VM1138

No person on earth would be willing to take a 50% pay cut just to be in a good, winning work environment. Him not taking 3.75 million is not "going for the big bucks." He's obviously willing to discuss the matter as he's not gone yet, but it's unfair to paint him as greedy because he won't take a 50% pay cut when he's already being underpaid. I think we should give him credit for sticking around and negotiating after he was offered 3.75 a year. It sure sounds like he's doing everything he can to give the Wings a good deal. But there ARE limits.

The point is, it's classless. Heatley should have discussed this in house before announcing it to the world. If he had done so, he could have just told the GM that he would waive his NTC for certain teams and then he would have been spared this embarassment. Instead, he chose the ass way out.

Wings have the clear edge, but Calgary has really put together a great defensive corps. Among the best, if not second best behind the Wings.

That first video was basically him getting owned by Brashear and clutching onto Brashear's jersey for dear life. I hope he's better than that sample. Give him credit for not going down, though.

Sounds like he has every intention of keeping Hudler. Good for now. Looks like Sammy might even stay, but the "meet one more time" comment seems to suggest he's leaving unless no one offers him a better contract. So... Hudler stays. Howard is officially on the roster. Sammy goes. McCarty goes. Downey goes. Hossa goes. Conklin goes. Turning out to be a bit more active than I thought already.

I think so, too. Otherwise there's no reason to lose both.

I love having Holland as GM, but you can believe what he says abuot as far as you can throw him. Last week: Our defense is set, no moves. Today: We will trade a defenseman. Last year: We won't make any big moves. A few days later: Hossa lands in Detroit. See what I mean? He's the master of misdirection. We might not sign a big name (there really aren't that many truly great UFAs) but we'll have to sign a few.

Apparently we don't have enough elite players because ours didn't perform too well in the playoffs. I wish people would stop pretending like Hossa didn't matter. He was huge for us, every player has a bad playoff run or two. The whole team was a bit off kilter all year. It sucks that we're losing the talent like Hossa, but it makes me feel okay, knowing that it does open up some space for us to make some moves.

Thanks for the memories, Hossa. You're a classy guy, not many would take the discount you did. You fit in well here and seemed like you were born to be a Wing. Wish you luck wherever you go, it's been fun! And hey, even classier that you didn't laugh at the Wings when they offered you 3.75-4 million and tried to work with them as long as possible.

Hossa must be hesitating (which is a good sign). The fact that they haven't made a deal yet might mean Holland thinks Hossa might crack and go for the 4.5 (I hope so). If he does sign for 4.5 and we trade someone like Lebda to clear a bit of cap space, we might be in a better position than we thought cap-wise, right? No an ideal situation but we may have some options. I won't make any predictions, but I think this delay is a sign progress is being made.

I know we suffer from Crosby hate here and so might be biased, but in all honesty, how is Crosby the greatest player in the world by ANY stretch of the imagination? In almost every category Ovechkin has him beat statistically, and the intangibles certainly go in favor of players like Datsyuk or Zetterberg. I'm not saying a Wing should be #1, but honestly, is there any reason other than media hype to put Crosby at number 1? I've never seen anything in him that made me think he was one of the greatest in the world. A fine, fine player, maybe a great player, but not the best in the world, no. I can't even imagine how someone would argue he was.

First guess is Meech, but what can we "trade" for him? Might be Lebda instead.

Stuart was the most solid defenseman we had behind Lids and Rafalski. He was even better than Rafalski at times. I know that around here one bad game means your whole career has been nothing, but there is no way we should be letting go of Stuart.

I know to all of us who make average or less, 8 to 4 million doesn't seem like a big deal, but it IS. It's cutting his quality of life in HALF. Do you guys get that? Whatever payments he owes, debt he's incurred, other costs, he has to continue to pay at the same levels as he has been with half the income. It makes sense that he doesn't want to cut his quality of life in half just to play for a good team.

On paper. Everyone looks at this on paper. Without Hossa this year, it's undeniable that the Wings would have been limping into the playoffs. It doesn't matter if this roster won in 2008, it's near impossible to win multiple cups with identical teams, because players have outstanding years and then disappear the next. And no one can say individuals on this team played better than in 2008. Hossa carried this team (along with Datsyuk) during the regular season and very well could have been the difference between 2 and 9.

This Hossa hate is simply ******* ridiculous. Stats or no stats, it amazes me how everyone loved him until now and suddenly half of us might as well be Penguin fans. My message to you people: f*** off. It's not like he's screwing the franchise if he bails out for more money. He was a rental, and we loved having him here, don't forget that.

I understand the getting something for nothing, I juts wish that someone as big as Hossa could land something a little more immediate than a draft pick.

EDIT: Nevermind, somehow I don't know how I wandered into the Rumor Mill.

We will have the ability to sign someone with this potential exodus, but this UFA crop is one of the weakest in years. They're practically all minor role players who can't replace players like Hossa, Hudler and Sammy's numbers.

This could be a bad summer. Losing Hossa, Conklin, Chelios, Kopecky, and potentially Sammy and Hudler. We've lost or will lose a LOT of our depth and our goaltending quality has been basically cut in half.

The idea that we'll probably only get a freaking draft pick for Marian ******* Hossa makes me a bit nauseous. Without Hossa, we're a considerably weaker team, especially if we lose Sammy and Hudler as well. Looks like we WILL be picking up a bunch of new players before summer's end.

He still might retire folks. I know he said he doesn't plan on it, but what else can he do if nobody signs him? I don't see him jumping ship to play in the Euro leagues. He's North American through and through. He and Modano are practically the faces of hockey in the US.

Can't get much simpler than that.

My reaction to Sammy leaving: Gonna miss the guy, despite him being a frustratingly average player. My reaction to Hossa (possibly) leaving: IT was great to have him on the team and I'm bummed if we can't resign him. My reaction to Chelios leaving: A legend leaving, wished he could have stayed as a coach. My reaction to Conklin leaving: Helped carry the team when Ozzie floundered, really wanted him back. My reaction to Kopecky leaving: IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!