GMRwings1983

I think Bettman needs to take action immediately to prevent this sort of behavior in the future. Sorry guys, I can't help it. I have just a few more left.

A guy like this could make the rest of our organization look bad and makes it look like the Wings have no class. I'm glad we got rid of him and brought in some upstanding Canadian citizens instead.

No game? His skill set is unlike that of any other player in the league. Also, he scores 50 plus points without ever stepping on the ice. How can that be called no game?

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Although Williams isn't old, he was here already once under Babcock and clearly wasn't physical, otherwise we wouldn't have traded him for a no talent hack like Calder.

His girfriend was super hot, too. That just proves that Hudler doesn't know what's best for him in life. First he leaves the Wings for the KHL and now he cheats on his hot girlfriend with a pair of hookers. These are not things Bertuzzi would do.

Last year this team struggled with consistency all season, and ultimately didn't have enough grit and energy to take home the Cup. I prefer to think about the 2008 team, which had Drake, Helm, Mac and Downey. That team won the Cup. Calling WIlliams a gritty player is a joke. We traded him for Kyle Calder because he wasn't gritty enough, and the team didn't want the same playoff finish as they got in 2006. Also, Maltby and Draper are one year older and aren't going to be any more physical than they were before. I just look at the bottom 2 lines, and I wonder who is going to bring energy other than Helm or Abby, provided the latter even makes the regular roster.

3rd lines play more often than 4th lines, hence there's more need for that to be a checking line. You can't have 3 lines of skill and no hitting, because this isn't the Olympics nor is it the 2002 Wings. Better balance is the key here. I don't think this is a well balanced lineup. This lineup is good enough to be one of the best in the league, but in the long run, I'm not too thrilled about this team deep in the playoffs.

Hey, I remember last year he scored on a breakaway by firing a slapshot. Apparently, his slapshot is more accurate than his wrister, which is kind of strange since it's usually the opposite for every other player.

Or it seemed like during the playoffs, every time some player from the opposing team started a scrum after the whistle, some posters here would automatically refer to that player as dirty or to that team as goonish. As if pushing after a whistle makes a team dirty. Some posters on LGW don't seem to realize that fighting is allowed in hockey, and it's probably because they exclusively watch the Wings and no one else.

Yeah, because we actually want the Wings to lose. That's why I was so happy after game 7. I never said the Wings weren't a good team, I just don't think we're the most complete team as far as weaknesses go. The Pens are a more complete team than the Wings right now in terms of skill and grit. The Hawks might also be in the same boat. It's easier to win the Cup with some grit on the lower lines than having no grit on the lower lines. That's just my point and I don't see how anyone can disagree.

This "comedy" thing isn't as easy as it looks, huh?

Skill is overrated, especially when the roster is already full of it. Grit and toughness, however, are underrated on this forum. People don't realize that you can't win with a complete powder puff lineup, and thsi team hasn't won a Cup yet without some grit on the lower lines. Our lower lines have one gritty player right now, and that's Darren Helm. In a 7 game series, good luck expecting Williams and Leino to wear other teams down with their constant, punishing forechecking.

What chance is there that Draper gets one of the top 3 slots?

Parker was a really good enforcer, his issue was injuries and some inconsistency. His biggest problem was that he was considered the next Bob Probert coming out of the minors. That is, until he literally ran into Bob Probert and was destroyed. He just never lived up to his tremendous hype, but he wasn't a horrible fighter by any stretch. He had really good power and size.

Doesn't matter on the 4th line. The Wings will never have long term problems with scoring because of their overall talent. There are no Bob Probert's in the NHL right now.

Welcome to LGW. It's good to have another pro-enforcer poster on our side. Believe me, we can use all the help we can get on this site trying to convince people that having toughness in the lineup is actually a good thing. Hope you have better luck than the rest of us do.

Again? Don't like the 3rd line very much. Three guys who can't check playing on a checking line. I think that'll be nicknamed the "****** line".

Pavel Hank Williams Then it'll be Franzen, Flip, Bert.

Roy is by far the best player on the list, so I'm surprised he hasn't been signed yet. I like both Fritz and King, but even if we didn't sign anybody this offseason, Holland still wouldn't go after players like that.

I didn't think he was bad for us in the playoffs in 2007. There were several reasons we lost, but he wasn't anywhere near the main reason for it. Also, why would Hudler have gotten more icetime? Homer as others have said is useless outside the top 2 lines, and Flip played well in the playoffs and was higher paid than Hudler thus there was more pressure to appease him. Cleary is more versatile. Obviously Franzen, Hossa, Pavel and Hank were the other top forwards. Hudler actually got more icetime than he should have, because he knocked Flip off the PP units. People complaining about his icetime fail to realize that there was no way to give him more minutes without screwing something up for the rest of the team.

Bertuzzi has been hurt a lot the last few years. Plus, Iginla is more of a goal scorer than a set up man. Also, Calgary is not much of a scoring team. Hudler played on our PP unit, which is where a lot of his points came from. The Wings 2nd PP unit was loaded with talent, so Hudler wasnt' getting as little icetime as people claim he was. The Wings will now have another guy that will crash the net and give goalies fits, along with Homer, Franzen and Cleary. Also, if Bertuzzi can come anywhere near as physical and dominant as he once was, look out. Hudler doesn't have that much potential if you ask me. He'll always be a small, skilled player. He doesn't exactly put fear into the opposition or make himself a guy that's hard to play against. Once again, though, this comes down to popularity, and posters here are homerish towards Hudler. If a guy similar to Hudler was being sought by the Wings alongisde with Bertuzzi, most posters here would be for Bertuzzi being signed over that other guy. My last image of Hudler is him disappearing the last 2 rounds of the playoffs. If he played better and this team won the Cup, maybe he'd still be around.

Well at least I'm not cussing at people just to spark flame wars, like some other posters are. What argument do you want? People need to realize that more icetime wouldn't necessarily result in Hudler all of a sudden being one of the best forwards in the league. It's you people who have no argument, because you take Hudler's stats and then presume what he would score with more icetime. As I told eva yesterday, Hudler couldn't play 20 minutes a night, on both sides of the ice, play on the PP and PK, and be a team leader. That's why he didnt' get as much icetime here as he would in other places. We had too much talent for him. Bertuzzi gives this team more balance on the forward lines, whereas Hudler would just be another undersized non-checker. The only legitimate argument for Hudler over Bertuzzi is health, but at this point Bertuzzi was unfortunately the most skilled forward out there, so Holland felt like he had no choice. Most people around the league would likely think Bertuzzi is better than Hudler, if healthy. It's only the homers here who have this strange man crush on him.

Wow, did I ruffle your feathers a little too much sweetheart? All I said was that you hated Bertuzzi. It must be a bad day in Vancouver today, huh? You're the one acting like a juvenile right now. I would tell you to f*** off also, but there's no point in doing so. Hopefully the mods will deal with you properly.

Good one. I don't hate Lidstrom, Hank, Pavel and many others. Nor do I hate Hudler, I'm just simply not heartbroken over him leaving.

Stupidly isn't a word. I'm tired of people talking about how great Hudler is compared to the icetime he gets, or comparing him to Datsyuk with similar icetime. Way too much love for a midget 3rd liner who is inconsistent with his scoring. And BTW, we get it. You hate Bertuzzi.