Hank Dats 'N Homer

I love Drapes but i dunno if he is worthy or not. He plays his best day in and day out, that is not debatable, i just dont think his best is worth jersey retirement. You really have to have that Extra umph, and for forwards that means a great offenseive standout or great contribution to a team success that i dont think he really has. Dont get me wrong, hes a great player, just not jersey retirement great.

Son of a *****, when i move out in a few months im getting every hockey channel known to man so i can avoid doing homework 24/7. I wish i could watch some hockey right now....

What channel is the NHL network? Is it something i have to pay for in the center ice package? er what? Also TSN. I dont seem to get that channel either.

Haha this is a post i can fully respect. Amen!

I think your whole Deadpuck era thing is a relavent argument, however, Ozzie has restructured his whole stlye of hockey. I dont have the stats and numbers like you do to back it up or anyhting, but this year his Numbers in GAA went way down and his Save % went way up and this was during a season that saw a reduction is goalie equiptment and a rise in goals. I think that if you are going to add the factor of the Deadpuck era you have to add the era (2007/08 season) as well. And after Ozzie restructured his style and still post numbers that out did goalies throughout the league, well i think it speaks wonders for his abilities as a goaltender. Am i saying hes worthy because of one season? No, but if you factor in what he has done in the past, and factor in what he will hopefully do in the future, i think he is a shoe in. But thats just me.

Im not trying to start a fight or anything and this is nothing personal but how can you even compare Ozzie and Cheveldae? he only played what 3 seasons for the wings? Yeah he was a good goalie and played alot of games for us, and even make 1 or 2 allstar games, but i dont remember him ever taking us past the first round in the playoffs(correct me if im wrong please, im not sure, basing this off memory). I just dont think this is a fiar comparrisons seeing as Ozzie has taken us to Two stanley cups. He may not have played as many regualr season games as Tim but he Quality of play in my book out played a guy like Cheveldae, not to mention he has doubled his amount of years with the team.

The question i have is what is a step up? Are one of our younger guys a step up or are you talking Stuart or another FA?

These were my thoughts exactly. Regardless if you like him or not, he has shattered and will continue to shatter Detroit Red Wings goaltending records. I think that in itself would Qualify him. But some of you are saying its a personality and popularity contest, two more things that are in Osgoods favor in my book. I think after you win one stanley cup as a starter, one stanley cup as a back up to Vernon and one stanley cup as a Regualr season Tandom with a Great like Hasek and then WINNING all playoff games besides two means you have 3 Stanley cups, which i think is jersey retirement worhty already. Factor in the fact that that all were with the same team really strengthens his chances. I think he is more than Qualified for this honor, if he can repeat next year with another cup (Which is in no way out of the question) I'd say he would be a lock. I dont care who out there calls him an all star Back up goalie, he will always be a Starter in my book, and with all the records he has as a BACKUP he has broken ALOT of so called Detroit STARTER goaltender records, including playoff records. Lids for sure. Ozzie well on his way if not already.... But thats just my opinion which means nothing to managment or anyone else here haha

Poor Lebda. hes getting ragged on pretty bad for dropping the cup and getting a little to out of control. Looks like they may put him on Parol, and looks like he will need supervision whenever he gets Stanley Visitation rights....looks like only Soda Pop for Brett from here on out...

i like lebda and i really dont want to see him traded. I would make a terrible GM i guess because if there are guys that i like on my team, i would never think about trading or letting them go haha. But i like Lebs. Hes got great speed when he has open ice. In 06-07 he made a few end to end skates with the puck all by himself and i believe two or three of them ended with him getting past all defenseman and beating the goaltender. I didnt see that as much this year and i dont know if it was because he has lost a step from his rookie campaign or if he was told to be more of a stay at home defender. Although playing with Cheli and Lebda slowed him down a bit im sure. Anyways, i love his speed if he were allowed to jump up into the play a little more often i think he would be a good offensive contributor as well. I like Stuart alot, but im not convinced he likes Detroit enough to stay. His wife and family are still back on the coast and i have a bad feeling thats where he will end up again playing for some West coast team. Which makes me belieive we will be giving lilja a little raise and taking him to 1.5 million, which i dont know if he deserves or not, but he adds good shot blocking to the mix which is kinda what we need. If Eriksson has another year that he can be put back down to the Griffs than i say do it. Hes got a power shot, but i think he has a bit more to learn when it comes to the NHL. Hes almost there though! I like Meech but he plays the same game that Lebda plays and since i have grown to like Lebda id say let go of Meech before we let go of Brett. I like Quincey and what he brought to playoffs in 07, big build and a decent defensemen. Id keep him around for a bench role if not than put him back down with GR if we can.

I dont know if i buy into your whole " Babock would say anything to keep the guy on his game while we are winning" mentality. Its been proven time and time again that Babcock is a very superstitious person and he doesnt like to change the line up if there is a winning streak. So yeah that may be why he kept Lilja in there over Cheli for a while, but we lost to dallas twice and we lost to Pitts twice, thats four chances for Babs to make a change if he wanted to. there would have been no reason to keep Lilja in if babcock didnt truly like the way that Lilja played. You may be right when you say that he is kind of a pansy for a big guy, but i think Babcock really values the fact that Lilja plays shot blocker throught the game. I dont think Babs was just blowing smoke up his ass to keep his mind in the game, because again that is not babcocks style. Hes never been a coach to say something to your face but mean something else, which is why many of us like him. He tells it like it is. And with Quincey Meech Ericsson and a healthy Chelios sitting in the dressing room and Lilja playing over all of them, i think Babs and the team value Lilja alot more than you may think.

there were 1.4 +. I counted when i was there....unfortuantely i lost count at around 47ish...so i just estimated

haha yeah i couldnt tell if it was lebda cleary or helm, but i guess the number 2 on the arm (which i missed at first glance) would have given me the answer. haha.

Awesome. Thanks. Who is that with Flip in your Av?

I think Cheli is getting ragged on a little to much here. Hes a decent guy to have on your PK and is a good leadership guy for our young defensemen. He may be slower than he used to be, but he plays a physical game that i like. If we are going to lose Lilja, tha cheli is a must have in my book. Im not saying he isnt going to be healthy scratch some nights, and he probably wont be playing all playoff games, but hes a good player and id like him to be here.

how exactly does an offer sheet work? For example, Filppula made 733,000 this year, and is in line to do the same next year i beleive. However, he is a RFA during this offseason. What would someone have to do to give him an offer sheet and how would it work? Would FLip have to accept it in order for us to have to match it or is it offical as long as a team is willing to give him an offer sheet? I was kind of confused last season during the whole Penner deal, so im still a little confused on how it works

http://nhlnumbers.com/freeagents.php?team=...e&type=none

Does flip have to accept the contract if a team were to try and get him? Or is he obligated to go if he is given a contract that is more than what he is getting now? Cause if he would have to accept it in order to leave, i think he would sit down with holland and see if holland COULD match it and if he couldnt i dont think Flip would accept the contract from another team. I may be saying this becausei am a homer when it comes to flip, but i think he loves it here and hes not going to get a better chance at a championship anywhere else. With that said, he may be tired of living in the shadows of Z and D as well.....i hope he stays though...

Dom was never a favorite of mine as a player, but you can tell just by how he composed himself when he was pulled in the playoffs that he is a great person in life. You cant help but love the guy. I for one was not a fan of his crazy goaltending style mainly because it gave me minor heart attacks everytime i saw him flopping around, but ill be damned since 9 out of 10 times his style worked wonders. He was a great player in his prime, and although he may have lost a step or two he still got to go out a champion...how many players get to say that? Now the only question is....will he stay retired for good haha. I think we all know holland would take him back just because of pure loyalty to his players... well Dom, if this is indeed your FINAL retirement allow me to say: Thank you for all the energy your brought to the game, than you for the two stanley cups you helped bring us, thank you for staying classy and becomming one of hte most unselfish team players i have ever seen, thank you for your crazy style of hockey and your Gaborik-flipping slides...and yes, thank you for ALLLL the minor heart attacks that your game has brought to all of us! You are truly one of the greats, and defiently one of a kind (in style of play, and in life). I hope you have as much success off the ice as you did on the ice. Good luck, thank you, and congrats on a great and meaningful career.

Hudler is awesome and did an awesome job. He really stole the rally if you ask me. He was up there having a great time. Even during the parade he was exploding out of the pickup truck with excitement. I dont care how he says red wings, the guy was awesome today for a guy that wouldnt even do TV interviews because of nerves a year or two ago! Hudler did awesome and he rocks!

I was just talking to my mom who just got home from work and she said on her way to work this moring at around 8 AM she was listening to 96.3 and she said that Lebda called the radio station and wanted to talk to everyone. Blaine had to go to commercial so he had to call Lebda back. Anyways when they called him back, my mom said Lebda couldnt even get a sentence out he was so hammered. He started hitting on Allyson. Allyson said something about "hey i saw you on tv last night you are really hot" and lebda asked if she was married and if she wanted to make out and come over, and something about how his bed is warm and what not. Anyways, my mom said he was just such a mess. I was wondering if anyone else heard this or has a link to it? I couldnt find it trying to look for it, but i have no patience whatsoever, so i didnt try for very long.

Right click on the link and go to "save target as" than just save it to your desktop or something. Its hilarious. Keep it for life!

i didnt see any vids of him that made him look cocky. He always seem like a pretty humble kind of guy happy to be apart of the team. What vids are you referring to? Also what is waterski's?

Haha, yeah i would love to chill with Lebs, he sounded like me and my boys whenever we do some drinking....unfortuantely we've never gotten the pleasure of getting smashed drinking out of a cup that big....

Act like what? He knows Blaine. Blaine called him, Lebda didnt do or say anything cocky? I'm not sure what you are talking about.....I thought he was just an average drunk guy drunk dialing....enjoying the victory. What are you referring to?