GMRwings1983

I would think Osgood has been a bigger scapegoat than Cujo. He's had several stints in Detroit, and during that time, he's been loved and hated by Wings fans numerous times. It keeps going in a circle with him.

I was just wondering who makes the decision for teams when they choose to retire a jersey? Is it the owner's sole decision, or do the GM's and Vice Presidents of the team also get their say? I've never really thought about this question until now, so I'm kind of curious. My thinking is that the people in charging of running the current team probably shouldn't make those decisions, since that's not in their job duties, but then again, I'm not sure that one person (the owner) should have sole responsibility either. So who makes that decision for each franchise, or does it vary from team to team?

I suggest you start drinking Scotch with water instead of mixing it with Vodka.

I thought MacInnis had a legitimate shot at the Norris in 2003. 2007 was another close one for Nick, where I wasn't sure that he was going to pull it out. Listrom wasn't robbed of the Norris last year, and no one on Chicago won the Vezina. Keith deserved it and had a great all-around season. Lidstrom had a strong finish to the year, but I'm not going to complain that he didn't win.

That makes sense, but my problem with that is that owners in sports sometimes buy teams without having a deep rooted knowledge of that franchise or the history of the game. Kind of like a bigshot wanting to add something to their resume, so they buy the team. Not all owners are as devoted to their teams as Ilitch is.

That's nothing. You should see what they did to my Williams jersey.

That has nothing to do with it. Lidstrom has won the Norris before in seasons where other guys could easily have won it over him. Last year he had such a subpar start to the season, that I understand why he wasn't nominated at the end.

As the subheading states, we're only talking about current status if everyone retired today. Hence, guys like Ovechkin or Crosby aren't mentioned. I know a guy like Thornton will easily make it if he plays another 5 years, but I wanted this topic to be fun and a little challenging, instead of making obvious calls. So here goes: Guys who would get in now Lidstrom Brodeur Pronger Selanne Modano Recchi Osgood? Iginla? Guys I don't think would get in now Thornton Kariya Kovalev Alfredsson Tkachuk Foote Weight These guys are near the 1,000 point mark, and Tkachuk is above it, but I don't see them as current Hall of Famers. I thought about putting Iginla on this list, but I think him carrying a team and being a great goal scorer for many years up until his recent struggles would get him in. Ozzie we've had many debates about, but I think he'll eventually, somewhere down the line get voted in due to his record and several Stanley Cups. There aren't many multiple Cup winning goalies who aren't in the Hall of Fame. His lack of individual nominations for awards could hurt him, however, in the voters minds.

Whatever it is, I hope we don't use 9 forwards to kill penalties anymore. It kills the familiarity and rhythm of always having the same penalty killers. I mean, it's good to have depth when players are injured and all, but to rotate that many forwards all the time isn't good. I think it had a negative effect on us somewhat last year.

I hope our team will never be as infinitely boring as those teams were to watch. The Devils more than any other team prompted the idea of a "new NHL" with different rules and less trapping.

The league needs to contract some teams, and not expand. Everyone is jumping to the KHL post lockout because the salaries players were getting before aren't as widely available now. Now it's only 2 or 3 players on every team taking up about 50% of the salary for the team. The rest of the role players (the ones jumping to the KHL), don't get paid as much. That's why all these jobbers jump to the KHL, and not because there's not enough team. Blame the salary cap.

I hope this generates some good debate. A lot of these were slam dunks, but others were close. I had a hard time especially with Vancouver, Anaheim, Buffalo and Chicago. Ducks - Scott Niedermayer Thrashers - Scott Mellanby Bruins - Ray Bourque Sabres - Pat LaFontaine Flames - Jarome Iginla Hurricanes - Ron Francis Blackhawks - Pierre Pilote Avalanche - Joe Sakic Blue Jackets - Adam Foote Stars - Derian Hatcher Red Wings - Steve Yzerman Oilers - Wayne Gretzky Panthers - Brian Skrudland Kings - Wayne Gretzky Wild - Mikko Koivu (they finally made up their minds ) Canadiens - Jean Beliveau Predators - Greg Johnson ( sad but true) Devils - Scott Stevens Islanders - Denis Potvin (edging out Yashin ) Rangers - Mark Messier Senators - Daniel Alfredsson Flyers - Bobby Clarke Penguins - Mario Lemieux Coyotes - Shane Doan Sharks - Owen Nolan Blues - Brian Sutter Lightning - Dave Andreychuk Leafs - George Armstrong Canucks - Trevor Linden Capitals - Dale Hunter

Bruins - Bobby Orr Sabres - Dominik Hasek Canadiens - Guy Lafleur Senators - Dominik Hasek Leafs - Tie Domi Devils - Brendan Shanahan Isles - Bobby Nystrom Rangers - Nick Fotiu Flyers - Behn Wilson Penguins - Mario Lemieux Thrashers - Slava Kozlov Hurricanes - Gordie Howe (sort of) Panthers - Pavel Bure Lightning - Chris Dingman (miss seing Dingbat fight ) Capitals - Alexander Ovechkin Flames - Sandy McCarthy Avalanche - Scott Parker Oilers - Wayne Gretzky Wild - Derek Boogaard Canucks - Pavel Bure Blackhawks - Ed Belfour Blue Jackets - Sergei Fedorov Red Wings - Steve Yzerman Predators - Stu Grimson Blues - Tony Twist Ducks - Sergei Fedorov Stars - Ed Belfour Kings - Wayne Gretzky Coyotes - Tie Domi (Winnipeg days) Sharks - Owen Nolan

Gretzky was always underrated as a leader and underrated for being a hard working player also. When you're that much better than anyone else, people tend to overlook the intangibles that make most players special, and focus on the WOW factor instead. I've never heard anyone say anything but good things about his leadership in the locker room.

Mine are all goons. With our team, it'd be Lidstrom.

Some KHL team that plays in Siberia somewhere.

I'm just looking forward to the season, period. Hopefully, unlike last year, the regular season can become boring again, and we don't have to fight for the playoff spot. The postseason will decide everything with this team like it has before. Right now it looks like a Cup or bust season, which means our expectations are still high, unlike 95% of the teams in professional sports.

Too many people here have no clue what the Hall of Fame usually allows in or out.

Is this thread for real? Holmstrom has no chance for the Hall of Fame. I have a better chance of hooking up with some famous moviestar than he has of making it in.

Guerin is Latino?

I so totally now want to design my own rink.

Why would Maltby want to end his career in GR? He'd be better off retiring than ending it like that.

I don't consider guys like Sutton or Hnidy to be enforcers. You guys are just stereotyping based on my previous posts in other threads. Here, we're talking about tough 3rd pair defensemen and not wingers who are straight up enforcers like Boogaard. That's changing the topic and talking about the 4th line, which is not what I'm doing in this thread, although I have done it before in those threads. I just want to know why posters criticize defensemen who can't skate and take occasional bad penalties, and then they praise this signing. It seems hypocritical to me and I don't think it's because Salei is perceived as being really good all around, because he's really not. He's a straight up defensive defenseman, just like many of the other players me and several other posters have wanted.

Name me one Stanley Cup we won where we "needed" our 3rd pairing to produce offensively? I can't think of any. I don't think we signed him for his offense any more than we did Bob Rouse, Andreas Lija or anyone else who played on our 3rd pairing in past years. He was brought in for his defensive play more than anything else. All around play is what guys like Lidstrom and Kronwall log the big icetime for.