GMRwings1983

With the Wings playoff record the last few seasons, not attempting to improve the team makes no sense. Obviously, it'd be a big and potentially risky move, but not as risky as say trading a younger player might be. I'm just saying that Holland should look at it. We don't have many "tradeable" pieces, and I wouldn't trade Smith at this point. Maybe not even Nyquist.

Buying him out is silly, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be considered a viable trade option. It's not just one or two posters who have a problem with Franzen's work ethic. It's tons of posters. He doesn't seem like a guy who plays with passion all the time. Give him Helm's work ethic, and you'll see what I mean.

You mean the man who singlehandedly won us game 1 of the 2008 SCF?

Basically, the same as last year's wishes. Get a real top 6 forward, and a top 4 defenseman. And one of those enforcer people.

That line would be a tragedy to watch if those guys play like they did last season.

We should hire him as special advisor to Ken Holland. His job could involve scouting enforcers all over NA. If he needs a helper........

So there's no excuse now for Francine not to be one of the league leaders in goals.

"Ask not what the NHL can do for you, but what you can do for the NHL" Gary Bettman

They can keep Kovalchuk, as long as they give Yashin back to the NHL.

Canadians just want to be the best at the one thing they know how to do.

Of course not. Only a few guys (sometimes one or none) can do it in a full season. I also read that goal scoring was down during the shortened '95 season. I mean per game averages.

Free Center Ice Contract a few teams from the league Force goalies to play standup goaltending Get rid of ads on the boards (yeah right) Remove the instigator rule

I'm counting on your boy McCollum to save us in a few years.

Break the bank Kenny! In all seriousness, I don't see us making big moves. Aren't we closer to the cap than thought previously? And isn't it already midseason? LOL We may get some depth on the bottom lines and bottom pairings, but that's about it.

The last few seasons, he hasn't done that great a job. The team took too many games off last season and it doesn't seem like he got through to the players as much. Then again, as I said earlier, Holland hasn't exactly done much to bolster this lineup. Babcock sounded unhappy after the last playoff loss, and stated this team was heading in the wrong direction. We're still headed in that direction.

What incident? Is there something I'm missing here? If that's Babcock's opinion, it's no wonder this team hasn't gone anywhere the last few seasons. He needs to take his blinders off and look at the product on the ice.

I happen to know that Downey's manhood and toughness during the regular season, made our soft Euros play tougher come playoff time. It's like he rubbed off on them, especially Filppula. A source close to the team (Hudler) told me so.

You contradict yourself. You said earlier that he scored 38 points last year. Now you suggest that he's big, talented and has a good work ethic. Wouldn't a big, talented forward with good work ethic score more than 38 points, especially if he's playing with Pavel or Hank? I would think so. The truth is that he's a big time floater and is too streaky. That belief comes from watching him on the ice and from his point totals. And of course there's guys in the league who are 6'3 and have a better work ethic with more talent than Bert. He's almost 40 and offers nothing at this point, besides shootout goals. His point totals are dropping and I doubt his upside has increased during this lockout. Babcock was being nice. He's not going to tell the media that Bert is lazy. I'm sure Babcock wishes Holland went out and bolstered the top 6 after the last several underwhelming playoffs from the team.

Anyone younger than 38, with more talent and work ethic. Shouldn't be hard. I don't know if Holland plans on doing anything at this point. I know he didn't do much last offseason to bolster this team. As far as our current roster goes, I gave you what I thought was the best lineup. I never said I liked the lineup. Bert is another player like Sammy that doesn't belong well on any line. Maybe we can just dress him for those cheap shootout points we're going to need in this short season.

What were their odds at the beginning of last season? Just wondering.

No way. Downey was a real enforcer, not a middleweight. And he won us the Cup. Tootoo hasn't done that yet.

That map would look so much better if Florida and Tampa were casually removed from the NHL.

No, considering how he played with Datsyuk or Zetterberg at various points in the season. If you can't score more than 38 points playing with those players, you shouldn't be on the top two lines. Just means he was dragging those guys back from scoring even more.

LOL. Who could possibly forget him?