VM1138

Yeah, hockey will never be the #1 sport due to cost of playing. However, it can become more popular by continuing to develop the national minor leagues (anyone notice the huge increase in hockey jersey's from all over the past two seasons? Hockey is making its comeback) and getting back on ESPN. And yes, they need a marketing vision that isn't amateurish. THat means players who can act a little, production quality that looks like some professionally done, and no lame taglines. Steal the marketing people from football if you have to.

Sammy can leave. HOssa does everything Sammy does, but better and more consistently. Hudler would be a loss, but he could always sign for dirt cheap.

What could we have done had we gotten someone in return? We'd still have to let someone go, we'd still have too many Defense, and we'd still have a logjam in development. The only thing we would get would be a pick of some kind, which we really have no use for at this time.

Agreed. If you have two good goalies, why not use them?

Did the game start at 7? Because normally, there'd still be most of the 3rd left. This sucks, because I'm giong to msis most of the games due to work, and was looking forward to catching at least the last period instead of the last single minute...

No kidding, Holland for President '08!

I don't think Obama would allow them to meet with him. Sports are icky and for the common, bitter folk.

They didn't play bad, but no one stood out. They're not in form yet. I didn't see any amazing skills from anyone there. But seriously folks, saying Toronto is going to be good because they eked out one win? Who are these people and what are they smoking? I'm really not concerned, though I would have liked to beat Toronto.

This really sucks. I live in mid-Michigan but will only be able to see Wings games on VS and NBC. I watched all but maybe 10 games last season, so it's going to be hard goign from that to seeing maybe 10 games all season this year. I can't believe my Charter doesn't have FoxSports Detroit.

That's like saying Hitler is better than Satan.

Such is the price of excellence.

People worry about the preseason too much. It never has any bearing on anything in the regular season, and sometimes a horrible preseason precedes an amazing season. It doesn't matter. The preseason is for those who don't have assured roster spots to battle. The veterans are just there to fill out the rosters.

This is terrible on so many levels. Travel. Time. Loss of best players. Decrease in talent pool. Influx of teams nobody cares about. Killing rivalries. Killing the sport in the US. If this is an inevitability, we've got to pull out all the stops to develop amazing talent in North America or we're crap out of luck.

The Mule isn't going away anytime soon!

I don't see why everyone concedes that Crosby is a great leader. I don't watch all their games, but I've never seen him lead. During the finals in fact, he did several things that were counter-productive. I don't see him lifting his team on his back and inspiring people. He's an excellent player, but Ovechkin and Zetterberg are better all around players and leaders in my book. If Zetterberg can have another standout year, and last year wasn't a fluke, then he'll be seriously considered with Crosby and Ovechkin by even the ignorant masses.

Seriously folks. He's gonna give Zetterberg a run for his money for the Conn Smythe this year!

THe West has gotten better. San Jose now has a competent coach and Dallas has only improved. We need to step it up tos tay ahead of the curve. Luckily, it seems we've done that by signing Conklin and Hossa.

When will the Wings learn that their being so amazing year-in, year-out is destroying people's lives?!

I just hope the rivalry doesn't get too heated. Teammates call each other out once in a while, but I hope this doesn't balloon into anything more serious down the line.

Well, I guess we can just give the Cup to the Leafs now, eh? Seriously, a "tight back"? Before the season starts? This is something to freak out over? We're ridiculously deep. The Hossa move was more of a middle finger to the rest of the league than a legit attempt to improve. We could repeat with our old roster, Hossa just makes us that much better!

You need to realize, though,t hat Americans have a much longer commute than anywhere else in the world, I think. We simply have to drive longer and more frequently, thus burning more gas. So having cheaper gas, in the long run, isn't really that much cheaper. And as for getting new cars, they're expensive. A lot of people still have to pay off their trucks and cars and can't afford a 45,000 hybrid or anything. Also, going from 23 mpg to 30 mpg isn't really a big enough leap to merit doling out a whole lot of cash for an expensive new car. THe cars that get higher mpg are generally too small be of use to an American family with kids. EUrope has the advantage of having subways and rail going everywhere, in the US those aren't common. Unfortunately, I have to agree that the seats won't be sold out. Michigan's economy has gotten much worse.

Great news. Mac did above what we all expected of him. Toward the end of the run he was too slow to keep up, but he was fine until then. I say it's a good move. He'll be in better shape, and he's solid in the role he's found. And who knows, he may even surprise us by getting a little of hsi scoring touch back. He had flashes of it last season, moreso than Downey (but I'm glad we got Downey back, too), so I think he brings a little more to the table than Downey theoretically.

Shoot me, but I'm kind of worried about Ozzie, too. Not that I think he's not good (I've been a staunch defender in good times and bad). He's amazing. My fear isn't about Ozzie, but about goalies in general. They're so damn flaky. One season they're on (or two season), and then one theyu're off. If anyone can be great again it's Ozzie, but the general inconsistency in goalies concerns me a tad. But I'm glad to say that's the only thing I'm even slightly worried about, and that's not very much.

Franzen fits with the WIngs. I hope we don't have to get rid of any of them, but we'll see how realistic that is later this season. I couldn't choose. I know Franzen would be the one they'd let loose, but his style of play is exactly what the Wings want and need. Plus, he's turned into a fan favorite.

This is ridiculous. The league can barely handle US and Canadian markets. And can you imagine how expensive travel would be? Not to mention it would dilute rivalries. What American is going to care if their team plays Gandooben Leipzig Gorssenkuber Razor Tire Company United H.C.?