader was Roy with a pedestrian 2.44. And outside of Pete Peters 2.31 in 82, that was the highest of the decade. In the 23 years from 1990-91 to last year, only 8 times has the league leader in GAA been above 2.00, 3 of which were above 2.30. Again in 1990-91 Belfour led the league in GAA with a 2.47 and SV% of .910. Today? The top 3 GAA leaders were all under 2.00, while SV% was led by Harding at .933 and Rask at .930. Now obviously, GAA isn't everything, but its just a snapshot. The butterfly style has by and large transformed the goalie and offence has decreased, even in the no obstruction era. Goalies are just so much better across the board today than they were 20-25 years ago. I agree though that if I had to choose, right now I'd pick Stevie and Feds over Pavel and Hank. Hank has averaged just over a point per game in the last 2 seasons, albeit with a bad back, which is now fixed. If he's feeling as good as he says he is, I don't see why an 80 point season is out of reach if he stays healthy the entire year.

Is that a joke, speculation, rumor, or fact? I hope it's a joke... I agree with who lever said subtraction we should go down to 28 teams and relocate a couple.

Just another reason to be grateful we're no longer in the west. Our exposure to this travesty will be less. That is until the league has to buy the team for 6 years, and then I'll be pissed again.

This is just dumb.. plain and simple

Just stop adding teams already. How much more watered down and parity filled do we need the league to become? Florida, Phoenix, Nashville and Atlanta all failed, but hey let's keep forcing the expansion issue some more. At least relocate if they are going to pursue this dumb idea at all.

I think having a team in Vegas is a horrible idea. It wouldn't be long before we're all speculating on where they would move.

Great post, and I couldn't agree more. I remember watching the Wings beat down the Hawks in 04 and it was just plain embarrassing. Chicago were just truly awful, and I don't think I would want to see the Wings become that bad, I really wouldn't. I wouldn't stop watching, but it would be soul destroying. I don't care if it would result in a 1st overall pick, I'd much rather be in the position the Wings are now, competing while rebuilding on the fly, than be the laughing stock of the league.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj3yxUcz2qs All the crap about how Moore can't handle the media seems like BS drama to me. I'm sure he's affected by the injury and I feel for the guy, but he seems to handle the media quite well in this interview. If you didn't tell me before hand, I wouldn't know he had cognitive issues from hearing the guy speak. He also says he was training on his own and expected to return to hockey before his doctors shot that down. No doubt his injuries are career ending, but seems like some people exaggerate them. The best part is when he says the most important thing to him is going to trial and getting the truth out there. Guess every man has his price huh Stevie? I would've taken the money too if I were him, but it kind of irks me when states to the media that the most important thing is truth and justice in court.... and then settles for cash. CREAM.

Our faculty just did it, I'm the one towards the end of the line with the Dream Theater shirt. Over $350 so far, staff can donate until Friday. Not as good as the administration with the front bucket loader but still for a good cause. The video (and the administration's) is on the school web page, www.masd.info

Biz has a pretty badass #ALSIceBucketChallenge tho.

I love Bertuzzi. I feel bad for both of them and for their families and I just can't wait for this to be behind them.