VM1138

Couple things: 1) It's pre-season. Nobody cares. Yeah, Ozzie should technically be trying to prove himself but this really isn't an indicator of the rest of the season. Look at the team in front of him and the team they're playing against. Malkin and Crosby were both playing and neither Datsyuk or Zetterberg played. 2) I think the WIngs went something like 1-9 in 2002 and then went on to one of the most amazing seasons. So don't everybody start attacking Ozzie. I can sense some of you have your fingers hovering on the "jump off bandwagon" button already.

I'll have to watch this on streaming, even if nobody big is playing it'll be good to see some hockey again.

Pearce is way down on the totem pole. There was really no way he was going to get a spot on the Red and White teams. Maybe he could have challenged MacDonald, but there's no rush with Pearce. I'm actually really curious as to why MacDonald is here. Either he's in the AHL and he pushes Pearce out of the rotation, or he's in the NHL and he's wasting cap space.

Very, very slim chance he signs here. But it'd be oh so sweet if he did. Although, since he probably won't get a gig (as jobs everywhere, even for sports types) are non-existent as a head coach, might as well do assistant, get some excellent references from Holland and Babcock, and then move on next season. Be better than sitting the season out or going to Europe. Crap, now I've got my hopes up.

http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=537445 Probably reading too much into this, but it doesn't sound as if Modano and Salei will be getting along very well. Salei basically says "We'll just have to ignore each other and work as best we can."

I think people are fooling themselves by thinking Yzerman will return. Remember, Yzerman would have to be done with Tampa Bay at the exact same time that Holland retires. Odds are very slim. Holland isn't going to retire a year or two earlier than he wants just so Yzerman can get the job, and Yzerman isn't going to not give 100% to Tampa Bay because he's waiting for Holland's job to open up.

Maybe in comparison to Chicago fans.

I can't think of anyone better. The Wings have had terrible adversity the past few years and yet maintain their status at the top of the league. He's routinely outcoached teams he plays against and held the team together. Sure, there are other fantastic coaches in the league, but none match up to Babcock.

My family always taught me not to cross the picket line, but in this case I'd make an exception. The league has to play on, plus the refs are incompetent and most should be fired anyway.

No kidding. It's really shady to punish a team after approving the contract. Leave it to the NHL to do something like this. And, like someone already mentioned, the Devils didn't actually break any established rules. Where I'm from you can't be convicted for something that wasn't a crime when you did it.

I'm going to get creative and say Salei. He struggled last year, and no matter how good he plays this year he will still have bad games (everyone does.) And Wings fans are good at turning the occasional bad game into some catastrophic pattern of suck. More obvious? Bertuzzi, Ericsson, Kindl.

I'm not an expert on him, but from what I've read (sort of scattershot since he joined the Wings organization here and there) he's never disappointed yet at any level he's played at, and always seems to play at an extraordinarily high level. I've heard nothing but praise from people who don't generally praise prospects. I'd say he's going to be not just a top line player, but probably the best Wing on the team at some point in his career in the NHL.

This sounds awesome, and I agree that problems would arise in not knowing the personnel at that level. That's probably the idea, to make us think we have power but figure we won't meddle too much due to lack of knowledge. I'd love for this idea to take off, at least in some instances.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=536939 I've never seen the prospects tournament, but I hear it's great. This year, Yzerman will be bringing the Bolts young guns up to play the Wings prospects. Just passing the news along.

That's hilarious. I give him credit for trying to discuss something of substance on twitter (not really possible), but he sounds really whiny. And those comments are funny, too. An 18% cut in pay would suck for anyone, but you're STILL making more money than I EVER will.

Shanahan was always one of my favorites. We're always debating Yzerman, Lidstrom, Federov, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, etc. Heck, even people like Krupp show up so frequently that this thread actually caught my attention. We as Wings fans almost NEVER talk about Shanahan. Yet he's probably a favorite player of 98% of us. And he's a legend. WHy is it that we don't talk about him more? Man I miss watching that guy play for the Wings.

I really blame his agent. Everyone knew the market would be like this. As an agent he should have felt obligated to warn Lilja. Who knows, maybe he did and Lilja pushed to test the market anyway. At any rate, I'd hate to be in Lilja's shoes. His options right now seem to be: KHL and be far away from his family; beg for a 2 way deal and play in the AHL; not play; win the lottery and somehow find a bottom feeder who is desperate for a shot blocker.

Unless I'm getting him mixed up, he's known to be extremely lazy and not a very good team player.

That sucks. I hate it when NHL caliber players can't find a spot in the NHL. Thanks for the memories, Kozzie.

Something depresses me a bit about all these names going unclaimed. Seems like in the old days there weren't so many just fading away. Maybe it's rose colored glasses, but it seems like a lot of formerly high end talent just goes unclaimed, doesn't officially retire, and just hangs in some limbo between the KHL, NHL, AHL and unemployment. What is the CBA doing to the league?

I think Abdelkader and Helm will be, too, I didn't include them originally because I wasn't sure if they counted as "Red Wings of the future" since they are already, technically Red Wings.

I agree with the consensus: Tatar will be a lifer here, as well as Smith and maybe Mursak.

I don't know. Is there going to be anyone better than Doughty? Holland may very well sell the farm for Doughty simply because that would be the only chance to get a truly big difference maker on the back end to be the backbone of the team.

Yeah, 500k is a bigger deal to someone making 1-2 million than to someone make 7-8. I imagine a lot of those health costs came out of his pocket. I'm not sure what the Wings pay for with their players, but I know there's some quite expensive stuff that pro sports teams don't pay for. Add in not only the risk they take when playing, but being away from their families, paying moving costs all the time when they switch teams, health bills, paying for houses, and that 500k disappears fast for someone making 1-2 million.

Every draft is a case of "if we had only signed <insert name here>." It does look like 2005 was a bit of a bust, but that's one year. The Wings seem to have drafted really well the past few years, especially this year. Tatar is fast-tracked to play in the big club, and I imagine a few of the draftees of this year will make impacts.