RedWings Gone Wild

Ok, weakest group of skaters of the three recent cup wins? lol... not sure about that one. Vladdy and Vernon were the only big differences from the previous team. Osgood's accomplishment are greeted with indifference due to the fact that he has never proven himself without a good team behind him, nor has he been a consistent starter, or a multi-cup winner. Was Osgood the reason Detroit won the cup? No, you can't honestly say he was because the same team won it the year before without him (and won it again without him in 2002). Statistics are irrelivant when comparing Vachon and Osgood because of the difference in eras, 4.00 gaa was practically the norm in the late 70s and 80s. However, Osgood may be more likely to get in than Vachon, but that doesn't change the fact that neither of them will get in. Heck, Vernon won't even get in and he's had a much more relivant career than Osgood (he won multiple cups as a starter, a conn smythe, Jennings, multi-all star games, and was always a starter). Also, as long as you're obsessed with stats, and think them the end all prover of points: would you care to argue that Osgood is as good as Hasek? They have nearly the same number of wins, and Hasek has played longer. Hasek has also had losing seasons, and both have had the same # of cup wins as a stater. So, by your logic, Osgood must be the better of the two. Hmmm.. not quite sure why we bothered signing Hasek then.

It's a marketing thing. Everyone knew Yzerman's number was going up there, but the team waited to try and set up a meaningful day where they can make an event out of it and sell some extra tickets. The wait wasn't a sign that there was internal debate among the Red Wings staff, they were just trying to find the best day. The fact that Yzerman's number was retired his first year in the land of retirement shows that he was a given. As far as Ozzie is concerned, 400 wins isn't enough anymore. Remember how the 80s were for assist and goal scorers? Well thats how the new millenium is for goaltender wins. Now that you have guys playing 70+ games per season, and posting high save percentages, you're going to have a lot of goalies eclipsing 3-400 wins. Osgood has had some memorable seasons, but that's about it. He has never a dominant goalie (and don't let 96 fool u, Detroit was unbeatable that year in every aspect, all Osgood had to do was not screw up bigtime). Winning only one Cup as a starter, and having 400+ wins, isn't enough for the HOF, especially if the majority of your career was in the stat-boosting Detroit system. Legace was 37-8-3 in 05-06, that's impressive if you're only looking at statistics too.

I know alot of wings fans are having the run of the mill pre-season panic attack, but i'm rather content with our squad, and i'd rather not lose anything to boston. All of our older players are essentials, and all of our young guys aren't worth losing.

Also, just FYI, for those who think every significant wing should get their # retired, here is a list of Hall of Fame players who spent the majority of their careers in Detroit w/out getting their # retired: Ebbie Goodfellow (entire career in Detroit), Syd Howe, Red Kelly, Marcel Pronovost, Harry Lumley, Jack Stewart, Norm Ullman (6th all time Wings scoring).... Pretty much all of these guys were majorly important in multiple Detroit cup wins, they were all some of Hockey's all-time greats, and most of them helped shape the modern game. Yet none of them have their # retired in Detroit. It's simply not an honor that's given out easily in Detroit. Soon you will be able to add Federov to that list of guys. I would say you could add Osgood too, but he won't be a hall of famer.

Sorry, that makes no sense... No choice was made to retire Yzerman's number.. it was a given, you had no option but to retire his number. Sorry, but that's just the truth. Everyone even somewhat familiar with Hockey knew it would happen. It certainly doesn't open the door for Federov at all, because the circumstances are completely different. Value is irrelivant, that's not the only factor considered when retiring a number. If it was, any superstar on any team for a decent amount of time would have their number retired. And Gordie Howe the only # that wasn't debatable? Sorry, but Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Sawchuk, and Abel within the context of their time are simply not debatable... not even for a second. Delvecchio played 1549 games in Detroit, In case you're wondering, that is MORE than Yzerman. When Del retired he had 2nd all time points in NHL history, and had won 3 cups with us, was our Captain for 12 seasons (he is still 3rd on Wings all time scoring)... Uhhh, debatable? okay, you'd probably debate Mario in Pittsburg, or Orr in Boston. Also, read up on what Lindsay did for the sport of hockey with the corruption of the league at the time. It's easy to say these people don't belong up there when you're looking back through decades. Now their point and cup totals aren't as impressive, but once again I emplore you to think of things in the context of the times. None of our retired numbers are or ever have been debatable. Federov, Osgood, Draper.. all of them are very debatable and will not get their # retired.

I have a gut feeling that tells me that the ducks will pull a tampa bay or carolina post-cup season. However we'll see what happens. I do think that injuries could potentially have the greatest impact on our team, we don't exactly have the depth to lose a few players and still be one of the top teams.

Sure, probably 91 won't be worn for a while, along with 16 and 6. However, much like 16 and 6, his number won't be up in the rafters. Only Lids will see his number up there. that's it. I'd say Draper is the next most likely out of anyone, and I seriously doubt he'd get it. In fact, I'd almost guarantee he wont, I just see him as the most likely. Also, all you guys claiming Osgood should be up there with Sawchuk, things need to be taken into context. Sawchuk forever changed the way goaltending was played. He won 4 cups, 3 Vezinas, and a calder trophy. When he retired he had practically every goaltending record (still has the shutouts record). Osgood? As good as he is, and yea he could potentially surpass Sawchuk's team and career stats, Osgood just wasn't enough of a difference maker on our team, ever. He only won 1 cup as a starter and he has never been an elite goalie, just a good one. Don't get me wrong, I respect Osgood for coming back for a reduced role and reduced salary. If we had a team full of guys with Osgood's dedication we'd win the cup every year, no question. However, lets be a little more realistic with our retired number discussion. If there is ANY room for debate on a player, any whatsoever, then that person simply should not have their number retired. Yzerman, Howe, Sawchuk, Lindsay, Delvecchio, and Able. That's 6 (7 if including Larry Aurie's unretired #). See if you all can process this, 6 freaking guys in over 80 years of this team's history, and you all want to open the flood gates? Osgood? Federov? Shannahan? I'm surprised nobody is trying to get Zetterberg's number retired preemtively. Come on. You guys are making me tug my hair out.

I'm sorry to every1 who wants to see colombus get better (i do too), but this is just a dumb move on Peca's part. Take Colombus over the Rangers?? What? The guys never won a cup, and he's not going to either if he signs with non-contenders over contenders. Maybe he thinks that since the Oilers were a fluke and made it to the finals that any underdog he's on will do the same, but if I were in his position I would have gone with the team more likely to win me a cup, not the team where i'd get more cash and playing time. That being said, playing against him will make our guys better, so that's a plus.

The only reason anyone would invest in Osgood (given his age) is if they were already contenders but somehow lacked a goaltender. Other teams that are still in the building process are going young, not looking for 30 something goalies. So yes, Osgood is more than good enough to be a starter on many teams, but because of his age his list of potential suitors would be very small. A team would basically have to be willing to do what we did with Hasek (put our future on hold in hopes of winning now). Hasek has the name and reputation to make any team salivate and yet he didn't even have any legitimate offers after his season with Ottowa, despite playing very well prior to his injury. Granted he is older than Osgood and more injury prone, but I would still think Hasek would be a hotter commodity. I could only realistically see Osgood taken into a team as a plan B or as a temporary mentor / starter while a team is working on a young goalie. Also, just because St. Louis is the biggest group of underachievers in history, doesn't mean that when Osgood was on the team they were bad. They had Tkachuk, Weight, Demitra, Pronger, Drake, Mellanby, Backman, Cajanek, and Osgood. They were still a good team, and if anything I would consider Osgoods 31-25-8 record underachieving. The only non-contender Osgood was ever on were the NYI, and even they weren't THAT bad. So, Osgood's stats are a little inflated due the teams he has been on. I mean, even Legacy looks like a great goalie when u look at his record.

The Devils will be okay, they won't be great, but they will be a 6th-7th seed. Their biggest problem won't be defence, it will be finding goals, but that has ALWAYS been a problem for them and they have always done fine despite it. By the end of this year i bet Brodeur will be quite close to beating Roy's winning record (woot!). After that the Devils can become the NHLs worst team for all I care.

Okay, I understand we all want hard workers, but lets be realistic, who the hell puts any effort into playing for Colombus? That team is just garbage. Maybe the kid would show up if his team had a chance to win something. However, that being said, there aren't many people on our roster I would want to lose for him.

I would say 74-76 games. I'm sure he'll miss a few, but I doubt a ton.

Honestly, the guy doesn't have much left in the tank. If we got him back it would be purely to have him retire a wing, and if he's bitter, well then that would be completely unecessary to waste the cash on him. I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Wings jersey again, but I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep if he retired a blue jacket.

I think he can realistically crack the 90 point realm. Datsyuk is entering his prime, and if the two of them are paired together I think they will both hit the early 90s in points. Granted, I do expect Zetts to miss a few games, but I wouldn't expect him to miss more than 6-7 games.

See, this to me is confusing. I don't think anyone has said anything that can be remotely interpreted as "pissed". Having Osgood for 5 more years is undeniably good. The thing that needs to be remembered is that having Osgood doesn't solve our future goalie problems. Simple as that. He's a cheap and experienced backup capable of 20-25 starts a season (if healthy). But that's all he does for us. He's not going to take us to another cup, or play 40-50 games. So, I just think you're seeing a lack of enthusiasm because we still need a starter for our future.

Lets face it, if Osgood returns to the Wings for 5 more seasons he will be lucky to see 20 games a season let alone 20 wins (last season he only had 19 starts because of his injury). Hasek has about 1, 2 seasons left MAX. At which point we won't be using Osgood as a starter and we'll probably wind up finding or bringing up a goalie we aren't afraid of playing regularly like we are with Hasek. Osgood will be lucky to break the 400 win mark.

My point was they need gritty defenceman, not offencemen. I certainly don't advocate overpaying Markov to accomplish that, he was an example of the type of player they need to persue if they are serious about becoming contenders. They have plenty of post-sakic offensive potential in their young squad (Stastny, Wolski, ect..) They have vertually zero defence tho, and they will never win a cup without it. I don't expect Smyth to lead them anywhere. That being said, Smyth WILL make them a better team, just that much better because he is filling a position they already have.

Yes yes, it was a joke.

Smyth is better. That much is sure. However, he wont make the Avs much better. The reason "why?" is simple. He's much better on the offensive end than on the defensive end. Not to say he isn't a good defender, but the Avs were in desperate need for defence last year. Hannan will help a bit with that, but not enough to make the Avs anything more than a #6 or 7 seed. The Avs top three scorers last year were a combined -2 +/-.. Compare that to the Wings where our top three had a combined 102 +/-... That's a difference of 104 +/-, and our top 3 scored less too. So, another offensive threat like Smyth simply isn't the answer for them. They're just makes the Kariya and Selanne mistake again by adding big name scorers instead of the type of players they actually need. If they were smart they would have made a move for a guy like Markov and not Smyth. There, tell that to the Av lover (fyi, get a new roomate).

East: 1. Washington 2. Boston 3. Philadelphia 4. Atlanta 5. Montreal 6. NY Islanders 7. Pittsburgh 8. Ottawa West: 1. Columbus 2. Edmonton 3. LA Kings 4. Detroit 5. St. Louis 6. Chicago 7. Phoenix 8. Calgary This is Columbus' year to win the cup.

I'm going to navigate around the anger and say that Brad Ference is a former 1st round draft pick (10th overall) and could become our next cleary (by which I mean, be a 1st round dud, and rebound in Detroit).

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Aqqg...t&type=lgns

A few guys i've heard the words washed-up applied to.... Hasek and Cheli. We had both of them last season for under 2 mil. Their combined value in terms of their play is at least 3 or 4 times that. Holland called Hasek a 5 million goalie. This is how taking a risk on a "washed-up" vet can really really pay off. No one here advocates paying a ton of cash for Lindros. It is all about whether he is willing to take a dirt salary for a chance to win a cup. If he gets hurt we dont lose out. It's not like he'll get more than a 1 yr contract, so he wont hurt any of our future signings either.

This is silly. Dom is also very injury prone, and this season (as well as last) all of our chances were essentially riding on his groin. Yet, we keep taking the risk. If dom goes down, then what? Start Osgood? I like Osgood and all, but he is not a #1 goalie. As far as I'm concerned, If dom goes down, so do our cup chances. So, u guys r willing to risk the entire season on Dom, but are unwilling to risk blowing 800-1M of our cap space (of which we have more than enough) to sign a guy who used to be the best player in the league? Just making sure I understand.

See, for this comparison of seasons to work, the wings would have to play everyone the exact same minuites as last season. Which would mean, every time our 2nd line would normally be out, we'll just let the other team take shots at Hasek. If we did this, then we would be down those 52 goals. However, simply because our 2nd line from last year is gone, doesn't mean we wont use a 2nd line this yr. Since we will in fact be using a 2nd line, that means certain players will be getting 2nd line type minuites (hudler, flip, cleary, etc...). Inevitably, they will put up 2nd line #s... if Hudler could score 15 goals on junk 4th line playing time, imagine what he could do with 2nd line minuites. Ta ta Lang.