lets go pavel

Sooo ... after staring for 10 minutes I noticed the handwriting ... any idea what that says?

I think Z and Franzen are pretty inclined to shoot, and Hudler fits the bill to me too ... even Sammy will pull the trigger. Flip and Pavs both usually look to pass first, and with Homer parked in front of the net I see a lot of passing and mucking and not a lot of shooting ...

I'm not a big fan of Flip-Dats-Homer ... there's no natural shooter on the line. I am happy to see some shuffling, but I'm still holding out for ZDH. If we're looking to put a jump in our game, I don't think there's a better combo for it ... maybe something like: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Cleary-Filppula-Hossa Hudler-Franzen-Samuelsson Kopecky-Draper-Maltby or maybe switch Franzen with Cleary or Flip ...

Both Ozzie and Conks showed the ability to do just that last year. You're right, at the moment neither is doing much, but goalie's hit rough patches and there's no reason to think they won't get back to where they were last year. Give it some time, and I'm sure we'll be arguing about who is playing better, not who is playing worse.

Sweet! Another "our goalies suck we'll never win let's trade them for (insert unproven and unreliable goalie name here) before the sky falls all the way" thread! I was just thinking someone needed to start another one since we haven't even played a game since the last one ...

No one is saying Ozzie has been good. But this crap ... "Bring up Howard and retire Osgood already" ... is the same crap we went through last year. At the beginning of the year it was "Hasek is crap", then after the ASG it was "Average Ozzie has lost his edge", then "we can't win with either goalie, let's trade for Toskala" ... well what happened? We won. Ultimately it was Ozzie in goal, but Dom played his part in getting us there too. The point is that goalies go through rough stretches. The team is winning, Ozzie will come around. Chill out with the overreactions.

I don't know if I'd call it a pinch, but I think we're going to see a different FA market this summer, especially once you get past the the top-tier players. In summers past with the cap rising, teams have been able to give pay raises to their younger FA's or upgrade their rosters without having to get rid of other players. With the cap staying level, any team at or near the cap is going to have some tough choices to make ... just look at the situation we're in with Z, Hossa, Franzen, Hudler, Sammy, etc. There will be a bunch of FA's around the league looking for pay raises, but essentially no more money out there than what there is now. Team's will have to a lot more careful with where they spend their $ this year, and I'd be surprised to see any Jeff Finger contracts this year. (not that that wasn't a surprise last year )

With Ozzie in goal the Wings have earned 26 of 32 possible points, or 81%. With Conklin, 12 of 18 points for 67%. If the team is most important, and gaining points are th emost important thing for the team, it would seem that Ozzie is the way to go.

The fact that our defense is #3 in shots allowed doesn't mean there isn't a problem with defense ... it's not always a matter of quantity, sometimes it's quality, and our defense is still having way too many breakdowns that result in easy scoring chances for the opposition.

Why pay anyone? They could just come on here after each game and get all the info they could possibly use about who played poorly and why! I'm kidding ... it's not a bad idea, although with the way they're playing most games right now I think the flaws are fairly obvious. Who knows, maybe they do this already ...

Doesn't someone teach your certification class? And perhaps the purpose of said teacher is to help you learn or enhance some skills that were previously lacking? Hmmm ...

You know, I thought the same thing, that it seemed like he was shooting less ... this year he's averaging 3.1 shots per game, compared to 3.4 last year. Not a huge difference, but it also probably helps that his shooting percentage is up from 4.4% to 6.7%.

True, yes. Tasteless, definitely. But I was shocked to come back to this thread and see he was suspended ... I thought he must have done something else. I can't imagine a game going by where worse things aren't said on the ice. I understand protecting the image of the game, but does Bettman really think fans are naive enough to think the players are saints, and would be offended by this if the league didn't swoop down and wash his mouth out with soap?

Okay, but how is it better for us? And unless Z is a whiz at the stockmarket I don't think a front-loaded 6.25 per is better than a flat 7.5 or 8 or 9 that he might command elsewhere.

Okay, but right now Sammy is playing a good chunk of time on the 2nd line and mans the point on the PP ... I don't see Leino or Helm doing either of those fresh out of GR this year, just as Sammy didn't when he was new, or Pavel, or Hank, or Homer, or Franzen either for that matter. While you might think those 2 have more upside, if you're going to say there are better options out there as far as performance and budget go then you're going to need to give some quantifiable evidence, i.e., they should be proven.

Funny, but lots of guys are funny ... it's sad that he gets the attention just because he's an ass.

Can players renegotiate their contracts? If not, why is that contract any better for Z (or us) than 8 years at 6.25 per, which I think is quite a bit less than he'll take. It's not like he's in his 40's at the end of it, his production won't tail off that much ... same with Franzen ...

Dude, did you read my posts? I just said I saw him as a 3rd liner last year ... my expectations for him aren't that high at all. You just quoted me saying his play is "more than meeting my expectations this year". I haven't taken any points away from him for being on the PP, I think he's earned every point he's gotten and every dollar he makes. He is well worth the 1.2, and earlier in thread made the same challenge to find someone else making the same amount who would be better. I've been defending Sammy's play, I think you're arguing with the wrong guy ...

I was referring to his play last year. His play is more than meeting my expectations this year.

Agreed, and I think I said as much last year ... unfortunately putting a player in a position he isn't suited for tends to reflect negatively on the player moreso than the coach, even if that isn't fair.

The way I look at it, Z will make approximately what Hossa makes this year, which frees up Z's current salary, 2.9 million. If we give that to Franzen, in addition to what he currently makes he'd be around 4 ... could probably get more on the free agent market, but that might work. That puts us right back at the cap ... we would lose Hossa, and could only resign Hudler, Sammy, Kopecky if they take the same amount.

Yes. I have been critical of Sammy in the past, particularly last season, but I never (at least that I can recall) said he wasn't earning his keep or that we should get rid of him. My complaints last season were primarily twofold ... I didn't like him on the second line, and I didn't like him on the point during the PP. I still see him as a 3rd liner, but he has been playing better so far this year on the 2nd line and decent on the PP too.

I must be watching a different Sammy ... effort is one of the things I think he does bring consistently. He's not supremely talented, he doesn't have blazing speed or the greatest hands or vision. It's hustle that gets him where he is. He is nothing like old Bob Lang.

Sammy makes 1.2 million a year ... who are the better options you would replace him with? He is a bargain, he's not my favorite player and yes, he can be infuriating at times, but for his salary and his role on the team I think we're getting our money's worth and then some ...

Best way to beat the trap is to get the lead ... why didn't we try that?