VM1138

That's it, guys. We came on win within winning the Stanley Cup, but it's time to bring back all the players who couldn't get it done in the years before the Babcock era! I'd like a player like Shanny used to be, but he's just a shell now and we really need an energy guy with a lot of talent. I'm not really familiar in depth with Knuble, but I hear good things. I don't think he'd take 1 or 2 million, though, even if we had it to offer.

They might pressure them to retire, but they'd never trade anyone. I see them all getting office jobs, but Holmstrom would probably get a mailroom job or something considering he speaks hardly any English.

If they start sucking too bad there's always some crappy team willing to overpay for a marquee player.

Howard is ready to suck in the NHL. How about that? Trade the kid and resign Conks for cheap.

I'm kind of reluctant to wear that shirt in public now. Still a cool shirt though and I wear it around the house.

Actually, it makes a little sense. Obviously if you have serious injuries that hamper your play, even in a Final sthere is going to be a part of you that doesn't put in 100% in the 2nd period of a game. Now, if your back is to the wall in the final, say 10 minutes, then you might be more willing to sacrifice and risk an even more serious injury in order to save the game. It'd be very hard to consistently hurt yourself and risk injury through a full 60 minutes when the game isn't on the line.

Goalie's are so hard to predict. One year they can be amazing, the next, they're bums. If anyone can name me more than three NHL goalies who are consistently great year in, year out, you'll be stretching it a bit. If I were a GM, I would be very reluctant to go out of my way to draft a certain goalie. Obviously some are better than others, but I would never go out of my way or risk anything to get an unproven goalie.

There's only one Steve Yzerman. And only one Zetterberg. We don't NEED (and won't find) another one of them. We just need a hard-working, goal scoring, defensive forward with a great shot and that's exactly what Hossa is.

Because we need an excellent defense corps to stand up against huge offensive powerhouses we'll have to face. Chicago, Pittsburgh, they all have excellent offense that's only maturing. Pulling a world class defenseman in favor of a kid who may or may not be any good is dumb. Especially because we can keep Hossa withuot losing Rafalski. Losing Rafalski when we stand a good shot at resigning Hossa anyways just doesn't make any sense and makes the team worse.

I don't think we'd have to. When people were cruncing the numbers before this 4 million number came out, they were talking more like a cap hit of 5 or 6, and it still worked out to where we'd lose Hudler, Sammy, Lebda, etc. But Cleary and Flip would be safe. I'm getting way too excited for next season now. I feel like the Wings should have won, had they been healthy and after having a summer to recover I feel like they'll be unstoppable next season in the playoffs.

Great news. Hossa carried thsi team in the regular season. And no serious fan wants to kick out a world class player with a huge work ethic and good teamwork because he had an average playoff run on a team that struggled as a whole. He's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, and chances are he'll have a great playoff run. For 4 million, why the hell WOULDN'T you make that move? There's no single or group of players out there that would have that kind of skill for that value.

I would imagine the East to be more competitve last year. Washington was 2008's Pittsburgh. I imagine they stand a good shot at reaching the Finals next year. Pittsburgh I think really won't be much of a threat, it just seems like they won't have the talent they do now. But then again their coaching is pretty good and they have the experience. They won't make finals again but they might make second round. The rest of the East is a tossup. It always is. There's no consistency from year to year. I think it's safe to say that barring any collossal roster changes the West will remain a show for San Jose, Detroit, and Anaheim. Oh, and Chicago might make some noise, too.

Look, I hate making excuses. We lost. However, the loss is easier to take when you realize taht not only was our defense out of commission (yet still showed up reasonably well) but: Hossa was snake bit (it happens), Datsyuk was seriously injured and it showed, Holmstrom was even more seriously injured and it really showed. That's our top lineup right there, out of commission. Zetterberg was too busy playing defense to be an offensive threat. That's a serious dent in offense. Oh yeah, I forgot about Cleary and Draper's injuries as well. So yeah, I think in this case, blaming the loss at least partially on a serious spat of injuries beyond the usual pale is acceptable. The Pens barely eked out a win against a team playing at about half-strength. EDIT: Jeez, Zetterberg was injured, too? Seriously people, it's amazing we got within a single awesome save away from tying and going on to win the Cup. All this considered I think Detroit is by far the favorite to win it next year. They'll be back with a freaking vengeance.

Exactly. He's tried playing by the rules and the NHL won't let anyone buy a southern team if they perceive the new owner will want to move it. Balsillie is also the only person capable of pulling this off, but since his intentions are already known, the proper channels won't allow it happen and the league continues to be burdened with a failing market.

Why the hell would Rafalski be gotten rid of? He's our second best defenseman and we NEED that sort of depth. He was under par in the finals beacuse he was freaking falling apart, cut the guy some slack. Man, maybe I need to take a break from this place until after the roster moves are made.

Erm....no. His logic is "Hey, this team sucks and is hemmoragging money and nobody goes to watch them, maybe I'll move them someplace where they WILL watch the team and make it a success!" It's most certainly NOT like "Hey, I should take one of the most successful teams in sports history and move it to an isolated area where they will be less viable just because I have money!" Phoenix needs to move and this is getting ridiculous how Bettman is protecting them.

Yeah, Chelios deserves a lot better. People just have to insult some players, they can't just say "well, we don't need him as much as we did before now." As for Hatcher, he would have been huge for us had he not gotten injured. I was really excited to get him on the team but then it turned out to be a bust. Oh, the What ifs...? of sports.

We're stacked at center. It's not that we WANT to get rid of Hudler, but when you have 4 or 5 excellent centers already and you're up against the cap wall, that's a position you downsize in. Hudler will be great, but we already have similar players like him on a team. A good, winning team has a proper balance of different styles of players.

Yeah, Original 6 or Bust! Well, I could take Washington, too. Every year we all hope for an Original 6 matchup, but it'll never happen. I'm tired of the Pens as well. Everyone talks about this rivalry but I just don't see it. We happened to play them twice, but there's no particular ill will between the teams and I still feel the Wings are above and beyond anything the Pens could reach. I don't like to make excuses, but learnign about just how widespread and serious the injuries on the Wings were, it makes sense to me now why the team was always starting to slow and always having trouble forcing the puck into their zone. I've become more impressed with how the WIngs almost won this thing basically on one collective leg while the Pens were perfectly healthy and energetic. So no, I don't care for Crosby but the rest of the Pens I could take or leave. No rivalry there and I'd rather face a new team next year.

These boards have gotten really bizarre lately...

They may root for the Leafs and Sabres, but when thsoe games are sold out (are they selling out?) they'll fill into the new team. And yes, there will be people defecting to the new team, especially Leaf fans, I have a feeling. There are enough people there, and a lot of die hard hockey fans, to support a new team. It won't be the most successful team in history but it will be considerably more successful than in Phoenix.

How did this rumor even get started? Inter-division rivalries usually prevent trading between teams. Let alone trading one of the best defensemen in the league? Pronger would make LA a lot better and Anaheim a lot worse. I know it's already been debunked, but this didn't make any sense to begin with.

We have the best stack of Centers (well, players who have played at center) in the league (Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Flip, Draper, Helm). That's not a need we have to fill.

IF the Hawks can pull this off, they'll be in Cup contention. The Central will get considerably harder next year, I have a feeling. It's a good thing the Wings remember what it's like to lose and they'll play their hearts out game in and game out.