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If that's what he wants then more power to him. I love Datsyuk! It does not matter where he plays. I will still be a fan of his.

Post your tidbits here about red wings stuff that people might not know. Gordie Howe wore #17 his rookie year and only switched because #9 got him a lower bunk on the train.

We just lost Lidstrom, I won't be ready to lose Dats in 2 years.

The Red Wings 1954 team played against convicts. Source: http://voices.yahoo.com/red-wings-vs-criminals-most-infamous-outdoor-hockey-7485644.html

Come to think about it, a lockout wouldn't really bother me because I can't think of anything about this upcoming season that I am looking forward to when it comes to the Wings. This is as good of a year as any.

Bettman alone isn't responsible for 3 lockouts. Both sides are responsible. It takes two sides to come up with a deal. What we have here are two sides that are hard headed. They are also made up of complete morons. On the owners side, you have Bettman and his band of morons who's only solution is to slash salaries, contracts, and lowball the union. On the other side, you have a union which really proposed a reduction in salaries, but the figure climbs right back up to where it is now. Also, the union wants to see the salaries of non-player personnel reduced. Which of these solutions work? The answer is neither of them. Add onto the fact that both the players and the owners just started getting together about a month ago. Hockey was over in June. Hell, why weren't both sides meeting in March? Lack of urgency on both sides as well. The owners tabled the last proposal last week on Wednesday, and they won't meet again until this wednesday? A full week with the leaders of the two sides not sitting down? These guys are total toolbags. While I like Fehr a lot more then Bettman, I think that both sides have handled this horribly. No sense of urgency, no compromise, and most importantly, no meaningful discussion on the real issues. Even if there were meaningful discussions, nothing came out of them. Both sides have the "its my way or the highway" attitude. I know that most people are saying that its all the owners fault if there is a lockout, but I am convinced that its both sides fault if there is a lockout. Both sides are equally at fault. No doubt about it if you look at the actions of both sides in the last six months. Its very difficult for me to hold in my anger on this topic and not spew out a tirade that would get me banned for excessive swearing.

oh boy we always have someone telling everyone to get over themselves..Where is anyone taking it too seriously?

I have always worried that when this contract is up he's 36 years old. This as well as having said he wants to play in Russia in previous years is not the best sign to me on him returning and not to mention more recently he has said really wants to spend a lot more time at his hockey school in Russia to give the kids over there in juniors more of a shot then their current situations allow. Pavs a true star and if he packs it up all the power to him, he will be missed by us but the wonders he could do for the kids in Russia would be awesome.

Really? I never knew that.. I could see him playing for a year there once he's done here I guess but not so much at 36. I feel like he could continue to dominate in the NHL for years to come.. 36 just sounds too young for a guy of his caliber to leave the NHL. just my opinion though.. Edit: Forgot to click quote ha

screw em both, luckily I have Colorado College and Air Force hockey to enjoy regardless of what these dillweeds do.

It will depend greatly on if that waltz gives his partner time to realize he's even being asked to dance.

I think this back and forth is great. Shows the competitiveness between teams. Some of you are taking it way too seriously though. It's just jokes between Twitter feeds. Get over yourself.

Great analysis provided there. The Red Wings certainly have holes, but the aging Europeans line is stupidity. The team has gotten drastically younger the past two off-seasons now. Seems like uneducated "experts" have used the same garbage to declare the Red Wings dead for a decade now. The Wings' twitter comeback was awesome too. They have come a long way in the social media world since Tom Wilson arrived.

How do the economics of the current deal favor the players? compared to what, the insane offer the NHL made? And exactly how is Fehr lollygagging? He is traveling meeting with his constituents. What exactly is Gary doing? Fehr made it clear he would be speaking to Bettman by phone before their next meeting. Odd how you only mention Fehr. Players made the massive concession of agreeing to a cap and linking their salaries to something they have absolutely no say or control over, league revenues. Some comments from Fehr state it pretty clearly. http://www.sbnation....pa-lockout-2012 The section I bolded states it most succinctly. The NHL keeps throwing around the phrase partnership, but it's ignoring that they only mean financial partnership, not any equal share in decisionmaking or control. You can keep trying to say its both sides and throw mud at the union, but to me it's pretty obvious the owners are the ones most responsible for this impasse and impending lockout. And to be clear I'm not saying a deal can't be done. That's what's infuriating. This should be the easiest CBA negotiation of all. But the owners ridiculous proposal and crap about partnering with players is the biggest problem. They're not even looking at the issue correctly. They want to fix the disparity among franchises by taking more from players. EDIT: forgot to include link.

The NHL and NHLPA should have started meeitngs throughout the year governed by Bettman to hash out a new agreement prior to 1 Jul 12. This in turn would have the CBA renew, not expire and then teams could go into July 1st without being blindfolded by "what could be" with a new CBA. Procrastination is the main cause of this pending lockout. The initial proposal should have been mandated by the NHL side to be presented 1 Oct 11 with at least quarterly meetings during the season until the new CBA is signed. With only 2 guys on the NHLPA still in the playoffs come SCF, there is no reason that the rest of the NHLPA cannot be involved in meetings, and the meetings can even be held in the city that the game is being played in. Not getting what is so hard about starting negotiations more than a couple months prior to expiry...

The economics of the current deal favor the players. Of course it would be in their best interest to not strike. It is also in their best interest to tell the press and fans that they would prefer to play the season and continue negotiations. The current party that is happy is not going to strike, and that is a no brainer. I am not saying that the owners haven't been their own worst enemy here. They have self-inflicted the wounds upon themselves by continuing to sign players to 10-12 year deals at $103 million to get around the "cap space" issue. That being said, the system does need to be fixed in some way. I don't know what that way is, but the players by saying that they will continue the season under the current deal isn't a solution to the problem. Maybe shooting each owner would be a better option. There are going to be a lot of people kissing the ass of the NHLPA over the course of the next month. The fans will be on the bandwagon of the NHLPA. The press is already on their side. Just keep in mind that it is in their best interest to keep the current deal. It is in the owners best interest to get some things fixed. I don't think it is in the best interest of the owners to strike, but something has got to get the NHLPA to the table. Right now, Fehr is touring the US with three weeks to go until camps open. Does that sound like someone who wants to get a deal done to you? When both sides wait until July to start talking, does that sound like a league and a players association that is concerned with starting the season on time? While I have a lot of respect for Fehr, I do not understand why he is lollygagging around. I don't care if he is winning in the public opinion. I don't care that he made a great proposal. The fact of the matter is that both sides need to come up with an agreement. Just because the owners lock them out doesn't make the owners 100% at fault. Thats just false thinking. In professional sports, a deal has to work for both sides, not just one. The side that locks out the other isn't 100% at fault just because the current deal doesn't favor them. A deal can be made that favors both sides. I like this guy's take on it. http://www.sbnation....pa-lockout-2012 This compromise really does favor both sides.

Better off seeing what Brunner, Gus, or even Tatar can do over signing Kostitsyn. His peak was 53 points in his debut season with Montreal and it's been downhill ever sense.

Not a fan of periods? The Wings didn't seem interested in Semin when he was still available, so I don't see Kenny pursuing Kostitsyn, which Is essentially a poor man's Semin.

Actually, if there is a lockout, Bettman and the owners would be 100% responsible. The same would be said about the players if there was a strike, they'd be 100% responsbile. Funny thing is, a lot of people don't necessarily see the difference between the two. I know that's not where you are coming from, you are seeing it as two sides needing to come to an agreement or there will be no hockey come October. Therefore, if there is no hockey...both sides to blame. There is some truth to that, but to be perfectly accurate, the players are willing to start the season as usual and continue to negotiate and reach a deal. There is no reason they can't continue to operate under the existing deal until a new one is reached. The thing is, the owners have said, they have no interest in starting the season under the existing deal, therefore, they will lockout the players if there is no agreement by September 15th. It's really a negotiation tool, if they don't lockout the players, they don't hold a lot of power to get a good deal done for them. If the owners don't lockout the players (which Bettman already said they would), the players could choose to strike, but that wouldnt' happen.

So the NHL has been around since 1917....almost 100 years.....and thousands of fighters have taken to NHL ice in that time, and you have a list of 6 players???? I know there have been a couple of unusual tough guy deaths recently....but those deaths are just that....NOT USUAL. And most of those suicide deaths were guys who struggled with addiction, not to mention you have no idea what other problems besides addiction that they were dealing with in their personal lives as well....yet you wanna pin the whole suicide on the fact that hockey allowed him to get hit in the head a lot? Sorry but even if I was anti-fighting I would still call this a very poor argument. The enforcer system was the best system out there. It was run and facilitated by the players and coaches themselves and worked better than the system in place today. Enforcers made sure dirty crap didn't happen and if it did you got punished for it. Then the enforcers also had their own little side game...which was the heavy weight bouts that were just as much for the fans as they were for themselves...You had big name fighters like Probie and Domi who would square up just to see who would win that round and prove that they are the bigger, tougher, better fighter....you would have thought they hated each other but they actually had huge respect for each other....these were big, tough, nasty.....yet honorable men Nowadays guys are running everyone, slamming heads into boards, hitting to the head, flopping, the list goes on and on. And the NHL keeps trying to make more and more and more rules to stop it....but you can't stop it. Let the players handle it, they did a better job at handling it than the NHL has, despite their best efforts. Let them handle it, they know best... instead we have baby-proofing do-gooders stepping in and telling them how to play their own sport. In the players poll last year it was something like 99% of NHL players said fighting should not be removed from hockey....they want fighting just as much as the fans do. It has a place....even in this post-lockout league. And don't get me started on your fighting versus hitting argument....by your logic we would have to remove hitting as well....anddd just as many if not more health concerns arise from hitting, just not as many to the head.

My favorite was NHL 2000. That game was fun, but I could never get over those backhanded goals scored from the blueline, where the puck was essentially chipped over the goalie's shoulder. Pissed me off each time.

I have the sneaking suspicion we are going to surprise a lot of people this year...TBC

Lol we need like 15 guys to change their names to badger

You should be able to get Bo for the likes of Kindl, Mursak (or Emmerton or Miller) and a pick... Calgary wants to unload him, and the cap relief is part of the deal... That's part of the reason he's so intriguing to me, low cost...

what else does the league want? The got their "parity" throughout the league, revenue is up, they got the Cap in place, they got their "KID" the Cup (maybe one wasn't enough and they need changes to make sure he gets every two out of three?) I don't know what else the league would want from the players. If the NHL suffer another lockout or lose of an entire season, it is over. It cannot survive another whole, half or any part of the season being cancelled... I cannot see why Bettman still has his job, half a season lost in 1994-95, entire 2005 season lost AND now this possibility!?!? Why does this fool still have a job? He has done hardly anything GOOD for the NHL and tons bad!