VM1138

Williams? Jason Williams? Please God no. What we need is a difference maker. Someone, even a 4th liner, who brings something to the table that could push this team. Williams is a completely neutral, ineffective, pointless addition. He doesn't motivate us. He doesn't provide any level of skill we don't have. And he'll probably be way too expensive for what he's worth. Again, please God no.

Hell yes, me too. That being said, I'm still not sure I want him. This offseason promises to get even worse man...

You're right, 5 is perfectly reasonable (hell, I think the 7 is reasonable for him), I just think he might surprise us, depending on what sort of shape the team's cap situation is in. And to the guy who compared Yzerman and Lidstrom at age 40...I absolutely hate to say this but Lidstrom is still the greatest player in the league at his position, Yzerman was not, unfortunately.

I honestly see him taking less. The Wings won't lowball him, but he's always taken one for the team, and with the Cap going down and the team in rough shape, I think he'll go for a 4 million, one-year contract or something. We know he won't ever play for another team and that way he allows the team to re-evaluate the Cap situation every year. He also knows the Wings won't screw him over. Lids is in the drivers seat as far as his contract goes and I think he'll take a lot less. The great thing is, except for a few rough games here and there last season, he's still Norris Nick and I don't see him slowing down considerably.

This is a little silly. OF COURSE they were circumventing the Cap. It's what all GMs try to do. I'm definitely not a business guy because I don't see this story. So what if they discussed retirement? They would just be playing by the rules of the CBA. EDIT: Oh, wow, blonde moment. I get it now. By signing him longer than they really wanted him for, and past age 40, they can lower the Cap hit overall with no intention of having him play that long. Wow.

This is awesome. How many years are we betting it takes for Hudler to come back to the NHL? I give it two.

No kidding. And I'm getting tired of the KHL. Really fast.

Sykora? Seriously? We;ve finally hit the bottom of the free agent well.

I actually kind of enjoy how the Wings dismantle teams with a professional coolness, myself. Fights and grittiness are fun, but I'd rather have a winning team and too often grit comes at the expense of talent. Go ahead and root for the Leafs, at least your summer will be wide open.

And I don't know, I heard about these guys Kronwall and Stuart who played a tad physical each year.

I can't picture Datsyuk having a problem with ANYONE. He seems way too cool for that. Any substance to that rumor?

This is exactly it. I've known quite a few black people who enjoy hockey but they've never played it and so they're not die-hard fans. It's all about affordability. This si why hockey will always be a niche sport.

Can't say I've tried the last bit but the others don't work for me. I'm really ridiculously skinny and I've tried peanut butter, milkshakes, nothing.

Mats is not what we need.

1.) Grier, yes please. Only guy I wanted the Wings to get (but never thought they ever would even try, so my hopes still aren't high).

Wow, so countless articles denounce the idea that the Wings are after Kessel, and the reader decides that the Wings are targeting Kessel?

So they get an injured Hossa for 4 months and a healthy Hossa for the better part of 12 years? Horrible deal. Erm....right?

How can a race have or lack excitement? They're all identical. Cars go round a loop, someone (usually 1 of 5 people or so) always finishes first. I can't imagine there's a whole lot of room for drama there, unless there's drama over an injury or something.

He didn't say "It's great to be in a REAL hockey town." He said "A" hockey town. You know, that thing that EVERY player says when they go to a new team? THe Hossa hate floating around boggles my mind.

A Cleary-Helm-Abdelkader line would be great. I know everyone loves Abdelkader on here, but in all honesty, why is he too good to be ont he 4th line? Of all our Black Aces he has the lowest potential, so why is it so bad to give him some 4th line time to develop a bit more?

Let's just put it this way: I live in the middle of Michigan and I've been seeing way too many Penguins Champion shirts and it makes me think unpleasant thoughts.

A rivalry can only exist if both teams are good. Anaheim took some serious hits. I'm not saying they'll suck, but we won't really know if the rivalry will continue until we actually play again.

Completely random moment. I'm bored out of my mind and see that the Mighty Ducks is on TV. So I figure I'd turn it on for a few minutes for old time's sake. Well, here comes the Flying V, the formation that popular wisdom and pop culture always jokes is offside. I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed something so trivial, but it's actually not. At the very last second the puck is passed to the lead skater. We're talking split-last second. Sorry about the random triviality but it's better than the endless name dropping around here lately. Summer gets slow.

His laziness scares me. But, if he can score consistently in big games we might be able to make up for the laziness with the other players defense.

Disney never lies. I trust my team to Gordon Bombay.