GMRwings1983

A line of Emmerton, Miller and Eaves is about as useless a 4th line as you can have. Very similar players who don't provide anything that a 4th line should have. They don't hit, aren't big guys that will wear defenders down and don't fight. That might be OK when you're talking about a 4th line of Holmstrom, Larionov and Robitaille, but it's fair to say the skill levels don't compare here. As I said earlier, our 4th line has no identity.

He's actually less worthless than our other 4th liners, because he adds an element they don't have. He hits everything that moves and drops the gloves to spark the team. Holland proved last year that he didn't know what the hell he was doing. He signed Sammy to a ridiculous contract, brought in Carlo Coca-Cola (with his injuries), and signed Tootoo, who did what was asked of him, yet still rode the bench (hence a bad signing by Holland). I still don't know what Tootoo should have done differently to impress Kenny. He didn't score any less than our other 4th liners, and was the only guy who showed balls enough to stand up for his teammates. Apparently, Holland and Babcock were expecting something else from him. What that is, I'll never know.

He can hold his own, but he rarely fights. Before anyone cries about him possibly getting hurt, better defenseman than him have been a lot more willing to drop the gloves. He needs to use his size more and challenge people. Especially when our guys are being pushed around (Cough. Bickell and Shaw in the playoffs). I disagree. It seemed like Bickell and Shaw wore the Wings out as the series went on. Those guys played well and forechecked hard. That grit paid off for them. We didn't have anyone really doing that to the Hawks defense on the other side. You can't put three small, soft players on the 4th line and hope they can wear teams down over a long playoff series. Some balance is needed there. Tootoo isn't the biggest guy, but he hits hard and grinds well along the boards. Also, don't forget how the Ducks 4th line totally dominated ours in that series. The Wings have had a useless 4th line for years now. We need to have a better identity there.

Tootoo did exactly what he was asked of last season, yet the Wings don't appear interested in his services anymore. Don't know what more Holland was expecting from him.

On the bright side, I don't see any ugly vertical stripes that are predominating (ruining) NHL jerseys right now.

I hope so. I think there's more up and coming teams in the East than the West. Many of them seem to be in our division.

Didn't say they were great or better/worse than us. I just said they were an up and coming team. Not a stretch when you look at last season. Besides, it doesn't matter if our roster is better on paper than theirs. This isn't the NBA, where you can win on talent alone.

Isn't everyone playing golf in July? They went to the 2nd round last year and have a good mixture of skill and grit. Something we don't have. A mixture of skill and grit.

Their original jerseys are still their best. Adding black and orange to it was stupid. If it ain't broke (not referring to the stick in the logo) don't fix it.

Boston and Pittsburgh. I see Ottawa as an up and coming team, though.

Thanks. I didn't even see the link.

Good point. How do they know what team you're a fan of other than what you're wearing?

If only Bertuzzi could be transported via time machine to 10 years ago. Exactly the type of player we need on this team.

He's an old man and has been injured before. It was a poor move at the time, not just hindsight being 20/20. Signing Cleary would be a similar mistake. We need to purge these old-timers and let the kids play.

Sammy and Bertuzzi. The two old guys who are injured and useless. Holland s*** all over himself with the Sammy contract, though. A useless signing and a no-trade clause to boot. Brilliant. I agree. Not Sammy's fault Holland was stupid enough to give him that contract. What was Sammy supposed to do? Turn it down?

What about Lombardi? The Kings have made good moves in the market and in the draft. He brought them their first Cup.

Chiarelli in Boston is pretty good. He's drafted well and made good trades/signings to make them a perennial contender these last few years. Good mixture of skill and grit. That franchise was staggering before he got there. Not many long playoff runs. Hard to turn something like that around.

The teams they had 10 years ago were a lot more underachieving. This team is not as talented as teams like the Hawks, Penguins and Bruins. Not surprised they haven't won anything.

Konstantinov doesn't deserve to have his number retired. It's been taken out of circulation (don't know for how much longer), but that's about it. He was a good player, but those other names are elite players. What could have been is a different story. Norm Ullman had a better career as a Wing than Konstantinov or Shanahan. His number isn't up there. How can you put those guys up before him?

Maybe they'll get bought by some large Arab investors, like those soccer teams overseas.

The Devils moved to Jersey in the 80's. The Wings have been around since the 30's. Do I really need to explain why a Daneyko type player would get retired by the Devils but not the Wings?

Didn't Derek Meech wear Shanny's number? That should tell you all you need to know. Once again, I go back to the Red Kelly argument. If his number isn't retired in Detroit, why should Shanahan's be?

More like Probert - Gretzky - Kocur

Weren't the Red Wings and Kings the front runners for the Gretzky trade?