VM1138

This is what happens when you reach the peak of technology. You have nowhere else to go but to random specializations that don't have any affect.

10 years seems a little long for a professional athlete in my eyes, unless the salary drops considerably, no matter who the player is. I would have been happy with 6 or 7 years, similar to Datsyuk's. But as long as it doesn't screw us over with the cap, I'm fine with it. Also like that Z and his agent accept that Holland is trying to resign everybody. That bodes well and sets a good standard for other players like Franzen to follow suit and take a discount.

Hossa may very well be gone, unfortunately. However, I don't ascribe to those people who think Hudler and Franzen are going to bolt. With Hossa gone ew can clearly afford both of them. Flip will be gone. With Hossa gone, Kopecky will also be let go. McCarty will probably retire or stay down in the AHL. Lebda will probably be gone. That leaves 3 regular lineup spots to be filled by new palyers from other teams, or Leino, Helm, etc.

Very classy, Pittsburgh. Why can't you be like this all the time? In all seriousness, though, that is a very cool move that that kid is going to remember forever.

I'm usually not too hard on players who are developing, but I think it's pretty clear Flip hasn't developed or made any step forward ever since he signed his contract. He was good for us in the playoffs last year, but not as great as expected. To me, at least, he's a good player, but a tradeable player and someone we can't hang our future on.

I've been thinking. The Wings have been stale for so long, and yet they're running one of the most stable rosters in recent Wings history. Game in, game out, the roster almost never changes. There's nothing to keep them fresh. I understand about the cap and whatnot, but that is a serious problem if the younger people can't get in some practice before playoffs.

I generally wear jersey's on game day, all day, and I used to never wash them if the Wings were winning in the playoffs. I never turn a game off, no matter how bad the score is. I used to be a tad more superstitious, if the Wings were on a tear I'd go through the same ritual before every game as best I could. And of course, during the playoffs I never shave, even though myf acial hair is really spotty and bizarre when it grows out.

Goaltending is the most unstable position in the league. Every year there is some new hotshot who's destined to become the greatest, only to disappear a season or two later: Theodore? Leclaire? Nabokov? Emery? Khabibulin? Miller? Huet? The list goes on and on.

Vancouver is really sucking it up lately, aren't they? Ah well. Wings need this ASG to get their stuff together. Hopefully they come out on a tear for the rest of the season and playoffs.

I'm glad they can get their rest, and I don't really care about the ASG, but damn, the Stanley Cup winning team, one of the most dominant teams in recent pro sports, doesn't have a single player going? Laughable.

Why the hell does everyone talk about Backstrom? I've said it before and I'll say it again: There are only a handful of reliable, excellent year-in, year-out goalies in the league: Brodeur, Luongo, and Kiprussoff. Others are streaky, good, etc, but always flame out relatively early. Whether or not we need a change in goal is irrelevant. There is simply nobody better to replace them with. Therefore, the focus has to be on defense. Someone has to be held accountable. Stuart rejuvinated the Wings when he arrived, and I'm sure another deadline defensive acquisition to replace Lebda, or hell, even Lilja (even though he's having a great year overall) would do wonders right now if the new player could sync up well with someone like Stuart and Kronner did last year.

It is Detroit, after all. We're the ones that rode Cujo out of town when he was the only decent player on the team, for instance

Only one good thing can come of this game: We've got to bring someone else up from the AHL now, right?

"A Barack Obama ago." Sigh. But seriously, the WIngs need to get their s*** together over the break. Things were looking good for a while here, but to me it seems we're right back to where we started. Rafalski and Lidstrom have got most of their game back, but everyone else is still showing up drunk or something. It's sad that we have to ***** when their record is so good, but to those of us who watch every game, there are serious flaws. As we saw tonight, offense can only get you so far.

It won't be long until ALL sports arenas must change their names to the Obamacenter or something similar, by popular decree from the loyal masses, of course.

AMen, especially that last part. I have a bad feeling we're stuck with Kopecky until Hossa leaves. What a useless player. I don't think I can remember a player being as neutral, boring, and useless as Kopecky. People tend to overrate players with things that they like (i.e. grit) and think that everyone else values it the same way.

I agree, it's always nice to have a rotation of teams at the bottom level in the playoffs. For instance, it'll be nice if Columbus ever makes it to the playoffs. I always kind of liked Phoenix, a little at least.

Look for Conklin to continue fighting for the starting goaltender position, post another 1 goal allowed or a shutout. Watch for the defense to step it up and shut down what little offense Phoenix will have going for it. Look for Phoenix to get frustrated, take bad penalties, and knock the Wings around in the closing minutes of the game. Oh, and look for Datsyuk to completely obliterate Bryz.

That's what I was thinking. The only virtue in putting Ozzie in against teams like San Jose in my mind would be the whole "Throw him in the ocean and see if he sinks or swims," but it's a little harsh in my mind. Should have let him get his confidence back first, probably. Conks, at least at this moment, can handle the tough teams and should bear the brunt of the work until Ozzie feels comfortable again.

I know it won't happen, but the poster actually brought up a good scenario. He shouldn't make more than Datsyuk, or at least not much more, because he is similar caliber, add in his back injury-proness, and that should reduce whatever inflation would bring the contract up to. 5 or 6 years also seems reasonable, and it's hard to see him commanding more than the 6.7-7 million 6 years from now, but I could be wrong. Only downside is, with a shorter contract, the salary reductions each year towards the tail end would be less. EDIT: Someone else made a good point, though. If he's willing to take a huge hit in order to take a 10 year contract, I'm all for it. But 10 years is too long for a normal or large size contract.

I'm sitting here waiting for the San Jose game tonight, doing some reading for my history classes and thinking about topics for the suitcase full of papers I have to write this semester. I'm cycling through the usual run of the mill topics (wars, biographies, etc.) when I suddenly hit on a small kernel of an idea for a 15 page paper in my Michigan History class. I've never written a sports-history paper before, and I think it would be pretty interesting to do. And naturally being a die hard Wings fan, I'd like to write a paper on the Wings, and tie them somehow to Michigan or Detroit history. That seems to be the problem. The idea is just starting to germinate and I'm not sure what historical relevance to Michigan the Wings would have moreso than any other sports team. I've run through various ideas about how a trouble city rallies around the Wings, but then I think: Detroit rallies around the Tigers and Pistons, too. In fact, I know someone who did a major graduate level thesis on the Tigers and the '68 riots. Then I think about some sort of economic connection, but also, the other sports teams do as well. Then I think about writing about the birth of the Wings and the creation of the Detroit sports scene, but then realize that the Tigers had them beat and probably the Lions, too. So I'm asking for some advice. To us, as Wings fans, a flat out history of the Wings would be interesting, but is there any greater historical significance to our favorite franchise that is important to Detroit or to Michigan, moreso than the Lions, Tigers, or Pistons? Any advice on some angles to look into would be greatly appreciated, since I'm not entirely sure this topic would work.

Lemieux? A skilled player? He was average at his peak.

I know technically that the Wings think every game is impotant, but I wonder sometimes if they breeze through the regular season. In 2007 and 2008 they seemed to completely transform and crank up the heat in the playoffs, and I'm hoping they do that again this year. Unlike the Wings teams of old, I think the team of the last few years was born for playoffs.

Did the season end? I wasn't aware that the Sharks finished first in the Conference, considering the Wings are still the hottest team in the league and will continue to march past the Sharks.

Meh, I saw the Wings fight back hard. Didn't ;look to me like they were being out-forced. San Jose was just better at positioning than we were.