GoOzzieGo

And how many Stanley Cup winning teams have you GM'd again?

You might want to look into that a bit more. Actually, he has pretty decent playoff numbers for the role he plays.

I don't mind this signing......but please, no annoying train whistle!

I guess Nashville is adding insurance in case of the possible life without Weber eh?

This theory works if you only plan on playing with 5 defensemen. Given that Rafalski's minutes are going to be picked up by someone, most any able bodied defenseman will pick up close to 15 to 20 points by the sheer dumb luck of being out there for that amount of time. Hell, even the offensively challenged Chelios picked up 11 or 12 points in his last full season of full time play here.

Agreed. Please tell me I'm mistaken, but it appeared as though Lidstrom did not come back on the ice for that face off with 40 some odd seconds left in the game?

I'm liking how things are shaping up right now with us in the #2 slot going up against Chicago in the #7. Nashville is only a point or so out of the #8 slot behind Calgary and have a couple of games in hand. I think they could give Vancouver a nice drawn out series which could help us out in the long run due to the travel schedule Vancouver would be facing early. For Chicago, Crawford is an unknown playoff performer....maybe he seizes the moment, maybe he falters. I like our chances.

It seems most everyone is using Sawchuk as the benchmark as to whether Ozzie's number gets retired. Having never seen Sawchuk play, I can go only on statistics. And going just on statistics.....I'm not that impressed as to why his number is up there. He basically had 5 great seasons. His second stint with the Wings resulted in a sub-500 record over the course of those 7 years with less than impressive win totals in each of those years (not 1 season over 30 and only 2 with 25 or more). If 5 great years is the benchmark, then I can think of a number of Wings that should be up there.

I was just looking at the '83 draft when Detroit took Yzerman 4th overall and the players taken ahead of him. Good God, how did LaFontaine fall to third in that draft? Previous season in juniors....70 games, 104 goals, 130 assists for 234 points and a whopping 10 penalty minutes.

True....but if we break down the series versus the Wings, Turco really only had 2 bad games. Game 1...4-1 loss. 3 power play goals against, 1 of them a 5 on 3. And this was coming off one of the longer games in NHL history against SJ. According to the recap, the whole Dallas team looked fatigued. Turco's fault? Game 2....2-1 loss. 1 power play goal against. Stopped 32 of 34 shots Game 3....he sucked Game 4....3-1 victory. Stopped 33 of 34 shots. Game 5....2-1 victory. Stopped 38 of 39 shots. Game 6....he sucked Since then...yeah, his numbers have been way down but the Dallas team in front of him hasn't exactly been a powerhouse either. I just feel he's got something left in the tank and that Chicago's goal-tending woes might not be as bleak as some are making them out to be.

Isn't this upcoming season, the future? Aren't the Wings counting on Jimmy to handle the majority of the goal-tending workload? With Babcock's seemingly lack of confidence in Ozzie, if Jimmy bombs....chances are the Wings do as well.

I bow to your wisdom. I'm clueless since I'm not following along with your logic of automatically writing Marty Turco off? He had a defense in front of him last year made up of the likes of Trevor Daley, Robidas, Niskanen, Skrastins, Fistric, Woywitka, & Grossman.....lots of big names there. Niemi had Campbell, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson and the Norris winner - Keith in front of him.....yet Niemi and Turco had the same save percentage. In fact, Turco's was a tick higher. Turco has been quoted as saying that he had multi-year offers but wanted to wait to see what went down in Chicago because he wanted the chance to be there. Putting Chicago's defense in front of a guy that wants the job and has something to prove, could turn out to be a great move on their part.....or it might not. I'm just not so quick to count the chickens before they hatch and hand the division back over to Detroit. Howard has 1 good season under his belt.....can we think of any other goalies that have put up 1 and done numbers lately? Yet I'm clueless.

Troll? What are you talking about? I've been on here longer than you. Just because I have a life outside a message board doesn't make me a troll. Have we not turned the goal-tending reigns over to Jimmy Howard? Those are his playoff numbers.

Neither is 2.75 GAA and .914......but we're banking our future on it.

I dunno, but I hear they are having like 12 ring ceremonies.....1 for each stop on their schedule when they're playing a former teammate from the Cup winning team.

Shhhh....I'm trying to pump up the Hawk's fans so they'll be even more disappointed when we beat them.

Yeah but half the Chicago/Wings games are at the United Center....where Turco has a .667 winning percentage with a 1.67 GAA and nearly 20% of his wins are via shut-out. Since the Hawks have trouble with him, maybe they're thinking they can pick up a few extra points by not having to play against him anymore?

I agree, it could go either way. I think a lot of the recent woes in Dallas were placed unfairly on Turco's shoulders. The last couple of years in Dallas were not that great numbers wise but how good is a goalie going to play when all the speculation around you is that the team no longer wants you? Yet he still put up 33 and 22 wins. Yeah, he's getting up there in age but 34 going on 35....ehh...he's still got some years in him. The Hawks are depleted but they are still the defending Stanley Cup Champs. That, and the change in scenery might be enough to light a fire under Turco and get him more true to form than these past few years dictate.

Well maybe I the only one that sees Turco coming to the Hawks as being an upgrade for them. Niemi won what?....26 games for the Hawks last year? In Turco's time with Dallas (Including his years as back-up to Eddie) he averaged 29 wins. He had one less win, 5 less losses and a better goals against average than eventual Vezina Trophy winner - Marty B in 2003-04. (And I feel the trophy probably should have been his in 2002-03...a 1.72 GAA, .932 SV%...in his first full season as a starter...are you kidding me?!) Sure, Niemi has his name on the cup but after watching the Hawk's cup run, I felt more that the Hawks won despite Niemi's play and not because of his play. I can see how his puck handling skills could be a benefit in helping to get the break started for the speedy forwards. And coming to the Hawks at the rumored price tag....I'd be thrilled if I was a Hawks fan and had this guy coming to town.

How old are we again? 12....13?

A great idea for who??? The major markets of the East Coast would snore, much like I'm sure the West Coast did for Boston/Philly. A Crosby/Ovechkin match-up has the ability to draw in the casual fans and their credit cards worldwide. So for the NHL, this is the smartest move whether we like it or not.

Yeah, two traditional fan bases that are going to be there regardless. Would you like to know the players with the top two positions in jersey sales? 1. Crosby 2. Ovechkin It's all about money and marketing and those two are going to bring in more new fans than either the Leafs or the Wings. Simple marketing 101. The band wagon hockey fans could give a rat's ass about tradition....they want whats hot in the here and now. THAT is what the NHL is banking on by giving the Winter Classic Pittsburgh/Washington.

The NHL can't land a decent TV contract, so on the one day when they ARE able to grab a piece of the spotlight....you're going to fault them for putting their two biggest draws on the ice? Keep boycotting if you like, but don't complain when NHL games are continually having to be watched on some obscure channel because they are not able to prove that they can pull ratings to deserve to be on anything better.

Don't get me wrong, I like Lils....but didn't his return to the lineup also coincide with the return of Franzen and a few others? So to give all the credit to Lils for the Wings' turnaround is probably not all that accurate.

I'm going to hell for this one but..... Make it a scratch 'n sniff and you've got a deal.