GMRwings1983

That's hilarious. In the game, does he at least score the important goals when they really count?

His number should absolutely be retired for all that he did in Detroit, but I don't think it will because of some of the reasons that previous posters already mentioned. To me, I don't see why it should matter what he did after he left Detroit. Teams retire players' numbers due to their career with that team, and not based on what the player did elsewhere. Feds was never washed up in Detroit, and was one of the 10 best players in the league throughout his entire career in Hockeytown. He played in every situation and was always great in big games. Besides, he spent 13 years in Detroit, which is more than Shanahan had, so I'm not going to make comparisons between the two. He didn't leave on the greatest terms, but players have left on much worse terms before. I just don't understand why a guy has to play his entire career with one team in order for fans to think that his number should be retired?

Rod Brindamour

I thought that last year would be his big chance to start in the NHL, but he wound up being outplayed for much of the year by an old Eddie Belfour. He's gonna have to prove himself in Phoenix if he ever wants to be more than a backup.

The Wings have been a tough team to play against for a long time, and that is why it's hard to win at the Joe, not because it's a loud building or we're intimidating. The Joe often sounds like a golf course compared to some other buildings in the league.

What about Brodeur, Luongo, Turco, and many other guys who I'm too lazy to name right now? In fact, many teams have backup goalies that can take over a game at any given time. I can think of numerous instances in recent memory when that happened. Goalies are better schooled now then they've ever been before, and Wings fans should know that better than anybody based on some of our recent playoff disappointments. Nobody ever heard of Kiprussoff, Giguere, or Roloson until they beat us in the playoffs.

I agree. However, I doubt that Z will be willing to play for $2 million for long, and as far as Lidtrom taking that big a paycut, I'll have to see it to believe it.

I didn't say that they weren't going to have success because he won't play well. I'm just saying that any team that's serious about their future would be crazy to have Osgood as their #1 goaltender. At this point in his career he's a solid backup and that's it. There's not much prospect with signing a backup goalie in his mid 30's and thinking that he's going to carry you somewhere. To suggest that he could start for half the teams in the league was an overly broad statement on your part.

Thanks for the info.

Does anyone know what the hell happened to Alexander Mogilny? Did he retire, or is he planning on playing in Russia?

More than 1/2 the teams in the league! I don't thinks so. There's a few teams that might take him on as a starter, but none of those teams are going to be successful. Teams are looking for younger goalies who can be franchise players, and Osgood doesn't fit the mold.

I think that he can score over 90 points easily if he's healthy, but I don't expect him to stay healthy, especially with all these nasty rumors about his bad back.

I wouldn't put so much weight into Art Ross trophies, because those trophies came when Gretzky and Lemieux were retired or way past their prime. Thanks to those 2 guys, a lot of great players never won the scoring title, such as Messier, Yzerman, Francis, Trottier, etc. I don't have Jagr ranked ahead of all those guys just because of his hardware. As great as Jagr has been for his generation, Lidstrom's all-time ranking should be higher, because 5 Norris trophies is impressive for any generation. I'd take Lidstrom's consistency and durability over any other player in league history. I don't see how you can say Feds is more consistent than Jagr. Yes, he's 3 years older than Jagr, but 3 years ago Feds wasn't putting up the numbers that Jagr is tallying today. He'll easily finish top 10 in all-time scoring, which is a lot more than you can say for Sergei.

The Sharks used to have a kick ass logo until they changed it. Do the ducks even have a logo? Their logo is just a bunch of letters superimposed on an ugly colored jersey. As far as I'm concerned, the Wings, Blackhawks, and Blues have the best logos.

I don't mind having him around as a backup, but if he does start in 2008/09, then we've got some serious problems in hockeytown. He shouldn't be a starter anywhere at this point in his career.

I would have loved to have Sutton here because of his size and physicality. Yes, he's not as physical as he should be, but still a lot more aggressive than anyone on our blue-line. As for his fighting ability, that had nothing to do with me wanting him here. I mean come on, the guy lost to Vinny Lecavalier of all people.

I'm making a bold prediction right now. The first time we play the Wild this season, Lilja KO's Boogaard with a left hand from hell.

I love Bure, but how is he a better defensive player than Jagr. Also, as good as Fedorov and Forsberg were defensively, if I were starting a team, I'd take Jagr in his prime over both of them. He's an offensive machine both in scoring goals and tallying assists. As for his attitude, Fedorov, Hasek, and Forsberg have never been known to have great attitude either, but I don't see what that has to do with all-time ranking. Jagr is 2nd on my list behind only Lidstrom.

There's a lot of people in Canada who hate the Leafs, so don't assume that they represent the entire country. His first loyalty is with the Wings, and not some has-been organization like the Leafs. Besides, Stevie is a smart guy, so I don't see him taking a dumb chance like that knowing that he has no prior experience as a GM. In Detroit he's treated like a God, but in Toronto he'd be criticized the same way everybody does there at the first sign of discontent.

What you just said is probably the best answer to sum up this whole discussion thread. Every time a fighting argument is brought up, most people here will instantly say that an enforcer takes up roster spots, and that in today's league there's no need for an enfocer, or that it doesn't fit with the Wings' plans, etc. I am convinced, though, that if we were to sign an enforcer, all the anti-fighting people would immediately jump to the other side of the fence and embrace the fact that we would finally have an enforcer.

Because of his unparalleled consistency, Nick is the best european player in league history. He's been the best defenseman in the league now for 10 years, and has been playing at an all-star level even before that. He's missed something like 20 games in a 15 year career, which means that on average he's played about 80.5 games a season. When you combine that with his playoff games, we're talking about a guy who's played 90 plus games a season for 15 years, 25-30 minutes a night against the best players on the other team, and he's done it at a higher level than anyone else over the last 10 years. Name me anyone else in sports who you can say that about. Hasek has been hurt too much to have that kind of consistency, and as great as Jagr is, he's had his share of injuries as well, and isn't as good an all around player as Lidtrom.

He was too tall to ever play for us. Besides, if we signed him, then we'd have to get rid of our enforcer Lilja.

I like how you guys are trying to be creative, but the standings system is fine as it is. The only thing I'd change is the schedule, so that teams would have either 4 or 6 divisional games, instead of 8 which is too many.

Am I the only one who realizes that there's hardly anymore fighting in hockey as it is today. Since we're all still fans, I guess that means it has had a small effect. However, the league needs to get rid of the stupid instigator rule, because hockey doesn't have the edge that it used to. Maybe then we'll see more than 1 guy in the league crack the 200 PIM mark. Hockey with no fighting = football.

That wouldn't be good for the Wings since we never seem to win in overtime or in a shootout.