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Four years is an eternity in professional sports? Seriously? In what sense? I'd love to hear your rationale on this... "The ship" is not sinking. How difficult is it for some people to understand that we are in the process of a "rebuild"? We are and have been in the process of transitioning from the vets to the youth over the past few seasons, and we've still made the playoffs every season since then. But that's not good enough. People want us to fade from the Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall era to the Larkin, Mantha, DeKeyser era all while winning Cups every year along the way. It's completely unrealistic expectations. I'm sure not a single Red Wing player, management or fan is at all happy with the end result of any of the past five or so seasons. However, the players, management and most reasonable fans understand that there is a process we need to go through in order to get back to the top. Some think we should completely "tank" and others are quite happy to see us continue to make it into the playoffs every year, continue developing the young talent, and eventually we should be in a good enough position to make some moves and turn this team back into a contender. I believe that should start this season. We should make a trade or two to upgrade our defense, continue to transition from the vets to the youth, and squeak into the playoffs for the final year at the Joe. After next season is when we should start to see some huge changes getting ready for the new, highly controversial Little Caesar's Arena. In short, I think this team has a very bright future, I am very happy with where we're headed, but no I am not content with just making the playoffs every season, and neither is anyone else...

Here's what your missing: If we're talking about the Salary Cap era, you can argue that the Red Wings were at (or near the top) of the "Stanley Cup favourites" list from 2007-2013 - Yes, we had a couple of early round exits in that range, but so did many of this years "favourites" in Chicago, Anaheim, and LA... it happens annually in the NHL. The difference is that when our run began in 2007, almost all of the teams you would consider as front runners this year (Washington, LA, Chicago, St.Louis) did not qualify for the playoffs. If you go in depth, Chicago had a run from 1998-2009 where they only made the playoffs once, and didn't win a single round... Today they represent the modern day dynasty, and model of success. The LA Kings had a stretch 2002-2012 where they only made the playoffs once, and didn't win a single round. The Capitals didn't win a round from 1998-2009 - and missed the playoffs entirely in most of those years. The Penguins? They were a ping-pong ball away from bankruptcy and relocation. What we have accomplished is extremely rare, and something I will always be proud to hear: We haven't missed the playoffs in 25 years. Let's not forget that the teams we envy today, spent (on average) about a decade out of the playoffs, mixed in with the odd 30th place finish. If you understand the salary cap and the fact it's working, how can you complain about the results we've had?

Pens fans are claiming it's all because he's a Penguin and the league hates the team. Seriously? Who do they think they are? Red Wings fans? LOL~~

29/30 teams will be unhappy with their season when it ends this year... Just like last year, just like the year before, and just like the one before that one. No-one is happy when they miss the playoffs, and none of the playoff teams are "happy" when they lose a 7 game series. Apparently it was my point that was missed, so I'll paraphrase: It's extremely difficult to make the playoffs every year in a salary cap system (Detroit remains the only team to accomplish that). But It's impossible to remain a cup contender for 10, 15, 20 years when you don't have a single top 10 draft pick to turn the generation over with. What we are witnessing today is that very turnover - most contending teams today (as I pointed out), have taken an average of missing the playoffs for 10 years to complete that process, but it looks like we're right in the middle of it, without missing the playoffs. If that's what you call a "sinking ship" I guess you haven't paid much attention to some of the other re-builds around the league.

Sorry, I don't care.

I hope we can move his contract, but if it requires us giving up good assets, then screw it. We are not going to win the cup next year, so why sacrifice the future for cap relief for 1 year. If we are in a situation where its either sign Stamkos AND give us assets, or keep the caphit and not get Stamkos, then sure I would do it. But if its a situation where its trading his contract to get cap space, then getting more Qunicey's and Richards, I would rather not lose the future assets unless we are talking a 7th round pick or something pretty insignificant (ie. a very low-end prospect).

People are actually upset that Mcdavid was a finalist instead of Larkin? Mcdavid has just as many points in half the amount of games.... edit: Mcdavid had more points in half the amount of games

I believe Fedorov is the GM of the team he plays for added with his being Datsyuk's teammate internationally. I'm sure he's heard good things about the org.

Hit was slightly late, didn't seem all that dirty to me

Come on, it's Pit. No suspension.

I don't think they're against McDavid as much as they are against the joke shortlist that the league popped out. Panarin - He's 24, turning 25 this year, and has played 4 and a half seasons in the KHL. No Jack Eichel. Wtf? Five years younger than Panarin, second in goals and points amongst rookies behind Panarin, and in his first pro season of any kind. Nope, not included. Ok....

McDavid is point machine BUT he missed a ton of games and the team didn't win sh*t all so I don't agree with him making the cut-even though its obvious why...As for Larkin he wasn't even close to keeping pace the second half, right after that damned video was released of DBoss that was all.

You all beat me to it, but Larkin wasn't a candidate because he's not the #1 draft pick and the NHL wants McDavid to win. That's about all there is to that story.

Yeah unfortunately Larkin fell off the radar after the All-star game due to his big slump. And of course McDavid is a finalist even though he missed a ton of games and didn't even finish top 3 in points and missed like 3 months.. Won't be surprised if they picked McDavid over Panarin (who is the obvious winner according to their own standards).

Well if no one wants datsyuks contract at a good price to save cash then f*** them ... Pavel only has one year left , we can free up cap space by getting rid of Howard and hopefully Ericsson And we have Quincey and Richards off the books this year .... We won't get ripped off , I'd much rather use pulkkinen in a package deal or give him some real ice time and see what he can do , than a throw in to get rid of a one year contract

Rage Against the Machine Spanking Mrs. Weasley

Go Blues Go!!

Actually, based on historical evidence, expecting to compete for a championship even just once every seven years is asking too much. Most teams will have periodic down times, often lasting that long or much longer. I would also say that we were in fact realistic contenders from 2010 through 2012, and maybe even 2013 given how those playoffs went. Maybe not among the top few favorites, but at least 2nd-tier. Teams that are good will eventually come down. I would wager that every single team that is a contender this year will not be so every year for the next 15+ years. Most will probably not have more than a few years being near the top. Things change with time. It's the nature of reality. Being happy that we can contend for the playoffs during our worst stretch in more than two decades doesn't mean we will always be happy with that result. To even suggest it does is short-sighted and foolish. We are near the point now where the old regime is either gone or declined past the point of relevance. We have several young players promising enough to give us reason to think we will start trending back up in the near future. We're still missing a few pieces, even if what we have already pans out, but we're also in better position to gain those pieces. But whatever. Not going to waste anymore time now. This conversation has been had countless times over the last few years.

You obviously have a ridiculous idea of what "adjusting" means...lol

It was an issue because it was so joakim ******* Andersson can have a roster spot. That's the pill that is hard to swallow. If Jurco was given a fair shot, little would complain.

No one is over hyping Mantha. Every single person has said that he wasn't great, but he certainly was good. We never expected him to carry the team, he just made the team better. The same way it would be ridiculous to scratch Tatar for the 5 playoff games and insert Andersson. It's an absolute joke that people are still defending that move... Also, him being a "liability" defensively is being completely overstated. He's not a defensive player, nor should he be, but in the 10 games he played he definitely wasn't a liability...

I couldn't disagree more with that, but whatever...

Eh, why not? The locker room is reportedly a mess anyways. For real though, I would pass. Just give AA and Mantha the top-six time instead.

We're so bad right now offensively, that I'd sign Ray Rice, let alone Radulov. Impressionable youth can go become boy scouts. My concern is not his attitude, but whether he can still be a legit top 6 forward. Then again, we don't have many of those, so maybe it's worth a shot.