VM1138

Chris Pronger becoming a Wing is just about the only thing that could be done to chase me to cheer for another team.

Some fans have this delusion that there are great players to be had out there. Hossa LOOKs like a bad move, but who else are we going to get? No one (or even no multiple players) of Hossa's caliber. Might as well use the cap for him.

For a straight up history of the NHL, The Hockey Chronicle (gets updated every couple of years, i think 2007 is the latest edition) is massive, beautiful, and informative. It doesn't deal with rule changes so much, but more with the players, records, and storylines of each individual season. The Quest for the Cup is also an excellent read about the history of the Cup itself and the teams that have contended for it. Again, that's a few years old but there might be an updated edition.

There's never been a reason to only use one player for marketing. In fact, it makes much more sense to use a core that represent various aspects of the league: the Boy Wonder, a hard working grinder, a sniper, a lights-out goalie. There's no reason that it shouldn't be something like Crosby, Zetterberg, Luongo, Ovechkin, plus others, like Lecavalier or something. Instead of seeing posters of Crosby everywhere they could have posters of 5 or so players for people to look at at a bus stop, etc.

God help me, throughout the whole disappointment and shock, I wasn't angry with the rest of the Pens. Crosby lifting the Cup was nauseating, but as a hockey fan I had to watch. The sheer joy on Malkin's face made even me a little (but only very, very slightly) warm inside, before they again cut to Crosby and I had to fight back vomit.

You are a fool. There's no way we'd be in the Finals without Hossa. He CARRIED thsi team (along with Datsyuk) in the regular season. I have serious doubts we reach a seed above 7th without Hossa, the way this team played all year. He was the only player not phoning it in. Give the guy a break. All you negative armchair GM's have been proven wrong over and over and over and yet you still volunteer these crazy theories and ideas. You're the type of people that run the Phoenix Coyotes. Hossa better be back, we need him next season.

This picture, while a bit heartbreaking, gives me hope. Though they lost the biggest game of their lives, they do not look defeated. There is a fire there that's going to be back next season. Next year, the Wings will again be among the top teams contending for the Cup. These players, along with the rest of the team, will return to form again, and once again dazzle us with superior play and leadership. Nothing makes this team play harder than the taste of a loss. 2007 led to 2008. 2009 will lead to a harder working team next year. The rest of the league better watch out. With eyes on Sid the Kid and the Penguins, Detroit is just as dangerous as ever.

Holland always has a backup plan, and it's always brilliant. I'm excited to see what he does this year. But no way in hell we go after Sundin. Nowhere near what he was. Unless he wants to sign for the league minimum and only play a few games here and there.

I don't blame the fans for booing Crosby and Bettman. Every team in the league does. They are merely standing up for their right not to have the game changed to benefit some kid and some incompetent hack running a league. They cheered and clapped the Cup and the other Pens. That's classy. Oh, and they ALL stayed during the ceremony, unlike Pittsburgh, who didn't care enough about the Cup or respect us enough to hang around last year.

Is this supposed to be a joke? Khabibulin over Osgood? Cammaleri over Hossa? Wow.

You guys overlook something: Signing Hossa doesn't limit us as much as you might think. Even without Hossa there are not any sure-fire fits with the Wings above grinder-level. And replacing Hossa with a grinder doesn't make any sense at all. So yes, it SEEMS like we're screwed if we re-sign Hossa cap-wise, but really, who else are we goign to get? It's really down to Bouwmeester or a few roleplayers who could disappear even easier than Hossa did.

The Pens will be in trouble. They don't have the wizardry the Wings do in the General Manager's office. Shero is good, but not THAT good. I don't know when Malkin's contract ends, but I'm certain he eventually moves out.

I've said it before. Before he retires, Luongo will play for the Wings.

Crosby was clearly lackluster. Everyone I've spoken to, whether Wings fan or not, realizes Crosby dives, fakes injuries, whines, and is not a good leader. In fact, I'm not sure how the leader title ever got tagged to him. The NHL will say he's one of the greatest leaders of all time, but those who watch hockey know who the real heroes were on hsi team. Even moreso, his teammates know who the real heroes were.

Darren Helm A++++++ Amazing kid, hope he's with us for a long time. Never let us down, ever. Datsyuk A+ The guy was unreal in the regular season, but disappeared in the playoffs offensively. His magnificent defensive play stops his grade from dropping to A. Zetterberg B+ Poor regular season. Unbelievable defensively in the playoffs but again, until Pittsburgh, he didn't really do what he could have. Osgood B+ Yeah, he had a horrible season, but that massive turaround has to bump him up a few grades. Ericcson B+ Stepped up when we needed him, but he did make a few rookie mistakes. But for an inexperienced rookie he stands among the best. Franzen B Solid regular season, he's officially one of the best in the league. Led the team again in the playoffs but was still below par. Looking back, the whole team (as individuals) really were a little less than expected. Hossa B Amazing regular season. We were as high as #2 because of him. But his disappearing act was unexplainable in the playoffs. Still solid in the other areas, though, so I won't be too hard on him. Partly because I feel this whole year was a fluke and EVERYONE seemed to be snakebit. It was clearly a team thing, not a particular individual just suddenly sucking. Lilja B He's not the best player on our team but he's probably Most Improved. We really needed his shot blocking. Conklin B Helped the team through the goaltending debacle in the regular season. Lidstrom B Not his best season, but like I said, everyone had a fluky year so something must explain it. Was unreal for us in the playoffs though. Still the best. Rafalski B Solid as always. Quiet but excellent for us, except for a few mistakes. Stuart B Solid. Mediocre regular season, then one of our best defensemen in the playoffs. Hudler B- Really had us convinced he was going to be great. Then disappeared. Abdelkader B- Did well, considering, but he still needs some seasoning. Sammy B- Solid, unspectacular, about what we expect. But damn his timing and lack of physicality! Clearly B- Mediocre year, even with the great playoffs. Again, whole team snakebit. Kronwall B- Wow, he really struggled. But still a solid defenseman. Chelios B- For what we expect of him, he performed above expectations. Flip C+ Didn't really do anything all year. Lebda C- Horrible year until the end, and then he was only solid. Meech C- Didn't do anything to instill confidence in me. Holmstrom D Did nothing. All year. Makes me sad. Draper D I'm not one of those guys who was hammering away at our "legacy" players for being old. That's not my style. But Draper and Maltby really struggled this year. They really showed their age and decline, which makes me sad. Kopecky E-------- useless, as always.

Anaheim are the anti-Wings. Nobody really cares about Pittsburgh. We hate Crosby, but it seems no one here really has a problem with the rest of the Pens. We just happened to face them twice but I don't really feel any rivalry growing.

Thanks for supporting the Wings. I did some browsing last night on other teams' message boards, and it seems the only teams that were rooting for the Wings were the Rangers and Flyers. Surprising, because it always seemed like everyone hated the Pens and Crosby. Oh, and Washington's forums supported the Wings, too.

It would be kind of nice to have 6 top 4 D-men. Considering the only open defensive spot is one of the bottom two.

I really don't see the Pens making it past the first round next season. I imagine they will struggle to make playoffs again. The Wings, on the other hand, will return to one of the top seeds yet again and with a grittier team hungry for a win (the last time we lost a playoff series we shuold have won, we followed it up with a Cup victory) and will probably make finals. Conference Finals at LEAST.

To the people who think we should lose Hudler AND Hossa all over these boards: You're dumb. That is all.

Why is the NHL so adamant about defending a failure? What is so awful about relocation? It's happened countless times in the NHL. Why is Phoenix worth destroying your image and hampering your league for?

NHL is makign leaps and bounds as far as spreading the image goes. However, the playoffs were a joke and most of the major outlets (ESPN, SI, etc.) ridiculed how biased the playoffs were and even became conspiracy theorists themselves. So on the one hand, I love that the NHL is getting popular again, but on the other, the league is turning into a joke. And either the world sees how big a joke it is and the NHL goes back to the cellar, or the NHL reforms and continues to gain in popularity.

Why is the Hossa thing a debacle? We had the Cup in the bag and didn't show up for the final two games. We're just as attractive a spot as we were last year. Maybe moreso considering we'll probably be favorites to win next season, too. Pittsburgh might attract some attention, but most players saw that they barely scraped out a win against Detroit and their team has a more uncertain future than the Wings. The Wings are still the best, most attractive, most stable team for someone who wants to win the Cup to go.

All of the news stories and interviews prior to the game included Babcock and the team saying that they were just going to have fun and treat the game like any normal game. I realize that that is calming, but do you think it was a mistake? Should they have felt the pressure more? They're a tough, experienced team, they could have handled the perssure and it may have motivated them. I am not second-guessing Babcock. He's the greatest active coach and almost always does the right thing, but it just seems like HE wasn't hungry enough, and neither was the team. Mabye they SHOULD have handled Game 7 like a Game 7? Or do you think it wouldn't have mattered?

Amen. And I'm not sure why they did this. Was it all the Cup hangover? I don't like that excuse. But in 2008 this team was the best, in 2009 they added a talent like Marian Hossa and virtually ever player had a horrible season as the team coasted their way to the Finals. Will they be back to 2008 form next year or is this lackluster effort from world-class players something permanent?