dteowner

I think you'll find Maltby to be far more effective if he ends up on a line with somebody that can finish the stuff he starts.

I thought the real knock on Avery was his habit of taking stupid penalties. Did he get some brains while with the Rags?

Lebda is the only truly fast dman we have. There's value to that.

1.5mil for O'Neill might be interesting. It's a gamble which O'Neill you'd end up with (scoring machine or broken down shadow), but the risk/reward balance might be worth a shot.

Thanks for the research, NFM. The second section would actually be the relevant one for Hasek, and you were right. Still not sure what happened with Yzerman's bonus, though. I've slept a few times since then but I didn't think the Wings were completely, to the last penny, capped out 2 seasons ago. I thought all the buyouts got us a little under the limit.

Don't think so. If that were true, Yzerman's $400k bonus wouldn't have rolled into this past season.

Next year's cap, since the value isn't determined until the season is over. I'm a little scared to be putting even $2mil into a 42 year old goalie with a history of groin problems. That said, as much as I like Ozzie, the team plays better (more confident) in front of Dom. If Dom can stay healthy like this past season, we've gotten a steal. That's a pretty shaky "if" in my book.

Hawks, Bruins, and Isles. Those are easy. Bad trades, stupid contracts, horrible ownership, minimal success. After that, it gets a little tougher. Probably Washington for continually doing so little with so much (well, "so much" might be pushing it, but they always have a superstar or two). How about Columbus? Nice plan to build from within, but they never have got it right.

Well, we could dig up Ray Sheppherd and Larry Murphy for a "fantasy snail line", too, but he did say "ever to take the ice".

But we're basing contraction on empty seats during the regular season, too, right? Can't put that problem at the feet of playoff ticket prices. So what do we tell some misguided soul from Florida when he shows us a tape of a nationally televised, weekend regular season game (with playoff implications even) and the only people in the lower bowl are Mo Cheese and the Knitting Lady?

Well reasoned response, but could you not say the same (albeit to a lesser extent) about some of the teams that have been bantered about in this thread? I would think the Devils have moved a fair bit of swag over the years, but their name has come up in a few posts. I just found it interesting that people here are going to deep six teams based on empty arenas without at least addressing the Wings' problems. Figured I'd ready the burn kit and see what happened.

Contraction isn't financially viable, so the discussion is pretty meaningless. As an academic exercise, though, I'll play devil's advocate to stir the pot a bit. What do you do with a team that can't even sell out a playoff game? The arena is often half empty during the regular season (even though the seats are technically sold). Sounds like a market that can't support a team, yes?

Guilty as charged.

I wouldn't (and didn't) say he's in his prime. I think you'll find that he's spent more time on the 4th line the past couple seasons, which is a change from the good ol' days when DraperMaltby was pretty much one word. We got him for a great deal. I think 3 years was probably too much, but I expect that was management's carrot to sell the low salary. Maltby's agitation works far better in the playoffs (kinda like it did this year, eh?) and I do believe he's still one of the better PK guys going. For only slightly more than we pay Hudler to ride the pine, that seems like a fair deal to me.

Malts isn't supposed to score goals. His job is to agitate and play the PK. Try looking beyond the stat sheet for a bit.

"Ricci's Beauty Salon" Classic! How about something centered on the good old days of the Crapalanche: Floppa's Scuba Shop (More Dives than Jacques Cousteau!) Joe's Sack Itch Powder Le-Pew's Turtle Shoppe Sugar Frosted Blakes Adam's Foote Cream Roy's Statue of Liberty Emporium Bourque's Riggers (We'll Hang Anything in the Rafters!)

Way too harsh on Malts and Lilypad, particularly to put them below Hudler (barely played, even though he played well), Sammy (would the power play have been more effective with someone remotely competent on the point?), Bert (tried to hard to be a puck possession player when we brought him in to be a power forward), and Kopecky (barely played, took bad penalties). I'd be tempted to push Flip and Franzen higher, too.

Overall, I couldn't care less. I never gave much thought to that "consolation prize versus revenge" angle. Between the Quacks and Sens, I'd cheer for Ottawa. A "Cup-fer-Canada" story sounds nice and I'd just assume Pronger only see the Cup via a Hall of Fame ticket.

Excellent, but Red Wings is 2 words. Who knew God needed a proofreader?

That one never gets old. How about a gourmet shot for Pronger!

Shouldn't that be "Lazy and they suck"?

Isn't it nice to have so many good players that it's a challenge to find a roster spot for "development" players? Of course, I'm probably a bit biased since Maltby is my favorite Wing. Seems to me the contract was a fair compromise. The Wings got an excellent price and Malts probably got a year more than would have been ideal for the team.

Wasn't really calling anyone out specifically. Several folks flew to Dom's defense when it seemed pretty obvious to me it was all in good fun.

Geez, people, go buy a sense of humor. We're just having a little fun, not debating the intricate strategies of goalie behavior. I'm thinking invisible fence. As has been pointed out, the NHL might question whether a bungee cord is really a new piece of Dom's mask. Much easier to hide that little collar.

Catchy song. I originally thought you were looking for "I Shot the Sheriff". That might lead to an interesting picture. Raggae Pronger?