VM1138

I kind of like Washington, but how long can a single player keep the franchise alive? I didn't really follow all of that, because I'm not familiar with the legalese of waivers, "protected status", etc., and it included a lot of numbers which I'm not good with. All I can say is that merging teams would be an interesting experiment. Has it been done before in any sport? I've never heard of it. Also, if any teams have to move, I think we can all agree that these teams would be among the first to go: Atlanta, Florida, Phoenix, Nashville. I mean, what are these teams even doing here? I think the Isles should be left alone, because they have a rabid fan base and a long history. Every team goes through a slump and I'm happy no one messed with the Wings during their 40 year slump. I think teams with an established history of success should be left alone in any considerations.

Babcock resigned. No worries there. Plop a good coach in there and LA might have a respectable showing this season.

We're going to have some issues in 3 years. Don't a lot of our players' contracts expire around that? 2010 and 2011 are going to be tricky seasons for the Wings. Lots of talent retiring/leaving/resigning. Hopefully our young guys develop by then.

I really don't see him going Eastern Conference. None of them stand a good chance of winning a Cup anytime soon, except maybe Pittsburgh, who probably can't afford him. Not to mention he'd probably be inclined to play for a team that rarely plays Toronto.

God, not going on Colbert is seeming like such a huge opportunity. At least you know he'd have fun with it and give them a bit of a stage.

We do need to improve. There were many teams dangerously close to winning. Anyone think the Sharks would have sucked if they had a good coach and some decent defense? A few tweaks and they are there. How about Pittsburgh? They're going to be a real threat, if they can keep all their players. Dallas? Have we forgotten that quickly how dangerous they were? They'll be back with even more pickups. The fact is our secondary scoring stepped up in the playoffs but they weren't consistent during the regular season. We need more from them in order to stay ahead of the curve. We've lost our goalie tandem that helped us so much, so that's a hurdle we need to overcome by keeping our defensive corps together and adding another scoring forward to keep our offensive touch going at a time when we could easily slip into Anaheim-like defensive play (though I don't see that happening with Dats and Z). A second line scorer would be exactly what we need, preferably someone hungry for a cup to keep this team hungry.

Yeah, Ozzie has been huge this year, but if he wants to finally silence the naysayers he needs to follow this up with an equally strong season.

Awesome, working on it now.

Exactly. The best way to market the league overseas is to use Europeans. Will Europeans be attracted to gritty, sloppy North American style? I doubt it. But I hope we don't go overseas. Seems like it didn't work for Anaheim all that much.

I don't know. Sports fans have been burned way too many times to put so much faith in a kid who has only played rarely. I expect him to be a serviceable goalie, but not the second coming of Hasek/Roy/Sawchuck.

I used to want Sammy gone, btu he was huge for us in the playoffs. As long as he's not put in a scoring role he's an amazing PKer and defensive forward. Keep him, especially since he comes cheap. Just fill in the 2nd line a bit more reliably. All we really need is to lose Lilja or Lebda (not sure which yet, they both have pros and cons), and to sign a scoring winger.

The Wings have a problem that few teams have had to deal with. We've had TOO MANY amazing HOFers play for this team. We just can't retire them all, and I'm a believer that you only get your number retired if you play your whole (or most of) your career with a team.

I don't get all the anti-Chelios comments. The guy was huge for us until the Dallas series, when he had some knee issues. And then he didn't play the Finals because Pittsburgh was such a fast team. I fail to see how he's a liability to this team. Just a few months ago we were talking about how huge he was for us when the D went down and whenever he was needed to play more minutes. The guy still has gas in the tank. I understand not wanting him in the way of younger players, but as an insurance policy, 7th defenseman? How can you turn that down?

Retiring numbers is supposed to be a hugely special event. I do think that this generation is the best since the 50s. And since the 50s generation is draped all over the roof of the Joe, it's understandable that this generation will be equally represented (what....4 retired numbers)? I was thinking of this earlier. The 90s-00s is more of a "Glory Days" than the 1950s, except for in number of Cups won. We're witnessing amazing history. I think Lids gets retired, which would put this generation up to two retired numbers. I expect Datsyuk and Zetterberg to be retired IF they keep up their play and play their entire careers with Detroit. That would make 4. Seems about right. I love Ozzie, too, but he hasn't been the most amazing player on the Wings the past 15 years.

I like Quincey and Meech. The few times we saw Quincey this season weren't that impressive, but it was during a stretch when NO ONE was impressive. That being said...I don't know. I like the ability to play Meech at pretty much any position. That sort of of flexibility is great. And I like his speed and he makes things happen. Quincey...it's been a long time since last year . I'd probably let him go by virtue of not having witnessed any recent activity that impressed me.

Too bad no one has the video of them dropping the Cup. That'd be a classic!

Anyone else a little nervous about San Jose? I know some people pick SJ every year, and it's old, but all they need is a great coach to get them to stop underperforming. And a workable defense. Anyways, San Jose, we can all admit, will be a serious foe if they ever get their crap together. Let's hope they never find that missing puzzle piece.

Late night talk shows are never funny, at least the hosts aren't. They tell the same lame jokes, wait for the fans to get it, and bask in their own glory. I never understood why they were so popular. It'll be fun to see Ozzie and Lids banter, though.

The only major change I want to see is a scoring winger. That's the only area we need improvement on. And if we could get him for Kopecky, great, since Kopecky just doesn't fit with the team anymore...not that he ever did. He's useless.

There's no doubt in my mind, Hasek was easily the most entertaining goalie to watch...ever. I still remember vividly moments in 2002 when he scared the crap out of me only to make some amazing save. He hardly ever got burned. Amazing. Anyone remember the time in the '02 playoffs, I think it was against Colorado, when one of the Colorado players was on a breakaway, racing for the puck, and Dom decided to race TOWARDS him, near the blue line, and got to the puck half a second before the skater did? Talk about heart-stopping.

Forgive me for thinking ahead, but if we win it all again next year, Ozzie will have 4 Cups. Which IMO would put him on a totally different level than any goalie in the league. But will he be treated as the best goalie left in the game? I doubt it. Ozzie is amazing. Whatever the Wings have been doing to have players become reborn, it's amazing. I've never seen it happen. Cleary, D-Mac, Ozzie, Hasek, they've all gotten their second chances and are making the most of it.

Yeah, if the engine bombs, Pavel isn't hurt any by it.

So far I've gotten: Championship Lockerroom hat Gray locker room T-shirt FREEP Book: "Forever Hockeytown" I anxiously await: A Finals puck The Sports Illustrated issue (not the bound book, because you have to have an expensive subscription to get that, don't you?) Championship DVD The Detroit News book (if I ever see it, it's not nearly as popular as the Freep) Maybe another shirt, the black roster one It's all a pretty penny, but it only happens once in a great while, so it's worth it I think.

Hasek has had an up and down relationship with Detroit, but he's more than made up for the bitterness some fans felt about his second stint with the Wings. He's dispelled all doubts that he wasn't a team player or a primadonna. He may have fizzled there at the end, but he never fell the levels of lesser goalies at the ends of their careers, and the only reason he never got a chance to get back on hsi feet was because we could fall back on Ozzie. This year was one of, if not THE greatest goalie tandems in the history of the NHL and it'll be weird not being able to rely on that next season. Anyways, my point is, Hasek has earned the respect of pretty much everyone in Hockeytown, and I'm glad he's considering moving here. Anyone thinking he'll have a role with the franchise like other former players? Goalie development coach maybe? I never thought he would stay with the Wings, being that most of his career was spent elsewhere, but Detroit seems to have that hold over people, and if he's settling in around Detroit, it's a distinct possibility. There's no way a team would pass on a chance to have the Dominator in their organization.

Wish there was a way we could suggest ideas for guests to Colbert. That would absolutely classic, and get some much needed NHL exposure.