RedFX

Freak gasoline fight accident New York or L.A. ?

To my knowledge, Holland was looking for a deal that would get a cap hit of 4 million. So that doesn't necessarily mean Hossa would be playing for 2 mil less than his asking price every year. On a long term deal, he could easily average around the 5-6 he's looking for during the first half of his contract

We also won the cup with Samuelsson. And we also won with defense, something that was unusually inconsistent last year (especially the PK). And when the defense did trip up last year, what helped us get through during games? The increased offensive output, The record-setting power play, the additional goal-per-game on average. Hossa was a HUGE part of that. I assume you are trying to refer to Hossa's ego here? ONCE AGAIN, All of the team, coaches, staff, front office said Hossa bought into the team system and philosophy on Day 1. They consistently praised his work ethic and said he was a great down-to-earth guy. They gave no indication of Hossa having ego problems or Hossa not wanting to do things a certain way. I don't get why everyone continues to cast Hossa as some egotistical, selfish prick. Welcome to the cap-era ladies and gents. Every year, teams are forced to chose between their star players or their role players. Some teams can go through this and not miss a beat (Pittsburgh), others crash and burn (Buffalo)

Holland is a smart guy, if he knew there was ABSOLUTELY no chance that he could keep Hossa, he would have traded his rights at the draft. This tells me one or both sides see some reason to hold on hope. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I really don't think this is over yet.

Don't really fish Beer or Martini?

Here's my plan: Trade Hossa's rights, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, and Mike Babcock for Heatley, Martin Gerber, Ottawa's Lion Mascot, and a half-eaten bagel. That will clear up cap room to sign Neil for 22 years at a Cap Hit of 26.7 million a year. This may seem high, but remember, Neil fights, and as anyone on LGW will tell you: fighting=Stanley Cup. Then, trade the bagel and the rights to Hossa (which we stole back) for Alex Ovechkin. To finish off the roster, sign Ohlund and Sundin to one year contracts. They're both old, so obviously that means they'll be the next Dallas Drake. Let Hudler walk for the next seven #1 picks and trade Filpulla and Holmstrom (just because it's obvious we HAVE to). Here's our lines next year: Heatley-Franzen-Leino Ovechkin-Ovechkin-Ovechkin Helm-Abdelkader-Neil Sundin-Draper-Ottawa's Lion Ohlund-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart RedFX-Lebda Howard Small piece of furniture There's ABSOLUTELY no way this can go wrong!!!!!!!!!!!

A reference to the salary cap.

Last I remember, Datsyuk didn't exactly have a record breaking performance this postseason either

I think you need to go back and read the rest of that post

There are more scattered throughout the forums

Flash back one year ago....Wings have the Cup -> Hossa signs a one-year deal with the Wings -> LGW applauds his decision to leave money on the table to play for a good team -> Posters herald him as "unselfish" and "a true team player" Today...Wings fall two posts short of winning the Cup -> Hossa has a subpar postseason despite a great regular season -> In a move most people thought would happen last year, Hossa may not resign due to the cap -> Posters call Hossa "a cancer" and "a prima donna" who will "never win a cup" Versus was right...The Cup Changes everything!!!

Won't happen for more reasons than one

Wow. Within 30 minutes, Kopecky started more fights on LGW than he did his entire 3 years with the Wings.

Well hell look at Malkin. Almost a non factor in 2007. Disappeared towards the end of last year's playoffs. This year, he dominates and takes home the Smythe. Go figure

Ancient scripture speaks of a series of quests teams must undergo in order to compete in said playoffs. Scripture refers to these series of games as "the regular season" The past few years, the Wings were a shutdown defensive team. We constantly led the league in every statistical defensive category out there. In the 07 and 08 seasons, the Wings averaged about 3.07 goals a game while giving up an average of about 2.2 goals a game. PK averaged about 84% and the PP averaged about 17% In the 09 season, The Wings jumped up to a 3.52 goals per game, but their GAA jumped almost a full goal per game, up to 2.93. The PP soared up to 26%, while the PK dropped to 78%. Maybe last year was just a fluke. Maybe with the new coach, new system, injuries, etc. we just had a bad year in that department. But what if it's not. Let's face it. Guys like Lidstrom and Rafalski is aging and Osgood hasn't exactly been Mr. Consistent throughout his career. Howard's unproven and may prove to be a flop. So what happens if these defensive lapses continue? The increased offense isn't there to put is through in those close, high-scoring games. Can Filpulla and Hudler pick up the difference? They've never been known as high-powered scorers so I don't know. Maybe they have career years and keep our offensive pace from last year going. Maybe the don't though, and maybe some of those 1 goal games go the other way. As a result, the declining regular season stats make us go through a tougher postseason And as far as the Hossa "playoff-choking" argument. It was only a year ago when he was terrorizing us in the Finals. He's put up big performances in the playoffs before, so It's not like he's incapable of doing so. There's no reason he can't put up a 2008 performance again.

If Holland ever actually offered that, I'm sure Sutter would respond by laughing in his face for about 3 days.

I'm wondering if that's why they went ahead and put McCollum under contract. If Howard can't pull it off, Larsson and McCollum would be right behind him.

The only reason I'm concerned is this. For most of last season, our defense and goaltending was way off. After being the best defensive team for so many years, we pretty much collapsed, ranking in the bottom half in goals against and penalty kill. The increased offense really carried this team last year. Hossa was a big part of that. If our defense plays inconsistent again this year, I'm worried that someone like Filpulla or Hudler may not be able to pick up Hossa's production.

It was good while it lasted...

I don't know why everyone started hating on Scuderi. He's a solid defenseman, has some good positioning skills, and is still developing. He'd be a good fit. That being said, I can't see Detroit being able to match some of these offers he'll get if he hits the open market. That Finger deal has pretty much diluted the defensive free-agent market for at least the next few years.

B-B-But.....My Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Iginla line did so well!!!!

How about mint chocolate chip ice cream? Country or City?

I was....And I kinda feel like I just wasted 4 hours of my life. The person below me has listened to at least one Michael Jackson record since he died.

So McCollum is now officially under contract?

I just wasted 4 hours of my life.....Fire Holland