VM1138

It's not a good signing though. It's desperation. They need plugs to ice a team, and they figure "why not, maybe he can stay healthy and somehow revert back in age and performance 4 years. It's just a signing. No good, no bad. It's no strategy, he was probably the one who returned their calls.

I would think signing with Atlanta is jinx enough. Oh. My. God. That's the first time I've actually seen their lineup. That's beyond brutal! At least put Hossa on top and have ONE good line at least.

I hate it when people talk about a signing by pointing out how a player played 4 or 5 seasons ago. Seriously? He may very well be good, I don't know. But when I hear "if so and so plays the way they did back in '06 or '07 (or even '03 I've heard), it's a good signing" that indicates that player has done nothing since then.

Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Kindl/Salei/Lilja? This might be too many. I'd like to have Lilja back, buck Salei has already replaced his role for the most part, or is intended to. Before we signed Salei I'd be all for Lilja, but unless he wants to be a call-up, he'd have to get in line. Kindl, who is probably a bust, still needs to be given a chance. I doubt Lilja is willing to got o the AHL when he could go to the KHL. Sorry, Lilja, you really proved your worth and overcame your past as an unreliable defenseman to be an integral part of this team. But you sat on the pot a bit too long and you've been replaced. No room at the inn, so to speak.

And again, he's an upgrade over Lebda or Lilja, therefore, we've improved with Salei's signing.

God forbid a goalie have a subpar game in a playoff run? Unheard of!

Correct.

Abdelkader himself said that he'll be a Wing, it's just about numbers. Basically, he'll take whatever they settle on, he probably just wants to get as much as he can. But he'll sign.

This is shady. A very slippery slope. We know many players don't play past 40, but who are we to say who will or won't? Kovalchuks' contract didn't violate any rules, it was just blatantly unfair. I don't l ike it when organizations make up rules as they go. But whatever. Now they want to retroactively reject contracts? If it wasn't wrong at the time why is it wrong now?

As a player, I'd be more intimidated by a big hitter than a fighter. I could always choose not to fight. It's much harder to avoid getting leveled. Thus, a hitter > fighter in my eyes.

Well, for one, it won't have a hockey feel. Instead of all the awesome Wings stuff at the Joe, it'll have to be shared with the Pistons, would it not?

Don't see why people are upset. He's dirt cheap, he's mean, he can hit. He's a better Lilja and cheaper. He could complement Ericsson really well and help his development along. And he's probably eager to play for a quality team. What is the issue here?

No retiring #24. There are too many good players. What happens in future generations when there are even more? Think ahead, we can't be retiring so many. One or two for every exceptional generation. Yzerman and Lidstrom. MAYBE Zetterberg or Datsyuk, but even that is way too many. You just have to acknowledge their contribution in other ways instead of retiring every amazing player. Yzerman transformed the franchise, Lidstrom was its rock. Datsyuk and Zetterberg carry this team but...is that really enough? Two of the best players in the world and fan favorites, but I'm leaning towards not retiring them because they aren't necessarily transformational like Yzerman and Lidstrom were. They didn't carry the team out of the cellar.

A lot of terrible ideas there: 1: A complicated, ridiculous OT setup. Every three minutes taking a player off the ice, then a shootout? I guess I fail to see what's wrong with the current OT setup. Let's not make this absurd. No icing while killing penalties just means every powerplay will result in a goal. Why not just give a penalty shot instead of power plays then? And that verification goal line won't solve anything. I really don't see the point of this. If the puck is over the goal line it's a goal. Having a referee off the playing surface is absurd, too. So now we'll have phantom calls from a guy who's not even on the ice and can't see everything going on? Smart move. I hope they reject almost all of these ideas.

He's only 37? Wow, maybe because he's retired 10 times already it seems like he'd be older. He's still a skilled player, but has he played 50% of a season in the past 10 years?

Agreed, it's not splashy, but it's methodical. Holland really is good at this, isn't he?

My all time favorite player. So glad he's back, and PLEASE be defensive coach. If he is, I think the Wings have really gotten over last seasons' demons. Everything is pointing to a Cup this year, or at the very least the Finals! The only thing missing is maybe a bit more grit, but I expect Abdelkader to step it up.

Cool, I don't think I've ever seen a player wear 90 that I can recall.

I like this Babcock quote from the NHL article where he says he missed Hudler more than he thought he would. I don't know guys, last off-season I had a weird feeling, but this year things really seem to be falling in place. I feel great about our chances this year. Cleary is healthy, Hudler is back, we have Modano playing on a competent line, Babcock is appreciate of Hudler now, Babcock realizes he rode Howard and others too hard during last season, we have an overabundance of depth, Datsyuk and Zetterberg will be playing together...it's just all falling into place. If Kronwall and Stuart have good years this could be a 2006 style year, hopefully with a better ending.

I think we're just too afraid to lose prospects after the Leino situation. Ritola isn't slated to be at top-end player. I'm all for giving him his shot, but if we lose him I don't think it really hurts the team all that much, though I'd prefer to keep him.

But we've had things leading us to believe he'll sign all summer. I just can't get too excited about this anymore. Modano has teased us before.

Wings win the Cup. Everyone else cries.

That series was a joke. They only "embarassed" us by letting us out-score them in the series. The series was even but at crucial times in every game there were ridiculous calls that the Sharks capitalized on. I'm tired of hearing abuot how the Sharks wasted the Wings. Yeah, we lost in five games, but they were insanely CLOSE games almost all decided by the refs. SO nobody cares about San Jose.

Turco really is better than Niemi. The only plus for Detroit is that Turco has nightmares about winged wheels. But this was a really good solution to their goaltending problem.

Not really a surprise. They had no fans. The only way to get fans is to increase your marketing and lowering your ticket prices. Think of them as a "new business." New businesses lose money their first two years because they have to lure in customers (fans). So, this is pretty normal, after all they're basically an expansion team fan-wise, haha.