Bert44Wingsfan

Not like it already did. But with Nashville having lost several guys, if I were to make a prediction I'd say the Central will be a cake walk for the Wings. St. Louis added a plethora of guys including Paul Kariya but it's not going to make a difference. Forget Chicago or Columbus. This is going to be a terrible division with meaningless divisional games the Wings will have to play. What season ticketholder wants to see the Wings play the Blackhawks 8 times? Or anyone else in the division for that matter?

I second that motion. Love #26!

Lebda. Quincey's proven he's reliable but Lebda's better

I think it's very obvious Holland has been trying to get Hasek signed so he can determine how much money he has left to spend. The problem is Hasek's been screwing around trying to get a contract more fitting for a guy who's been in the league for half as long as he has. I would imagine Holland's patience would be at end if he can't get Dom signed by the end of the week. The reason he signed Rafalski in a knee-jerk reaction is because he believed he needed to get a top name d-man to replace Schneider before the market of d-men dried up. In the case of Bertuzzi, I think Holland felt like at that moment it wasn't a big priority to go get a guy to replace him. I also don't think Holland went into sunday thinking, "I need to go out there and get me a Drury or a Gomez or a Smyth." I'm pretty certain he felt he already had a good balance and was only looking for a few alterations.

I may sound like an idiot here, but is Sheldon Souray still available? I know Karsh and the Gator were talking about how good a fit he'd be in Detroit today on 1270, but maybe he's already taken. I may sound like an idiot here, but is Sheldon Souray still available? I know Karsh and the Gator were talking about how good a fit he'd be in Detroit today on 1270, but maybe he's already taken.

True. Then again... At least Nashville got to the playoffs where Detroit had to battle it out with them to the end of the season to win the Central. That gave kept the Wings on their toes before the Playoffs. I think now you have a situation where they'll get another President's trophy as a result of not playing in the Northwest or Pacific division. And frankly, it's not good for the NHL to have one of its best teams play in such a s***ty division as well.

I love it, hah.

Let's trade pricks. Bertuzzi to Anaheim, okay fine. But sign Guerin a current prick in the NHL, as a replacement. That's what they did with Schneider and Rafalski; they might as well do it with Guerin. Let's be honest, before Bert came to Hockeytown, he was a prick. But when he was on the Wings he was our prick. So let's get somebody else to be our replacement prick.

I'm not going to blame Bertuzzi simply because he had been saying how he wanted a longer contract with the Red Wings but Holland wouldn't offer him anything more than a year. Bertuzzi was looking for three years and Kenny should've compromised at 2. When he wouldn't budge, Bertuzzi took what he could get. If it was the case that he was looking for a contract in the range of 4 million a year, I think Holland made a good non-decision. However to be honest, I don't understand why Holland is letting everyone go -- Schneider, Lang, Calder, and soon to be Markov with the intention of only signing Hasek unless he's waiting to sign another big name.

Just reported on WXYT, Tony Ortiz reported that Pittsburgh is very interested in signing Danny Markov http://thebuzzontheburgh.blogspot.com/

With Rafalski signed at $30 million over five years, what will the Red Wings be able to do? Because of how expensive he was, they pretty much eliminated themselves from getting Smyth. I know they had to replace Schneider, and I do think getting Rafalski was a good move, but his price seems a bit steep. Hasek, Bert, and Markov are all unsigned. What should be the next move?

Do you think they'll have enough money left to resign those three guys? Hasek's been holding out for a while, which makes me think he might be a bit expensive. And you know Holland will re-sign him too. The other two -- Bert & Markov, I just don't know. There was a report earlier this week that Holland thought he could only sign 2/4 FAs on the Wings. Schneider's gone, and with Rafalski taking up a lot of cap room, I don't think they can get all three.

Rafalski signed according to TSN -- 5 yrs/30 million dollars

There is no way Bertuzzi will get that kind of money from any team for a short term contract. Whether the guy earned $5.3 mil last year and didn't deserve that money is irrelevant. That's what he got. Unfortunately, he had back problems. Bertuzzi can't demand a lot, because (a) he didn't play a lot and thus, no wants to take a chance on signing him to a big contract and (b) he didn't produce a lot although that sort of goes hand in hand. He may not have fully nursed his injuries by the time October rolls around but it won't cost much to re-sign. Stereotypical thinking is that just because the guy got injured, he'll never return to his old form. I disagree and am looking forward to the old days of Bert leveling guys like Phaneuf as they charge at him. I agree with your assessment of Maltby. I thought he was brutal in the playoffs and felt the only reason the Wings kept him is because he's been a legacy with the franchise. Markov may not ask for a lot but he should get a decent contract that is fitting with the contributions he's made to the team.

Your personal Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is Scotty Bowman, Steve Yzerman and Ken Holland. (Better known as the brain trust).

Well it's been two years now without an appearance in the SCF. Babcock was brought in to bring immediate results. Has Babcock done enough or should we expect more? Dave Lewis was given two years in which in both seasons, the Wings won the President's trophy. Yet combined in both playoff seasons Lewis could only chalk up a 6-10 record. His firing was a result of his inability to have success in the playoffs. Babcock's record with the Wings in the playoffs is 12-12. Has he done enough or has he failed to do what Dave Lewis couldn't do?

I wouldn't say we need to add a whole lot to our team. The most exciting thing after your team is out is looking who to go get and who get rid of. That's how you end up with people saying, "Let's get Drury, let's get Gomez, etc." If I could make one suggestion I would make an argument Scott Hartnell in Nashville. He's got some size that would add a physical presence and can put the puck in the net. I also wouldn't be opposed to Smyth but he may be too expensive. Alot of naysayers on this subject, but the Wings should definitely keep Bertuzzi who'll most likely be relatively cheap and hopefully back to health. Markov is promising, definitely a keeper. While others argue that Howard should get his chance to be the next goalie, the fact remains, he just isn't ready yet. Hopefully Hasek will be back b/c he gives us the best chance to be the most successful in net of the other two possibilities (Ozzie and Howard.) If he doesn't return, you're looking at having to get a FA goalie.

IMO, Babcock has done some great things with the Wings. For one, he's transformed them into a more gritty, physical team. Obviously credit should be given to Holland as well in this area. And yes, he has led the Wings to two regular season WC first place finishes with a President's trophy last year. However, I know last year when Detroit lost their last 4 out of 5 games bowing out to the Oilers, there were questions. If there are two things that provide evidence as to why Babcock was a better idea than keeping Dave Lewis, it's that he has proven he can take a team to the SCF (with the Ducks) and that he made the necessary adjustments this year to compete with more physical teams. This would seemingly lend Babcock more credibility and more trust than Lewis. Since 2002, the Wings have been known as a great regular season team who has failed to transfer their success in the regular season to the playoffs even with all their talent. I think Babcock made great strides in diminishing that rep by getting them to the WCF and two games away from the SCF. But to allude to Michigan football, it seems that every year Michigan loses in a post season bowl game, Lloyd Carr gets a lot of critics calling for his head, regardless of his previous success. To be fair, success can't be measured the same way with hockey and football, but I do think if patience was limited with Lewis, the same standard should be given to Babcock. But like I stated before, there are many things that Babcock has improved upon since Lewis' firing. And I also know Babcock isn't going anywhere for the time being. I'm not ranting or throwing blame in every possible area in an attempt to prove what went wrong this year. I merely wanted to know what Babcock's critics thought. I meant since Babcock's arrival.

I agree. I look at so many other teams like New Jersey with Martin Brodeur, Calgary with Kiprusoff and I see a lot of solidarity. Detroit has never or at least recently had that with their goaltender. Look at the goalies they've switched around - Vernon, Ozzie, Ranford, Ozzie, Dom, Cujo, Legace, and Dom again. The problem is that we're always looking for the quick fix - because for whatever reason we always need the "it" goalie. Eventually what you're going to have happen is what the Yankees and the Astros did with Roger Clemens; spend an ungodly amount of money on a goalie who'll only give you maybe a year's contribution such as in the case with Clemens in Houston. Cultivating talent in net should be a priority for the Wings although it never has been. We need reliability not temporary fixes. Understandably in some cases, some guys just don't work. Manny proved last year he couldn't be the reliable guy in net for the Wings. Do I think Jimmy Howard is ready? If Legace wasn't, Howard certainly isn't. But the Wings should brand Howard into a guy who could be ready if Dom retires after next season. Bringing more goalies out of retirement like Patrick Roy or close to retirement is stupid and it goes back to point about Clemens. If you're going to go out and get a FA goalie, get a young guy who'll give you some good years.

I'm not blaming game 5 on the Wings, but it seems to have been a crushing loss for them. They were 47 seconds away from making it a 3-2 series. But I don't think they were able to recover from Anaheim stealing away their win.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Lang's brilliance that brought Detroit back against San Jose in crucial times. Had it not been for Lang, Detroit wouldn't have made it past the Sharks. This series with Anaheim should've been over, but the Ducks were able to take advantage of opportunites and Detroit hasn't. That's been the difference. Anaheim stole game 4 and 5 in which Detroit deserved to win. To have lost 5-0 and lose Pronger would have seemed demoralizing but they bounced back from that. Unfortunately, Detroit wasn't able to reverse the giveaway in game 5 that cost them.

This isn't '97 or 98 when the Pistons and the Tigers were garbage. The Red Wings were the biggest team in Motown back then. Now, baseball has been rejuvenated in Detroit and the Pistons are in the midst of a five year dynasty. While Detroit is a hockey town and one of the original 6 cities, hockey has taken a backseat to the three other major sports. Local coverage is more of a reflection of the nation's attitude toward professional hockey these days. Pretty apathetic. Down here in Charlotte, NC people could care less about hockey. Even last year when the Canes won the cup, no one paid attention. Everyone was waiting for the next NASCAR race. This is just the state of affairs in hockey. Even NBC transfers its broadcast of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals to Versus so that it doesn't interrupt the pre-race garbage events of the Preakness. If you want good Red Wings coverage listen to WXYT or WDFN where the conversation is balanced between the Pistons and the Wings.

I completely agree. Good point about Derian Hatcher. Everyone expected Hatcher to add the physicality the Wings needed and it seems like Bertuzzi who hasn't been a dominant offensive force, has received more criticism. This is probably attributed to the fact that in the back of everyone's heads they still remember Bertuzzi's hit on Steve Moore. Never mind about the fact he's been hurt most of the year, he wasn't brought in to score a lot of goals. Unfortunately he will always have to answer for his hit on Moore. But to me, what has been most impressive about Bertuzzi was the fact that he came to Detroit, put his ego aside, and accepted the role the Wings wanted him to undertake. That says a lot to me. Bertuzzi is a great addition to this team and has added the physical presence the Wings have so desperately needed. Emerick argued the WIngs wouldn't have had a shot against Anaheim had they not had the 6"3, 245 lb guys like Bertuzzi this year. There is no doubt in my mind that Bertuzzi should be resigned in the offseason. They got him fairly cheap and he can prove to be an even greater addition when he's at 100%.