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It's not a coincidence because one caused the other but it also has nothing to do with his political affiliation. Taking out the politics this is what he did: Made a controversial decision becoming a distraction for his team and justified his decision with public statements. He later refused to comment on these public statements, not helping the media distraction factor. Now he wants to sit out a season and it will cost the Bruins $5 million on the cap even if they suspend him (source) or send him to the AHL because of his contract. So again, people aren't hating on him because of his politics, they are because he's a dick. EDIT: as the original source says they Bruins will have the choice of "tolling" his contract making them owe them one more year if he does return, but in that case his $5 million will count against the cap in both seasons [source]

But it's not just his business, he is making a selfish decision that could potentially affect the Bruins financially . Plus he signed a contract, I don't understand why everyone seems to think it's ok to break an agreement. That is a general statement for the mindset that seems to be common now. If you agreed to something hold up your end of it or make sure you make amends for not doing it and you better have a damn good reason too! I say if he wants the year off he should have to pay any penalty that the Bruin's might have to burden. And if he chooses to retire, I saw somewhere that the Bruins would still owe him money...he should have to forfeit it.

I nearly threw my chair across the room and prepared to punch you from over 3000 miles away as the crow flies... but the granite settled me down I was born in the 1990 so I don't remember those pre-Madonna days but I'm sure they were better for the overall standard of music

First off, let me say that Nick Lidstrom is one of my top 5 favorite Wings of all-time and in my opinion the best defensive defenseman of all-time. Now, his (expected) retirement is a major chapter in the history of this team. I for one cannot remember any second in the last 20 years as a Wings fan where I thought that Nick Lidstrom was a liability. On the contrary, I felt that a 50% Nick Lidstrom was an upgrade over pretty much any other defenseman that the Wings could have put on the ice to replace him. Now we as Wings fans finally get to see what we have consciously dreaded but somewhere deep in our collective subconsciousness have always wondered. "What will the Wings look like without #5?" I am (as the thread title bears) excitedly optimistic, and here are some reasons why: 1. We are already a good team - had this happened in a year where we didn't already have a strong core of players (say 2000) I would be pulling my hair out. But we have a Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, and even White to fall back on as a solid core of defensive players to build around. Not to mention the great 2-way forwards we have developing (Flip and Helm) and the ones in the minors. 2. We have SO much money - We just gained $6 million more chips in the Parise/Suter/Semin games. I would much rather have had only $3mil more (with the 1 year extension of Lids) but we have to look at what we have. I don't know the exact numbers, but if we drop the players to FA that I think we are going to drop (Stuart and Hudler) then there is even more money. I think we are looking at a summer where we sign 2 big FAs and a couple role players. 3. We are deep - Half of the Griffins played last season, and I wasn't really put off by any of them. In fact, a couple I would have wanted to take a roster spot from some vets that were having off seasons or were playing for less than they were being paid (Cleary, Hudler, Franzen). Smith, Tatar, Nyquist, and Mursak all looked good in the short time I got to see them and I think at least 2 GRGs will have roster spots on the big club this season. and finally... 4. What else could you ask for? - I mean, come on, he has left a HUGE impact on the current roster and his presence will be felt for years. Other than retiring after winning a Cup (which probably wouldn't be likely since he would probably feel that he still had something in the tank) or winning another Norris, what else can he really do to excel? I don't blame him for calling it a career, maybe he will stay with the Wings as a European scout or a director of something, or, I daren't say it aloud, decide to take an upper management position that was said to be vacated when he retired... Anyways, good luck Nick and thanks for being the wall in front of the goalie.

Scuderi = most under-appreciated D man in the NHL.

Dekeyser isn't Red Wings property. He's still in school at Western Michigan and he's still a free agent.

This thread shouldn’t have made it to 4 pages. Zetterberg will be captain, and no one else is really even close.

Remember when everyone hit the panic button and wanted to see this kid rot in prison for all eternity lol? Good for him.

Zero sense this makes. As for the political dealie/skipping the White House celebration, I think it's a bit of a reach to see how these two specific things are connected. Happened months and months ago so I don't see why it is reason to be brought up when him possibly skipping out has probably little or nothing to do with politics/government. And as for him skipping out, was his choice and his business. Don't really agree with it but I understand and respect his decision. All I'm going to say on that since I pretty much have given up talking politics in depth a long time ago.

No more crystal meth for you.

media queen Tim Thomas may sit out next season. Boo Hoo. Next.

I'm starting to get a bit sick of people ripping on this team and discrediting what we accomplished this past season because we got knocked out in the first round. WE STILL HAVE A GOOD TEAM. We finished the regular season OVER 100 points, again. We broke A RECORD for the most consecutive home wins, and yeah, the Preds got the better of us in the first round, and if you haven't learned by now that the NHL playoffs are wildly unpredictable then it might be time to move on to a different sport. We got knocked out, s*** happens. We won't win the championship every season. The Bruins, Canucks, and Penguins all fell in the first round this season, I don't tend to browse on other team's forums but are they all panicking and claiming the end of an era? Are they bad teams that are in desperate need of a rebuild or high value signings because they lost in the first round? It's the core of this team that makes us competitive and a playoff team season after season. If we finished 5th seed and we are a bad team, then LA and NJ must be awful. Oh and i'm sorry our 6th round pick Mursak isn't a superstar after 44 career games.

LMAO the Red Wings do not have a good team? How many wins at home in a row? Making the playoffs means you at least have a good team. Sure its not a great team or anything but thats the way of the road.

The words may be his but you ripped them out of his context and put them into yours, completely manipulating what he said.

I don't mean to minimize the loss of Nick Lidstrom, arguably the greatest Red Wing of all time. His loss will be felt in our lineup and in our hearts. However, losing Lidstrom doesn't mean the Wings are going to be a crap team now. We have a ton of cap space and a smart front office. We'll never replace Nick Lidstrom, but that won't stop them from trying fill that void. Plus, it should be mentioned that there are 29 other teams out there that didn't have Nick Lidstrom this year and two of them are playing for the Stanley Cup right now. The last 4 Stanley Cup champions, won without Nick Lidstrom. We can too. Will it be harder? Of course. Is it impossible? Not even close. We still have Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Howard, Kronwall and whomever we sign with the insane amount of cap space we now have. Being sad about Lidstrom retiring is one thing. It hurts, its going to hurt. He's been around for 20 years and is connected with pretty much all of the success we've enjoyed during that time. But don't be upset or worry about the state of the team because of him leaving. We'll continue to be competitive with the elite talent we still have.

No offence, but I think this is just selfish fan talk. I think if you asked Nick he would prefer if Holland looked after the future of the Wings franchise rather than mortgage it to give him, as an individual, one more shot at the cup. But maybe you feel differently.

Awesome

We do NOT already have a good team, otherwise we wouldn't have had our asses handed to us in the first round. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have nothing to do with the absence Lidstrom will leave on the blueline and Kronwall, while a solid player, is no where near Lidstrom level and, in my opinion, never will be. We are NOT that deep, as most farm boys who we've been giving shots to have really been disappointing thus far. Kindl, Emmerton, Mursak to name a few. You think these guys are the future? Sure, there's potential in Nyquist and Smith but it's way too early to tell and I see 3rd line at best. I mean, Babcock himself commented on his brilliantly after we got eliminated, basically saying we were putting 3rd and 4th line guys on our 1st and 2nd. I mean, Abdelkader a 2nd line center? Give me a break. We may seem like we have a lot of money, but considering the scarcity of the FA market this summer, expect the star players to command big big bucks. And we know how Holland feels about "spending". Well, other than bloated 10 year+ contracts that is. You know what we could have asked for? Our GM to give our star player and captain a better team to support him his final season. Otherwise, maybe he wouldn't "lack the motivation and drive to continue" (his words not mine). Seriously though, how does the sand taste?

Sorry, that quote was referring to last year.

Whats up with all the Franzen hate? Hes had what? 1 ! bad season and people are already throwing him under the bus.

I couldn't care less about the politics, I just think it's funny that there wasn't the level of hatred towards Tim Thomas that there is now until he stepped into the political landscape. Suddenly he's a jerk! esteef

Yeah, everyone loved Tim Thomas until he expressed his opinion. It's amazing how petty people are.

Promise? Can't stand the Prima Dona Ice Queen.

I agree with you, that's the risk you run. But it's never really been in Holland's nature to grant spots on the team to guys based on talent alone. I'm not really worried though, with Smith, Dekeyser, and Ouellet developing I think we're in pretty good shape in the "Prospects with Potential" department. Edit: Well I guess I should take a step back. Is the kid so skilled that he's in the Toews, Crosby, Stamkos department? I mean, is it completely obvious to anyone whose ever seen him play that he's going to be elite, and practically is already? If he's that good, then sure. If not, we've got a development program for a reason.

I've seen a couple Montreal sources (never heard of them so probably unreliable) today say that the Wings are interested in Markov. This comes just a couple days after the GM meetings where Holland said he had some trade discussions. Sounds like Montreal just wants to dump him because of his injury concerns.