UKWING

HAHA!! how bitter is gene collier? you expect that kind of childish response from fans on message boards but not from a journalist. does he really believe that the only difference between the wings and the pens was a couple of bounces?!? how can anyone argue that the wings were not the better team in that series and did not deserve to win the cup? and since that series detroit have locked up their key players whilst malone, roberts, hall and ruutu have all left pittsburgh. so how can he possibly argue with hossa's view that the wings present a greater shot at the cup than the pens?!? especially when you consider that hossa was the pens best player in that series so if he swaps teams then the difference between the 2 is even greater. another key factor that mr collier neglects to mention is the 2 coaches - i would say that the vast majority of players would much rather play for babcock than therrien. collier really is an ignorant, sour and deluded fool.

copied this this from TSN: Salary Range / Compensation Below $863,156 -> No Compensation $863,156-$1,307,812 -> Third-round pick $1,307,812-$2,615,625 -> Second-round pick $2,615,625-$3,923,437 -> First- and third-round picks $3,923,437-$5,231,249 -> First-, second and third-round picks $5,231,249-$6,539,062 -> Two first-rounders, a second-round pick and a third-round pick. $6,539,062 or more -> Four first-round picks if flip is offered less than 2.6m then the wings will almost certainly match it. if he is offered more than that and the wings don't match then they will get at least a 1st and a 3rd.

who said i was worried about flip? someone wrote that we would have space at the deadline to fill in a few holes if needed. i was merely pointing out that we won't have any space at the deadline. regardless, flip is likely to earn 3m max so it is not a simple case of let flip walk and we can afford to keep hossa long term. they would probably need to let franzen and hudler go too depending on whether/how much the cap increases next year.

they still need to sign flip and a few others - there will be no space left for the deadline. anyway, the wings won the cup and have just added marian hossa - what holes do they have?!?

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!! the rest of the nhl must be feeling pretty depressed right now

i did say that if they re-sign hossa then i would make them east favourites. the pens were much better than the rest of the east this year so even though they won't be as good next year, they will still be one of the favourites.

whilst the pens will not be as strong next year they will still have a great chance of making the finals. they were by far and away the best Eastern team this year and they will still have crosby, malkin, gonchar and fluery. if hossa re-signs then i would make them the eastern favourites again.

at < 3m/per year he would be worth a shot but as others have said there is no way naslund will accept that. he will get at least 4m/per year.

if sundin is serious about winning a cup then he has to accept the wings offer.

when datsyuk signed a 2 year deal for 3.9m per year he had scored 35, 51 and 68 points at an average of 0.74 PPG. flip has scored 1, 17 and 36 points at an average of 0.35 PPG. IMO flip is worth no more than 2m per year at this point but if he signs a long term deal of 4 years or more then around 2.5-3m per year would be fair. but no way does he deserve over 3m

he hits anything that moves and is a pretty good fighter. his +/- was 0 for the season so he is not a liability either. IMO he played his role perfectly on the team last year and I would welcome him back.

thanks guys - you have been very welcome additions to the site so please stick around. hope we meet you in the final again next year

thanks a million for all the hard work matt - you are an absolute legend

i am gonna keep mine for a little longer - it will act as a nice reminder of the cup plus my girlfriend quite likes it so there is no rush to get rid of it just yet.

he is certainly worth $9m+ but i am hoping datsyuk and lidstrom's contracts act as a benchmark and he gets somewhere in between the 2.

great job with the GDT aflac hopefully the wings will save you the trouble of having to do another one on saturday the wings need to start this one the way they started the 3rd period on monday. if they do then the cup is ours!

mine too i feel like the life has just been sucked right out of me. i have to be up for work in 2 hours and i really don't think i have the energy.

nothing to do with luck - the wings got exactly what they deserved. they did not show up until the 3rd period and then choked in the last minute. there is no doubt that the wings are the better team so i am still confident they will finish it off on wednesday - but it should already be over

.......in the pittsburgh net. yes kronwall i am talking to you

outstanding effort from the wings in the 3rd and 4th but worryingly they look out of gas now. i think we need to score early in this period. i am going with flip to win in it 3:45 into the 6rd LETS GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i thought the only way they were going to call a penalty would be for a high stick or puck over the glass. then they call that the wings are clearly the better team but fleury is almost single-handedly keeping the pens in it. cleary to win it all for detroit in the 5th! LETS GO RED WNGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow. the wings players had better not feel as deflated as i do right now or this one is over how on earth did we f*ck that up?!? they did not even look like scoring then hank turns the puck over at centre ice with an empty net, franzen fails to clear and talbot is left all alone at the side of the net to take 2 or 3 whacks at the puck!?! and ozzie has got to get his pad against that post as well - same goal 2 straight games. big job for babs to get them re-focused now. but what better way to win the cup than in OT? LETS GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a pathetic period. this is easily the worst they have played all playoffs and what a time to do it. they have looked nervous and have played with zero composure out there - they just don't look like the wings at all. with so many experienced players i really did not see this coming. pittsburgh were there for the taking and gifted us 2 early PPs but yet again our power play struggled - though it does not help when you get such an outrageous call to negate one of them but the goal gave the pens life and they have looked a different team since then. we really need to score the next goal and get the crowd back into it. its not over yet - LETS GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!

is there a better forward in the nhl than hank right now? i don't think so. absolute legend!!

i was getting irate at those calls tonight. i don't really have too much complaint with the penalties called on the wings - they all seemed legit - but i was pissed that they were not making the same calls against the pens. in particular, there was a blatant trip on hank at the start of the 3rd that the refs ignored but i just shrugged and assumed that they were putting their whistles away. then they call maltby and lilja for far less obvious infractions to give the pens a 5-on-3 but we still won so f*ck 'em!!!!