VM1138

I can't believe all the people worrying about Helm and Abdelkader. It's a given they will return. They are negotiating but it's generally felt that they'll sign for whatever Holland wants to give them. But they have to try and get the best they can, which is why it's taking so long. 4th line, 3rd or even 1st, it doesn't matter. They will be back and they will play what they are given. They could potentially more than fifteen years of NHL hockey ahead of them, one season on the fourth line won't hurt them.

The Rags need to ask the Wings to teach them how to assemble a team with chemistry that can win. But not a bad signing, for the Rangers. Not really an overpayment, it's on par with the rest of the league. And who knows, with a new environment Frolov could thrive. But probably not with the attitude of the Rangers locker room.

If he enjoys playing hockey at the highest level, he will. Players like Jagr, they weren't really true blooded competitors. Is Kovalchuk? I don't know. But if he's someone like, say Ovechkin who needs to always be better than everyone else, he'll stay in the NHL.

Well, Mr. Bowman, no crap you'll either sign him, trade him, or walk away. Those are the only options for any contract negotiation. Either way, the Hawks and screwed. Whatever happens will probably be the biggest loss for them this off-season.

Me, too. There's a point towards the end where he just GLARES. I can't find words to describe the look. But you'll know it when you see it. I want to know what was said to make him glare like that all of a sudden.

LA is on the way up. No way he bolts that organization, plus they'll be able to throw basically whatever he wants at him. Nobody will get Doughty til later in his career. The only way we can get a young, dominating defenseman is to hope one gets drafted by a crappy team like Atlanta and is willing to leave. And even then we'd have to compete with everyone else. So...best bet? Hope Kindl, Ericsson, or someone else comes out and magically dominates.

Wow, 16 goals on the top line? Didn't Modano score 16 on the third?

Geurin sucks. I wouldn't mind Kariya here, though he is way too costly for us. Is the off-season over yet? How boring.

I saw that, too. Hilarious. Those Swedes are quite a crew. I'm not fashion guy but my God, those swim suits! I'd hate to be in one of those for a photo. Anyway, I don't usually care much for celebrity weddings and whatnot, but I'm curious, anyone think Datsyuk was the best man? I know they are really good friends, but not sure if Zetterberg had a closer friend back home or something.

This post is so full of stupid. And I'm not a big insult-people-over-the-Internet person. The Wings struggled against Phoenix, a tough, up-start, unpredictable team. They did NOT get creamed by the Sharks. They dominated more than half of the series but got hosed on poorly timed 5 on 3s. And as for the Top 6, Kane, Toews, and Hossa surely is formidable. But so is Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen. I say the Wings have the edge but that's debatable. They struggled because of the team's injuries all year long. And Niemi was very mediocre. Most people who watched the playoffs remarked that in this case the bad goalies went all the way. It was a crazy fluke, but Niemi was no all-star caliber player. Now, Howard hasn't proven anything either, so neither has an edge here. So Niemi has a Cup, it's not like he was the best player for the whole playoffs. I'd be willing to bet Niemi is a one-hit wonder like so many goalies have been lately. And again, I'm not sure why saying a bunch of Chicago payers are in their low twenties says anything about their talent now.

I don't think Gretzky's are untouchable, to be honest. Right now, they're astounding. But the game evolves so quickly. I'd say his totals could be broken within the next 15 or 20 years.

Not to get invovled, but Stuart is hated on pretty bad around here. Considering how knowledgable most fans are about hockey around here, it always amazes me the crap Stuart gets. He's easily a great defenseman. Now, with the experience he's gathered at Detroit, he could easily be a top 2 on most other teams. He's always been great for the Wings. Same with Rafalski, though Rafalski makes more mistakes than Stuart, he's still one of the elite and gets crapped on relentlessly.

Exactly. Listing a bunch of 1 game injuries doesn't really mean much. It would have been better to do a total games lost due to injury per season rather than individual injury.

Well, I don't know. Football isn't really a sport where you need passion to play. If you've got talent like Favre does, you put in a decent effort for a 16 game season (or 20 including a championship run). Quarterback is the least physical position, so it's not like you have to have drive to play 82+ games in which every game you have to constantly be moving and making that extra effort to get the puck that's just out of your reach, or fight for the puck in the corners or to get to the front of the net night in and night out. Passion counts in hockey. To be brutally honest, I don't think it comes in play much in football, at least from a quarterback's position.

You know, at first I liked these front-loaded contracts, but now that more and more teams are doing it, and every free agency gets more boring, I've decided I don't like them. Why doesn't every team simply signed all their under-35 players to reasonably priced, 20 year contracts and we can do away with free agency altogether. That way, no team has to worry about keeping their team together and we can suck all the off-season drama out of hockey.

I don't really understand this whole geographic thing. San Jose isn't exactly just a hot skip and a jump away from Dallas, either. But oh well. I have to agree with people on here, Modano seems to have lost his drive to go all in. In that case, he should probably retire and spare all the teams. Of course, we won't know if he's lost it til he plays again, but it sure seems that way. Usually when a player takes this long to decide on retirement, it means he's not fully in it.

Well, in Russia I bet "Ministry of Internal Affairs" is more frightening than lightning or hurricanes or even Panthers.

I always wondered that myself. I know that they knew the risks going into it, but as a coach of the Griffins, I wouldn't be happy constantly struggling in the seasons because all my good players get called up all the time. Especially if it's in playoffs. Just imagine if yuo're in a must-win playoff game to advance to the next round, and suddenly the Wings call up your best player to help them in their playoff game. I'd be a little unhappy with that, haha.

This is random, but why do so many European hockey and soccer clubs have random initials splattered all over their team name?

In listing the ways Chicago has blatantly ripped off the Wings, you all forgot to mention their style of play. They draft Kane and Toews (Datsyuk and Zetterberg, anyone?), then add Hossa. They change to a puck possession style of play and mimick virtually everything the Wings did for years. They really are like a jealous little brother, only no one ever calls them out on it except for Wings fans. Bums.

If Chicago somehow finds a way to sign more players I'm going to beat my head against a wall in frustration. Minnesota really shouldn't even be in this. It's not a storybook ending. He never played for the Wild. He'd just be going back to the city where his career began, not the team. If I were him I'd much rather play for a Cup contender (San Jose or Detroit) or go to my hometown to play for the team I grew up rooting for. I heard another ex-athlete say on the radio the other day that it doesn't matter if you play your whole career in one city, you can't help but still root for the team you loved growing up, even if it comes up against the team you've played with.

Wow, that looks TERRRRRRRRIBLE. Those crazy Canadians need to not attempt anything other than hockey. Although I did get a chuckle out of this exchanged: "You could be the next Sidney Crosby." "Cindy who?"

I don't think I want Modano here anymore. For one, I'm tired with the "will he or won't he," but he's starting to look a bit like a mercenary. The fact that he's even considering teams like Minnesota and Anaheim prove he's not looking for the best chance for the Cup. He's probably just looking for a comfortable place to play hockey for one more year, which makes me question his heart at this stage. He could have provided something extra for this team, but not if his heart's not in it. Time to lock down our other assets and wait til the trade deadline to make changes.

Bettman is setting the league up for a big fall. Things appear to be going alright for now because he lucked out and got three years of fantastic Stanley Cup finals. Where was his "success" when we were forced to watch Tampa Bay, Carolina and Anaheim lift the Cup? The NHL has been getting more prominent in the US, but I have a feeling he's sowing the collapse of the league by refusing to allow failing markets to move. But I agree, from the Board of Governor's side, or whatever they're called, business is good, so why not keep him? But he's a lying ******.

And both were pretty one-dimensional. Zetter > Getzlaf, though Getzlaf can be a force at times. I remember that playoff series against Anaheim, it was basically Getzlaf vs. the Wings.