Leaderboard

Pavel Datsyuk writes open letter to Detroit Red Wing fans Dear Friends, I am blessed to have received an offer to continue my hockey career at home with SKA in St. Petersburg. It was a difficult decision to retire from the Red Wings and NHL, but in my heart, I believe it is the best decision for me an my family. “My decision was not an easy one. Your support of the Detroit Red Wings and of me personally has meant so much to me. I arrived a young man that few had heard of and I am leaving with so many offering their kind wishes, love and respect. I am so thankful. You have provided so much for me and my family and I will be forever graceful to the game of hockey, the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings and most importantly, to you, our fans. “With the reality that I will no longer be a Red Wing or playing in the NHL, I realize there are a lot of people I would like to personally thank. “I also want to especially thank Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch and the entire Ilitch family for all their support over the years. They are tremendous owners and I loved playing for them. Similarly, I owe a great deal to Ken Holland for his understanding and support during the last few years in particular, but really throughout my career. Ken and the entire organization have always treated me well and he, together with all of the organization, are a major reason why every player in the league wants to play in Detroit. “I would also like to thank all of my teammates. We have had many successes, and many times fell short of our goals, but it has been an honor and privilege to play by your side. “I also want to thank all of my coaches, in particular Mike Babcock for his support, wisdom and guidance over most of my career and Jeff Blashill for taking over and leading us to another playoff year. I am confident that Coach Blashill will have a high level of success and will continue to add to the great history of the Detroit Red Wings. “Finally and most importantly, to the fans of the Detroit Red Wings throughout Michigan, the United States and Canada (as well as those in Russia and elsewhere). I so appreciated your passionate support over the years and truly enjoyed playing for you. I loved playing in Detroit! “From the bottom of my heart I thank you all for everything.”

I don't get what the point of discussion here is. Stamkos wasn't coming here regardless. He didn't even show interest to us or anyone else. The guy wants a Stanley cup not money. He could have easily made more in Toronto with endorsement deals. Best shot of a cup for him is Tampa. Truthfully I think we can all agree he made the smartest decision.

It's a legitimate option because Z and D played entire careers as Red Wings while Feds and Osgood did not. It's not singling them out, it's a categorical option. Some people value whether or not a player dedicated his entire career to the franchise.

theres nothing about that I "like"

Same old debate, new year. But now Fedorov is officially a HHOF and was honored by Detroit. He's seemed to have mended relations with the Wings for the most part and thanked the organization in his HOF speech. Datsyuk has moved on and his career with the Wings has come to an end. Contract was moved and things worked out. Zetterberg... is basically done but just riding it out so.. Osgood because people always bring him up in the conversation. Here are their achievements- I've italicized and bolded the ones I felt are pretty significant accomplishments. Let me know if I'm missing anything or would like to add other categories. Sergei Fedorov Hart Trophy as league MVP - 1 Selke Trophy as best defensive forward - 2 Ted Lindsay Award as Most Outstanding player selected by NHLPA - 1 Stanley Cups - 3 World Championships - 3 Gold medals Olympic Silver Medalist in 1998 Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 Pavel Datsyuk Lady Byng Trophy for player best exhibiting sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct - 4 Selke Trophy as best defensive forward - 3 Stanley Cups - 2 World Championships - 1 Gold Medal, 1 Silver Medal Henrik Zetterberg Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP - 1 Foundational Player award applying core values of hockey to enrich lives of people in community - 1 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership on and off ice and humanitarian contributions - 1 Stanley Cups - 1 World Championships - 1 Gold Medal, 1 Silver Medal Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist - 2006 and 2014 Triple Gold Club member Chris Osgood William Jennings Trophy - 2 Stanley Cups - 3

The other point I'll make is this. Retiring Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio Sid Abel and Sawchuk's numbers were also in discussions. Only Howe, Yzerman and Lidstrom were players whose numbers were immediately retired. Lindsay and Delvecchio had their numbers retired in 1991 Sawchuck was retired in 1994 Abel in 1995 Discussing is completely unrelated to likelihood of retirement. Sid Abel retired from the game in 1954 and his number wasn't retired till 40 years after that.

omg i cant believe youre copying my poll idea

In alot of cases this may be accurate, but in this situation IMO this way of thinking is too simplistic. In the case of Fedorov, people that have to "discuss it" are people who are using emotion to cloud their judgement. Had Fedorov had his career cut short in 2003 due to injury and not leaving to Anaheim, I think he would be in the same category as Lidstrom & Yzerman. Here are my thoughts: I've come around on Fedorov. The guy is one of the greatest to ever wear the Winged Wheel, and he should be up there with LIdstrom/Yzerman. Datsyuk IMO was a very special player, one that not many people have the same skill set as. Based on that alone, and based on how good he was a as two way player at his peak, I would say yes. He may not have the point totals, but imagine if his body didnt let him down, and imagine if he played in a different era where there was more scoring. Z - How can you say no to him and Yes to Datsyuk. Osgood - At this point no, but I see the argument as he accomplished ALOT and if he gets into the HHOF, that could alter my opinion.

Pass Sports Dave Strader still calling a Wings game Bryan Murray behind the bench Racine wearing #33 Eternal Mickey Old times, wow

Deal was made with Tampa before he had a chance to meet with Detroit simple as that. It's not because Holland sux if he was going to leave Tampa we would have been able to make a pitch

Only Feds. *shrug*

Scotty Bowman weighing on who he thinks was most talented on his Red Wings team and Fedorov not staying in Detroit (doesn't say overly much though):

I wouldn't go this far - it could just be that Stamkos was considering leaving for a handful of teams, or staying put. After all, the Wings missed out on Parise and Suter because they wanted to stick together. Sure, maybe they would have changed this team, and the situation might be different had they chosen to come to Detroit. As it stands, they haven't exactly flourished in Minny, and the Wild have both guys on the books until they're 39 & 40-years-old. That said, I hope Kenny and co. can work on this team's reputation in the next few years. The new arena is a selling point, but I think they need to prove they can contend before we can label Detroit as a "destination spot" for free agents again. Not sure how long that's going to take, but I wish Kenny would look to expedite the process a little. Even if it costs them, I'd rather see him get a little aggressive on the trade market. In retrospect, I'm not overly upset about most of the prospects he's moved (except for Janmark), but shilling the "B" and "C" prospects within the organization for washed-up vets isn't cutting in. They have depth at forward - swing big trying to bring in a blue-chip defender. Obviously, that's easier said than done, but he needs to remodel the core of this team.

Pav and Z

It doesn't hurt to have a guy as fast as Helm who can be slotted into either the top six or play on a checking line and be effective. He just can't be relied upon to be a scoring winger. So, I really don't think he's the problem with this team. He was one of our best players in 2008 and 2009 because he had a great team around him so he could play his role. Also, apparently he could have gotten more money elsewhere so it's not like the Wings actually "overpaid" to keep him.

Yea I bet GR was happy we signed 4 forwards in free agency. They should be stacked this year for sure.

Don't forget Svechnikov and Frk (assuming he clears waivers).

Sadowy hype, hat trick in a scrimmage don't mean much but it's a nice first impression. He can play in GR this year right? I look forward to seeing his game develop.

WingedWheel, it seems we don't agree on much, but I agree with you here 100%. Great post! I also agree that Fowler is massively overrated. I would take him on this team, but not at the price it would likely cost. Like I've said before, if we're over paying for a defenseman, it needs to be a true number one or at least one that has the potential to be a true number one...

Martin would have been the worst contract of the decade. Glad we didn't go for it.

Still pisses me off how he was treated here. Was a pointless signing by Holland (who for one rare time actually signed a tough playerto fill a need)because Babcock didn't want him, then he had to be bought out. Communication is a good thing sometimes. Idiots. I dunno if Tootoo will see much playing time in Chicago though, but at least he's got an NHL contract again.

Have thought about this some more and there's no real problem Z-Lark-Vanek Ny-Nielsen-Abby Tat-AA-Helm Mill/Ott-Glen-Shea Jurco,Pulk Ott is just in for Miller as he comes back or injuries or extra grit. Mantha starts in GR, which I think most of us expected anyway. Injuries will come. Not sure how much of a shot Jurco and Pukkinen are going to get this year, though - I Do wish we hadn't signed Miller and Ott.

I changed my vote to better. For now. Last year almost everyone on the team regressed which is an extreme outlier for a team full of youngsters who are projected to get better. I think part of their regression was due to poor coaching. This year we still have the same youngsters and many of them are entering their prime. With the change in coaching staff and Blashill gaining some insight, they should be better. Datsyuk was good on paper but when it came down to it he wasn't here for the first few months and if you guys recall he didn't find his mojo for a few months (remember how LGW were bashing him in november and december?) additionally he didn't really show up in the playoffs. So realistically Datsyuk aka The Magic Man was only really here between January and April. I think Nielsen is Datsyuk's replacement with the added element that he'll probably actually play most of the season. So he'll be an "upgrade" in terms of long term reliability to an older, injured Datsyuk. I take back what I said about Vanek being Richard's replacement. I no longer consider him Richard's replacement, but rather Johan Franzen's replacement. The two are similar in that neither is as fast in their current phase of hockey while both are supposed to be goal scorers around the net in close quarters and PP specialists net front presence. I don't think Larkin is going to have a "sophomore slump" , I actually think he'll be better. I actually can't recall if any of our rookies have even gone through sophomore slumps. Tatar went from scoring 17 to 29 goals in his second year and Nyquist maintained his 27-28 goal range in his second year. If anything they had a "junior" slump. Lastly, and I think this is the main reason why I switched to better.. is Petr Mrazek. After his first legitimate 82 game season he showed us flashes of what we see consistently from Carey Prices hightlights. Mrazek went through a pretty s***ty slump after having a Vezina like performance for 2-3 months. First goalie to stop 15 shots on goal by Alexander Ovechkin, (arguably the best goal scorer in NHL history) in a single game speaks volumes to his potential Imo. Mrazek is now one year more experienced, and if he can maintain his consistency HE will be the sole reason this team wins out games. He was our Carey Price from November- January. He needs to be our Carey Price from October - April. The rest will follow suit. So I think they'll be better than the 2016 Red Wings and as good as the 2015 Red Wings. But not as good as 2013 Red Wings that took Chicago to game 7. Dipset.