Nev

What was it Gary Player said? "The more I practise, the luckier I get". Or, as I saw a fighter pilot put it "Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a trend".

Thats not hometown discount, that's hometown robbery! Flip is going to get somewhere between 2.5 and 3mil per year, probly a 3 or 4 year deal to take him through UFA status.

Because they don't have to elect 4 - they can decide no-one is Hall worthy if they want. As for Dino, yeah he's got 600 goals but he also played in the 80s and early 90s where if you could lace up a pair of skates you could score 30 goals a season. For all those goals he only had two 50 goal seasons (55 & 52) which to me says he was a consistent scorer rather than a great scorer. He never won a Stanley Cup He never won a major NHL award. He went to the all-star game, on average, once every 5 seasons. Sorry, but that's not a HOF career. ps Congrats Igor! Thoroughly deserved!

Hmmmmm, interesting selection. Its often said when debating potential inductees that its the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Very Good. To me, that is a list of very good players, but are they true HOFers? Every single one of them has 1 or more points you could argue against them - Bure didn't play long enough, Housley couldnt play D... Pick any 4 off that list and compare them to last year (Stevens, Messier, Francis, McInnis) and next year (Yzerman, Hull, Robitaille, Roy?) and you'll see what I mean.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! That's classic. Reminds me of how my little sister used to torment me when we were kids by putting one of her toes just inside my bedroom doorway "MUUUUUUUUUMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!! Caroline's in my bedroom!!!!!" *Caroline removes toe* "NO I'M NOT!"

Whilst Chelios really struggled with the increased pace of the playoffs, I think having him back for next season as a depth player isn't a bad thing. Remember, ever since he's been here, he's almost always been paired with a young kid. Successive coaches have highly regarded his ability to bring along young D-men and teach them the game. We've got several young 'uns we need to work into the line-up next season and as a part-time player/coach he's ideal. But I do hope its his last season - he can't keep going on forever and he needs to know when to call it a day.

Given the new, improved Dats we saw in this years playoffs - y'know, the one who goes into scrums to defend Zetterberg, the one who fights with Roberts and yells "Bulls***!" at Refs when they disallow perfectly legit goals - will he retire from the NHL with the current 3 Lady Byngs?

I despise Darcy Tucker with a passion. But having said that, if he comes cheap he would be a useful addition on the 3rd/4th line. Gritty, fights, can score a few goals and yes, dirty (wouldn't it be nice to give rather than receive for once?) And he hasn't won a cup, which will hopefully make him hungry. And don't forget how much the Wings love their vets. If he comes cheap, would be an ideal replacement for Drake.

Was pretty sure this would happen - the way he accepted being sat just screamed "retirement" at me. Thanks for the ride Dom.

Ahhhh, good ole Leafs. Perpeptually stuck in the mud of averageness. Not good enough to be a contender, not bad enough to rebuild their team with top propects.....

No, I've noticed the exact same thing. I don't know if its that your facial hair grows slower, or if it just feels that way.

On the open market, probly $3.5M to $4.0M, with Detroit, knock 500k off of that.

Wow...thank goodness it was all OK now. And now Gary Roberts has gone even further down in my estimation Still, since this is a Mule thread - BEEEERRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!

I think we have a good chance - he's repeatedly talked about how much more enjoyable it is to be on a team that is winning all the time, as opposed to the losers he's been on most of his career. Having said that, if SJ or Anaheim makes him an offer, he's probly gone; west coast + playoff team = double win for him. Re Markov. It wasn't money that he left for, it was length of contract. Detroit were only prepared to offer 1 year contracts to him and a bunch of other FAs, he wanted longer.

Either that or all Theriens whining made the Refs say "Do that again and we'll call you for charging" Anyway, Holland had this to say on injuries http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../806060408/1048

Twas buried in an article about something else. No other info other than what I said.

The guy was clearly out of his depth in the finals. If I'm Shero, I'm on the phone to John Tortarella right now. "Hey John, how'd you like to coach a team with a half decent goaltender?"

ROFL!!!! That was classic Thanks for posting

There have been several players who were born in Britain but grew up in Canada (Owen Nolan, Byron Dafoe spring to mind), but no-one who has come through the British "system" (if you can call it that). The Oilers drafted a guy in the 80s, forget his name though. Part of the problem is the way our leagues are set-up, they're just stuffed full of British-Canadian imports and there is no effort to develop our own players with youth teams etc.

Datsyukian moments that stand out Going to Zetterbergs defence in the Dallas series Taking down Roberts Shouting BULLs***! at the Refs when they disallowed his goal against Dallas. No more Lady Bings for you Pavel! Zetterberg tying up Crosby's stick by the net in Game 4. The absolute clinic we put on in Game 2

Ken Holland has just revealed he was playing with a strained MCL! Go Flip!

Yeah, but in a "I know I'm gooky and dorky, but we both know I'm funny with it" kind of way. Don't know of another wing that makes me laugh as much as Pavel

lol, yeah February was brutal. Lilja and Lebda as our top D pairing... Always knew it would end, but it went on a little longer than I would have liked

Well, my Conn Smythe-worthy beard went tonight. Thank goodness, really starting to get on my wick! Here we are, all hirsute and manly... Attacked it with the hair clippers, then 2 razors, then was finally able to put on my Wings shirt (which has been kept in the drawer all playoffs, it has baaaaaad luck) Hell, I can even kiss the wife again! See ya....

Got in there in '92 meself. Sadly, I had to record the game and watch it this morning, holding a crabby baby and with the wife yakking away to her parents who were staying with us. I'm there trying to control myself thinking "the Wings are in the SCF, dammit!"