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I don't necessarily think it would be a bad trade but I still wouldn't do it. My bet would be that Edmonton wins that trade in 5 years time. Sure, all signs point toward Drailsaitl being a stud top line center, but like Mantha, at this point it's all just potential. He hasn't "proven" anything at the NHL level yet. His ceiling is a very good top line center, but I t's possible he tops out at a good 2nd line center. I think Sheahan will be that in a year or two. Then on top of that we lose a very high end prospect in Mantha, that for whatever reason, a lot of people have seem to given up on, after one season of pro... as well as a decent defense prospect in Ouellet and we also move back in this years draft... No Thanks!!!

Final day of voting! 18 hours left and Gus has a 83,472 vote (21%) lead. Current voting tallies - Gus: 233,760 (61%) vs Kesler: 150,288 (39%)

No thanks. We need defense, not to destroy our forward depth while we're at it.

I know I have said this before but I will say it again. Dave Tallon deserves much of the credit for the rebuild of the Hawks. Keep in mind that he was the GM from the mid 90s to 2009. He drafted all the top talent that you see out there today. Stan Bowman has drafted some key players. Shaw was a big pickup for them in the draft. Still, the Bowmans were not a factor back when Tallon was drafting these great players. If the Wings want to follow in the success of Chicago, then they should do what Chicago did. 1. Suck for 10+ years. Get a number of top draft picks. 2. Draft great players and develop them. 3 Sign a big free agent like Hossa. 4. ? 5. Profit How many would be happy with missing the playoffs for a period of time to get top draft picks? Not many.

Bowman is an advisor, he is not running the team. This thread is ridiculous

Keith lost me with his mocking of Backes coming to after being knocked out last year.

https://twitter.com/friedgehnic/status/610987376614244352

Please somebody in the Western Conf just eliminate these pricks early next year so I don't have to see Patrick ******* Kane hoist the cup again and listen to casual Hawks fans in my neck of the woods chirping about their "dynasty." Better yet, please, Wings, just go to the finals next year and beat these pricks yourselves. I can dream.

who?

I'm just so glad you know everything.

Absolutely not, the point is, Bowman is the golden goose, in 48 years in the NHL, he has been to the Finals 19 times. I don't care what capacity Scotty Bowman is on your team, special advisor to the GM, janitor in the lower level concourse or jock strap collector, his invaluable advice and experience will be most helpful. I would prefer to have him on my team in some capacity then not on my team in any capacity. Statistically speaking, the former is the better option.

Ha. Thanks smart ass.So Holland will have one year left on his contract, so hell have to step down, accept the president of hockey ops job. Hire yzerman. then tell bowman to come and work with his old captain. Then we win a cup.

"King Henrik" is about as intimidating as a pair of dress socks. Guy can't get it done in the playoffs. I'll count him out for next season right now. He is overblown.

I'd like to personally s*** on the lawns of every Hawks player.

For sightings of his wife maybe?

And this team of Yzerman's that is in a "win-now" window barely beat a Wings team that is rebuilding. Holland > Yzerman all day long.

Several points that tie into each other: -Someone else sees the Bowman effect and it cannot be understated! Except for Buffalo, who no one can help, the Stanley Cup follows Bowman and I don't think it's coincidence in Chicago either. 14 Cups in one capacity or another plus another 4 Finals appearances where he didn't win, that's 19 Finals appearances since he started in 1967. If Scotty Bowman is the janitor in your building, that makes you an immediate Cup contender. -The decline really picked up when Brian Rafalski left 2 years after Bowman, if you look at the standings and defense numbers. Not filling it with a proper partner for Lidstrom and getting a top pair Dmen to replace Lids/Rafalski has been a huge problem that everyone knows about and I don't need to rehash it here. -Ken Holland needs to go. He doesn't know why free agents won't come to Detroit, he keeps saying there is no one to land on the free market yet all of our competitors have no problems landing free agents (Tampa, Minnesota...). I think the Illitches need to look hard at moving Kenny, he is unable to keep up with the modern trends and it shows. Yzerman went to Tampa and has not been afraid to trade core players, and he signed key defensmen, and has turned the team completely around, he looks like a friggin' genius with what he's done the last few years (trading for Bishop, signing Flip, trading St. Louis, buying out Vinnie, signing Hedman, Stralman, signing super huge goalies and defense, that's not coincidence that whole back end is over 6'5", etc. etc. etc.). Other GMs also have no problems trading and signing, it's time for a regime change, the era of Holland is not working anymore.

I think you're overestimating Bowman's influence and underestimating the strength of the Blackhawks' roster. Bowman didn't join Chicago's office until after they had acquired Toews, Kane, Keith, and developed a solid supporting cast to help out these generational talents. I'm sure when his son wants his advice on something, Scotty is happy to help him out, but I hardly think that the Blackhawks' success is a result of Scotty Bowman's mastermind. I think a more accurate scenario is that he's just going along for the ride. Yzerman also inherited some franchise pieces in Stamkos and Hedman. And if we're looking for reasons why the Blackhawks and Tampa made it to the finals and the Wings didn't, I think the first place you have to look is at the core of these teams. As I alluded to, Yzerman's core is in their prime and wouldn't be possible without having those high draft picks. Chicago's core is in their prime and wouldn't be possible without having high draft picks. The Wings' core is aging, and is entirely a product of later picks in the draft. The supporting cast is there for the Wings, but the core isn't what it used to be. Bringing Yzerman or Bowman or Nill back to Detroit won't change that scenario. They aren't going to magically bring in players of Toews' and Hedman's calibre, not without the Wings suffering an epic collapse for a few years in a row. After all, that's how Chicago and Tampa Bay got their elite talent.

To tell the truth, I'm happy about this. I don't want a division rival winning the Cup. I didn't want the Stanley Cup in the south, getting gawked at by mildly bemused tourists and local swamp rats. I don't ever want to hear "The Stanley Cup gets a sun tan" ever again. *Puke*. I don't give a crap about "Stevie winning one", because he stopped mattering to me the second he started working for a rival organization. In short, NOTHING about Tampa winning the Cup would have felt good to me. I don't care about their players, coach, staff, GM, city, or state. Secondly, I don't feel threatened by this. At all. The new Chicago dynasty is (so far) more impressive than our dynasty from 97-08. So what? We still won 4 Cups in 11 years, had top end talent to watch, and made the playoffs every single year. It's still SUPER impressive. Just because the 80's Islanders weren't the 80's Oilers doesn't make them any less awesome. This just put a stamp on something we all already knew. We're no longer the league's model franchise. Oh well, doesn't make our run at the top any less impressive.

I hope Toews and Kane get herpes and numerous, violent bouts of irritable bowel syndrome. Congrats to the Hawks who have assembled one hell of a team though.

Konstantinov. Option 4.

Quite the dynasty these Blackhawks have established. They are the "Red Wings" of this era so-to-speak. Meanwhile, Ken Holland is kicking tires debating to himself if he will re-sign Dan Cleary. Oh how the times change.

The first thing you need to know about Cory Emmerton is that he goes by the nickname Emdog

Unlikely it'll be either. But if it's going to be one of those two it should be Fedorov. Osgood was a big part of the team but is not the caliber of player that the Wings retire jerseys for.

Wings 3 Hawks 0 Hasek has a long history of coming out and standing on his head in games after he's been yanked from the net. Hopefully that's what'll happen tonight. It'd be great to see the "old" Dom instead of the old Dom.