Hank Dats 'N Homer

we went down that road already, dont want to go there again, no thank you. We do need to add something though, grit and toughness, and the FA list is slimming down quick....

Its only 1.2 per year, but its still an overpayment.....

All of these deals are ridiculous. it all started with the Sedin twisn this year. When Vancouver gave a 22 goals scorer 6 million i knew we were in for a ride. I dont know if we are just used to discounts here in Detroit, but this years signings are all just so over payed. Some may say thats its just because its july 1st, but damn alot of names are gone for july 1st so im thinking this is how its going to be and we just have to get used to it. Maybe some players arent willing to take a pay cut or a discount to play for a winning team. Maybe it really is all about the benjamins...

Well they have tremendous scoring ability, but their defense is weak and they really need to improve their goaltending, is 12 years enough for them to do it? Maybe, but they have put themselves in such bad cap trouble it might not be possible. I dont want to be the bitter guy that says "i hope hossa never wins a cup" because there shouldnt have been a shock that he didnt resign with us, but....god i hope he never wins a cup with Chicago. haha. At the rate hes going, he seems to go to teams that he thinks give him the best chance of winning the cup, and those teams never seem to do it. I just dont see Chicago being the team that makes him right finally.

I was going over to the hawks site just to see what kind of news they were spinning, and i see this http://blackhawks.nhl.com/ I know that i shouldnt be hurt that he left, and i thought i was over it and then i saw this and it brought back some of the pain haha. The only thing that made me feel better was seeing that they seem EXCITED about having Kopecky too hahaha

Haha, i guess i would say having to take Kopecky and give him playing time in order to get Hossa to sign wouldnt be worth it, but the history of Kopecky getting injured every year kind of takes away the threat of actually having to play him lol. So i guess its a deal worth making.

I thought people would get a kick out of it...i love how it says "Top Free Agent Signees" and then have a picture of Kopecky. I guess Kopecky was a top free agent since whatever team picked him up knew that Hossa would follow....

Im confused by the whole RFA thing so maybe someone can help me out here. First off, what is Hudler making in salary as is? Now i understand that if a team wants him they can throw him an offer sheet, and if the wings dont match or beat it he goes to their team and we can get draft picks or other compensation. My question is, does the play have to agree on the offer sheet? Or is he obligated to take it? I'd assume that the player would have the choice to take it or not, so with that said, if Hudler wants to stay so badly, why would he accept an offer sheet? I understand that it would put the wings in a situation that would make them have to pay him more money, but realisticly we dont have alot of money to work with. If this is how the RFA works, why wouldnt Hudler just not accept any offer sheets, play out the rest of his contract as is, and wait till next year when the wings have more cap space? That way he stays on the wings for atleast one more year, making the money hes been making, and if he has an outstanding season this year, it would put him in good negotiations for a good raise with the wings who will actually be able to afford to give him a raise at that time. Maybe i have the whole RFA thing wrong so could someone explain that to me? Man i miss players that were in it for the love of the game and in it to win. Now its all about money. I understand that noone would turn down a pay increase, so i understand why some of these players take the offersheets that are presented to them, but i would value playing for a contending team every year making 2-3 million a year over playing for a garbage team who gets knocked out of playoffs in the first round every year making 5-6 million.

Isnt that alot of money for 32 and 22 goal scoreres?

I would love to have him here. I wanted him 2 years ago at the trade deadline and i really wanted him during the offseason last year before he went to calgary. I guess it worked out though cause we got Hossa instead. So yeah i would love to have him here. Not sure what his salary looks like, and i dunno about the discount. i know he went to U of M and all but i dont know if he really has any motivation to play here or take the discount, but he would be a nice replacement for Hossa. Dont think we have the cap space to get him and keep Hudler and sign a Dman though. I havent looked it up, but reading other posts it doesnt sound like we have to much cap space, and everyone thinks that Hudler is ganna get a big offer somewhere so we are ganna be forced to overpay to keep him here. I would take him in heart beat, just dont know if it would work out financially. It doesnt sound like we have money to make any big moves.

Just wondering where he stands? i thought he only signed a one year with new jersey, which makes him a free agent. I know alot of guys are bitter about the way he left, and i know hes not a two way forward in anyway, but the guy can score on a pretty reliable basis. Does anyone know what his contract was worth last year? Is there anyway he would take a 1-1.5 million contract to come back here? I know this wont be a popular thread for alot of people, but some people are talking about knuble and a few others, so i figured i would throw one of my favorite players names out there. Maybe i just want to hear the irish jig song again back in detroit. I dunno, but what do you guys think honestly? Please dont tear me apart.... haha

Is Lucic a free agent????????? I would ink a guy like that in heart beat, give him more than hes worth, i love his style of play and he can still chip in offensivley. Would make losing Hossa a little less sour for me, but to my recolection, hes not a FA this year. I wish he were cause i think Boston is in bad as shape in the Cap space as we are....

Hmmm dont get it, if you dont like it then dont REPLY

Yeah i wasnt suggesting he would be a 1st or 2nd liner or anything, i just thought he would be a good 3rd or 4th liner that could chip in points and play on the PP for cheap. I dunno, maybe i just miss him and how i loved him in a wings uniform

I really wish we could have kept Hossa. Who are we ganna sign to keep us under the cap that can score 40 goals in the regualr season? I mean there are alot of free agents out there that can help this teams like players that are gritty, but its going to be hard to fill that 40 goal void we will have. I wish he would have taken the paycut, but you really cant blame the guy for not taking a 50% pay reduction. I wish him the best of luck, but at the same time i worry about our future...i mean at this rate we wont get to keep hudler either and then we have to fill 60+ goals (Hossa + Hudler)with very little cap space. I hate to be the negative wings fan, but with the very little cap space that we have, its ganna be hard to fill the voids we are ganna have. Than again, we did win it last year without Hossa and with a cheap addtion like Drake....is that what we need in the lineup?

The only reason he didnt give props to Datsyuk immediately was because this was his first goal as a red wing if im not mistaking. He was happy to have the monkey off his back because it took him quite a few games to get this goal. He was overly excited for himself, and for good reason, to have the first one out of hte way. This led to 39 others, all of which if there was a good assist he gave props. Im ok with it haha

Alright im not a huge sammy fan, but i dont want to lose him. would he resign for the same money he is making now? If so, i would take him, and since negotiations with hossa arent looking good, what are the chances that we keep sammy and hudler and the rest of our team and go out and get 2 free agents for the cost of one Hossa? I dont want to let hossa go, but i dont see us paying him 6 million to not show up in playoffs....

To me, its a no brainer thus far. Osgood has got to be your MVP. There have been players that have stolen a game here and there (franzen has had some big goals, as well as cleary, Lidstrom has been his normal monsterous self, and even helm has played out of his mind) but only one player on the team has gone out there night after night and gave us a chance to win each night. That person is Osgood. The guy only has a 2.03 or something goals against average. Has played every minute of every game. Yes, he doesnt face as many shots as all the other goalies in the league, and yes he has great defense in front of him, and yes he usually gets a bit of offensive help on the scoresheet. But the guys has stolen games for us. Id say it would have to be him. Behind him would probably be cleary with is league leading +14 and clutch goals. Then Franzen. If franzen scores a few more goals i think he could make a push at the end, but Cleary plays better defense in my book so he gets the higher ranking for me. But Ozzie has got to be the MVP right now. Zata is making a push for himself with his defensive abilities all by themselves, but if he wants to repeat as conn smythe hes ganna need to start putting the puck in the net at an insane rate, or if we do make it to the finals and see crosby again, he needs to single handedly shut him down again. Dont be surpised if Z snaps out of this goal scoring drought and makes a run for it. Hes racking up the asissts but hes gotta start putting the puck in the net

Well we all know its bad Karma to mess with the octopus...can we add Burish to the list of bad karma for almost getting his throat slit on the ice by his own Teammate? He should take that as a warning to not mess with "old traditions".... wow that was really mean of me, i almost feel bad after saying that. Keyword = ALMOST

Id like to keep abdelkader in just because i like his aggression and ability to dig deep in the corners and hit some guys. Him and Helm definetly gave the wings some charge when they needed it. The only thing that worries me is that im affraid that if Leino doesnt see some playoff time, he may walk at the end of the season. If im not mistaken he was only signed on a one year contract and i think he was banking on making the roster out of training camp. Is he ready for playoffs? Maybe not, but i really dont want to lose him next season, because hes a great goal scorer and if we do get to sign hossa we might be losing some of our starters and there will be room for guys like abdelkader helm and leino on the roster next season.

Haha, i retract my question then lol

To be fair, i think he was patting everyone down for their wallets...realllllll classy...lol. No, i have to admit, he was a pain in the ass this series, but you cant really hate hte guy (when hes not playing the wings of course)

Not to be a ****** bag, but what kind of advice could Selanne give flip? Flip has already won 1 stanley cup (a feat that took Selanne years and like 4 trades to finally accomplish, not that it takes anything away from him) But Flip did it just last year and was a pretty big roleplayer during it. I think some people make to big a deal out of this whole Finnish thing. Yeah they are both fins, and are both big names back home, but every meeting between them doesnt have to be a spiritual outing haha. I think i remember them just shaking hands and moving on to the next guy. Im sure they have talked to often that their isnt much left to say to one another haha. From what ive heard, they have known eachother and been pretty good friends since Flip was 15 when he was considered the next "Selanne" back in Finland.

I agree 100% with you, he was still very productive on offense, however, if im not mistaken i think 2 of those goals were on empty net shots. Not usually his style which throws off alot of fans watching. His assists were great though, cant take anything away from those and a +4 with his icetime and the fact that he iplays alot of minutes on the PK is impressive. His defensive play has really stood out though. I think i heard a stat that he has like 30 points in the last 2 playoff seasons which leads all other players including crosby? Still putting up some points, but hes a little under the radar with his offense compared to what many are used to, and like i said, alot of the times a defensive forward goes unnoticed. But without his defense and PKing the wings would be out of the playoffs right now for sure.