lets go pavel

Woohoo!

I can't see Holland doing this right now if it means Hossa's definitely gone, so I've gotta think Holland believes he can still get Hossa signed too. I guess we'll see ...

Might depend on who we're playing ... if we get Anaheim, that Monday game (and game 4) would be in Anaheim, meaning a 10:00 start for the east coast. I'm guessing the NHL would prefer having that game as a Sunday matinee and only game 4 late night. If we draw Columbus or St Louis it wouldn't matter.

Also worth noticing, Crosby is still at 99 pts with 3 games left too. 2 games ago Pavel was 6 pts back. So ... still a possibility of catching/passing Crosby for 3rd on the scoring list, which would make the top 3 Russian.

Not to interrupt a meaningful debate, but really what the hell is the point in arguing about this right now? We have a captain, and will through at least the next season. Shouldn't we be busy bashing our goalies, defense, and coaching staff, rather than tearing our two best forwards apart over who should wear the C in a couple years? (p.s. I think Z is the better candidate and would be much more comfortable in the position )

No surprise here. He'll no doubt be on a short leash, but hopefully Babs won't need it.

Sammy's a righty, Ericsson's a lefty. And yes, hopefully some of the GR boys ... Helm, Abdelkader, maybe even Downey or Mac ... will bring some energy.

I'm having visions of another one of "those" threads ... I'll just say hopefully Ozzie is right, and his positivity translates into some better performances on the ice.

Reading that gave me an image of the team sitting around the lockerroom with half their pads on singing "Viva Viagra"! If they can get things going again, could be an endorsement deal waiting to happen! Seriously though, I don't know who's going to bring the spark, but I hope someone does, and soon.

Not sure I follow you ... Savard is already locked up until 2010, Bergeron until 2011.

There's a decent chance he'll get at least 1 game off over the next 5 ... if so, 7 pts in 4 games could be tough. It would be nice, though ...

I agree 100% on the lingering SC hangover. It's not like a typical hangover that clears up the next day, it can last all season. As for the #1 seed, I think we've given up on that already. My only concern with resting players is that it would be nice to go into the playoffs with a little bit of momentum and consistent play, but in the long run I suppose the rest would probably be more beneficial.

You do realize you're just encouraging panic in all the people who don't like puppies, right?

Bummer. He's had a good season, and our PK could use him. Fingers crossed for the playoffs ...

Okay, but how do you correct laziness, carelessness, lack of motivation, lack of focus, mental lapses, coasting, etc.? I'm sure anything that can be done to try to overcome these things has been. Maybe it's just me, but when I watch the defense play a crappy game I blame THE DEFENSE, not a coach whose impact on and responsibility for the defense's play is unkown to us. I realize he's the new guy, but I don't hear anyone calling for the goaltending coach's job, or the PK coach's job. The PLAYERS, on the ice, who were the top defensive unit in the league last year, have allowed THEMSELVES to "wilt into dog s***".

I'm with you. This team needs some fire, and hopefully Babs has enough to spread around. The talent we have is sickening, if they would just play 60 minutes like the game mattered they would be virtually unstoppable. Here's hoping ...

Poor Hossa. I really feel bad for the guy, he obviously wants to stay and we want to keep him, but it seems to be becoming more and more apparent that it just isn't going to work financially. (Of course, I can't feel too bad for a guy who's going to have to "settle" for more money elsewhere )

I agree on Weber, but Lidstrom has played, at various times, with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa, and Franzen, 4 30-goal scorers, on what has been the best PP in the league for most of the year.

You're not making much sense here. Bettman has no say in it ... he doesn't vote. The Hockey Writers do. Bettman has nothing to do with determining the winners ... he has no say in it.

I don't mind the 3 pt system, but I'd prefer 3 pts for regulation/OT win, 2pts for shootout win, 1 pt for shootout loss, and 0 pts for regulation/OT loss. I think an OT win should be worth teh same as a regulation win, and an OT loss shouldn't be rewarded.

He's certainly a leading candidate, but I'm not sure what you mean by "hinting their winner". The Hockey Writers vote for that, not the fans n NHL.com, and I don't think the voting takes place until the season ends.

This is quickly turning into "Downey Makes Detroit a Better Team p2" I would disagree that Downey's lack of playing time this year stems from someone deciding that his contributions aren't useful, I think that has more to do with the cap space and the logjam of players already on the roster. However, neither of us can really know, so that's all pretty much speculation. I agree completely with the middle paragraph, but I would also argue that having a guy who's willing to drop the gloves facilitates that. The team is more likely to play tougher when they know they have a guy who will stand up for them if the other team takes the physicality to another level. Don't forget, while Downey didn't play in the playoffs last year, both Drake and McCarty saw ice time, and McCarty particularly was pretty much filling the same role that Downey filled. As for the last part, I'm sure Lidstrom has his own opinion, and sure it can change from year to year, but whether we actually heard his honest sentiment is debatable. When we have an enforcer he likes them, when we don't have one he's okay then too ... to me that sounds like a guy who isn't going to call out his GM on national TV. I'm not saying that that means he's lying about his feelings, just that I wouldn't take this instance to mean Nick Lidstrom no longer values or wants a guy like Downey on his team.

I haven't read every post GMR has made, but I'm pretty sure what he's talking about is winning the Cup, not just having a winning season. If you look back at the seasons when we've won (not to mention other cup-winning teams), we've had a good bit more grit/enforcer than what we have now. It remains to be seen whether this season will be as successful as last. Yes, Lidstrom does explicitly say they don't "need" an enforcer, but it doesn't mean he wouldn't rather have one, and it doesn't mean he doesn't think the Wings would be better with one. Really, when asked about having enforcer, and given that the team clearly doesn't, would you really expect him to say "Gee whiz, Jim, I know Kenny doesn't like fighters, but frankly he's a dumbass, I'd really rather drop a loser like Maltby or Kopecky and bring up a good old s***-kicker or two"? Obviously an exaggeration, but you get the idea. If Lidstrom thinks differently than Holland he'll express that to Holland in private, he isn't going to start second-guessing his GM on Rome is Burning.